Build a shortlist of suitable journals that align with your manuscript, audience, discipline, and research goals. Check fit and credibility then rank them by fit.
Start with journal suitability
A Read & Publish agreement may support open access publishing, but it should not be the main reason for choosing a journal. First identify journals that are suitable for your work, then check whether an agreement or another open publishing pathway applies.
Build a longlist
Gather potentially suitable journals connected to your research, including journals cited in your reference list, outlets used by leading scholars in your field and recommendations from supervisors or colleagues. Use journal finder tools, indexing databases and publisher information to expand your options.
Build a shortlist
Review each journal’s aims and scope, recent articles, audience, accepted article types, peer review process, indexing, publication timeframes, author rights, licence options and charges. Use journal metrics or discipline-specific ratings only where relevant and interpret them in context.
Use Think. Check. Submit. For journals. to assess whether a journal is transparent and trustworthy. Consult Ulrichsweb (WSU login required) to check whether it is listed as peer-reviewed (refereed) and review its publisher details and indexing coverage.
Compare three to five journals against your topic, methodology, article type, intended audience, publishing timeframe, research goals and open access requirements to build your shortlist. Then rank them in order of suitability to identify your first choice and backup journals.
Be cautious of unrealistic publication promises, unclear peer review, hidden fees, misleading indexing claims or repeated or generic invitations to submit.
Pre-submission enquiry
If you are unsure whether a journal is suitable for your research, discuss with your supervisor whether to send a pre-submission enquiry to the journal editor. This can help you gauge the journal’s interest in your manuscript before submitting it.
Use the subject guide
Use the Journal Selection Tool and detailed guidance in the Publish Your Research guide to build, assess and rank your shortlist.
Choose a conference that connects your research with the right audience and supports its visibility, credibility, preservation and longer-term value, connects your research with the right audience and supports its visibility, credibility, preservation and longer-term value.
Find and assess a conference
Check that the conference theme, scope, audience, organisers, sponsors and venue align with your research and has an appropriate standing in your field. Review whether the abstract, paper or both will be peer reviewed and what type of paper will be published, for example, abstracts, full papers, peer-reviewed proceedings or journal special issues or collections. Also check if the proceedings are indexed, whether a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is assigned and what copyright and licence conditions apply.
Confirm how the work will be presented and published, whether proceedings include full papers or abstracts, whether they are indexed and what copyright and licence conditions apply. Consider registration, travel, accommodation, and available School, Institute or research centre funding.
Use Think. Check. Attend. to assess the event before submitting or registering.
Where relevant to your discipline, consult the CORE Rankings Portal.
Plan for visibility and preservation
Keep records that document your participation and any resulting publications, such as the program, acceptance correspondence, presentation materials, proceedings or DOI.
Where eligible, record the resulting research output in Research Profiles and Repository.
Choose a publication or dissemination pathway that suits the output, audience, discipline and purpose of your research.
Select an outlet for a NTRO
NTRO may include:
- original creative works
- live performance of creative works
- recorded/rendered creative works
- curated or produced substantial public exhibitions and events
- research reports for an external body.
NTRO opportunities often arise organically, including through invitations or offers to present or perform. When assessing an opportunity, consider the standing of the organisation, venue, commissioner, or platform among peers and your intended audiences, alongside any documentation or evidence of reach or engagement that may be available, such as attendance, downloads, website visits, reviews, catalogues, recordings, photography or media coverage.
Document and preserve the output
Keep appropriate documentation of the output and its research contribution so that it can be reported, preserved, discovered and, where possible, accessed.
Include descriptive information that explains the research context, significance and your contribution. Depending on the output, supporting documentation may include photographs, recordings, exhibition catalogues, programs, reviews or other evidence of the work and its public presentation.
Some eligible research materials, including digital research reports and other eligible grey literature, may be assigned a Digital Object Identifier through Western Sydney University. Check the Digital Object Identifier eligibility requirements before applying.
Check copyright and access
Confirm that you have the necessary rights and permissions to reproduce, document, preserve and share the output and any third-party content it contains.
Consider copyright, moral rights, performer rights, acknowledgements, access restrictions, contractual arrangements and any applicable funder or institutional open access requirements.
See Western Sydney University Library guidance on copyright.
Choose a publisher that can reach the right readers, support the quality and integrity of your work, and make the book discoverable, accessible and usable.
Start with audience and purpose
Identify whether your primary readers are researchers, professionals, practitioners, students or the wider public. Consider whether the project is best suited to a scholarly monograph, edited collection, textbook, professional book, crossover title, trade book or open scholarly work.
Prepare a strong proposal
Follow each publisher’s proposal requirements. A scholarly proposal commonly explains the book’s purpose, audience, contribution, structure, competing titles and market and may include sample chapters. Trade publishers may require submissions through a literary agent.
Evaluate potential publishers
Review subject areas, recent titles, peer review and editorial processes, reputation, distribution, pricing, discoverability, formats, preservation, publication timeframes, rights, royalties, open access options, and fees. Clarify who will provide copyediting, proofreading, indexing, design, permissions support, marketing and production.
Assess distribution through Western Sydney University Library catalogue, Trove, and WorldCat.
Use Think. Check. Submit. checklist for books and chapters to assess publisher credibility.
Confirm with the publisher whether they assign the International Standard Book Number (ISBN), the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or both.
Compare publishing pathways
Open access book publishing
Open access can extend a book’s reach beyond readers with library or purchasing access. Compare peer review, Creative Commons licence options, fees, production support, distribution, preservation and print availability.
Browse peer-reviewed open access books through the Directory of Open Access Books.
Western Open Books
Eligible Western Sydney University authors may consider publishing open textbooks and open scholarly works with the Library and Western Open Books.
Commercial scholarly publishing
Commercial scholarly publishers may suit monographs, collections, textbooks, professional books, and works intended for academic or broader markets. Western Sydney University does not operate a commercial scholarly publishing pathway.
Publishing a thesis as a book
A thesis generally requires substantial revision before book publication. Reshape the structure and argument for a defined audience, remove examination-focused material, update the literature, reconsider quotations, images and other third-party content. Further guidance is available from How to turn your PhD into a book, (The Thesis Whisperer), Eight Tips for Turning Your PhD Thesis into a Book (Sydney University Press),https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/your-career/early-career-researcher-hub/revising-the-dissertation Reworking your thesis for book publication (AIATSIS), and How to revise your thesis into a book (Springer Nature).
Before you commit
Compare several publishers and review the contract carefully. Confirm services, retained rights, formats, territories, royalties, licence conditions, permissions, deadlines, publication schedule and arrangements if the book becomes unavailable. Check whether an eligible version may be shared through Research Profiles and Repository.