How to publish?

The purpose of publishing your paper is so that scientific information can be publicly available. This also enables the rest of the academic audience to be aware of your research. Before your paper is published, it needs to go through the process below:

STEP 1: Choose a journal 26

This is an important decision to make as it will influence how you need to write your paper. An example of dental journals in Malaysia is the Malaysian Dental Journal (MDJ). Elsevier journal finder or Web of Science manuscript match are some useful applications that help match your research to a suitable journal for publication by using your title and abstract. Other factors to consider when choosing a journal include the publication fees, whether the journal is indexed and the journal’s Impact Factor. Furthermore, it is important that we avoid predatory journals at all costs.

Different journals have different requirements. For example, some journals might only accept manuscripts with specific format and structure. If you are aiming for publication, it is crucial to understand the journal’s publication process and also their requirements beforehand so that you can write your paper accordingly. To find out more about those requirements, you can always visit the official website of that particular journal! It may be helpful to read through their “Instruction for authors” section. 

STEP 2: Submit your research paper30

Similarly, you will need to follow the journal’s instructions on how to submit your paper. Once you submit your paper, it will be reviewed and checked by the journal. 

Note:

Multiple submissions to different journals at a time should be avoided! Multiple submissions (aka simultaneous submissions) are not tolerated as they may raise potential disagreement between two journals claiming the right to publish the paper, waste the work of peer review and ultimately damage the reputation of authors.

To find out more, refer here.

STEP 3: Get through the peer review process 25

Peer review is a process where independent experts known as reviewers will assess your research article to judge the originality, significance, and validity of your work. This is to ensure that your research is backed by sound methodology, is reproducible and adheres to the scope of the journal. In other words, it acts as a quality control for research papers to verify that they are scientifically reliable. It is also a collaborative process, where authors can receive constructive feedback from the reviewers to help revise and improve their paper before it is published. A review process would typically take 1-6 months and you might receive feedback which requires you to do minor or major corrections. In some cases, your paper might also get rejected, but don’t get demotivated and you can always try another journal!

STEP 4: Publication

If your paper successfully passes through all the processes and is accepted, it will head into production and publication!