Open Access Week: October 24-30th, 2016

Editor’s Note:  Today we are pleased to bring you the following post from guest blogger, Sarah Norris, Scholarly Communications Librarian at UCF. Sarah is the University Libraries’ resident expert in all things related to scholarly communication and open access outreach efforts. You can find out more about Sarah, including her contact information, on the UCF Libraries page.

The 9th Annual International Open Access Week will take place October 24-30, 2016. But what is Open Access? How does it apply to you? In this post, we will look at what Open Access is and how you can advocate for Open Access publishing options as authors and use Open Access materials as researchers.

Still Not Using EndNote? Here’s What You’re Missing

Last week we presented an “EndNote Basics” BYOL Lunch & Learn. There’s a reason we’re trying to tell all of our library users about EndNote: EndNote is a powerful tool for managing citations, organizing bibliographies and references, and for editing manuscripts. EndNote, RefWorks, and Mendeley (all similar, competing tools) are often referred to as “reference management software” or “citation management software,” but these phrases don’t do EndNote justice. If you’re still writing papers without the use of EndNote, here is what you’ve been missing!

That moment when you realize you’ve been citing in the wrong style the WHOLE TIME

Copyright Conundrums: Author Rights

Editor’s Note: For this month’s edition of Copyright Conundrums, we are pleased to bring you the following post from guest blogger, Sarah Norris, Scholarly Communications Librarian at UCF. Sarah is the University Libraries’ resident expert in all things related to scholarly communication and open access outreach efforts. You can find out more about Sarah, including her contact information, on the UCF Libraries page.

In the Copyright Conundrums blog posts series, we discussed the basics of copyright and answered some of your frequently asked copyright questions. In this post, we’re going to expand on copyright and your rights as an author, including ways in which you can retain the copyright ownership of your work(s) when submitting them for publication.

Copyright Conundrums: Understanding How Copyright Works

Last month we shared with you some basics about U.S. copyright law. Today we’re continuing to answer some of your frequently asked copyright questions in this month’s edition of Copyright Conundrums. We’re going over some more basics to help you better understand just how copyright works.

Copyright Conundrums: The Basics

Welcome to our newest blog series, Copyright Conundrums! Every month we’ll bring you answers to some common copyright questions. We’ll be starting with the basics, like just what is copyright anyway? Later in the series you’ll find answers to questions like, “Can I stream a show on Netflix for my class?” and “What is a Creative Commons license?” ”

Getting Published: You’re Published…What Next?

Congratulations, your article was published! Now what? This week we’re wrapping up our “Getting Published” series and sharing some tips on what you should do once you’ve made it to publication.

Getting Published: Dealing with Rejection

In academia there are few things worse than reading the words “We’re sorry, but your manuscript was not accepted for publication.” Don’t bury your head in the sand and give up! We’re here to help you look upward and onward on your road to “Getting Published.” Here are the top 5 ways to deal with rejection when a journal editor turns down your paper.

Getting Published: The Peer Review Process

Congratulations, you’ve submitted your paper for publication! Now the waiting game begins. We can thank (or blame) the peer review process for that. Peer review is certainly the crossroads on your path to Getting Published.  Each month in our series we’ve been tackling an aspect of the publication process, including choosing the right journal, figuring out a journal’s scope, and deciphering author guidelines. Today we will attempt to demystify the peer review process.

Getting Published: Deciphering Author Guidelines

We hope you have been following our series “Getting Published” here on the HSL blog. This month we are tackling author guidelines and instructions. Previously we discussed choosing the right journal and making sure that your chosen journal’s scope fits with the theme of your paper. Now that you’ve picked a journal, you need to turn your attention to that journal’s instructions for prospective authors. Author instructions run the gamut from succinct to overwhelming, but there are always some common things you should keep in mind. This post will briefly cover the top 10 common author guidelines and will help you tackle each one.

Getting Published: Choosing the Right Journal

It’s a new year and perhaps your goal this year is to get that manuscript that’s been collecting virtual dust on your desktop published—finally! Figuring out where to start can be daunting. But think of it this way: the hardest part—writing the paper—is already done! So you’re already ¾ of the way there. Fear not, we are here with a new series on our blog called “Getting Published.” We’ll be here to guide you through the process of going from manuscript to publication that you can actually add to your CV.

So you have a paper written. Where do you publish it? The first decision you need to make is whether to publish in an Open Access journal or a traditional publication. For more information on Open Access, check our blog posts here and here.

If you’ve decided to go the traditional route, there are several venues you can use to find the perfect journal for you. Start with thinking about the main points of your manuscript, and if you haven’t already done so, come up with three to five keywords that best describe your paper. Once you have those, it will be easier to narrow down a journal. Let’s look at some options to find your perfect journal.