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Article The Deakin Library blog

May 29, 2026

Library Research News: May Edition

In this issue 

Library tools and support for academic promotions 

Did you know that the Library can support you with your Academic Promotions application? We provide resources and tools to help researchers, and we have information for academics who create or use Open Educational Resources (OER).  Read more about you get the most out of the Library’s support during Academic Promotions season here:  Library tools and support for academic promotions – Article.  

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about open access: Research impact 

This month’s article is authored by Dr Wade Kelly, Senior Lecturer, Researcher development, from the Researcher Development Academy. Dr Kelly shares how open access can support your research impact. 

Research impact has become an increasingly visible part of academic life. Researchers encounter it in grant applications, promotion criteria, institutional reporting, engagement frameworks, and national assessment exercises. While definitions vary, research impact is generally understood as the contribution research makes beyond academia — whether that be influencing policy, informing professional practice, shaping public debate, supporting communities, driving innovation, or contributing to cultural and social change. 

For many researchers, impact can feel like something that happens at the very end of a project: once the papers are published and the findings are ready to share. But increasingly, effective early engagement is being understood as something that develops impact potential across the lifespan of a project. At the beginning, it may involve designing research with potential next users and specific audiences. During the research process, it can mean fostering relationships, communicating progress, and establishing mechanisms to evaluate how research may later be used or applied. Toward the end of a project, the focus often shifts toward knowledge translation — ensuring research is discoverable, accessible, and usable by the people who may benefit from it. This is where open access (OA) approaches can play a particularly important role. 

Open access helps remove barriers between research and potential audiences. Practitioners, policymakers, industry partners, educators, journalists, and community organisations are far more likely to engage with work they can actually access. Even within academia, open access can expand readership across disciplines and institutions that may not otherwise have subscription access to journals or databases. 

Importantly, open access should not be viewed simply as a compliance requirement or publishing choice. It can form part of a broader strategy for increasing the visibility, accessibility, and potential uptake of research. Making publications openly available, depositing outputs in institutional repositories (including NTROs, or non-traditional research outputs), sharing preprints where appropriate, and considering accessible summaries or public-facing communication can all support broader engagement with research. 

Researchers looking to strengthen these capabilities can also draw on support through the Researcher Development Academy’s Engaged Researcher program. The program focuses on helping researchers build the communication, engagement, and knowledge translation capabilities. Through workshops and development opportunities, the program supports researchers to communicate across audiences, build professional visibility, engage with external stakeholders, and develop sustainable engagement practices throughout the lifespan of their research. More information about the program is available on the Engaged Researcher program page. The Researcher Development Academy also offers a broader suite of development programs to support researcher development at all career stages. 

For researchers navigating an increasingly engagement-focused environment, open access provides a practical way to support the reach and discoverability of their work. Deakin Library’s open access and scholarly communication services can assist researchers in understanding available pathways, meeting funder or publisher requirements, and making informed decisions about how best to share their research with wider audiences. 

Please contact your Scholarly Services Librarian if you have any questions about how the Library can support your open access publishing journey.  

Hot tip: Use your institutional email to unlock open access publishing 

A quick reminder for researchers: when submitting to journals covered by CAUL Read & Publish (R&P) agreements, the simplest way to avoid delays and unexpected Article Processing Charges (APCs) is to use your Deakin email as the corresponding author address. 

Why? Because many publishers use the email domain to validate eligibility for R&P agreements. 

If you use a personal/other institution email, you may be missed in the affiliation match – leading to delays, a missed open access opportunity, or an unexpected APC. 

Extra tip: always confirm journal coverage via Where Should I Publish or the Publishing and open access help guide. 

 What’s new in scholarly communication?   

Event roundup 

Details for all upcoming library events will be made available on the Library events page. 

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Library Research News is a regular publication from the library, publishing library-related news for Deakin researchers. To stay in the loop, please subscribe to Article.  

To access library research services, please contact your librarian or navigate to Research via the Deakin Library website. Scholarly Services Librarians bring discipline-specific expertise related to the following key areas:  

 

 



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