Plan to Publish with Purpose: Plan for Impact, Visibility and Success
Publishing strategically is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a researcher. Before you begin writing, take a moment to develop a publishing plan—a proactive step that sets you up for long-term success.
A clear and considered publishing plan empowers you to:
- Choose the right outlet for your intended audience
- Identify high-quality, reputable journals or publishers
- Avoid predatory publishers and protect the integrity of your research
- Stay on track with strategic, timely submissions
- Maximise the visibility and impact of your work
Whether you're a Higher Degree Research candidate, early-career, mid-career or experienced researcher, planning ahead helps you publish with confidence, credibility and influence.
Ready to Get Started?
- Download the Publishing Plan Form (.docx)
Start your planning with a simple, customisable template. - Explore the Publishing Plan Toolkit
Access practical steps, useful resources, and real-world examples to guide your publishing journey. - Connect with the Scholarly Publishing Consultant
Receive expert, personalised advice and support tailored to your research goals.
Looking for more guidance on scholarly publishing?
Use the Publishing Plan Toolkit to develop a strategic publishing plan that maximises research impact and supports your career goals. Your publish plan should be used as a guide to help you:
- Find suitable quality publishing outlets, e.g., journals, books, conference proceedings, or trade publications
- Check the quality of your publishing outlets to find one that maximises your research impact
- Identify publisher guidelines and style guides to be followed, before you start writing and before you submit your research
- Promote your research before, upon and after publication, and keep current
- Track your research performance for grant and academic promotions
Learn about the importance of researcher identifiers, including:
- Having an ORCID record
- Linking your ORCID to the WSU Research Profiles and Repository, ARC Research Management System (RMS) and other researcher indentifiers
- The WSU Researcher Profile, Scopus Author Identifier, Web of Science ResearcherID, and Google Scholar profile
- How to get the most out of your researcher identifiers.
The Publishing Process provides an introduction to the world of scholarly publishing, and looks at:
- Publishing in journals, books and conference proceedings
- Keeping current
- Understanding author responsibilities
- Submitting your manuscript and editorial reviews
- Peer review and peer review training opportunities
- Avoiding predatory publishers.
Learn about Open Access, including:
- How to comply with open access policies and mandates
- Copyright and Creative Commons licences
- ‘Gold’, ‘Diamond’ and ‘Green’ open access models
- Read & Publish Agreements
- Understanding Article Processing Charges (APC)
- Where to find a suitable journal for your research
- Using ResearchDirect to meet your funder mandates
Use research metrics to measure your research performance for grant and academic promotions:
- Measure research performance and attention to research
- Demonstrate influence and performance for grants and academic promotions
- Check your publication track record and top papers
Gather evidence of engagement with your research end-users, including how to:
- Identify research end-users
- Develop an engagement strategy
- Gather and maintain evidence of engagement