University Library
University Library
You have worked hard on your thesis and it is finished. Who’s going to read it? Most often your parents, other siblings, and a couple of others. But that's about it. Isn’t that a shame? You as a student, a PhD student, or junior researcher are part of a larger community. Reaching society gets more and more important as a researcher and funders of your research often demand that you are able to point this out. This skill is referred to as Outreach.
Do you already fully reach your audience? Check out this LibGuide of platform De Focus about how to explain your research to a broad audience.
If you are thinking about publishing your research, for example as an article in a journal, you could consider to publish it open access. There are several ways to publish your work open access, via the Golden, Hybrid or Green Route.
To encourage VU and VUmc researchers to publish in Open Access the University Library has made OA arrangements with a number of major publishers thus enabling VU to publish their articles OA free of charge or with a discount. Currently more than 11,000 journals are included in the OA-arrangements. Consult the VU Journal Publishing Guide if you want to publish OA to see with which journals the VU has an agreement.
Always check the Open Access Tips and Checklist and the information about Predatory Journals before you submit your article. Any questions? Mail us via openaccess.ub@vu.nl.
In the VU programme A Broader Mind, students learn to approach societal issues from a range of academic perspectives. They will apply their knowledge to solving pressing social issues through Community Service Learning and acquire personal skills such as collaborating across borders. Venture beyond the boundaries of academia with your knowledge!
Social media are a great help to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a researcher, to have social impact by putting your research in a beneficial perspective for society. Consider the following lists of social media:
