The goal of almost every academic is to publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal with a high impact factor. Publishing articles in journals provides university students and researchers a better chance of promotion and funding. Conferences can be used for the promotion of your research and you should know that they are not only for presenting but also for publishing your works in conference proceedings.
Necessary Measures Before Presenting Your Work
There are some necessary measures that you should take before presenting your work at a conference. First of all, you submit your work to conference organizers. They will read your work and decide whether to accept it or not. If they accept your work, there will be a session at the conference in which you have a chance to share your work with other researchers in your field. The accepted papers are collected and published in a book or journal known as the conference proceedings. The people who participate in the conference can get a copy of these proceedings. The format of presenting your work can be in the form of a poster presentation, oral presentation, or workshop-style discussion.
Benefits of Presenting Your Work at a Conference
Sharing your research with other researchers and colleagues in your scientific and research field has numerous advantages, including:
- Getting the opportunity to publish your work in a journal after the conference;
- Increasing job positions;
- Increasing collaborations with other researchers;
- Networking;
- Practicing a mock interview;
- Getting feedback from other researchers in your field; and
- Finding the opportunity to travel.
Elements of a Paper in Conference Publications
Some important points that you need to consider when writing your conference paper are:
Title: Your title should be attractive and clearly reflect your focus of attention.
Abstract: Your abstract should give a quick overview of your research.
Style: Make sure that your ideas flow evenly throughout your paper.
Focus: Focus on the main topic of the article rather than on several points, which is typical in journal articles.
Body: Provide a brief background of your research and describe your research methods and results in detail. Present your research to researchers in a logical order.
Conclusion: Finish your article with an informative message for the readers.
Differences Between a Conference and Journal Publications
Papers will be published faster in Conference publications; hence, the feedback is received faster. Conference papers present the work in progress and have a lower impact factor. They present new concepts and techniques that you are in the process of developing.
Journal papers will take longer to be published in journal publications. Journal papers present completed works and report on new concepts and techniques that have been validated by your experiments. It takes longer for these types of papers to receive feedback, and they get peer review and higher impact factor.
Conference Publication or Journal Publication: Which is Better?
When researchers read and cite other researchers’ work, they prefer to publish in peer-reviewed journals rather than in conference proceedings. The following factors reveal the reasons for this choice of researchers:
- Journal articles present the complete research of the researchers;
- Journal articles are carefully reviewed by experts in the same academic field;
- The journal uses an impact factor to measure the quality of research.; and
- Institutions give credit to peer-reviewed articles.
Many researchers publish the works they had presented at a conference in a journal publication. Researchers take this useful path as an opportunity to receive comments on their presentation from conference participants, ask questions, and share their thoughts with other researchers. Conference proceedings include first drafts or journal articles. After the conference, it is possible to modify one’s experiments, add more data, and reflect on the results of the research while considering the input one has received from the conference.
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Considering would you prefer to publish your research in conference proceedings or a peer-reviewed journal article? Do you think conference proceedings are a good opportunity to publish an article before publishing it in a journal? Please share your thoughts with us!