This post is authored by Dr Amanda Davies | Senior Researcher in Policing and Security | School of Policing Studies
The emphasis on publishing research continues unabated in the academic/scientific/practitioner fields. This drive is realising some interesting approaches to increasing publication metrics for authors and institutions. One, which is not new, although it appears to be less embraced, is providing opportunities for conference papers to be published in Scopus-indexed journal special issues and or highly respected professional journals.
Here is an opportunity for you to leverage the reputation and actionable outcomes of a conference for which you are on the organising committee member. Let us think about how conferences can engender engagement and attendance from multidisciplinary fields under one conference umbrella. There are appreciative critical considerations for conference organisers to understand the catalysts for researchers/authors/ attendees to submit papers and attend a conference. Importantly, it may not be a one-size-fits-all all. A recent example is found in the ASC25 Australian Simulation Conference (held in August, in Adelaide, AUS).
This conference draws from a very diverse field of those who may design, develop, deliver and or study in the simulation-based learning domain, including health, engineering, medicine, serious games, law enforcement, defence aviation, robotics, and computer science (this list is only an example of a continually evolving field in the use of simulations).
Based on the diverse topics from which the conference had the potential to draw article submissions, two journals were approached to consider accepting a special issue of peer-reviewed papers from the conference: Simulation and Gaming Journal (Sage) and the Journal of Healthcare Simulation. The partnering with these two journals offered an opportunity for the conference to provide a pathway for those in the health profession and those in other occupations utilising simulation to be eligible for publication of their papers beyond the bounds of the conference.
Whilst one can appreciate, such an approach engenders a level of tasking for the conference organisation members (generally a sub-scientific committee). Often, the journal will require the conference committee to arrange the peer review of the papers and submit the documentation to the journal editors, each journal having customised arrangements with the conference committee.
The benefits of creating these multidisciplinary presentations and publication opportunities are both tangible and intangible. For the authors there is the opportunity not only to present to an audience from their own discipline, also to members of other disciplines and the potential networking and research partnerships that may evolve; in addition authors have the opportunity to be published in highly respected journals; for the conference there is the added benefit of reaching out to the wider multidisciplinary audience – increasing recognition and presence contributing to the future of the conference; for the journals – quality, extant topics for their readership.
The question remains – where are you on this landscape? You may already be an experienced conference organising committee member or have not yet stepped into this arena –perhaps this brief case study will encourage you to put your hand up to consider multidisciplinary conferences with potential publication benefits that reach beyond the conference event and into the future. – there are also publication benefits for you as a guest editor – the work is worthwhile – hope this brief presentation will encourage you.