Impact factors, open access, plagiarism and more

1. Getting published – how the
Library can help
Anne Costigan
Library

2. Selecting a journal
• Journal scope or coverage
• Quality
• Peer review
• Open access
• Style and format
• Speed of publication
• Publication charges
• Discoverability

3. Journal scope
• Advice from supervisors
• What do you read?
• Editorial Board – do you know anyone?
• Automatic tools
– JANE (biomedical)
• http://jane.biosemantics.org/suggestions.php
– Elsevier Journal Finder (Elsevier only)
• http://journalfinder.elsevier.com/

4. Journal quality
• Impact factors
– Journal Citation Reports
• Access via Summon
• http://www.bradford.ac.uk/library/
– Look at the category and check the rank of the
journal you are interested in
– Is there a ‘minimum impact factor’ in your area?

5. Other journal metrics
• Google Scholar Citations
– https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=top
_venues
• Scimago
– http://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php
• CiteScore (new)
– https://journalmetrics.scopus.com/

6. Trusted journals
• Predatory journals - where not to publish
– Beall’s list
• Journals https://scholarlyoa.com/individual-journals/
• Publishers https://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/
• http://thinkchecksubmit.org/

7. Discoverability
• How easy is it to find the article?
• Is the journal included by the major databases
in your area? For example
– Scifinder (chemistry)
– Proquest (management)
– Medline (medical)
• This is also an indicator of quality

8. Open access
• To be eligible for the REF your paper must be
added to the Bradford Scholars repository
– Almost all journals permit this
– Check in SHERPA/ROMEO
• http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo/index.php
– Contact openaccess@bradford.ac.uk when
considering submission
• HEFCE/RCUK both require papers to be added to
the Bradford Scholars repository
– You do NOT have to publish in an open access journal

9. Peer review
• What is peer review?
– Primary research articles checked by experts
– Also some review articles and conference papers
– http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/9/453/ra109.artic
le-info
• Blinded
– Reviewer/s or editor may or may not know authors’
names
• Open
– You know the reviewer, they know you

10. Style and format
• Check the journal’s instructions, for example
– http://stke.sciencemag.org/about/ifora
• Look at the referencing style
– EndNote
• Proofread
• ORCID
– http://orcid.org/
– Researcher identifier – submit with your paper

11. Book publishing
• Importance of the publisher
– Academic publishers
– University presses
• Many predatory publishers in book
publication also
• Quality of peer review/editing
• What is appropriate for your field/career?
• Few academic books make much money!

12. Time
• Plan early – it will take longer than you think
• Allow for
– Writing
– Rewriting
– Review by colleagues
– Submission
– Peer review
– Revision
– Publication
• Usually published electronically before print
• Multiply all timings for a book!

13. Publication charges
• Open access charges
– Funding for RCUK funded research
– Vouchers and discounts from publishers
• Contact openaccess@bradford.ac.uk
• Other charges
– Pages
– Images/ colour
– Data

14. What is plagiarism?
• IEEE – ‘the reuse of someone else's
prior processes, results, or words without
explicitly acknowledging the original author
and source’ (IEEE 2016)

15. Plagiarism detection
• Your paper is likely to be put through a plagiarism
checker
– CrossCheck or iThenticate
– Elsevier on plagiarism
• https://www.elsevier.com/editors/perk/plagiarism-
complaints/plagiarism-detection
• https://www.publishingcampus.elsevier.com/pages/63/ethic
s/Publishing-ethics.html
• Plagiarism and copyright are separate
– You will usually sign over copyright to a journal
publisher

16. Avoiding plagiarism
• Ensure you cite and reference correctly in the
appropriate style for your publication
– EndNote may be able to help
• Ensure any direct quotations are clearly marked
and correctly cited
• Plagiarism checkers
– Do NOT use any ‘free’ plagiarism checkers
– Your paper may be added to their database and sold
as an essay
• Authors
– Make each author’s contribution clear

17. Other plagiarism problems
• Self-plagiarism
– This is also a problem!
– Duplicate publication
• ‘Salami slicing’
• For more information
– http://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-
services/library/research-support/plagiarism-
awareness-for-researchers/plagiarism-detection-
by-publishers/

18. After publication
• Blogging and social media
– Altmetrics important to journals now
– http://stke.sciencemag.org/content/9/453/ra109.article-info
• Comments (or post-publication peer review)
• Citations
– Citation alerts
• Web of Science
• Scopus
• Google Scholar
• Retraction Watch
– http://retractionwatch.com/
– I’m sure this will never happen to you!

19. Credits and references
• Background: Pages from John White’s First
Fleet journal
– https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pages_f
rom_John_White's_First_Fleet_journal_A2089482
h.jpg
• IEEE (2016) A Plagiarism FAQ. IEEE.
https://www.ieee.org/publications_standards
/publications/rights/plagiarism_FAQ.html
Accessed 15 December 2016.