Publishing Your Research

Prof. Dr. Khalid Mahmood

Department of Library and Information Science
University of the Punjab

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Agenda
 My publishing case study
 Writing for publishing
 Finding publishing avenues
 Review process
 Publishing process
 From thesis to journal articles
 From thesis to book
 Online publishing
 Self publishing
 Promoting your publications
 Ethical and legal issues
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My publishing case study
Books 5

Journal articles published 81

Journal articles accepted 5

Refereed conference papers 6

Total 97
3
Year wise distribution
20
18
16
14
Publications

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Year

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Country wise distribution
Pakistan 38
UK 29
USA 15
Germany 4
Netherlands 4
Malaysia 1
Japan 1
Australia 1
West Indies 1
Iran 1
Canada 1
Argentina 1
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Authorship
Single 42

Co-author 55

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Where did paper come from
Papers written for journals 49

Conference papers published as 11

journal articles

Papers from my PhD thesis 9

Papers from students’ theses 9

Papers from friends’ theses 5

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My PhD thesis
 Locally published in
2005
 Published from
Germany in 2009
 Freely available at
HEC’s Pakistan
Research Repository
 Published 9 papers
based on it

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Writing for publishing

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Why do I write?
 You have a research grant and must publish the
results of your research
 You want a job or a promotion
 You want to disseminate your work or research
findings to a particular audience
 You want your research to have political, social,
or scientific implications for change
 You want to contribute to intellectual discussion
or scientific debate
 You want to generate new knowledge
 You are passionate about your subject area and
are compelled to write
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Levels of scholarly publishing

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Building your manuscript
 Budget your time for writing
 The first draft
 Reviewing the first draft
 The second draft
 Getting feedback from colleagues
 The third draft

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Contents of a research paper
 Title  Results
 Author’s name  Discussion
and institutional  Conclusion
affiliation  References
 Abstract
 Acknowledgements
 Keywords
 Biographical sketch
 Introduction
 Appendices
 Literature review
 Methods

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Format of paper
 Format of the paper is determined by the
journal
 Check their web site for information
 Differences from one journal to another:
 Style of references
 Tables and figures
 Line spacing
 Font
 Word limit
 Writing style
 File type
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Useful sources for authors
 Author guidebooks
 Author associations
 International Science Writers Association
 National Writers Association
 Professional Writers Association
 Authors Guild
 Pakistan Writers Guild
 Pakistan Medical Writers' Association
 Online resources
 AuthorAid
 Emerald Literati Network

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AuthorAid

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Emerald Literati Network

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Finding publishing avenues

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How to find journals
 Ulrich's International Periodical Directory
 Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
 Journal Citation Reports
 Scopus Journal Analyzer
 IngentaConnect

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Ulrich's International Periodical
Directory

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A journal entry in Ulrich’s

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Directory of Open Access Journals

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Journal Citation Reports

23
Scopus Journal Analyzer

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IngentaConnect

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How to select right journal
 Look at your reference list
 Ask your colleagues for advice
 Think about who will want to read your
paper
 Read papers from short-listed journals
 Put your shortlist of journals in rank order,
from first choice to last choice
 Discuss your choice with your co-authors

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Criteria for journal selection
 Referring system
 Citation scores
 Circulation
 Journal type
 Time lag
 Reputation of editors
 Professional vs. commercial ownership
 Quality of production

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Review process

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Manuscript submission
 Guidelines for authors

 Process of submission

 Acknowledgement by editor

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Review
process

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Process of review
 First scanning by editor
 Selection of reviewers
 Double blind review
 Time for review
 Decision of reviewers
 Communication of decision to author
 Acceptance, Rejection or Revision
 Submission and review of revised version
 Final decision

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Criteria for judging a paper
 Does the article add to what is already
known?
 Is the article demonstrably related to what
has been previously written?
 Are the arguments employed valid in
terms of the body of knowledge?
 Is the article easy to read?
 Do the arguments flow logically?
 Are the conclusions strong?

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Review
pro forma

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Handling reviewers’ comments
 Make adjustments and attach
explanation
 Don’t feel obligated to make all
recommended changes
 Don’t take comments personally
 Be polite in all correspondence

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Publishing process

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Publishing process
 Paying for publication
 Copyright agreement by author
 Decision of issue to include paper
 Copy editing
 Proof reading
 Printing
 Notification of publishing to author
 Delivery of printed issue and off-prints

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From thesis to journal articles

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From thesis to journal article
 Decide how many articles can be
published
 Cut-paste-edit
 Re-write some parts
 Each article should be independent with all
required contents
 Supervisor as co-author

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From thesis to book

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From thesis to book
 Seek permission from university
 Improve contents
 Improve language
 Re-format
 Find publisher

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Online publishing

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Advantages of online publishing
 Better chances of acceptance
 More control over the process
 Higher royalties
 Author-friendly contracts
 Shorter response times
 Faster publication
 Multimedia and format options
 Mass market place

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Where to publish online
 E-publishing company
 Lulu.com

 Institutional website

 Personal website

 Blog

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Self publishing

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The self-publishing process
 Develop your idea
 Write your manuscript
 Proofread and market test your manuscript
 Prepare your business plan
 Who will buy your book?
 How will you market and sell it?
 Decide how many books you will print and the format of
book you want
 Get quotes for typesetting and printing
 Get manuscript 'print ready' (typeset)
 Design the book cover
 Print the book
 Market and advertise the book
 Fulfill orders
 Collect payment and record sales
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Promoting your publications

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Promoting your publications
 Book review
 Flyer
 Book launching ceremony
 Email discussion groups
 Sending off-prints to experts/writers
 Newsletters/newspapers
 Entry in search engines
 Pay-per-click advertising
 Entry in databases
 Online bookstores
 Continued work of your students/research team
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Ethical and legal issues

48
Ethical considerations
 Accurate reporting of research results
 Data retention and sharing
 Duplication and piecemeal publication
 Plagiarism
 Protecting confidentiality
 Conflict of interest

49
Legal considerations
 Publication credit
 Co-authorship
 Order of authorship
 Publishing contract
 Copyright
 Defamation

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Thanks for your patience

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