Publishing Manuscripts in Online Repositories to Increase Wider National and International Dissemination

This workshop will introduce attendees to the various ways that researchers can disseminate their work via online repositories to increase access to national and international audiences. In the field of social work, scholars primarily publish their empirical research in peer-reviewed journals. Through the peer-review process, peer reviewed journals play a very important role in vetting the quality of social work research. Peer-reviewed journals also have an important role in disseminating research findings through both traditional and open access options. Despite the important role peer-reviewed journals have in the research endeavor, there are some limitations to publishing research solely in peer-reviewed journals, such as the long lag time it takes for the peer review process, or the inability for social workers globally to access papers which are published behind paywalls. While the rise of open access allows for greater global access to publications, many social work researchers are still leery of open access because of the large costs sometimes associated with publication, and the confusion between legitimate open access publishers and predatory journals.

This workshop will introduce attendees to an alternative form of dissemination intended to compliment peer-reviewed publication, the publication of preprint and postprint manuscripts in online depositories. Preprints are a mechanism for publishing research findings prior to acceptance in a peer-reviewed journal, while postprints are for publishing accepted manuscripts. We have seen a rise of global interest in preprints and postprints during the COVID-19 pandemic, as much of our early scientific knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines was first distributed via preprints. Publishing preprints and postprints cannot only assist with rapidly releasing your findings, but can also help increase the global visibility of research findings and make research accessible to researchers internationally who cannot legally circumvent paywalls. Some scholars are suspicious of publishing preprints or postprints, as they are confused about journal publishing policies, worried about potential scooping, reluctant to publish before their findings have been peer-reviewed, and are concerned that publishing preprints or postprints is ethically questionable.

This workshop will first introduce the benefits and discuss scholars' concerns about publishing preprints and postprints. Next, attendees will learn about various types of preprint and postprint repositories, such as SocArXiv, the international social science archive and PsyArXiv, the international psychological sciences archive, as well as for-profit sites, such as ResearchGate and Academia, and university and other institutional archives. The workshop will then discuss how preprints and postprints align with publishers’ policies. Attendees will learn about Sherpa Romeo, a site which aggregates journal policies into a simple search engine so researchers can be sure they are complying with journal guidelines in publishing preprints and postprints. Finally, attendees will be guided through all the steps of uploading a preprint onto SocArXiv. Attendees are encouraged to bring their computer and a preprint of their own research with them, or they can simply follow along with the demonstration. Attendees are free to ask questions throughout the workshop.