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Library Subject Guides

5. Publish & Share: Strategic publishing

We recommend this youtube video

Publishing in Academic Journals 

by Dr Nick Hopwood 
Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney

This video covers a number of important issues relating to publishing in academic journals. It is a combination of all 4 parts of a series. 

These may help

Strategic publishing

You need to make sure that any articles you publish can be found and cited by other researchers.

We recommend that you publish in a journal indexed in Scopus. This is a very large database used around the world and includes publications from 5000 different sources.

Publishing in a journal included in Scopus:

  • ​ Will increase the accessibility of your work
  •  Will add to the reputation of the University of Canterbury as a world class research institution by increasing the university's QS rankings (as long as you use 'University of Canterbury' (rather than, e.g. Canterbury University) as your institutional affiliation)

 

 How to find out if a journal is indexed in Scopus

1. Go to Scopus

2. In the top right hand corner there will be a button that says 'Sources:' 

3. Click that button

4.  Enter the title of the journal in the search bar at the top of the page and click Find Sources (using the Enter key will likely change the title of the journal)

5. If the journal appears in the search results, it's indexed in Scopus!

 

You can also search by subject area to discover the top journals in your field that are indexed by Scopus

Create a list of journals you may wish to publish in

  • By checking where your supervisors and other colleagues in your field publish
     
  • Looking at your thesis bibliography. Which journals are listed there? you could consider publishing in these journals
     
  • Checking how highly rated the journal is 
     
  • Checking the process for peer review 

  • Checking the turnaround time for acceptance. Some articles take many months to publish articles

  • Checking to see if your journal name is included in Scopus Sources
     
  • Check the instructions for authors from the journal home page For word limits and other requirements such as appropriate content - some journals are highly specific as to what they will publish
     
  • Publication charges - consider publishing in an open access journal
     
  • Consider alternative journals to submit to if the first publisher rejects your submission;