Publication

The Helsinki Term Bank for the Arts and Sciences defines publication as: “Printed matter, digital text, sound recording or audiovisual recording made available to the public, i.e. to an unrestricted or limited audience.” The research management vocabulary defines publication more narrowly as a written research output published in a publication channel that conveys information about the research and its findings.

Traditionally, the focus of analysis in publication metrics is on printed and digital publications produced by formal communication, such as articles and books. Taking a broader perspective, however, a publication can also be the result of informal communication, such as a social media post or a published performance or lecture. However, the use of publication metrics in the analysis of these is not yet a standard practice.

Different publication databases have different methods of classifying publications. Different publication types are examined here on the basis of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s 2021 publication type classification, since in Finland, the collection of publication data from higher education institutions is mainly based on this classification. However, the Ministry of Education and Culture’s classification is not universal and other publication types may also be identified in other databases. The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture’s current classification will be replaced by a new attribute-based data model during 2022–2023. The new data model takes better account of publications outside the previous publication type classification. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s 2021 Publication data collection instructions for researchers, the publications are divided into six classes, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Types of publications and their definitions in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication data collection. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Scientific publications

Analyses using publication metrics tend to focus on scientific publications (Table 1, Class 1). Scientific publications are written presentations of the research findings of an individual researcher or a research group, typically published as an article in a journal, a conference series, as part of an edited book or as an independent monograph, depending on the field of science. To be scientific, a publication must present new research findings in a form that can be accessed, evaluated, repeated and used by the scientific community. Original publication refers to a scientific publication that includes mainly unpublished material (Research management vocabulary).

Scientific publications are published on a scientific publication channel specialised in the publication of scientific research findings. Peer review is often an essential part of the process of publishing scientific publications. The main target group or audience for scientific publications is made up of experts in the field of science. On the other hand, the target audiences for scientific publications and professional publications may partially overlap. The research management vocabulary defines the most common publication types as follows:

• An article is a standalone publication on a specific topic to come out in the publication channel with at least one responsible author. In general, the most typical form of publication is an article in a scientific journal.
• A review article is an article based on previously published material that aims to synthesise a selected topic.
• An edited book is an edited book or special issue of a journal consisting of articles by different authors. Edited books can also be referred to as anthologies.
• Conference proceedings are a publication consisting of articles based on presentations given at the conference and accepted for publication. Regularly recurring scientific conferences are important scientific publication forums comparable to scientific journals, especially in the fields of engineering and computer sciences. 
• A monograph is a single and independent scientific publication that can have one or several authors.
• A data article is an article published in the publication channel that describes a particular research dataset and the circumstances of its collection. This publication type is not distinguished as its own type in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification used in this text, but it is included in the newer version of the classification.

In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification (Table 2), categories A and C represent peer-reviewed scientific publications intended for promoting science and producing new information. Category B includes non-refereed scientific articles.

Table 2. Scientific publications in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Professional publications

Professional publication (Table 1, Class 2) refers to a publication that disseminates information based on research and development for the use of the professional community. Although the main audience of professional publications is made up of people trained in the field who use the information in their practical work, the target audiences for scientific and professional publications may partially overlap. There are no established ways of defining what constitutes a professional publication, but they provide information to the professional community, they are publicly available and they have an editorial board that decides on their publication on a publication channel.  Professional publications also include various studies and reports based on scientific research and development produced to support political or professional decision-making, typically commissioned and published by a public entity such as a ministry, an agency or a state research institute (Table 3, D4). Professional publications may also be subject to peer review practices. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, category D represents professional publications (Table 3).

Table 3. Professional publications in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Popular publications

Popular publications (Table 1, Class 3) refer to publications that disseminate information based on research and development to the public and the content of which does not require specific knowledge of the field of science to be understood. Examples of popular publications include popular books and festschrifts, as well as articles for public debate in newspapers and popular magazines and on online platforms.

In some cases, the distinction between popular and professional publication channels is unclear. In principle, the distinction between popular and professional publications is made by the target audience of the publication channel or, alternatively, by the membership of the organisation publishing the publication channel or journal. If the target audience of the publication channel or the membership of the publishing organisation is not limited to a specific professional group, the publication channel’s publications are classified as popular publications by default. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, category E represents popular publications (Table 4).

Table 4. Popular publications in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Artistic publications

There are no established definitions for artistic publications (Table 1, Class 4). In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, artistic publication refers to performances, works of art or similar public outputs resulting from artistic activities.  An artistic publication must always exceed the threshold of originality defined in the copyright legislation. The Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection instructions for researchers (2021) sets out publicity and authorship conditions that determine when artistic publications can be recognised as the result of higher education activities. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, category F represents artistic publications (Table 5).

Table 5. Artistic publications in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Theses

Theses (Table 1, Class 5) are written works required to be awarded higher education degrees. Typically, thesis refers to a thesis or dissertation in which the student at the final stage of their degree(s) applies the knowledge and methods of their discipline to the solution of the chosen research topic and has extensive knowledge of the theory and previous knowledge (Research management vocabulary). A dissertation is a part of the doctoral degree and its thesis that is publicly defended. Dissertations may be published either as a monograph or as an article-based dissertation, consisting of scientific articles on the same theme, already published or submitted for publication, and a summary section. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, category G represents theses (Table 6).

Table 6. Theses in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Patents, invention disclosures and audiovisual publications and ICT applications

Class 6 (Table 1) includes patents, invention disclosures and publications other than written or artistic publications, such as publications using sound and/or image and ICT applications. These publications are the publications and applications made public as a result of voluntary higher education research and development activities. Voluntary research and development activities can also include collaborative research or projects with a third party. The Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection instructions for researchers (2021) sets out publicity and authorship conditions that determine when publications and applications can be recognised as the result of activities. In the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification, categories H and I represent the publications described above (Table 7)

Table 7. Audiovisual publications and ICT applications in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s publication type classification. Source: Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture 2021.

Sources

Johnson, R., Watkinson, A. and Mabe, M. (2018) The STM report. An overview of scientific and scholarly publishing. 5th edn. The Hague: International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers. Available: https://www.stm-assoc.org/2018_10_04_STM_Report_2018.pdf

Publication data collection instructions for researchers, Ministry of Education and Culture (2021) Available: https://wiki.eduuni.fi/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=206835640

The Helsinki Term Bank for the Arts and Sciences (2022) Tekstuaalitieteet: julkaisu(1). Available: https://tieteentermipankki.fi/wiki/Tekstuaalitieteet:julkaisu(1).

The research management vocabulary (2022) Available: https://sanastot.suomi.fi/concepts/3bdbcac2-e57f-49c1-b104-e37eff042834