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Publishing Your Research: Overview

Guide to Getting Published

Scholarly Publishing

Scholarly publishing is the process through which newly discovered knowledge is refined, certified, distributed to, and preserved for researchers, professors, students, and the public. This guide will help you identify highly regarded journals (and avoid predatory ones) to publish your scholarly material.

Some scholarly publishing would not happen were it not for grants. The Clinical Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) of Wake Forest University School of Medicine manages grants. The Scientific Editing Services sections offers support for research grant proposals.

What is a scholarly journal?

What is a scholarly journal?

Scholarly journals differ from popular magazines and trade journals/magazines in a number of ways. (See "Comparison Chart" below.) A primary difference between scholarly journals and other types of journals and magazines is that articles in these journals undergo a "peer review" process before they are published. What does this mean?

  • Peer review is the process by which an author's peers, recognized researchers in the field, read and evaluate a paper (article) submitted for publication and recommend whether the paper should be published, revised, or rejected.
  • Peer review is a widely accepted indicator of quality scholarship in a discipline or field. Articles accepted for publication through a peer review process meet the discipline's expected standards of expertise.
  • Peer-reviewed (or refereed) journals are scholarly journals that only publish articles that have passed through this review process.

The following characteristics can help you distinguish between these and two other types of periodicals: popular magazines and trade publications.

General Services

Classes - classes about searching, databases, citation management software and library resources.

Covidence Account Request- request invite to join institutional account (more information)

Endnote - citation management software.

Instruction - request a group or one-on-one session with a librarian.

Literature Search - request librarian search assistance

Notary Services -  contact Jenny Little or call (336) 713-7100

Publishing assistance - help finding a journal, publishing options and metrics.

Purchase recommendation - suggest a book, journal or resource for the Library to purchase.

Systematic Review- request librarian search assistance

Submit an ILL - log in to Illiad for Interlibrary Loan requests.

Why Publish?

  • Show the results of research.
  • Grants & publishing activity are sometimes used in tenure and promotion process at many academic institutions.
  • Academic institutions themselves may be judged on the activities of researchers and research programs.
  • Some grants require that the results of the research funded be published

Peer Review Process

Figure 1: Diagram of a “typical” peer review process (there are many varieties).

Peer Review: The Nuts and Bolts, by Voice of Young Science USA

Librarian

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Dianne Johnson
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Contact:
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Coy C. Carpenter Library
336-716-3690

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