This guide is aimed to provide suggestions for authors to consider upon publishing a new research output, to raise the visibility of their publication. Think we have missed something? Have any tips? Let us know!
This may seem pretty basic – but if you are the corresponding author on a multi-authored paper, do remember to let your co-authors know it has been published!
Your co-authors may not receive confirmation of either acceptance or final publication from the publisher. Contributors are even less-likely to be informed directly.
For guidance on authorship and acknowledgements in papers, see our guidance at:
Durham authors are required to deposit their accepted manuscripts in Durham Research Online (DRO).
If you haven't published in an open access journal, or the article hasn't been made open access by the journal (usually on payment of an Article Processing Charge), this can help ensure there is a freely available version of your article for readers who may not have subscription access to the journal in which it is published. It si also indexed by Google Scholar and other services.
For guidance on Open Access and Depositing in DRO, see our guide at:
Let colleagues in your department, faculty or who may otherwise be interested know - don't rely on them finding out through Google or journal/database search alerts!
Some departments at Durham may operate internal bulletins, coffee mornings or notice boards. Or you may wish to notify subscribers to society or subject mailing lists, such as JISCMail, which you belong to.
[Be aware that some publisher might apply a pre-publication embargo on forthcoming publications. For example, see the Nature guidance on confidentiality and pre-publicity.]
To find out more about mailing lists, see our guide on keeping up to date at:
Library Research Support: Research Skills: Current Awareness
Is your publication eligible for inclusion in the next REF? Do you think it should be considered for inclusion in Durham University's REF submission? Then make sure you have suggested the publication for inclusion in the REF via the Staff Profile System.
If your department's Senior Research Administrator (SRA) manages this on behalf of your department, you may wish to let them know how great your publication is, if you haven't already!
Guidance can be found on Research & Innovation Services Sharepoint pages.
The University's Communications and Marketing team may be able to offer additional support in using official channels (such as in issuing a press release) for communicating about stories with potential major impact.
[Be aware that some publisher might apply a pre-publication embargo on forthcoming publications. For example, see the Nature guidance on confidentiality and pre-publicity.]
See the Communications Sharepoint for further information.
If you have deposited your manuscript in DRO already, the publication will already be appearing on your Durham staff profile page (if not, see our guidance here).
If you have your own personal web page, or perhaps a page for your research group or a specific research project, remember to add a list of your publications (or the most relevant ones) here also. You can see examples of author's personal pages here, here and here.
If you are representing a cross-institutional research project or group, where Durham University is the lead organisation and within one of Communications and Marketing's identified priority research areas, you can request a WordPress site though the Communications and Marketing team's Tools and Guides pages.
Do you have an ORCiD?
Increasingly, publishers are requiring authors provide an ORCiD through a manuscript submission system, or allowing authors the option to do so. Some publishers will automatically populate an author's ORCiD profile, via CrossRef. Not all publishers do this however, so to ensure your ORCiD is up to date, you may wish to keep your ORCiD profile up to date yourself.
If you don't have an ORCID, check out our guide on ORCID for more information:
If you have a Google Scholar Profile, make sure you add your publication to your profile to :
For more information on creating and managing a Google Scholar Profile, see our guide at:
If you have a profile on one or more Academic Networking sites, such as ResearchGate, LinkedIN, Academia.edu, LinkedIN or Mendeley, you may want to add details of the publication their and notify your connections (and potential collaborators, employers, supervisors or students) of your recent publication.
For guidance and support on raising your media profile, see also the Communications and Marketing team's Tools and Guides page.
For further guidance on these networks and why you may wish to use them, see our guide on managing your digital footprint:
Many academics use Twitter, for multiple reasons; using Twitter to promote a forthcoming or recently published publication being one of them. There are two key things you might wish to tweet once you have been published:
See our Twitter Tips for Authors at:
Do you blog? Do any of your colleagues, students or supervisors blog?
Many academic authors use blogging as a means to promote their research to a wider audience. Many blogging platforms also allow an author to see information about who their audience is (number of visits, where from etc.) and engage directly with readers through a comments section. You may also find blogging a useful medium to challenge you to think about what you say, and how and where you say it, when seeking to reach or engage with a different audience.
See examples and further reading about academic blogging for Authors at:
What, you thought that was it?
