Friends,
Following on my post of last night, someone queried me to ask if a journal article is the only way to make a genuine research contribution.
Of course not.
My note addressed the specific issue of journal articles and where best to publish them.
In my view, the appropriate goal of publishing journal articles is developing our field by publishing articles where our colleagues will read our work and build on it to advance the field. The reason that the design research journals with the greatest impact are Design Studies and Design Issues is the fact that they are the most widely read. They are our oldest journals, and much of the field has grown around the dialogue and research streams first published in their pages. These are the leading journals in our field. Newer journals that have established a strong reputation include the International Journal of Design, the Design Journal, the Journal of Design History, and the Journal of Design Research. On specialized topics, some journals have become quite important -- Engineering Design, CoDesign, Artifact, Journal of Engineering Design, Research in Engineering Design, Design Philosophy Papers, Applied Ergonomics, Visible Language ... the list goes on.
For publishing points or national accounting schemes, nearly any journal will do. The point of my argument is that one does not contribute to the development of our field merely by publishing in a mediocre journal without readers that earns points merely because it attains a place on a metric scheme.
There are many ways to make a genuine contribution to the field of design research.
Where it comes to publishing journal article, I propose that scholars and researchers publish in serious journals from established and respected publishing firms. This includes journals published by scholarly or scientific societies, national centers, and -- in some cases -- individual organizations or universities that have established a reputation in our field.
There are many other ways to publish -- books and monographs, book chapters, refereed web sites, papers at leading conferences -- in HCI, for example, a top conference paper is ranked higher than most journal articles. It is possible to publish research reports from appropriately managed research centers, government submissions, and more. To make material available, we can also self-archive, and this, too, is a contribution provided that the material is valid.
My suggestion is simply to avoid publising journal articles with companies that merely emulate journals when they actually do the equivalent of archiving conference papers.
Writing a journal article takes time. A scholar should never waste the time required for an article by publishing it in an inappropriate venue.
Before submitting to a journal, it is vital to examine past issues. Study the journal's editorial policies rather than its marketing claims. See what the editor has done -- a top journal will have an editor who is already a distinguished scholar or researcher in the field, or possibly a promising younger scholar. A strong journal editor will have a track record of research and publishing in the field of the journal they edit.
One good strategy is to seek advice from a respected mentor who is already successful publishing the kind of work that one wishes to publish.
Sincerely,
Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS
Professor
Dean
Swinburne Design
Swinburne University of Technology
Melbourne, Australia
Telephone +61 3 9214 6755
www.swinburne.edu.au/design
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