Writing and publishing

Getting started

UQ's Student Support Services provide a useful introduction to getting published in a journal.Their advice includes sections on

why publish?
choosing a journal
preparing a manuscript
surviving the reviewing process.

The UQ Library also provides links to an extensive array of resources to help with getting your article published.

The Nature Publishing Group, one of the top journal publishers, also has advice on how to write an article for a Nature journal. It includes a section called How to write a scientific paper.

Sometimes a book can help

The Library holds a number of items that can help you with writing for scholarly publication.

Where to publish

It is best to publish in well-respected journals that attract large numbers of citations. Use the Journal Citation Reports (JCRweb) to identify high-impact journals. Researchers in the hard sciences should select the Science edition, while social sciences and humanities scholars should opt to search the Social Science edition. Both editions provide impact factor details and other metrics for the journals they cover.

Ulrich'sWeb is another tool for identifying journals. It provides detailed information on more than 300,000 of them. This includes whether the journal is available online, where it is indexed and whether it is a peer-reviewed publication.

Formatting publications for submission

Journals generally expect material to be submitted according to their house style for referencing. These can vary greatly from publisher to publisher. For example, Oxford Journals have different requirements from the American Psychological Association. Such information is usually included in the Instructions for Authors on publisher web sites. If you want to be published in the biosciences field, Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals will be useful.

The Library provides Web guides on the different referencing styles. You can also consult with your RIS librarian about style, or use the EndNote referencing software to produce references formatted in the correct style. The benefit of EndNote is its ability to produce the same references in any number of different styles.

Compliance with publishing codes and ethics

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research includes advice on authorship, and how to avoid breaches of the code. Compliance with this code is a condition for gaining grants from fund-making bodies such as the NHMRC and ARC. The NHMRC also provides a lot of advice about ethics. The Library provides advice on copyright and avoiding plagiarism. The University also provides plagiarism advice and has an Academic Integrity and Plagiarism policy, as well as an intellectual property policy. Other useful sites include the following:

Authorder - to help you get the assignment of authors right
CONSORT - advice on the proper reporting of randomised controlled trials
Committee on Publication Ethics - advice on avoiding breaches in research and publication ethics