Research Metrics

Before making decisions about where to publish, what types of materials to share, where to setup your scholarly research profile, etc., it is important to reflect on and articulate your goals. Use the worksheet (My Research, Creative, Scholarly, and Publishing Goals - Action Plan) to begin the process of articulating your goals, the actions you'll take to meet those goals, and how your scholarly/professional goals align with those of your department, then University, and beyond. 

Publishing for Impact

1. Define Goals (This should take place prior to doing research and publishing) 
   • Your research, scholarly, and creative goals
   • Your career goals
   • Goals of your department, the University, and profession
2. Publisher Questions (This should take place prior to selecting a book publisher or journal) 
   • Investigate the publisher and/or journal to see where that publisher/publication is indexed, and whether or not it is assigned a DOI, which is helpful for finding and tracking any citations your publications receive. 
   • Check to see what copyright, re-use, and sharing rights you retain as an author with the publisher
   • Have you considered submitting a preprint to a repository, which can help with the visibility and reach of your publication. Does your publisher allow you to deposit a preprint? 
   • Check to see what open access options are available through the publisher. Open access can greatly improve the visibility and reach of your publication and is sometimes mandated by funders. 
3. Submit & Revise
   • Consider depositing your preprint into an appropriate subject repository at this stage in your publishing process. 
4. Publish
   • Talk to your subject librarian or our copyright team if you have questions about author rights or open access, prior to signing the final publisher agreement
5. After Publishing 
   • Check to see is te
   • Identify an appropriate repository to deposit your postprint (final author manuscript, after peer review, and before final submission), data, survey, code, supplemental materials, etc. Check with the SURFACE Team (SU's Institutional Repository) or your subject librarian if you need assistance selecting a repository or understanding whether or not you're allowed to make your postprint available publicly.  
   • If you received funding for your published research, scholarship, or creative work, check to see if there are any funder mandates related to sharing an open access version of your publication, data, or other supplementary materials. 
6. Disseminate your works (Takes place after depositing your works in an appropriate subject repository, paying attention to any publisher or funder guidelines)
   • Update your research/scholarly profiles (Google Scholar, Experts@Syracuse, ORCiD)
   • Present at conferences or professional events on your published works
   • Share via social media or other professional networking venues
7. Impact
   • Track citations and other counts (metrics), that show the reach and impact of your works
   • Research metrics resources
   • Contact the Research Impact Team for guidance on how to capture and tell the story of your impact