Ask for help from a Learning and Research Librarian.
We will respond to you by email or phone to answer your query, or offer an appointment to meet in person or online.
This module covers a range of topics, including:
Adhere to copyright requirements for your own and others’ work.
When selecting a journal title in which to publish, there may be a number of questions to consider to help identify one most appropriate to meet your needs:
Is it peer reviewed?
Check the journal itself for this information or alternatively, check Ulrichsweb, where details about each title are available, including whether it is peer reviewed.
Is it relevant?
Does the scope of the journal match your needs? Is it relevant to your research? Ulrichsweb can provide you with some of this information, and the journal website itself will give you more detailed information about the aim and scope of the journal. It would also be worthwhile reviewing table of contents of some issues of the journal to identify the types of research it publishes.
Is it a reputable journal?
You can check how the journal ranks in comparison to others in the discipline:
More information on Journal Impact, with links to the tools listed above, can be found in our dedicated guide.
Is it discoverable?
A journal is more likely to be discovered and read if it is indexed by a major journal database, such as Scopus or Web of Science. Ulrichsweb can provide this information.
Is it open access?
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a freely accessible database of open access journals, and is a good starting place to search for open access journal titles in your area of interest. In addition, Sherpa Romeo is a database of publishers' policies on copyright and self-archiving.
Tools to identify suitable target journals
Here are some publisher-made tools available to help you identify suitable journals for your publications:
The University of Tasmania now has a mandated Open Access Procedure, which applies to all research publications.
OA is beneficial because it increases
Discovery - everybody can easily find your research online
Access - anybody can read, download, share and reuse in accordance with the assigned copyright licence
Reuse - higher view and citation rates increases the impact of your research
To read background information about OA, visit the Open Access Australasia website. This fact sheet and subject guide are also helpful in explaining the key parts of OA and the process.
Read & Publish Agreements provide authors with the opportunity to publish OA immediately upon acceptance, free from any transactional Article Processing Charges (APCs). These arrangements have also been called “transformative agreements”. The Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) have negotiated these agreements with some of the major publishers to enable authors to avoid needing to pay APCs.
For more details visit the Read & Publish Agreements guide which includes a link to the official CAUL Read & Publish Agreements guide. Rather than make assumptions about where you can publish without charge, always check which publishers are part of the agreement, whether a particular journal is included, if it's expected that the cap will be exceeded before the end of the year and if there still may be charges for any reason.
Copyright of others work
Using material created by someone else is inevitable in research. You will copy or otherwise use a wide range of material protected by copyright, such as journal articles, books, diagrams and figures, maps, artworks, recorded music, television programs and movies. In some instances, you’ll copy third-party material to read or analyse. In others, you’ll want to include copied material in your thesis. Detailed information about copyright for teaching, researching and students is available here.
| Making copies for reference and research |
Fair dealing exceptions allow works to be used in certain circumstances and within certain limitations without the permission of the copyright owner. Fair dealing for research or study allows reproducing text within certain limits and copying non-textual material (such as artistic works, unpublished material, film and sound recordings) in a ‘fair and reasonable’ way. This 'Research or Study' fact sheet from the Australian Copyright Council outlines the limits and the factors to consider in determining whether your usage is fair. Fair dealing does not cover your use of copyright material in:
In these instances, you will need to check the copyright status of the material you wish to use. Unless it is out of copyright or is freely available under a Creative Commons licence, you will need to obtain - and keep - written permission from the copyright owner to use the work. |
| Including copyright material in your thesis |
Brief guide: Copyright and your thesis Where your use involves only an ‘insubstantial portion’ of third-party content, such as a text quotation or snippet of a sound recording, accurate acknowledgement (referencing) is adequate. Different rules apply when you want to reproduce greater portions of copyrighted material, or reproduce an entire work. This includes any diagrams, pictures or illustrations that are not your own work. In these instances, you will need to check the copyright status of the third-party work you want to include. You will need to obtain written permission to use the work, unless it is out of copyright or is freely available under a Creative Commons licence. Obtaining permission can be a time-consuming process, so start early to prevent any delays to your thesis submission. Create a document to keep track of third-party material you are using and what permission you need or have to use that material. |
| Thesis with publication | If your thesis contains material that has been published (for example, a chapter you have had published as a journal article), you may have signed an agreement that affects the rights you retain in your work. You will need to check if these agreements allow you to make your thesis available via open access or if it will need to be embargoed. |
Copyright for your own work
You own copyright of your thesis. This gives you rights in your thesis, such as:
You also hold moral rights over your thesis.
Any research or publication agreements you have signed may affect what rights you retain in your work. You will need to take this into account before reproducing, publishing, adapting or communicating your thesis, particularly if making your thesis available via open access.
Help with Copyright
If you need assistance with managing Copyright in your research, please email the Copyright Officer:
utas.copyright@utas.edu.au
or use the online contact form.
Researcher identifiers are persistent digital identifiers that distinguish you as a researcher and connect you to your research activity.
Four common identifiers are:
For more information about each identifier and the importance of managing your research identity visit our Research Identity guide.
