How to publish?
Publishing a scientific article is a long and arduous process. Below you will find a few tips and tricks to optimise the process.
ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is a unique, worldwide standard for the identification of books. Aim of the ISBN is to find every title published by a publishing company in a fast and simple way.
An ISBN is not required by law, but it is recommended if you want to distribute your publication via the commercial system.
To publish an article in a journal you don’t need an ISBN. After all, each journal has an ISSN (International Standard Serial Number).
It is possible to receive an ISBN for a doctoral dissertation. Don’t apply for one if the doctoral dissertation contains confidential information. Nor the faculty nor the university has an editor’s prefix that should be included in the ISBN. Notify the printing company to insert the ISBN on the back of the title page and at the backside of the doctoral dissertation.
In Flanders and Brussels you should apply for an ISBN via boekenbank.be.
When choosing a journal for your publication, various factors come into play. Here you will find an overview of useful tools and sources to help make your selection.
| Factors that (may) play a role when choosing the journal | Tools and sources |
|---|---|
| Content |
|
| Impact factor of the journal | Journal Citation Reports |
| Open Access | Directory of Open Access Journals Tip: Also be sure to check whether the funding body has any Open Access requirements |
| Duration of the review process | SciRev |
| Reliability of the journal | Tips in the (re)search tip “Assess the quality of a scholarly journal” |
| Journal’s areas of interest | Scopus: via Analyze search results you can (in Source) get an overview of journals that have already published in the area of your research question. |
| Price (for the peer review process, production costs, making it accessible to the public, etc.) | Certain journals publishers use a business model in which a contribution is asked of the author (an APC – Article Processing Charge, author fee – publication fee), so that the articles in Open Access are accessible to everyone and there is no requirement to take out a subscription to these journals.
TIP: UGent authors get a 15% discount on the APC when they publish in a BioMed Central, Chemistry Central or SpringerOpen journal. For more information on this topic, consult the UGent information page. |
International Reporting Guidelines give an overview of the criteria that an article should satisfy, where possible, in order to promote transparency in reporting and prevent Reporting Bias.
| Study type | Reporting guideline |
|---|---|
| Cohort, case-control en cross-sectionale studie | STROBE statement |
| Case reports | CARE |
| Health Economic Evaluations | CHEERS |
| Animal experimentation (pre-clinical) | ARRIVE |
| Qualitative research | SRQR |
| RCT | CONSORT statement |
| Guidelines | AGREE |
| Study protocols | SPIRIT |
| Systematic review (and meta-analysis) | PRISMA statement, checklist en flow diagram
PRISMA-P (PRISMA for protocols) PRISMA-A (PRISMA for abstract) |
More guidelines for Health Research can be found at www.equator-network.org
Today, the traditional publication model of a single author prevails in only a few disciplines. In most other disciplines, multiple authors are almost always responsible for a publication, ranging from the limited partnership between doctoral students and their supervisor(s) to the publications by large(r) groups that collaborate in large international consortia.
Read here about the responsibilities the authorship involves.
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) issued recommendations concerning the role of (co-)authors and contributors.
Preferably, both institutions should be listed as separate affiliations:
- Medical department, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
- (Research Group,) Department of Ghent University, Faculty, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
If submission allows only one affiliation per person, the following combined affiliation can be used:
Medical department of Ghent University Hospital, Department of Ghent University, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
While this combined affiliation is not preferred, it can be used in exceptional situations.
EXTRA TIPS
- If you add more than one affiliation for an author, all affiliations should be submitted separately.
- Components within each organizational structure should preferably be listed in hierarchical order, from small to large.
- An affiliation should be written out in full without using abbreviations or acronyms.
- Affiliations should be formatted with ‘initial capitalization’ (meaning that all words except small words like “of” or “and” have an initial capital letter).
- If multiple authors are affiliated to the same research entity, the same affiliation should be provided; there should be only one affiliation for identical affiliations.
- Presentation of the Knowledge 2 Connect lunch meeting about this topic.
- Article of D.A. Cook, Twelve tips for getting your manuscript published
- Article of M.C. Nahata, Tips for writing and publishing an article
Following an analysis of the linguistic quality, technical difficulty and scope of your text/article, the University Language Centre will decide whether your text/article is eligible for proofreading. You will then be sent a quote, providing details of the cost and delivery time. See here for more information (contact, method, examples and reactions).
The Translating, Interpreting and Communication department offers an affordable proofreading and translation service to third parties. Contact Nicole Merckx for more information about this service.
Certain funding bodies require a protocol to be registered (e.g. National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)).
The registration of your protocol promotes transparency, helps reduce possible bias and helps prevent unnecessary duplicate review work.*
You can register your protocol with:
- International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO).
- The Campbell Collaboration
- The Cochrane Collaboration
* Stewart L, Moher D, Shekelle P. Why prospective registration of systematic reviews makes sense. Syst Rev. 2012;1:7.
Do you have a question related to your literature review or do you need help with searching, processing or publishing of your literature/data? Then please fill in our form to give us a clear view of your question and so that we can advise you efficiently. Alternatively, you could email us at kcgg@ugent.be.