The prospect of publishing your work and getting it indexed can be intimidating. But, if you know where to start, it can also be an exciting process. It enables you to get your work out into the world and have a better chance of making an impact in the field.
To be sure, it can be disheartening to put in a lot of effort only for your work to not get much engagement. You have devoted your career to your research. So it only makes sense that you want to get as much exposure as possible.
How does indexing help your publications? Proper indexation is one way to ensure that your work can be found by those interested. Here, you will learn more about indexing and its relationship to preprints.
What is indexing and why is it important?
A journal index is also called a “bibliographic index” or a “bibliographic database.” Indexing takes bibliographic information and inputs it into a database format. This format organizes large amounts of information to be searchable.
You are likely already familiar with some of these indexes, such as PubMed Central, MEDLINE, and Scopus. These are extensive lists of articles organized by subject, discipline, or region.
Publishing in an indexed journal has other important benefits. It brings credibility to your work because it has been through a strict reviewing process. This is particularly important because scientific research is expected to follow robust standards. Preprints are research findings that are available after being accepted by a journal. When paired with an open access journal, the reach of your indexed research increases.
Depending on where you are in your career, certain paths to publication and indexation may be more realistic or desirable.
How do you get your preprint indexed?
To have your preprint indexed, you want to be strategic in how and where you publish. Indexing includes having an article published in an indexed journal and/or applying to have a journal itself be indexed.
Are you an author interested in publishing in a highly rated indexed journal? Then the first step is to begin searching for which indexed journals may be right for your work. There is a standardized indexation process
Or are you on the editorial board of a journal that is not yet indexed? Then it may be best for you to begin by doing research on the indexation process. In order for journals to be indexed, certain criteria must be met. This includes upholding high standards of ethics, peer review, and transparency of the editorial board.
Preprints and indexing
Some may mistakenly believe that preprints are not eligible for indexing. But, actually, preprints are an important part of the indexing space. They often represent cutting-edge research that can be accessed quickly. The Preprint Citation Index, a multidisciplinary collection of the major preprint repositories, is available on the Web of Science.
Preprints.org is a multidiscipline platform that makes preprints available directly from authors. This research is open access and available for citation immediately. There is also an option to publicly comment on and open up discussion on publications.
As with any index, Preprints.org maintains academic standards rigorous standards. This includes a clear statement on research ethics, methods, and conflicts of interest.
Indexing, preprints, and open access
You have a lot of choices in this area in how you want to approach publishing in an indexed journal and/or database for your preprint. The increased use of open access helps to increase the visibility and dissemination of scholarly material. The more eyes you can get on your work, the better!
For example, publishing in an open access journal increases access to your work (and your work will be published more quickly). But, subscription-based journals are typically considered to be more authoritative.
An open access journal brings the benefits of quick and accessible publishing (with a one-time article processing charge paid by the author) at no cost to the reader. On the other hand, subscription access journals tend to have better reputations and a higher impact factor.
If you decide to publish open access, it’s a good idea to spend some time researching those journals that are ranked highly. Then, you can work from a narrowed-down list. Remember that your work may not be the best fit for certain publications. And not all journals are right for your publication!
Once you get started, you are well on your way to increasing the potential impact of your work. Happy indexing!
