Reducing Rejection Rates: Steps to Getting Your Articles and Grants Noticed

Reducing Rejection Rates: Reducing Rejection Rates: Steps to Getting Your Articles Steps to Getting Your Articles

and Grants Noticedand Grants Noticed

Reducing Rejection Rates: Reducing Rejection Rates: Steps to Getting Your Articles Steps to Getting Your Articles

and Grants Noticedand Grants NoticedOral Capps, Jr.Oral Capps, Jr.

Professor and Holder of the Southwest Dairy Marketing Endowed Chair Professor and Holder of the Southwest Dairy Marketing Endowed Chair Texas A&M UniversityTexas A&M University

GSS Track SessionGSS Track SessionAAEA Annual Meeting Orlando, FLAAEA Annual Meeting Orlando, FL

July 28, 2008July 28, 2008

Overview Several past GSS presentations have focused

on maximizing the likelihood of getting articles accepted for publication or alternatively minimizing rejection rates (e.g. Cramer; Shively; Irwin; Loomis; and Mittelhammer). I will attempt to summarize key points made not only from these presentations but also from my personal experiences over the past 28 years as an academician.

Overview Far less information has been provided on

reducing rejection rates for grants and contracts; I will provide some specifics based on not only my experience as an academician but also as managing partner of a consulting firm

I will stress common elements to writing journal articles and grants

Reducing Rejection Rates for Journal

Articles Identify timely, novel topics to insure editor,

reviewer, and reader interest Be clear about your respective objectives and

hypotheses concerning your research question(s)

Provide a thorough literature review clearly differentiating your work from past work

Describe how your work advances the literature Be clear about your methodology Write clearly, concisely and succinctly


Articles Selection of the appropriate publication

outlet (journal) is non-trivial and very important

Make sure your article fits within the purview of the journal selected

Follow journal submission guidelines


Articles Expect to write, rewrite, and rewrite again

until: The presentation of ideas and results are clearly

organized; The spelling and use of language are impeccable; The theoretical and empirical issues are

understandable to editors, reviewers, and readers; The theoretical, methodological, and institutional

logic is interconnected and internally consistent; and

The conclusions actually follow from your research findings.


Articles Pay close attention to the letter from the editor and the comments

from the reviewers Comments from reviewers generally are numbered; prepare

appropriate responses to each comment as if appearing in court before a judge and jury

Try to accommodate reviewers requests for additional analysis, literature, methodology, etc. You don’t have to do everything they ask But carefully explain why you can’t accommodate their requests Be cordial in responding to reviewer comments

Recognize that responding to reviewers and revising your article are both time-consuming and possibly frustrating activities; maintain a positive attitude as generally there is at least

one nugget mined from any formal review

What Actions to Take if Your Article is Rejected

Rejections happen to all of us, believe it or not! If you are not being rejected, then you are not writing enough Do not fret unnecessarily over rejections; revise and resubmit

elsewhere incorporating suggestions from past reviewers Recognize that the distribution associated with the review

process has a large variance Challenging an editorial decision rarely works in practice Many articles eventually are published in journals other than

where they were first submitted Rethink your article after several rejections Reducing rejection rates requires persistence, patience, and

laborious effort

Contracts and Grants: Where to Obtain Information?

www.grants.gov – Grants Available www.usda.gov – Dept. of Agriculture www.ed.gov – Dept. of Education www.dhhs.gov/grants/index.shtml - Dept of Health

and Human Services www.hud.gov/grants/index.cfm www.usdoj.gov/10grants/index.html - Dept. of

Justice www.ipa.gov/ogd - Environmental Protection

Agency

Reducing Rejection Rates on Your Grants and

ContractsWriting the Statement of the Problem

1. Use language as it appears in the request for proposal (RFP)

2. Present a formal review of past work from the literature on the issue

3. Include relevant statistics

4. Use descriptive words

5. Stay focused on the topic—remember the funnel

6. Create passion and urgency associated with the topic

Reducing Rejection Rates on Your Grants and

Contracts Present a clear, compelling argument for

the significance of your proposal A successful application is clear and

precise, is easy to read, has a detailed methodology section, and is free of typographical and other errors

The contract or grant must be clear and written in such a way that a non-expert can understand the proposal

Reducing Rejection Rates on Your Grants and Contracts

Give attention to important points:

1. Never use adjectives instead of statistics

2. Do use bold typeface

3. Craft eye-catching bar graphs and pie charts

4. Use of tables and maps can be very effective as well

5. If necessary use legends to improve communication from the graphs, charts, tables, and maps

6. Clip art should be avoided

7. Always cite your sources!

Reducing Rejection Rates on Your Grants and Contracts

Federal grants have very specific rules—so follow them

Use checklists provided by the granting agencies

Pay close attention to page limits and budgetary limits

Most forms from granting agencies now are downloadable, and all forms provided must be used without exception!

Avoid These Common Mistakes in Preparing Your Contract and Grant

Proposal Contract/grant proposal is too long Too many complex words as well as typographical and grammatical

errors exist within the proposal The objectives are not clear The proposal is full of technical jargon and acronyms Insufficient justification exists concerning the significance of the problem More work is proposed than can be reasonably done during the grant

period The budget is unreasonable Page limits were exceeded Vitae from principal investigator(s) were incomplete Comparative advantage of the principal investigator(s) is not clearly

articulated

Common Elements in Getting Your Articles and

Grants/Contracts Noticed A timely, novel topic Clarity concerning objectives and hypotheses

associated with the research question(s) A thorough literature review clearly differentiating your

work from past work The ability to delineate how your work advances the

literature Clarity about your methodology Documents are written clearly, concisely and succinctly Expect to submit your articles to several journals and to

shop your contracts/grants at multiple agencies

Final Pieces of Advice Write Rewrite Write Rewrite Obtain formal REVIEW comments Rewrite Rewrite and Rewrite again Be persistent Be prepared to rethink your article and/or your

contract and grant proposal after several rejections