Subject Guides

Public Health

Introduction to Academic Publishing

This page is meant to be an introduction to the academic publishing process. 

Use the links below or scroll this page to find more information

Features of this guide will include: 

University Librarians can assist with many steps in the publishing process. Some of these include: 

  • Assist with the development of Academic Online Profiles
  • Explain the peer review process
  • Assist with the evaluation of a journal's quality
  • Provide journal recommendations
  • Copyright guidance and publication agreements
  • Journal metrics
  • Explain the OA process
  • And more!

This Librarian's Tips: 

  • Use the writing center! Even professional writers need an editor!
  • Review the Author Guidelines of the journal you have chosen for publication before finalizing formatting and citation style to determine how to design your article. Click link for example.
  • When choosing a journal for publication, consider which journals are most cited in the references for your article, chances are this is the journal that is best for your topic. 
    • Be sure that the journal is indexed in PubMed and/or CINAHL!
  • Create an ORCiD account and include your ORCiD id with your personal information upon submission
  • Ask lots of questions and ensure that you understand each step in this process

Author Guidelines

  • All reputable journals will have guidelines for authors on their website
  • These guidelines provide the journals requirements for formatting, citation, etc. 
  • It is strongly recommended that you format your paper to these guidelines prior to peer review for a stronger chance of acceptance.
  • Many journals will require that you openly share your data to support the validity of your study. To find more information about Data Management & Sharing refer to the Digital Scholarship guide. 

Open Access & Discounted Publishing

Open Access

  • A publishing model that makes research freely available to all
  • Encourages the sharing ideas and data to further research and discovery
  • Eliminates barriers of access

Watch this video for a brief overview

Types of OA
Gold Green
Article is published immediately with unlimited access  Article is made public in an online repository 
Author retains copyright Author retains copyright
Most common in "hybrid" journals Most common in subject based repositories

Transformative Agreements 

Transformative agreements are collaborations between the University Libraries and publishers to move from traditional, subscription-based publishing to an open access model. They often combine the cost that the library would pay for journal subscriptions with the cost of article processing charges (APCs) to publish articles open access. This allows affiliated researchers to publish their articles open access under their university's agreement. The benefits include removing the administrative burden and cost of individual researchers publishing open access as well as all benefits involved with making research more openly available.

See the Binghamton Libraries guide on Transformative Agreements for more information