How to communicate R&D outcomes in IT
Communication is the most important part of Research and Development (R&D) to communicate findings and outcomes to key stakeholders. It can be done in various ways, depends on the workplace process. Some workplaces may choose to publish the outcomes of R&D through journals and some with conferences.
The most common forms of communication that I encountered are peer-reviewed journals and conference publications, patent and research repository. In this post, I will discuss the roles and differences of these forms of communication.
Peer-reviewed journals and conference publications
Peer review is the process of subjecting a writer’s scholarly work or research to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same area. The main purpose of peer review is to ensure the high-quality research is published by filtering with the validity, significance, and originality within the area of study. Similarly, the other purpose is to improve the quality of manuscripts that are suitable for publication by providing suggestions to the writers on how to make them better and identify the errors that need to be rectified before publication (Kelly, et al., 2014). Peer-reviewed journals are high-quality research in the field that is peer-reviewed by experts. Conference publications refer to the papers that are published in full which are been peer-reviewed and presented at a conference or seminar (Avondale University College, 2020). The conference paper must meet the definition of research, published in full, peer-reviewed, and presented at a conference.
Patent
A patent is a paper that describes an invention. When the patent is published, property right is granted to an inventor for an invention. It has the power to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a given period. Such papers are a unique medium for conveying toxicological and other information because restrictions are placed on the grating of a patent for prior published work (Stedeford, 2009).
Research Repository
The research repository is a collection of peer-reviewed research papers and publications. It allows the global research community to connect with different researchers and explore opportunities for collaboration. The key benefit of a research repository is to capture and preserve the intellectual output of single or multiple researchers and provide the contents of the repository to everybody interested. The objectives of the research repository are to create global visibility, collect content in a single location, provide open access to institutional research, and store and preserve digital assets (New World Encyclopedia, 2009).
The difference between peer-reviewed journals and conference publications is that the journal is a periodical publication that focuses on a certain discipline and is considered credible and excellent sources to cite for research whereas conference publications are short and concise with a limit on the number of pages allowed (IEREK, 2018). The conference publication has faster feedback, but journal publication takes longer to be published and feedback received is slower. Similarly, conference publication presents work in progress, on the other hand, the journal presents completed work. In addition, conference publication involves peer interaction, but the journal involves peer review. The idea of conference publication is to present new concepts and techniques that are in the process of developing whereas journal publication reports on new concepts and techniques that have been validated by experiments (Enago Academy, 2018). A patent is a legal document written by lawyers to protect the ideas of researchers where are peer-reviewed journals are peer-reviewed to ensure the high quality of research in a particular area. Patients are examined rather than peer-reviewed.
The peer-reviewed journal publications are given preference over conference publications for researchers to read and cite as journal publications contain completed research with extensive review by experts in the field and have a high quality of the research.
How do you communicate your findings and outcomes in IT? Please share your ways of communicating the findings and outcomes of the R&D in IT.
References
Avondale University College, 2020. CONFERENCE PUBLICATION — FULL REFEREED PAPER (E1). [Online]
Available at: https://www.avondale.edu.au/research/avondale/publications/conference-publications/
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
Enago Academy, 2018. Are Conference Publications as Valuable as Journal Publications?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.enago.com/academy/are-conference-publications-as-valuable-as-journal-publications/
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
IEREK, 2018. The Difference between a Conference Paper and a Journal Paper. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ierek.com/news/index.php/2018/05/23/difference-conference-paper-journal-paper/#:~:text=It%20contains%20a%20number%20of,developments%20in%20a%20certain%20field
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
Kelly, J., Sadeghieh, T. & Adeli, K., 2014. Peer Review in Scientific Publications: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide. The Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Labboratory Medicine, 25(3), pp. 227–243.
New World Encyclopedia, 2009. Institutional repository. [Online]
Available at: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Institutional_repository
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
Stedeford, T., 2009. Chapter 76 — Patents. In: Information Resources in Toxicology (Fourth Edition). s.l.:s.n., pp. 711–716.
USC, 2020. Research Metrics. [Online]
Available at: https://libguides.usc.edu.au/researchmetrics/hindex#:~:text=The%20h%2Dindex%20expresses%20the,h%2Dindex%20will%20be%201
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
USU, 2020. Measuring Your Research Impact: Author Impact. [Online]
Available at: https://usuhs.libguides.com/c.php?g=184957&p=2506307#:~:text=The%20g%2Dindex%20gives%20more,)%20at%20least%20g%C2%B2%20citations.%22
[Accessed 29 November 2020].
