Thematic classification of publications in SLUpub

The research topic should indicate the main subject of the publication as a whole. Preferably only one subject category should be added but it is possible to add a maximum of three if these are considered equally important. Subject terms should be picked from the lowest level in the hierarchy, i.e. the level that starts with five digits.

When you register publications in SLUpub, you can either add subject terms yourself or let the library do it as part of our quality assurance process. The library will classify those publications that we import from Web of Science. If you would like us to change the subject classification of a validated publication, please include the entire subject term as well as its five-digit code in your e-mail to us.

Publications in SLUpub are classified according to SSIF which is the Swedish standard for classifying research by subject, also called SCB/UKÄ classification. This classification scheme is used for various types of research information and the purpose is to be able to conduct different types of subject-oriented publication analyses both within SLU and nationally.

Publication data from SLUpub is delivered to the national database SwePub for analysis and bibliometrics which is a source for publication based analyses. Users of these data include Swedish government agencies such as research funders.

Choosing the correct topic

Browse the hierarchy of SSIF subject categories (see guidelines below).

1. First check if a subject category within Agricultural and veterinary sciences is relevant. Here you will find subject categories that include for example:
   • Forest genetics, Fish genetics, Plant genetics, Genetics and breeding, Gene technology.
   • Agricultural ecology, Fish ecology.
   • Renewable bioenergy research, Environmental sciences related to agriculture and land-use, Research on biodiversity.
   • Soil microbiology (under Soil science) and Microbiology (under Pathobiology (for a veterinary perspective).
2. If no relevant subject category is found within Agricultural and veterinary sciences, or if your publication also has a major focus on a more general subject, check the other main subject classes (Natural sciences, Engineering and technology, Medical and health sciences, Social sciences, Humanities and the arts).Examples:
   • Within Natural sciences you can find subject categories that include Bioinformatics, Climate research, Environmental sciences, Ecology.
   • Within Engineering and technology you can find subject categories that include Environmental engineering, Environmental biotechnology.
   • Within Social sciences you can find subject categories that include Economics and business, Gender Studies.

Under ”Associated programs and other stakeholders” you can indicate whether your publication is written as part of one or more programs within EMA (FOMA), SLU's Future platforms, Wildlife Damage Centre etc.  that are available in the list.

The opportunity to tag publications with program/stakeholder is available also for research programs and research areas that are conducted across departmental and faculty boundaries, i.e. where it is not possible to collect publications based on organisational structure.

The purpose may be internal follow-up of publishing activities and/or to make the publications visible in the form of publication lists on SLU's external website.

Please contact the library if you want to add a program/stakeholder in the list. Criteria for this include:

• Long term – the tagging should be relevant during a longer period.
• Responsibility – there must be a person responsible of informing researchers of the tagging and its use.

The SDG-tagging is used for showcasing the publication on the SLU agenda 2030 website and in the future the SDG-tags will be visible in other publication lists on the SLU website.

The SLU Library continuously performs searches to tag relevant SLU publications with related SDGs but as an author you can also feel free to add suggested SDGs. When you mark your publication with an SDG it will be a suggestion that is validated by the library before it is published, in the same way as all other information in SLUpub. We encourage you to write a comment in the comments field, if the relation to the SDG is not immediately obvious and is mentioned in the title or abstract of the publication. Validated SDG tags will be shown in the same fields and ways as those assigned through the SDG monitoring searches.