Reach your audience
Enhance your website
An informative website is key to attracting readers and authors, and LibraryPress@UF journals have access to Open Journal Systems (OJS) as a platform built by and for the academic publishing community. Even a very simple OJS website has space to share policies, updates, and other content. The importance of transparency in making your journal more inclusive cannot be overstated.
Consider (and question) indexing
Journal indexes or databases play an especially complex role in both amplifying awareness of researchers’ work and potentially reinforcing systemic inequities.
LibraryPress@UF takes steps to ensure that journal content we publish is included in Google Scholar and that every article is assigned a unique link, or Digital Object Identifier, for wide discoverability. As journals become more established and build a publication record, they may apply to a range of different databases such as the Emerging Sources Citation Index, Scopus, etc. These make journals easier to find and, depending on the discipline and audience, can provide credibility of legitimacy and may heighten the perception of quality.
Of course, such databases and the metrics they generate are inherently exclusive. For instance, Roh and Gabler (2020) offer one troubling example of a journal denied inclusion in Scopus based on bias and misinformation in the review process. Whether or not your journal pursues indexing in commercial databases, consider widely used and free resources accessible globally, such as the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The LibraryPress@UF is committed to working with UF-based journals on Florida OJ to apply to DOAJ; contact Chelsea Johnston (DigPart-Staff@uflib.ufl.edu) with questions or for more information.
Share in public
Simply publishing with LibraryPress@UF means your journal will be openly and freely available, a huge step toward promoting more equitable access to knowledge. But even if technically accessible online, how might you enhance the research represented in your journal by communicating it to broader audiences across disciplines or outside the academy? Whether framed as science communication, public humanities, public health, or journalism, consider how simple illustrations, interviews, blog posts, or other formats might extend the reach of your work.
University of Florida Spotlight
UF alumnus Michelle Barboza-Ramirez turned her interest in science communication into a podcast, “Femmes of STEM,” that “combats the false narrative that women and minorities are newcomers to the world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).” Learn more about Michelle’s podcast in a video created by UF Communications’ Kristen Grace and Alyson Larson:
References and resources
Canfield K.N., Menezes, S., Matsuda, S.B., Moore, A., Mosley Austin, A.N., Dewsbury, B.M., Feliú-Mójer, M.I., McDuffie, K.W.B., Moore, K., Reich, C.A., Smith, H.M., & Taylor, C. (2020). Science Communication Demands a Critical Approach That Centers Inclusion, Equity, and Intersectionality. Frontiers in Communication 5. http://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00002
Roh, C., & Gabler, V. (2020). Systemic barriers and allyship in library publishing: A case study reminder that no one is safe from racism. College & Research Libraries News, 81(3), 141. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.81.3.141
