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Scholarly Communication and Publishing

This guide is designed for those wishing to publish their research.

Promoting Your Publication

nearly completed puzzle

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

The final step in the publishing process is promotion, making sure that as many people as possible have access to your research. It's important to ensure your publication can be found on Google Scholar, Social Media, and other academic outlets. Click the tabs on the left to further explore these areas. 

How Do I Disseminate My Research Online?

The crucial thing here is to produce a document that can be made available online, usually in the form of a PDF. You can then use the following methods to disseminate your work online:

  • Academic and related lists

    These have a policy of not allowing attachments. But they are very happy to receive emails which summarize a piece of work and include a link to the full document. Usually you have to be signed up to a list to disseminate to it. But you can sign up for that purpose and then sign off if the list is not otherwise of interest to you.

  • Moderated public email lists

    There is a large range of public email lists which are run by moderators. Many of these straddle the academic/practice divide and you can submit to them on the same basis as to the academic lists.

Twitter: If you tweet, then do so about your work. You should think about using appropriate hashtags so that your tweets are discoverable.

Blogs: If you blog, then blog about your work. If you follow bloggers who are likely to be interested in your work, then contact them, usually by their email, and send them a description and link. They will often comment on the piece and include a link to it.

Google Scholar has a clear set of instructions about what you should do to get your work noticed by their search robots. Follow these and Scholar will find you. See below for more information on Google Scholar.

How Do I Maximize the Impact of My Research?

To maximize the impact of your research, get your research noticed. Get it talked about, blogged about, tweeted about, reviewed. There is so much information out there. On the other hand, it is also easier to find things than it has ever been before.

  • Publishers’ announcements

    Publishers’ marketing departments know their job. Work with them and do what they tell you to do. Paper catalogues are perhaps on their way out but web pages matter a great deal.

  • Reviews

    Reviews in journals were the traditional way in which people found out what books were out there and got a view on them. They take a long time to come out and space in paper journals is limited. Not everything gets reviewed much, if at all. That said, reviews remain extant. People will find them later in literature searches and that will lead them to your work. Try to get your work reviewed by helping your publisher to target journals. Web reviews, particularly by bloggers, are increasingly important.

    • Special issues of journals work better than ordinary issues because people come to them for something else in your general area and then find your work as well.

    • Careful abstracts and carefully chosen keywords will draw people to you in their web searches.

  • Remember, the web is key: Publicize your work through your own web page, the web page of any research group and of your department.
  • Have good links to your work.

Sources: SAGE Research Methods Project Planner: Dissemination
Byrne, D. (2017). How do I disseminate my research online?. Project Planner. 10.4135/9781526408594.+
Byrne, D. (2017). How do I maximize the impact of my research?. Project Planner. 10.4135/9781526408594.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a widely used tool for researchers. Being familiar with how Scholar works, as well as how to use it as a published scholar yourself, are two very important aspects of the promotion process. In the paper linked below, the authors explore exactly that.

Zientek, L.R., Werner, J.M., Campuzano, M.V. and Nimon, K. (2018). The use of Google Scholar for research and research dissemination This link opens in a new window. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 30, 39-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/nha3.20209

Abstract

The abundance of technological and Internet resources can both simplify and complicate a researcher's world. Such innovations place a burden on researchers to stay current with advances in technology and then discern the best technology tools to utilize. We first discuss benefits that Google Scholar can provide in the preparation of the literature review, which is vital to developing rigorous studies. We also discuss ways to use Google Scholar for the dissemination of one's research. This article follows the Writer's Forum article by Campuzano, Storberg-Walker, and Werner (2017) This link opens in a new window concerning methods to promote one's research using social media.

Social Media

This article explains several key things you as an author can do to promote yourself effectively on social media.

Bharath Chandrasekaran, PhD, and Katie Belardi, PhD, CCC-SLP. (October, 2020). Promoting your academic research on social media This link opens in a new window. ASHA Journals Academy, ASHA.org.

Some tips they suggest:

  • Do your research-know how each platform works and the audience demographics of each platform
  • Brand yourself appropriately-understand that you are presenting to an audience
  • Know when to advertise (as close to the posting date as possible)
  • Keep the language simple and use a lot of images
  • Post frequently

The word ORCiD in gray and green fonts.

ORCiD website: For Researchers Page This link opens in a new window

ORCiD is a non-profit organization supported by a global community of member organizations, including research institutions, publishers, funders, professional associations, service providers, and other stakeholders in the research ecosystem. ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCiD iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle, and reducing the risk of errors.