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Research Support

ACORA is a vital tool for making your research accessible, discoverable and compliant with open-access requirements.

  • Submitting Your Work: Researchers and HDR candidates can deposit a variety of research outputs, including journal articles, conference papers, and theses, in the repository. 
  • Accepted Manuscripts: Even if you publish with a traditional journal, you can often upload the accepted manuscript (post-peer review) version to the repository under green open-access policies. This can broaden the reach of your work without compromising publisher agreements.

Please email the following information to librarysupport.research@avondale.edu.au:

  1. Publisher-Compliant Version of Your Work

    Attach the Version of Record (VoR) or the Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM) in line with publisher policies.

  2. Field of Research (FoR) Code(s)

    Provide up to three 4-digit FoR codes (2020 version) that best describe your research.

  3. Field of Education (FoE) Code

    Include the FoE code that most accurately reflects the educational focus of your research.

  4. Abstract

    Submit a concise abstract outlining the key themes of your work. This helps users discover and engage with your research.

  5. Keywords

    Provide relevant keywords to improve the visibility and searchability of your work in the repository.

  6. Evidence of Peer Review (if applicable)

    If your publication has undergone peer review, include appropriate evidence.

  7. Copyright and Licensing

           Indicate any copyright or licensing information, including embargoes or Creative Commons licences if applicable.

For assistance, please email librarysupport.research@avondale.edu.au

Research Visibility and Impact

Optimising your research’s metadata and keywords is essential for improving its visibility across academic databases, search engines, and repositories. Follow these best practices to make your work more discoverable:

  • Use Strategic Keywords: Choose keywords that reflect the main topics of your research. Consider both broad and specific terms that potential readers might use to find work in your field.
  • Write a Clear, Descriptive Title: Titles should be accurate and informative, including relevant keywords to ensure that search engines can index your work effectively.
  • Optimise Abstracts: Craft a concise, descriptive abstract that summarises the purpose, methods, and findings of your research. Including key terms in the abstract improves search engine indexing and increases discoverability.

The library can provide additional support with metadata and keyword strategies. To book a session, please visit the BookNow page. For guidance on crafting impactful titles and abstracts, please contact Research Services, who offer specialised expertise in these areas.

Sharing your research on academic networks, social media, and other platforms can significantly increase its reach and engagement. By actively promoting your work, you can reach audiences beyond traditional academic circles.

  • Academic Networks: Platforms like ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and SSRN allow you to share preprints, accepted manuscripts, and links to published articles. These platforms enable researchers to connect with peers, receive feedback, and increase the visibility of their work.
  • Social Media for Academics: Social media platforms like X and LinkedIn are powerful tools for sharing research updates, discussing findings, and connecting with a broader audience. Using relevant hashtags and tagging institutions or collaborators can help your work reach targeted academic communities.
  • Personal or Institutional Profiles: Update your Avondale (Vidatum) Researcher Profile as well as your profiles on Google Scholar, ORCID, and other academic databases to ensure your work is accessible and linked to a central profile. These platforms enable easier tracking of citations and allow potential collaborators to discover your research.

For guidance, book a consultation with a librarian.

A DOI is a permanent, unique identifier assigned to a digital object, such as a journal article or dataset. DOIs ensure stable access to your work and are commonly used to track citations and measure impact.

  • Using DOIs: Include DOIs in all citations of your work to make it easy for others to locate and cite it accurately. When sharing your work online, use the DOI link to ensure it remains accessible over time.

Establishing a unique author identifier ensures your work is accurately attributed to you, enables accurate citation tracking and increases the visibility of your work.

  • ORCID: a unique identifier linking all your research outputs under one profile, making it easier for others to find and cite your work. 

For assistance in setting up or managing your author identifiers, please book a session with a librarian.

 

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are a powerful global call to action for all countries to promote prosperity while safeguarding our planet.

Incorporating Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) keywords in your research publications is a great way to boost your work’s visibility and discoverability.

Explore comprehensive sources for SDG keywords:

Harness the power of SDG keywords and strengthen the global impact of your research.

 

 

Metrics

Various free tools can help you monitor and measure your research metrics. 

  • Dimensions is a linked research data platform which includes information on publications, research funding, patents and clinical trials, as well as citation data.
  • Altmetric Bookmarklet tracks social media and policy mentions for publications.
  • Publish or Perish is a software program that retrieves and analyses academic citations. It uses a variety of data sources (including Google Scholar) to obtain the raw citations, then analyses these and presents a range of citation metrics, including the number of papers, total citations, and the h-index.
  • Scopus Preview provides access to Scopus Sources, but not the Source Comparison tool.

Citation-based metrics are widely used as quantitative measurements to track the impact of research outputs. However there are considerations that need to be taken into account:

  • Quality vs. Quantity: high citation counts do not necessarily indicate high-quality research. Articles can be frequently cited for negative reasons, such as being controversial or flawed.
  • Field Variability: different academic fields have varying citation practices. For example, papers in the life sciences tend to receive more citations than those in the humanities, making cross-disciplinary comparisons challenging 
  • Database coverage: citation databases collect data from different sources and calculate their metrics differently. A journal you've published in might not be indexed by the main citation analysis tools.
  • Time lag: recent research articles may not yet have been cited by others.
  • Gaming the System: Some researchers may manipulate citation metrics through various means, such as excessive self-citation or strategic collaborations, so interpret the numbers with caution.

Using metrics responsibly involves understanding and applying their limitations in a balanced and contextual manner. Here are some key guidelines:

  • Use Multiple Metrics: Rely on a combination of metrics rather than a single one to reduce bias and provide a more comprehensive view of research impact.
  • Use field normalized metrics to compare different disciplines. 
  • Contextualize the Data: Always interpret metrics within the context of the research field, publication year, and other relevant factors. 
  • Combine Quantitative and Qualitative Assessments: Metrics should complement, not replace, expert opinion and qualitative evaluations. 
  • Be Transparent: Clearly state the metrics used and their limitations when presenting your analysis.

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