After putting in hours and hours to plan, organize, and complete your project, you finished it!
(Or maybe you haven't yet, but imagine how good it's going to feel when you do!)
Consider sharing your research project!
There may already be an expectation as part of your project that you'll share it in some way (e.g. journal article submission, institutional repository, online portfolio), but even if there isn't, you can contribute to the scholarship in your field by sharing your work.
If part of your project does include sharing it in some way, then follow the guidelines, but ask questions when you have them!
You've incorporated and built upon others' ideas, and now it's time to share the ideas and discoveries you've made.
You as the author hold copyright in your own work*. This includes areas where you've relied on fair use to incorporate others' ideas and properly cited them. However, it doesn't include anything beyond fair use made by others (e.g. research questionnaires). If you want to share works that others have made, you'll need to request permission from them first.
*While you are the copyright owner of your own work initially, many publishers' default publication agreements is to have you transfer copyright to them. If you've published your work, check your publication agreement first before sharing.
As long as you still hold copyright in your own work, you have the option to tag your work with a Creative Commons license, which allows others to use your work in certain ways without needing to ask first. There are several options you can choose, depending on what you want to allow others to do with your work.
You might want to look into traditional publishing options, like in a journal or book. Or you might want to consider sharing your work through an institutional repository or on your personal website. What kind of reach do you want to have, and what outlet, or combination of outlets, might work best to attain your goal?
The options below work well for single documents, and certain of them can accommodate supplementary materials as well. For data, confer with your librarian. Digital Commons @ SPU can accommodate some datasets, and there are many other data repositories that can as well.
There are many different ways to share your research. Consider which one(s) will work best for you!
While this may seem intimidating, traditional publishing (and the peer review it usually entails), can be a great learning experience in itself.
For journals, try to match the scope of your paper with the journal scope as closely as possible.
Locate potential journals using these strategies and use the resources at Think.Check.Submit to help you identify the best journal for your research.
Think about the cost of the journal, and who might be able to access your article once published. Do they allow for self-archiving?
Or consider publishing in an undergraduate journal, like the ones listed in the Undergraduate Research Commons.
For book chapter publishing, try an internet search for "call for book chapter" and your research topic, or subscribe to a listserv in your discipline.
Research/scholarly repositories are a way to share your scholarly works, even those that have been published elsewhere (check your publisher agreement first). Most SPU dissertations, theses, and other scholarly projects are deposited into our institutional repository, Digital Commons @ SPU. To share other scholarly works here, check out how to self-archive your research using Digital Commons.
There are many other disciplinary repositories available as well, and you can always share in one and link from another to increase visibility. Your discipline's official associations may recommend a preprint or disciplinary repository.
Repositories like these tend to be highly discoverable via internet search engines, including ones like Google Scholar.
Posting your research project on one of these site is generally quick and easy, but make sure to check your journal's self-archiving policies if you're sharing a work you've published elsewhere. These are another option to get your work out there, though search engine optimization may not be as high quality as the repositories.
Share your work with your friends and followers, expanding the reach of your work! Even for published articles and books, publishers encourage you to share your work in this way. If you've self-archived in a repository or elsewhere, link to the version you've made available.