Publication guidelines

Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID) is an international non-profit system, managed by a consortium of universities, national libraries, research institutes and data repositories, with which scientific authors can identify themselves by using a unique identifier (ORCID ID).

With an ORCID ID, researchers can merge their own research output from multiple databases into one research profile. This research profile provides, next to the possibility of registering 37 different types of research output (ranging from journal articles to dance performances), the opportunity to bundle information regarding a researcher’s education, affiliations and granted financing.

In this way it becomes possible to find information on a researcher based on his/her unique identifier. The ORCID ID also drastically reduces the confusion that may occur when authors have similar names, because names are sometimes not unique, may change over time and could be spelled differently depending on which database you consult.

Clarivate provides its own researcher identifier within Web of Science, called the ResearcherID. This ResearcherID is compatible and interoperable with ORCID ID.

Elsevier provides its own researcher identifier within Scopus, called the Scopus Author ID. This Scopus Author ID is also compatible and interoperable with ORCID ID.

ResearchGate  is an online social network where authors of scientific publications can create a ResearchGate person ID. Through this platform they can share their publications, ask and answer questions and find potential collaborators.

They can receive updates about the research from colleagues, who have looked at their publications, other researchers who follow publications within their research field, the most read articles, etc.

Affiliation

First and foremost, make sure that you state your UHasselt affiliation (correctly) on the publication. Only publications with UHasselt affiliation are eligible for validation. More information on how to properly state your UHasselt affiliation on a publication or dataset can be found at the top of this page.

Publication types

Only certain publication types in the Web Of Science Core Collection are eligible for validation:

• Journal contributions with subtype Letter / Article / Note / Review, and included in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and/or Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and/or Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) (UHasselt publication category A1)
• Proceedings papers included in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S) and/or the Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Social Sciences & Humanities (CPCI-SSH) (UHasselt publication category C1)

Instructions

To ensure that your Web of Science publication is validated by ECOOM, proceed as follows:

If you are publishing in a journal:

Check whether the journal appears in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and/or Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and/or Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) via the Master Journal List. Every journal included in this list has a profile page with a section “Web of Science Coverage”, where you can see whether and in which Web of Science index(es) the journal is included. To use this tool, you must first register with your UHasselt email address.

If you have not yet chosen a journal for your publication, follow the next steps:

• Go to the Master Journal List, leave the search bar empty and click on 'Search Journals'.
• Select the desired index via the filter Web of Science Coverage. You will get an overview of all the journals that appear in the relevant index and you can further filter on, for example, Category to find a journal in the desired discipline.

If you are publishing a proceedings paper:

For proceedings papers, the procedure is a bit more complex, because you depend on how the conference proceedings will be published, either as a book or in a journal.

Conference proceedings published as a book

As stated above, ECOOM only validates the proceedings papers included in the Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science (CPCI-S) and/or the Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Social Sciences & Humanities (CPCI-SSH) (UHasselt publication category C1) .

The procedure for inclusion is as follows: the publisher submits the full proceedings book to Clarivate Analytics for evaluation. Only after a positive answer will the proceedings contributions be included in Web of Science and thus be validated by ECOOM.

Conference proceedings published in a journal

Some proceedings contributions are included in a journal. In order for your proceedings paper to be validated by ECOOM, the relevant journal must appear in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and/or Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and/or Arts & Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). More information on how to check this can be found above under 'If you are publishing in a journal'.

The Flemish Academic Bibliographic Database for the Social Sciences and Humanities (VABB-SHW) is a database that collects publications from researchers in the Social Sciences and Humanities from the Flemish universities.

Thanks to the VABB-SHW, the specific research output of the Social Sciences and Humanities is recognized, valorized and can contribute to a well-founded distribution of research resources between the Flemish universities.

Affiliation

First and foremost, make sure that you state your UHasselt affiliation (correctly) on the publication. Only publications with UHasselt affiliation are eligible for validation. More information on how to properly state your UHasselt affiliation on a publication or dataset can be found at the top of this page.

In addition, the VABB-SHW only includes publications by researchers who belong to an organization recognized by the VABB-SHW as an entity in the social and human sciences. More information about which organizations these are, can be obtained from Eline Schoeters or Hilde Cleeren at the University Library.

Publication types

Only the following UHasselt publication types are eligible for validation:

• Contributions in journals included in the VABB-SHW journal list VABB-SHW journal list that meet the VABB-SHW criteria (see below) with subtype in the Document Server: Article, Note, Review and Letter (UHasselt publication category A1)
• Books with ISBN or ISSN (Role: author or editor) (UHasselt publication category B1)
• Book chapters with ISBN or ISSN (Role: author or editor) (UHasselt publication category B2)
• Proceedings Papers with ISBN or ISSN (UHasselt publication category C1)
• Research Reports and Working Papers with ISBN or ISSN (UHasselt publication category R1)

The Authoritative Panel (GP) from the VABB-SHW assesses which publications are validated and thus included in the VABB-SHW on the basis of the following criteria from the BOF-regulations:

1. they are publically available;
2. they are unambiguously identifiable through an ISSN or ISBN;
3. they offer a contribution to the development of new insights or the application thereof;
4. they are judged before publication in a demonstrable process of peer review* performed by scientists considered to be experts in their field;
5. they are at least four pages long.

*Peer review must be conducted by an editorial board, by a permanent reading committee, by external referees or by a combination of those types. There must be at least an input that is external to the research group, and that is independent of the author(s). The peer review is not organized by the author.

Instructions

In order for your publication to be included in the VABB-SHW, your publication must meet all five of the above criteria. To fulfil the criterion under point 4, proceed as follows:

If you are publishing in a journal:

• Check whether the journal is included in the List of all journals in VABB-SHW version 13 (2012-2021).
• If this is the case and your journal publication is at least 4 pages long, your publication will be included in the VABB-SHW.
• If this is not the case and you wish your publication to still be eligible for inclusion in the VABB-SHW, you must provide a proof of peer review for the relevant journal and upload this proof together with the journal publication in the Document Server.
  • This proof must always contain a publicly visible statement of peer review (for example, on the website of the journal), i.e. a general editorial policy document explaining the policy/ procedure of peer review for the journal.
  • In October, the University Library sends this proof to the Authoritative Panel of the VABB-SHW, which then decides whether or not the journal will be included in the next version of the VABB-SHW published in June.

If you are publishing (in) a proceedings book:

• Check whether the publisher and this publisher's specific ISBN-prefix is included in the List of publishers in VABB-SHW version 13 (2012-2021).
• If this is the case and your book publication is at least 4 pages long, your publication will be included in the VABB-SHW.
• If this is not the case and you wish your book publication to still be eligible for inclusion in the VABB-SHW, you must either provide one or more review reports for the relevant publication, or proof that a (successful) procedure has been completed at the University Foundation, and you have to upload these documents at the import of the book publication in the Document Server.
  • For the sake of clarity: mere affirmation of the application of peer review by the editor or publisher is not sufficient.
    It is always necessary to provide specific and complete review reports. A synthesis of the most important comments of the reviewers is not sufficient!
  • More information about what the review reports should look like can be found in the document Aandachtspunten bij het indienen van verzoeken tot rechtzetting (Dutch) (pdf, 563 KB).
  • The University Library puts the review reports or the proof from the University Foundation under a full and permanent embargo and delivers the documents in October to the Authoritative Panel of the VABB-SHW, which decides on the basis of the documentation supplied whether or not the book publication will be included in the next version of the VABB-SHW published in June. Of course, the documents are treated confidentially.

If you are publishing in a book series:

• Check whether the book series is included in the List of peer reviewed book series, accessible via the website of the VABB-SHW.
• If this is the case and your book publication is at least 4 pages long, your publication will be included in the VABB-SHW.
• If this is not the case and you wish your book publication to still be eligible for inclusion in the VABB-SHW, you must either provide one or more review reports for the relevant publication, or proof that a (successful) procedure has been completed at the University Foundation, and you have to upload these documents at the import of the book publication in the Document Server.
  • For the sake of clarity: mere affirmation of the application of peer review by the editor or publisher is not sufficient. It is always necessary to provide specific and complete review reports. A synthesis of the most important comments of the reviewers is not sufficient!
  • The University Library puts the review reports or the proof from the University Foundation under a full and permanent embargo and delivers the documents in October to the Authoritative Panel of the VABB-SHW, which decides on the basis of the documentation supplied whether or not the book publication will be included in the next version of the VABB-SHW published in June. Of course, the documents are treated confidentially.

Please note: 

• In principle, you do not have to provide review reports for (chapters in) (proceedings) books with GPRC label, as the Authoritative Panel of the VABB-SHW normally receives these reports from the publisher. In exceptional cases, however, this does not happen, whereby the University Library still has to ask the researcher(s) in question to request the review reports from the publisher, so that these documents can be delivered to the Authoritative Panel.
• For a book of which you are the author, you must provide one or more review reports for the complete book, or proof that a (successful) procedure has been completed at the University Foundation.
• For a book of which you are the editor, you must provide one or more review reports for every book chapter, or proof that a (successful) procedure has been completed at the University Foundation.

More information can be found on the website of the VABB-SHW.

As a first step in your search for a suitable journal, you make a shortlist of potentially interesting journals that fit the research domain of your paper. Next, refine your selection by going through the other criteria listed below in this guide.

How to find a qualitative journal that fits the research area of your manuscript?

To find journals that match the content of your manuscript, there are several methods, each with a different focus:

1. Top journals in your research discipline: De Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is a good tool for this. Follow the steps described in this manual (pdf, 668 KB).
2. Journals that publish the most articles on your topic (regardless of whether they are top journals): You can use the 'Analyze results' option in Web of Science. Follow the steps described in this manual (pdf, 270 KB).
3. Other ways: If rapid dissemination of your research is more important than publishing it in a top journal, there are many other ways to find a quality journal. Some examples:
   • Search in your reference list for possible suitable journals: The Master Journal List (MJL) contains reputable journals, books, and conference proceedings indexed in Web of Science. The profile pages of MJL give a short overview of the quality of a journal.
   • You can use a tool that searches for journals that may match with your manuscript based on your title and abstract.
     Some examples: Endnote's Manuscript Matcher tool limited to journals listed in Web of Science | the Edanz Journal Selector | JournalGuide | Enago Open Access Journal Finder, limited to open access journals indexed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
   • If you want to publish in open access, you can search by topic in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), an index of high-quality open access peer-reviewed journals...

What other criteria play a role in choosing a journal?

For one researcher, certain criteria will be more important than for another, so there is no uniform answer to this question. Hence our choice to give below the criteria that are useful for most researchers to take into account when choosing a journal.

• The scope of the journal: Check whether your work fits within the scope of the journal. For example, ask yourself the following questions: 'Is it a specialized journal, or rather a more general or interdisciplinary journal?' 'Where does the focus of the journal lie (e.g. theory or practice)?'
• The journal's author guidelines: Check the author guidelines of each journal you are considering: are there certain restrictions imposed, for example, on the length of your manuscript and abstract, the text format, the number of figures and tables, and their layout? Taking such guidelines into account at the very beginning of the writing process will save you a lot of time later on.
• Obligations of your funder: More and more funders are imposing obligations, for example, with regard to making publications available in Open Access, either directly via the publisher by paying an 'article processing charge' (APC), or by including the author's version of your article in a free online database, such as the Document Server (i.e. UHasselt's institutional repository). Keep this in mind when choosing a journal.
  Here you can find an overview of the most common funders that impose Open Access obligations. Some research funders explicitly endorse Plan S, which has been in effect since 2021. Plan S requires researchers to make their publications immediately available in open access. You can find more information about research funders' Open Access policies in the Sherpa Juliet database.
• The visibility of your research: If you want to achieve the highest possible visibility of your research, choose to publish in Open Access.
• Copyright: When you publish your research with a traditional publisher, in most cases, you will have to transfer (all of) your copyright via the publishing or copyright transfer agreement of this publisher, causing you to lose the rights to your work (in part).
  Many publishers, however, allow you to make the author's version of your work publicly available via the digital archive (repository) of the institution where you work, for example, via UHasselt's Document Server. Check the contract with your publisher, or Sherpa Romeo if it is a standard contract. However, there are also publishers who do not allow this. In that case it is advisable to attach certain conditions to the transfer of your copyrights. This results in two options: either add an addendum to the publishing or copyright transfer agreement, or opt for a custom license.
  You can also choose to keep your copyright entirely. More information on these three options can be found here.
• The speed of the publishing process: This criterion will usually be more decisive for rapidly evolving research disciplines. If this is also the case for you, ask the publisher how much time is (approximately) needed for the different phases of the publication process. You can also check this for certain journals via the JournalGuide, or if you are going to publish in an Elsevier journal, via the Elsevier Journal Insights. The latter displays the "Journal of the American College of Surgeons" by default, but you can also search for other journals via the search bar.
• The Ingelfinger rule: According to the Ingelfinger rule, most journals do not allow you to publish the same research in multiple journals. So submit your manuscript to only one journal at a time.
• Impact: If you primarily want to achieve academic impact (e.g., in the context of a promotion), focus on top journals. Be aware, however, that the chances of your article being accepted by a top journal are usually small.
• The peer review process: Take a look at the peer review process. How much time does it take? What type of peer review is used (single-blind, double-blind, or open)?
• The reliability of the journal: If your chosen journal is not listed in Web of Science and/or the DOAJ, follow the following tips to assess the journal's reliability.

More information and useful links

You can also find all kinds of tips online to help you choose a journal. Of interest, for example, is the article How to Choose the Best Journal for Publishing Your Scientific Research and the accompanying infographic (pdf, 5.2 MB).

When you want to publish your work and/or present it at a conference, we recommend taking into account the following points:

Check if the publisher meets the following conditions:

• ​Does the publisher offer support in the editing of your work?
• Can the publisher offer quality control or peer review services?
• Can the publisher demonstrably guarantee better distribution of your work?

Extra tips:

• Check whether you know one of the editors and contact this person with the question whether he/she is effectively editor of the journal and whether proper peer review is applied;
• Check whether you know one of the authors of recent publications and ask him/her about experiences, especially regarding peer review.

Research the publisher’s and/or the conference’s reputation.

In most cases, this can quickly be confirmed via Internet by typing the word 'reputation' with the publisher’s name, the journal title, or the conference title into Google.

If you are presenting your work at a conference, we also recommend reviewing the journal(s) or the conference proceedings, if mentioned, in which the conference papers will be published. If you are unable to find the necessary information on the Internet, this means that the publisher or conference is not well known. In that case, ask for additional references.

Extra tips:

• Check if the publisher is affiliated with a recognized organization such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE); the International Association of Scientific, Technical, & Medical Publishers (STM).
• In case of a conference, consult the website Think. Check. Attend, through which you can check whether a conference is reliable by means of a simple checklist.
• Consult the website Think. Check. Submit, through which you can check with a simple checklist whether a journal or publisher is reliable. Specifically for journals, there is also the website SciRev, which can help in choosing a qualitative journal based on the experiences of researchers.

Try to find out if the journal or conference proceeding is indexed in databases such as Web of Science, SCimago, Scopus or - for journals in the social sciences or the humanities - in the VABB-list of peer reviewed journals. These websites guarantee the quality of the journal or conference proceeding.

Check websites listing potentially questionable journals and/or conferences. These could be useful, but they are not always reliable and must be assessed critically.

Examples:

• https://www.exordo.com/blog/9-signs-this-is-a-fake-conference/
• De Journal Blacklist van Cabell's International: A subscription based database of journals that specialists from Cabell's International have flagged as probable threats. This database is also used by the Authoritative Panel from the VABB-SHW for its yearly screening for predatory open access journals, so that such journals and the publications that appear in them can be excluded from the VABB-SHW (also retroactively).
  
  UHasselt does not have a subscription to the Journal Blacklist, but if you would like to know whether or not a certain journal is included in this database, do not hesitate to contact the University Library. Also important to note is that the Journal Blacklist is constantly changing and that journals can be added or removed at any time. It is therefore advisable to also always follow the above rules of thumb.

If you want to publish your work in open access, check whether the publisher is a member of the Open Acces Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and, in the case of a journal, whether the journal is included in the Directory of Open Access Journals.

Most journal publishers will allow the post-print and/or published version of your work to be archived or used for academic purposes, which will enable Hasselt University to upload one or more of these versions to its Document Server.

Tip: you can consult SHERPA/RoMEO for a listing of what specific publishers will or will not permit.
In exceptional cases, the publisher of the journal will not permit the post-print and/or published version of your work to be archived and/or used for academic purposes. In this case, we recommend you to attach an addendum to the publisher’s publishing or copyright transfer agreement. You can also opt for a modified license, but please bear in mind that this is usually not accepted by commercial publishing houses (see: copyright)

If you still have doubts despite following the above rules of thumb, please contact the University Library (eline.schoeters@uhasselt.be | +3211268122) or choose an alternative option.

• No more confidentiality: It is important to realize in advance that the publication of your work entails a significant impact on the field of research to which it relates. In any event, it means an end to the confidentiality of your research, which may still be ongoing. This is why you need to carefully consider whether and to what extent the confidentiality of your research still needs to be guaranteed.
• Patent no longer possible: In addition to the above, publication of your work (or its title) will make a patent application to protect research results no longer possible. Moreover, a patent can only be requested for research results that are new and inventive, not for research results that have already been published. In contrast to works of authorship, patentable inventions by staff members will automatically revert to Hasselt University. Notice of such findings must be given before they are described in courses or books!
  Staff members can find additional details on patent protection of research results or other intellectual property rights on the UHasselt Tech Transfer Office website (Dutch). UHasselt Tech Transfer Office website. Should you have any queries or require more explanation on this subject, do not hesitate to send an email to techtransfer@uhasselt.be.
• Take into account image rights: If you wish to publish a work into which an image of one or more persons has been incorporated, you must obtain prior consent from the person or persons involved before you can distribute (or further distribute) this visual material. Every person holds image rights. This means that the creation and distribution of visual images of every individualized and recognizable person is subject to the consent of the person involved! This is regardless of the medium involved: a photograph, drawing, painting, video images, etc. Additionally, granting permission to create an image does not automatically mean permission to distribute this image. In the event of publication, you will need to obtain consent in both cases. To avoid future problems, use this template (*.docx)(in Dutch) that will serve to establish a written record of consent.
• Respect copyright: There is a significant probability that the sources you are using are protected by copyright. The section Copyright on the library website contains practical information about copyright, both regarding your own work and the use of someone else's work.