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Ready—Set—Publish!
Maureen Pettitt, Ph.D.Maureen Pettitt, Ph.D.
Skagit Valley CollegeSkagit Valley College
PNAIRP 2007PNAIRP 2007
Victoria, BCVictoria, BC
The Topics• Identifying the ‘right’ topic for your
article• Finding an appropriate outlet for your
article• Writing and editing• Understanding the submission and
refereeing processes• Handling rejections and requests for
revisions
The outcomes of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before.
~Thorstein Veblen
Generating Potential Topics
• What have you been researching lately?
• What are you passionate about?
• Are they the same—or not?
Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.
~William Wordsworth
Potential Publication Outlets
1. What potential audiences might be interested in your research?
2. Do you have a preference for print journals? E-journals?
3. How much time do you want to spend on writing and revising the article?
Publication is the auction of the Mind of Man.
~ Emily Dickinson
Potential Publication Outlets
• Resources for finding journals• http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Journals/• http://journalseek.net
• Look at contents/abstracts from several journals that seem appropriate for your topic, then:• Carefully review the submission guidelines• See if there is an ‘accept’ rate and/or time
from ‘accept’ to publication
Get Writing!!(for some, it’s a bloody process)
There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
~ Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith
Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~ Gene Fowler
Research Articles
• Conceptual framework
• Context
• The research question(s)
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Empirical findings
• Implications for practice or policy
Other Options
• Research Briefs (i.e., Journal of Applied Research in the Community College) Editorial pieces (i.e., Liberal Education)
• Monographs or Abstracts (i.e., the League for Innovation in the Community College’s Leadership Abstracts and Learning Abstracts)
• Book Reviews
Writing Relationships
• Your best friend is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th Ed)
• There are several web-based resources available:• http://apastyle.apa.org/ • http://campusgw.library.cornell.edu/
newhelp/res_strategy/citing/apa.html• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/
560/01/
Writing Relationships
• Your second best friend is the colleague, mate, or pal who is willing to review and make comments on your drafts
Writing Relationships• Your third best friends are web-based
search engines, especially Google Scholar, and on-line library databases like EBSCOHost and ProQuest – get journal alerts from the latter two for the journals of interest to you!
Your article should….
• Say something new, important, different or interesting
• Indicate an awareness of recent literature or debates on the topic
• Address the journal’s readers/audience
• Be well written…
Writing Tips
EDIT, EDIT, EDIT
No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published.
~ Russel Lynes
You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.
~ Arthur Polotnik
The Submission Process • Review articles in recent issues of the
journals in which you have an interest
• Still not sure your topic/theme is suitable for the journal? Ask an editor…
• Read the submission guidelines thoroughly and follow them!
• Submit one article to one journal at a time
• If your article is rejected, you are free to submit it to another journal
The Refereeing Process• Refereeing is a long process; reviewers are
generally unpaid volunteers
• The decisions are usually: accept, accept with minor revisions, revise and resubmit, or reject
• The ‘accept’ decision is not common; expect to do revisions
• Don’t be put off by harsh comments
• Contradictory referee comments? Ask the editor for advice.
Revision•Remember, “Yes, but…” means “Yes” with a detour
•Think of the revision process as a learning opportunity (don’t gag!)
•Address the comments; note what you’ve done (or not done) and why
Easy reading is damn hard writing.~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Rejection
I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top.
~ Unnamed English Professor Ohio University
Rejection
• “No” might well mean “Not today.”
• In some ways, you are selling a product… so, be flexible. Have more than one solution for the problem: Do you have another approach? A different spin with more fire?
Final Thoughts
Don’t get discouraged…
Every writer I know has trouble writing.~ Joseph Heller
I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.
~ Peter De Vries