Publication planning

Planning for publication

This guide provides some basic definitions, useful tools, and relevant information for researchers to use when looking at publishing their research.

Open Access publishing is preferred where possible as it removes the financial barriers for readers and thus extends the readership and impact of research publications. You can look at the benefits of open access and read some recent articles that discuss the citation advantage of publishing open access. There are many ways to publish open access, some of which depend on the version of the article that is being shared.

However, not all open access publishing is free - some publishers charge authors an Article Processing Charge (APC). The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) has been instrumental in negotiating agreements with a range of publishers (called Read & Publish agreements). These agreements enable authors to publish at no cost, see the CAUL guide for the list of publishers that have now signed the agreements, and note how to find the information on specific journals. 

Looking at publishing in a journal? Check out the technical terms to help understand what they say about a journal. Not sure where to start? Some first steps have been provided to help with the process. When looking at possible journals, what things do you need to know?  Scope, acceptance, aims of the journal, turnaround times, and what percentage of articles are accepted. These all help with decisions about where to publish, and may reduce stress about waiting times. 

Book publishing is a longer task, and there are important items to consider.