Fall Scholarly Communication Workshop Series

Scholarly Communication Workshop Series logoHow do scholars formally engage in conversation with each other? What kinds of works do scholars produce beyond books and articles? How can research impact be measured? What about journal quality? What are some easy ways to find open access versions of others’ works, and some recommended ways to make your own work open access? When you sign a publication contract, which rights do you keep and which do you give away? What other matters are addressed in publication contracts? How does copyright law restrict your use of others’ works, and what are the exceptions to those strictures?

These are all important questions with complex answers—too complex for one blog post or one workshop. Happily, the library is offering a whole series of workshops on these topics! Each workshop stands on its own—there is no need to attend one in order to attend another. Sign up for whichever ones address your needs or interests! (If you can’t make a workshop that interests you, you’re more than welcome to request a one-on-one consultation on that topic.)

1) Citations To and Citations From: Following the Scholarly Conversation (Wed 9/30 @ 1pm): How do researchers put their publications and other works in scholarly context – how do they make clear whose work they’re building on and whose work is related to theirs? Read more and register…

2) Research Metrics: What They Mean and What They Don’t (Wed 10/7 @ 1pm): How important is a certain article? How influential is a certain scholar? How good is a certain journal? There is widespread interest in, and reliance on, research metrics that attempt to answer these qualitative questions with simple numbers. Read more and register…

3) Fake Journals and Conferences: What to Know about the Faux (Wed 10/14 @ 1pm): As a researcher, you are eager to publish your work in journals and present at conferences. But don’t let your eagerness allow you to be fooled by fake (often called “predatory”) journals or conferences. Read more and register… (Can’t make this time? A similar workshop is being offered Mon 12/7 @ 11am. This workshop is part of the library’s Science Research Workshop Series but is open to all.)

4) Open Access Explained: Best Practices for Finding Others’ Research and Publicly Sharing Yours (Wed 10/21 @ 1pm): In this workshop, we will share tips for finding open access versions of articles and introduce a range of options for making your own scholarly work open access. Read more and register… (Can’t make this time? A similar workshop is being offered Mon 11/2 @ 2pm. This workshop is part of the library’s Science Research Workshop series but is open to all.)

5) Reach Your Readers: Sharing Your Scholarship in CUNY Academic Works (Wed 10/28 @ 1pm): The pandemic has made researchers in all fields more aware of the vital importance of barrier-free public accessibility of scholarly and pedagogical works. You need easier access to others’ works, and they need easier access to yours. By the end of the workshop, you’ll have all the information you’ll need to get started making your works accessible to researchers, students, and searchers everywhere. Read more and register…

6) Authors’ Rights: What to Know Before You Submit to a Journal, or Sign Its Contract (Wed 11/4 @ 1pm): When you publish a journal article, you sign a copyright agreement. Do you know what you’re agreeing to when you sign it? Read more and register…

7) Data Management Plans (Thu 11/5 @ 2pm): What is research data? Why share your data? How can you write a data management plan for your grant proposal or paper? Read more and register…

8) Understanding and Negotiating Book Publication Contracts (Wed 11/11 @ 1pm): The workshop will cover the clauses that frequently appear in book publication contracts, explain in plain language what these terms mean, and present strategies for negotiating “author-friendly” versions of these clauses. Read more and register…

9) Fair Use for Non-Fiction Authors (Wed 11/18 @ 1pm): This workshop is designed for nonfiction authors of all types who want to know more about using copyrighted materials in their writings. Read more and register…


Publication Cycle image by University of Winnipeg Library, used under CC BY / annotations removed from original.

About the Author

Jill Cirasella is the Scholarly Communication Librarian and University Liaison at the CUNY Graduate Center.