Research support
Publishing your research
Library and Learning Services can provide support and guidance when publishing your research.
Jump to a section:
Where to publish
Library and Learning Services will never tell you where to publish your research, but we can offer advice and resources that may help when trying to find a publisher.
Think. Check. Submit.
Think. Check. Submit. Aims to help researchers identify trusted publishers for journal articles and book chapters. The questions, tools and resources support researchers when considering potential publishers for their work. They may also help identify any predatory publishers - publishers who take advantage and exploit researchers and their work.
For articles and journals:
Think. Check. Submit. Journals
For books and chapters:
Think. Check . Submit. Books and Chapters
For conferences:
Journal Checker Tool
If you have received research funding, your research funder may have publishing and open access (OA) requirements. Journal Checker Tool will help to check whether the journal you would like to publish in supports compliance with your research funder.
For further information and support on research funder policies, visit our Research Funder Open Access Publication Policies page.
OAPEN Books Toolkit
If you are thinking of publishing an open access (OA) book, the OAPEN Books Toolkit aims to help academics and researchers understand OA for books and provide guidance on publishing a book OA.
Research metrics
Bibliometrics may help when choosing a publisher or journal. You can check a journal's impact factor or use citation data to see what research is being published in a particular journal.
When using bibliometrics, researchers must consider them carefully and in context. Different bibliometric measures have limitations, and they are not always a measure of good quality. Different subjects and disciplines also value bibliometrics differently.
For further information about the metric resources available to York St John University researchers, visit our Measure your research impact page.
Paying to publish
York St John University supports the principles of open access (OA). Where possible we ask researchers to follow the Green or Diamond OA route.
- Green OA: a version of a research output is made available free of charge to readers, often through an online repository and usually with an embargo period.
- Diamond OA: neither author or readers pay any charge and research outputs are published, made available immediately and can be reused according to the licence applied to the work.
Open Access Community Framework initiatives
Open Access community-driven framework initiatives enable multiple stakeholders to collectively fund OA content.
Find out more about the initiatives we have pledged money towards on our dedicated OA page.
Open Access policy and approach
Read and publish agreements
Alongside supporting open access publishing initiatives, Library and Learning Services have some transitional agreements with publishers.
Transitional agreements are also known as Read and Publish agreements. They provide access to the publisher's subscription journals while also allowing our researchers to publish research articles with that publisher immediately open access (OA) without any article process charges (APCs) or with discounted/capped APCs.
Please note that the Library and Learning Services team and the Research Office do not have funding for APCs or BPCs (book processing charges)."
Find out more about the agreements we are part of on our dedicated page.
Publishing contracts
Once your research has been accepted by a publisher, you should receive a publishing contract. Make sure you read any contracts carefully and check that you understand all the terms. Publishing contracts can be negotiated, and you don't need to sign the first contract you're given.
There are certain things you should consider when reading and negotiating your contract. These can differ depending on what you are publishing.
- Publishing deadlines: Will the deadlines conflict with any other projects or teaching?
- Costs and payment: Are royalty payments clearly outlined? Who will pay for any copyright permissions? What will the cost licensing options be for Higher Education institutions? Do you need to become a member of the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ACLS)?
- Format: Will the text be available in print and electronically? Will an affordable library ebook model be available and on which platform(s)? Will an accessible version of the text be available?
- Open Access: Does the publisher support OA? Will the publisher allow a chapter to be made open on RaY?
- Reuse: Will you be able to use the research in your teaching? Will you be able to build upon and use that research again in the future?
- Research funder compliance: Have you received any research funding? Does the publisher comply with your research funder policies? Do you need to consider Plans S? Is the journal Plan S compliant? Do you need to consider the Right Retention Strategy?
Academic eBook Investigation has produced guidance for academics on negotiating contracts with publishers. Explore their website or downloadable guidance:
- Academic Ebook Investigation website
- Can my students read my books? Guidance for academics on negotiating contracts with publishers (PDF, 0.2MB)
If you need advice related to publishing contracts, contact our Copyright, Licensing and Research Librarian by emailing m.kilvington@yorksj.ac.uk.
Transferring copyright ownership
Some publishers may ask that your transfer your copyright ownership to them when signing a publishing contract. Where possible, we would recommend that you retain your copyright and instead sign a licence to publish, which grants the publisher exclusive right to publish your research whilst you retain some rights.
If you transfer copyright ownership to your publisher, you may need to get permission from the publisher to use the research in your teaching or to build upon the research in the future. Retaining copyright ownership is also one of the Plan S principles.
Further information is available on our related pages:
Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)
The ALCS is a not for profit membership organisation for writers that collects royalty money due to UK works (books, articles and scripts) from around the world and then distributes the money owed to members.
The money they collect is from 'secondary uses' of works, such as photocopies, digital reproductions and educational recordings. Anyone who has ever written anything that has been published or broadcast can join. See the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society website for further information.
