Welcome to the section on publishing research.
For researchers, publishing research involves:
This guide will provide general information on planning to publish your research, and will outline the benefits and considerations of research publication.
Strategic publishing means to be intentional and well-planned when disseminating research findings. This involves deciding where, when, and how to publish research to maximise its impact and reach in the academic community. Strategic publishing can involve:
It is important to choose the right kind of publication type for your work. Consider:
See the following tabs for more information about different publication types.
If you are publishing in a journal consider:
Open Access journals make their published content available freely to all immediately upon publication. For this, authors can be charged an Article Processing Charge (APC) to move the cost from the readers to the authors. This may be exploited by predatory publishers. If you are considering publishing in an open access journal, see the following resources to find a journal relevant to your discipline:
Publishing your work in a book or book chapter may be a viable and disciple-appropriate way to disseminate your research. When considering publishing your research as a book or book chapter, besides traditional publishing, there are different open access publishing models covering this including:
Finding a Publisher
See below for places to start finding reputable OA publishers:
Ask your colleagues, peers, and mentors about their publishing experiences
Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) member database
Open Access Australasia (including the section Explore Open Book Publishing)
Be wary of vanity or predatory publishers. This includes print-on-demand publishers. They do not offer peer-review or editorial services, they are not considered compliant with ERA, and they may compromise your ability to publish research elsewhere including reputable publishers. Research a publisher thoroughly before selecting them. Ensure that any publisher you choose:
Conferences offer opportunities to network with scholars in your field, disseminate research, and receive feedback. Getting your research published as a conference paper (often compiled into published proceedings) offers a fast and easy way to get your research published. However, it is important to check that conference papers are highly regarded in your discipline as a way of disseminating research as this may not always be the case. Consider the caliber of the conference and its associated publications, as well as the norms of your discipline.
Individual conferences will have publisher/author agreements you will need to comply with, including open access policies. Large professional organisations will have a clearly defined policy stating which version of the conference paper can be made available in an open repository.
See the following links for some places to begin searching for conferences:
Use a checklist like Think. Check. Attend to assess your potential conferences.
Be wary of unethical or predatory conferences that may exploit researchers' desire to publish their work. Look out for:
Avoid these, as they may be a waste of your time and money, and may restrict your ability to publish your research in legitimate forums in the future.
Non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) refers to works such as:
These may not be published with an academic publisher. Works that are commercially published by these publishers will usually have an identifier such as an DOI or ISBN, which makes them easily findable and shareable within research communities. Works not commercially published (including many NTROs), may be assigned a persistent identifier to aid discovery and access. See the ARDC for more information on identifier services.
NTROs can be hosted in data/research repositories. See the guide on Research Data Management for more information.
Non-academic publishing
Non-academic publishing may also be a viable option if you want to reach a broader audience beyond academia. Non-academic publications may include newspaper articles, online articles, blog posts, etc. and can be a way to demonstrate research engagement or impact. For example, see The Conversation.
You may also wish to publish articles in both academic and professional/trade journals if your research has practical implications for a profession (such as accounting, engineering, architecture). See In the Black, Architecture Australia, Engineering Australia, etc.
There are a number of factors to consider when choosing which journal to publish your research in. The following tabs will outline some considerations.
The Think. Check. Submit. campaign also provides researchers with a useful checklist in selecting a suitable, high-quality journal as well as assessing its credentials.
Measurements of journal relevance include:
When choosing a journal to publish in, there are a range of methods and tools that can be used such as subject-area specific journal lists. These lists often include journal rankings and citation metrics. Publishers also provide resources that can assist with finding a relevant journal to submit to. It is recommended that you also check external authoritative sources, rather than rely solely on information provided by the journal itself. See below for some examples from different publishers:
Indicators of quality can include:
Journal discoverability is about ensuring that your target audience can find your work.
Indicators of discoverability include:
You may also wish to consider open-access publication to increase discoverability. Open access journals are freely available online and increase your potential readership, including beyond academic databases.
If your publication is open access, ensure that a copy of the full text is included in the Melbourne Polytechnic Research Repository. This is an open access repository providing free, searchable access to research publications authored by MP staff and students.
Journal ranking lists seek to rank selections of journals, usually within subject or discipline category, determined by the journal impact metrics. The ranking is usually based on a combination of citations accumulated to articles published in the journal over a time period, and the number of articles available to be cited published by the journal during that time. These impact metrics are released yearly, based on data from preceding years. The placement of a journal within these lists is often used for evaluating - for example, selecting to publish in a journal that appears in the top quartile of a list (Q1), but can also be developed as a way to demonstrate the impact, rank or prestige of a journal in the context of other journals in the field by the discipline community.
When using journal rankings and metrics to make decisions, consider:
Altmetrics (alternative metrics) refers to impact or attention a research work receives outside of academic citations. This includes:
This can be used in absence of (or with) citation metrics to indicate attention received by a research output. Be aware that altmetrics generally do not hold the same weight as citations when measuring research impact.
One consideration for researchers looking to publish their work is the choice between open access and traditional publishing. The table below outlines the differences between the two.
| Open Access | Traditional |
| Available online, free of charge, fewest restrictions possible on access | Available by subscription, or per-article fees (paid by individual or library) |
| Allows author to retain copyright/ownership of material | Copyright usually held by publisher |
| Sometimes requires authors to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) | Sometimes requires author to pay submission and publication fees |
|
Usually peer-reviewed |
Usually peer-reviewed |
| Users can read, download, distribute, print, search, link to full text of open access research publications | Reading, distribution, downloading and printing may be restricted by license and paywall |
There are different models of Open Access publishing:
These will be outlined in the following tabs.
As Open Access publishing becomes more popular with researchers and publishers, it is important to carefully consider the benefits and drawbacks of open access publishing, and the different variations of open access publishing in order to make informed decisions about publishing research.
The table below outlines some benefits and drawbacks associated with open access publishing.
| Benefits of OA publishing | Downsides of OA publishing |
|---|---|
| Large audience through unrestricted access | Relative newness of many OA journals mean they may not have the high impact ranking of many established traditional journals. Traditional publishers have highly-developed systems for creation and distribution of work |
| Author can retain copyright | OA variants may impose Article Processing charges that authors may have to pay in order to publish their article |
| Rapid publishing and distribution | OA is generally considered very reputable, but there are 'predatory publishers' that operate |
| High citation rate |
An APC (Article Processing Charge) is a fee which publishers charge authors for the purpose of enabling their articles to be published as Open Access articles within non-open access, commercially available journals.
It is important to be aware of APCs from the outset, factor it into any budgets, and not be caught off-guard by sometimes substantial costs when it comes time to publish your research.
Journal publishers will make their APCs available for prospective authors to view. See some examples below: