Early Career Researcher Workshop
1 October 2013
The pitfalls of publishing
Professor Kim Langfield-Smith
PVC Academic Performance
Cathrine Harboe-Ree
University Librarian
Workshop outline
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Scholarly communication
Monash’s aspirations
Quality versus quantity
Research impact
The national context
Open access
Monash infrastructure
Focussing on you
2
1. Scholarly communication
• “The process by which
scholars conduct their
research and make the
results of their work known…
• ... It is critical to the
advancement of knowledge
and a scholar’s career.”
Mary M. Case, ‘Igniting Change in Scholarly
Communication: SPARC, Its Past,
Present and Future’, Advances in Librarianship, 26,
2002. [online]
http://www.arl.org/sparc/SPARC_Advances.pdf.
• … and to Monash University’s
success.
Journal articles
Chapters
Books
Conference papers
Working papers
Presentations
Artworks/performances
Patents
Research data?
87% of Monash’s
submitted evidence for
the ERA is scholarly
communication by
publication
3
Scholarly communication options
Publish
well
Publish
often
Publish
early
Publish
open access
?
Publish for
impact
Publish
innovatively
4
2. Monash’s aspirations for 2022
Monash University: The next ten years sets out three key goals for
Monash to achieve, namely, that by 2022 Monash will be:
1. The best University within the Asia
Pacific region
2. A truly global university, both physically
and intellectually
3. Among the strongest research
universities in the world
5
Some of our recent achievements
Times Higher Education Rankings:
2010/11 to 2012/13
University of Melbourne vs Monash
University ERA results: Closing the gap
200
150
4-Digit
Ratings
UMelb
2010
UMelb
2012
Monash
2010
Monash
2012
Monash
100
Go7 average
50
5
42
30
16
22
4
40
46
35
38
3
20
21
27
29
2
1
1
10
1
1
0
0
1
0
Ranking 5
1
3
6
6
Ranking 5/4
1
1
5
4
10/11
11/12
12/13
2009 to 2011 Research Income
Growth
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Monash
Go7
6
International rankings
2013 QS World University Rankings
• International ranking: 69
• Australian ranking: 6
2013 Times Higher Education Reputational Rankings
• International ranking: 99
• Australian ranking: 6
2013 Academic Ranking of World Universities:
• International ranking: 134
• Australian ranking: 7
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Monash Research Strategy
Six Pillars to
support
Six Pillars
GOAL:
Generating
impact through
excellent and
relevant
research
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3. Quality vs quantity
• Quality
– ERA
– NOT vanity publishing
• Quantity
– HERDC
– Career development
• Where should I publish? How much
should I publish?
• Why is it important to publish in a
“quality” journal or book?
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The importance of Quality
• Why is it important to publish in a “quality”
journal or book?
–
–
–
–
–
More rigorous reviewing process
More likely to be read – and cited
More likely to add to your reputation and profile
More likely to contribute to the literature
Good for your career!!
• How do you identify a quality journal or book
publisher?
–
–
–
–
Discipline-based journal lists
Journal impact factors
Acceptance rates
Ask your colleagues
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Vanity and predatory publishing
•
•
•
•
•
No or diminished quality controls
Not always honest about advisory boards, etc
Always make the author pay all or most of the costs
http://monash.edu/library/about/ul-vanity-publishing.pdf
http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatorypublishers-2013/
• Don’t fall for their trap!!
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4. What is research impact?
The impact that research has had more widely on society … on the
academic discipline, but also on policy, awareness, institutional and
artistic practice, and commercial, economic, social and cultural benefit …
(CHASS, 2005, p. 10)
an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public
policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond
academia … impacts can be manifest in a wide variety of ways, may take
many forms and occur in a wide range of spheres, in any geographic
location (REF 2014)
Academic impact
-
on other researchers
Social, economic etc. impact
-
on business, government, society
- contribution to discipline knowledge
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Monash Research Strategy
Six Pillars to
support
Six Pillars
GOAL:
Generating
impact through
excellent and
relevant
research
13
An increasing global focus on
assessing research impact
PBRF
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Examples of economic and social impact
Improved health or
welfare outcomes
Enhanced professional
standards, ethics,
guidelines or training
Changes to the design
or delivery of the
school curriculum
More effective
management or
workplace practices
Improved quality,
accessibility or efficiency
of a public service
Policy debate or decisions
have been influenced or
shaped by research
Enhanced corporate
social responsibility
policies
A new product has been
commercialised
Public debate has
been shaped or
informed by research
Changes to legislation
or regulations
Enhanced preservation,
conservation or presentation
of cultural heritage
Jobs have been
created or
protected
Improved management
or conservation of
natural resources
Improved access to
justice, employment
or education
Production costs
have reduced
Improved risk
management
Research has informed public
understanding, values,
attitudes or behaviours
Improved forensic
methods or expert
systems
New forms of artistic
expressions or changes
to creative practice
A social enterprise
initiative has been
created
Changes in
professional
practice
Levels of waste
have reduced
Improved business
performance
Enhanced teaching
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standards or protocols
Academic impact
Managing citation performance
• Citations as an indicator of impact/quality
• Web of Knowledge (TR) vs Scopus vs Google scholar
• Tracking your citations and citation performance
• Bibliometric indicators – h-index, normalised citations, etc
• Author citation alerts
• Increasing the visibility of your citation performance
– ResearcherId (Thomson Reuters)
– Google scholar profiles
http://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=kUqSskcAAAAJ&hl=en
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Thomson Reuters Citation Report
Why is impact important?
Research is central to what we do at Monash University.
Since our establishment just over 50 years ago, we have
become known for producing research that has an influence
well beyond the academic community.
• Underlying rationale for doing research – to make a difference
• Accountability to research funders
• Assist you in gaining increased research funding
• Increase your reputation in the research community and beyond
• Progress your career!
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Improving your research impact
Academic
impact
• International collaborations,
multiple authors, multi-disciplinary
teams
• Article title, abstract, key words
• On-line research sites and profiling
Economic
and social
impact
• Demand driven vs supply driven
approaches vs partnerships
• The big issues - multi-disciplinary
teams
• Social networking, blogs, media
• Govt panels, consultancies, public
presentations
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5. National context
• Quantity (HERDC)
• Quality (ERA)
• Open scholarship (Code for the Responsible
Conduct of Research, NHMRC and ARC
guidelines)
• Impact (under consideration)
• Quandary:
– Does the Government want quality, which encourages
conservatism and delays in publishing, or openness,
which they do not reward, or impact, which is not yet
defined?
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Code for the responsible conduct of
research
• http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/a
ttachments/r39.pdf
• “Researchers have a responsibility to their colleagues
and the wider community to disseminate a full account
of their research as broadly as possible.”
• “There are many ways of disseminating research
findings. Formal publication of the results of research
will usually take place in academic journals or books,
but this is not always the case. The Code applies to all
forms of dissemination, including, including nonrefereed publications … web pages … exhibitions …
films … repositories.”
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Code for the responsible conduct of
research – cont
• Responsibilities of researchers
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Disseminate all research findings
Ensure accuracy
Cite the work of other authors fully and accurately
Don’t publish findings multiple times
Obtain permission for republishing
Disclose research support accurately
Register clinical trials
Manage confidentiality
Responsibly communicate research in the public arena
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6. Open access
• Desire to share research outputs
– To improve research
– To provide a public good
• Attack on traditional publishing
models
– Cost
– Time to publish
• Now being mandated by NHMRC, ARC
and overseas funding agencies
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Desire to share research outputs
• arXiv (http://arxiv.org
– Established 1991
– Hosted by Cornell University
– Nearly 800,000 physics, etc papers
• Various for profit and not for profit efforts since then
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Attack on traditional publishing
• Traditional STM publishing yields outrageous
profit margins
– Elsevier: 38%
– Springer: 34%
– Wiley-Blackwell: 42.5%
• Researchers provide content free, and also
review other people’s content and edit
journals for little or no recompense
• The publishing process can take years
25
Publisher activity
• Publishers have been vehemently opposed, but
are now offering “green” and “gold” options
– Green = author can self-archive
– Gold = author pays the publisher for open access,
either in repository or in a journal
– Hybrid Gold = author pays for open access in a closed
access journal
• Increasing number of open access journals, of
varying quality
– Eg BioMed Central
26
Open access: NHMRC and ARC
• Policies that require publications arising from funded research
to be made open access within 12 months of acceptance
(NHMRC) or publication (ARC), or …
• … explain why not
• Not expected to breach contractual arrangements or pay for
open access
• The University (Research Office and Library) are preparing
information about this
• You do not have to pay to comply
– Do not pay for open access unless that is where you want to publish
anyway
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Monash’s approach to OA
• Very supportive of the principle of open
access
– Monash University Publishing
– Monash University Research Repository
– Research data
– ANDS
• Philosophy: concentrate on making otherwise
inaccessible research outputs available
• More concerned about quality publishing than
open access of journal articles
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7. Monash infrastructure
• Faculty Research Office
• Monash Research Office
• Library
–
–
–
–
Advice about publishers
Intellectual property advice
Monash University Publishing
Monash University Research
Repository
– Research data management
© www.australianscaffolds.com.au
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Intellectual property
Copyright Advisor based in Library
Available on the Library website:
Information for staff researchers
Using third-party content
Moral rights
Republishing your own work
The Monash University Research
Repository
Will my publisher allow me to republish?
Research collections for ERA and HERDC
Using music in your research
Using images in your research
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Monash University Publishing
• Open access + traditional press
• University commitment to disseminating
research output
– Statement of the University’s role
– Global reach: open access, print on demand
– Local conversation: short print runs and
promotion
• Nurturing a culture of publishing
– Faculty based editorial boards
– Student publishing
• Publishing as part of research life cycle
– Subsidised
– Taking into account grant funding and
deemed value of positive media attention
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Monash University Research Repository
• Nearly 100,000 records
• Administrative function
– HERDC and ERA reporting
– ARC and NHMRC open
access policy compliance
• Stewardship of research
activity
–
–
–
–
–
55,322 journal articles
7,662 photographs
2,171 theses
759 issues of Lot’s Wife
282 patents
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Data management
•
•
•
•
Moves to make data, especially evidence, available, citable
Early days, currently few incentives
ARC is moving to encourage open data
Monash an early leader in recognising the important of
managing and disseminating data
• Lead agency of Australian National Data Service
• http://monash.edu/library/researchdata/index.html
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8. Focusing on you: Do you have a
plan?
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Know your discipline
• Be familiar with the literature in your
discipline
– Read the journals and books
– Identify hot topics, research methods,
unresolved problems
– Get to know your journals, book publishers
– Understand how citations happen
• Understand what is valued in your
discipline?
• What are the expectations of your
school/faculty?
• What research goals do I need to achieve
to get promoted?
35
Publishing in the right place
• Understand the preferences of your journals and
book publishers
• Target your papers at the right journal or publisher
• What about conference papers?
• Dealing with enticing publication offers!
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Submitting your publication
• Never submit a publication without
someone reading it first!
• Learn to accept criticism, including
rejection
• Learn how to respond to reviewers and
understand how to improve a publication
– get advice from colleagues
• Don’t give up!
Remember to acknowledge your Monash
affiliation on publications
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In conclusion …
• Develop your publication strategy
– Focus on highest status journals/publishers …
• … but be mindful of the need to publish
– Convert reports and publications into higher
quality, citable publications
– Co-author with high performing overseas authors
– Avoid vanity publishing
– Seek advice about where to publish
– Do not pay to comply with ARC and NHMRC open
access policies
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Questions? Ideas?