Engineering : Publish Your Research

Getting Started with Publishing

Publishing your research is a key part of an academic or scientific career, but the publishing process is complex and navigating it can be a challenge. This page provides an introduction to an important early step in the publishing process: selecting a journal. Each section below explores a factor to consider when choosing where to publish your research.

Focus

Finding a good home for your article means finding a high-quality journal that has an appropriate focus. There is no one true way to find the "right" journal for your article, but here are a few options.

Cited Reference Searching

This method of database searching allows you to find when, where, and how a given article has been cited. The exact process will differ depending on the database you use, but a cited reference search for a related, influential article can help you identify appropriate journals for publishing your own work.

Journal Matching Sites

Many publishers now provide tools to help you match your research topic with a journal. Below are examples from a few major science and engineering publishers. If you are interested in a different publisher, it may be worthwhile to investigate whether they provide a similar service.

Prestige

Ideally, you will want to identify a journal that is appropriate for your research topic that is also well-regarded and influential in your field of study. Prestige can be understood in a variety of ways, some of which are explored below.

Journal Rankings

Most journal rankings and metrics are citation-based: the more citations articles in that journal tend to get, the higher the score that journal receives. Rankings, and prestige more generally, are often used as shortcuts to understanding the quality of articles published in a journal. However, a higher ranking does not guarantee that a journal publishes better research.

Selectivity

Another factor in determining a journal's reputation is how selective it is. In other words, what is the journal's acceptance rate? Many journals may not make this information public, but prestigious journals often will. This is because those journals tend to reject the vast majority of submissions, publishing only what the editors see as the very best articles. For example, Nature accepts only about 8% of submitted manuscripts.

"Predatory" Publishers

Some journals lack credibility and integrity, and operate for profit above all else. These journals are commonly referred to as 'predatory journals.' There is no single definition of what makes a publisher or journal 'predatory', but checklist below provides some clues you can look for that will help you decide whether a publisher or journal is trustworthy before you submit your paper.

Reach

The easier it is for other researchers to find and build off your work, the greater its impact will be. Therefore it is important to consider the reach of the journal you will publish in, including how much it costs to access and whether it is available on campus.

Open Access Publishing

Open Access (OA) is the free, immediate, online availability of research articles combined with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment. Since no subscription is required for access, open articles may be more easily discovered, read, and cited than articles published behind paywalls. Many funders also now require that any research they fund be published openly.

However, there are often fees (sometimes quite steep) associated with OA publishing. It is best to confirm in advance whether and how much you will need to pay to make your article open.

Ulrichsweb Serials Directory

This directory lists valuable information about journals and other serials, including: where the journal is indexed, contact information for the editor(s), peer review status, institutional pricing, and reviews of the journal.

Your Rights

Did you know that many journals require authors to sign away the copyright for their articles in order to publish? Make sure to consider and secure your rights as an author to your own research before you publish!

Copyright Basics

Copyright is a form of legal protection automatically provided to creative works such as books, music, art, or research articles. The copyright holder (the author or creator) has the exclusive right to reproduce or distribute their work, but they can transfer this right to another person or to a publisher.

In many cases, when you publish in a journal or sign a book contract, the publisher will ask you to sign away some or all of your copyrights. Such agreements can take away your right to share or reuse your own work. If you wish to retain your copyright, you will need to publish with a journal that allows this.

Finding Publisher Policies

One way to understand expectations around copyright is to check the policy of the journal. You can also use tools like Sherpa Romeo (linked below) to find publisher policies. However, you can often negotiate copyright! It is both possible and common for authors to negotiate agreements with publishers that differ from the stated policies.