Publishing Process

About These Publishing Resources

Whether publishing an article, a book, or another type of publication, the process can take many steps. This guide provides resources that cover those publication steps and formats.

In the “Article Publishing Process” section, the list of resources offers guidance on the steps of the publishing process: selecting a journal, peer review, copyright and publishing agreements, open access, and sharing your work.

The next section of “General Guides Based on Format/Topic” contains resources on publishing as it relates to books, DEI, and dissertations & theses.

Article Publishing Process

Selecting a Journal

Choosing a suitable publication venue – This 3-minute video from the University of Calgary Library gives strategies for how to find a place to publish.
Browsing for possible journals – Places to look include: references lists on published articles you read, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory for details about journals and ones with related names, and the Web of Science to search for journals that publish on your topic.
Evaluating the journal you find – Think. Check. Submit. supplies a checklist to evaluate whether the journal you are considering is the right journal for your research.

Peer Review

Understanding Scholarly Journals and Peer Review – This chapter of the ebook, Power, Profit, and Privilege: Problematizing Scholarly Publishing, gives an overview of peer review starting with the embedded video and following two paragraphs.
Distinguishing the types of peer review – The UC Office of Scholarly Communication describes peer review models that are used by journals.
Serving as a peer reviewer – In their document of ethical guidelines for peer reviewers, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) shares considerations for being a reviewer (p. 4), conducting a review (p. 5-6), preparing your report (p. 6-7), and what to consider after a review (p. 8).

Navigating publishing agreements – Publishing typically involves signing some of your rights to the publisher to allow them to publish your work. Read more about what your rights are, how to manage your publishing agreements, and what is negotiable. Find more information about copyright on other pages of this same guide, too.
Choosing a Creative Commons license – Learn about the types of CC licenses and consider selecting one for your article.

Open Access

Considering whether to publish open access – The UC Office of Scholarly Communication outlines answers to “why publish open access?”
Knowing your options for Open Access at UCSC – Learn more about support and funding for making your publication openly available to read online.
Utilizing the UC Open Access Policies to make your scholarly articles open for free – Authors may share their accepted manuscript in eScholarship, the UC’s institutional repository and publishing platform.

Sharing Your Work

Using an ORCID for author identification – Authors may sign up for an ORCID, which is a free, unique, persistent identifier for individuals to use as they engage in research, scholarship, and grant activities. ORCID provides a profile for authors that may be made public, and authors may fill out the profile as little or as much as they would like with their affiliation, grants, publications, presentations, and more.
Exploring metrics for your research via the Metrics Toolkit – Find overviews of common scholarly publishing metrics, which may be used to understand the research impact of your work.
Managing academic social media – Read about the distinction between ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and the institutional repository.

General Guides Based on Format/Topic

Books

Diving deeper into publication contracts – Download the Authors Alliance’s guide called Understanding and Negotiating Publication Contracts for books.
Publishing your book open access – This FAQ describes considerations for publishing your book open access.
Writing the book proposal – The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors by Laura Portwood-Stacer provides a “step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal and seeing your book through to successful publication.”
Learning about publishing from a university press – These blog posts by the UC Press illuminate topics like how to work with an editorial assistant and what publishing jargon means.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Scholarly Communication for Authors – The UC Office of Scholarly Communication covers issues, actions, and resources for authors, as well as peer review & editorial boards, scholarly publishers, and libraries on other pages.
Learning Eight Ways to Tackle Diversity and Inclusion in Peer Review – This post from the Scholarly Kitchen makes suggestions for addressing these issues in peer review.
Ensuring accessibility for your content – Follow tips for creating accessible content, such as making your figures or PDFs accessible.

Dissertations & Theses

Submitting your dissertation at UCSC – UC has an open access policy for theses and dissertations, but procedures and specifics vary by campus – learn more about this process at UCSC.
Demystifying Dissertation Writing – This print book walks through a “streamlined process from choice of topic to final text.”
Facing Challenges in Writing Your Dissertation: Coping with the Emotional, Interpersonal, and Spiritual Struggles – This ebook, available through the UCSC University Library, “addresses doctoral students' often overlooked but crucial issues that can delay dissertation completion.”
Demystifying the Dissertation-to-Book Process – In this 2024 webinar recording, UC Press Senior Editor Michelle Lipinski “breaks down the steps and the often winding pathways scholars can take from finishing a dissertation to publishing a book."