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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.

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

Peer Review types

1. Single-Blind Peer Review In this traditional model, reviewers know the identity of the authors, but authors do not know who reviewed their manuscript. It is widely used in biomedical sciences and engineering due to its simplicity and reviewer protection. However, it can introduce bias if reviewers are influenced by the authors’ reputation or affiliations.

2. Double-Blind Peer Review Both the authors and reviewers remain anonymous. This model is designed to reduce bias based on gender, institution, or geography. It is common in social sciences and increasingly adopted in biomedical journals to promote fairness.

3. Open Peer Review In open peer review, the identities of both authors and reviewers are disclosed. Sometimes, reviewer comments and author responses are published alongside the article. This model promotes transparency and accountability but may discourage candid feedback.

4. Transparent Peer Review Reviewers know the authors’ identities, and their anonymized reports are published with the article. This hybrid model aims to combine the benefits of open review with the protection of reviewer anonymity [2].

5. Triple-Blind Peer Review Rarely used, this model hides the identities of authors, reviewers, and editors from each other. It is designed to eliminate all potential bias but is difficult to implement effectively.

6. Post-Publication Peer Review This model allows the scientific community to comment and critique a paper after it has been published. It is often used in platforms that support open science and rapid dissemination, such as F1000Research and medRxiv.

NOTE: this information was generated by asking AI, Copilot, on 10.6.2025. 

Librarian

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Dianne Johnson, MLIS
she/her/hers
Contact:
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Coy C. Carpenter Library
336-716-3690

General Services

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

Covidence Account Request- request an invitation to join our institutional account 

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.

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