LIASA HELIG Publishing Tips for Librarians

University of Cape Town

Library and Information Studies Centre

Higher Education Libraries Interest Group (HELIG) Webinar Publishing tips for librarians

22 November 2016

Librarians and publishing

Jaya Raju

Library and Information Studies CentreUniversity of Cape Town

Overview• Why the need for librarians to publish?

The novice writer

• What can be published?

• What characteristics make a paper publishable?

• Understanding the journals market

• Stages in getting a paper published Preparing a paper for submission to a journal

The reviewing process

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Why the need for librarians to publish

• Personally rewarding Offers a sense of progress, achievement and pride in your personal and

professional development• Opportunity to engage in discourse and debate in an area of LIS

services – contributes to your intellectual growth• Making a meaningful contribution to growth of knowledge in the LIS

field (extending the boundaries of knowledge in LIS)• Builds your profile/CV (self-fulfillment + promotional opportunities)• Exposure - accords you recognition in the field

Identified to sit on advisory councils, professional body structures, institutional structures, government structures, etc.

Opportunity for further contribution in your field

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The novice writer (1)

• Understandably - intimidating task for the novice writer• Feelings of vulnerability and exposure - may be overcome • Do your research thoroughly and write it up carefully - so

that it will stand up to scrutiny in the public domain• Writing is hard work - requires commitment - have no

illusions• But gets easier with practice• Even experienced writers have bad days and rejection from

publishers

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• Do not be ashamed about having to ask for help - there is no virtue in struggling on your own

• Discuss your research widely (work colleagues, family, friends, etc.)

• The process of verbalizing your thoughts and arguments helps you to frame and clarify them

• Get others to read your work and take their comments seriously - strengthens your work

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• Writing up research - on-going and iterative process• Process of writing is complex, messy but creative • As you go along with your research – ‘writing down’ will help

you sort out your ideas, shape and guide your research• It’s a process of continuous refinement• Aspire to get your work to the best quality that you can• Do not think that you can get it right the first time and

without the help of others and several stages of drafting and re-drafting

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What can be published? (1)

• Premature publication should be avoided

• On the other hand - do not constantly put off

submitting a paper for publication

• Process of crafting a research paper involves several

stages of drafting and redrafting

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• You may publish after completion of research for a higher degree:

Here supervisors play an important role in carving up the dissertation into

publishable parts

The ‘big book’ was written for a different purpose and for a different

audience

Carefully selected aspects need to be reworked into stand-alone journal

articles

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• Others may publish ‘along the way’ while a study (degree or work-place based) is in progress:One is encouraged to subject aspects of one’s work to

public evaluationPublishing should be part of an ongoing research process,

even before completion Feedback from the peer review process will strengthen the

study and improve the final productBy publishing, you place your research in the public domain

to be in dialogue with others in the field

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What characteristics make a paper publishable? (1)

• A publishable paper presents new knowledge in any of

the following forms:

Substantive research findings

Theoretical developments

New insights into existing debates

New analyses of existing knowledge

A synthesis of the literature

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What characteristics make a paper publishable? (2)

• The paper is well grounded in relevant literature

• If the paper is empirically based, the research

methodology used must be sound

• The paper addresses issues relevant to the discipline

• It is well written with carefully crafted and logical

arguments

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Understanding the journals market (1)

• Focus in this presentation – publishing

in journals (print or online) – most

intimidating of all publishing forms

• To be successful in journal publishing -

need to

first understand the journals market in

your discipline

• Only then would you be able to

effectively target an appropriate

journal

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• Become familiar with the journals in your discipline: Go through your research reference list Peruse the reference list of core articles in your research area Speak to senior colleagues and research supervisors Search the Web (relevant databases and search engines)

• Identify the hierarchy of journals in your discipline: Prestigious journals – might not be within reach of a novice Other good journals with an encouraging approach to new

authors

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• Peruse your discipline’s journals on the Web:All journals have notes for contributors and

statements of editorial policy on their websitesLook at exemplars of published articlesRead the editorial policy and scan the articles to

ascertain which journals your work may be compatible with

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• Different journals have different areas of interest, presentation styles, methodologies, aims and objectives:Become familiar with these aspects for the journals in

your fieldSome journals have a particular theoretical, political or

epistemological leaningIf your research does not fall into the paradigm of the

journal, then do not send your work to the journal

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• Understand what the target audience of the journal is:

If the subject of your research is of national interest - then you

would not send it to a journal that targets an international

audience

• Once you have decided on the journal you are targeting

for your work - then shape your paper in terms of the

requirements of that journal

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Stages in getting a paper published


• A paper goes through several stages before it gets published (see slide 17)

• Research and writing: you draw from your research and develop a paper

• Presenting your work: Once you have developed a paper - take it to conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. – forums which provide opportunities for feedback

• Use this feedback positively to refine and polish your paper before sending it to a journal

• The next stage is to target a journal (discussed)• The process of preparing your paper for submission is captured in slide

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18

Stages in getting a paper published

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Preparing a paper for submission to a journal (1)

• This process involves a blending of three elements:

Your existing paper

Feedback you received from ‘taking your paper on the road’

Requirements of the targeted journal

• The process of synthesizing the three elements is referred

to as drafting and crafting

• Content and Form are critical to drafting and crafting

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• Content: The argument in your paper should be logically constructed

The relationship between the argument and the data/evidence gathered

should be clear

The analysis of data gathered should be sound

If the paper has drawn from theoretical resources, these must be relevant

and used to good effect

Above must be done in terms of ensuring proper ‘fit’ with the targeted

journal

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• Form:Make sure that the abstract reflects the contents of the paperEnsure that the prescribed house style of the journal (guidelines

regarding capitalisation, spelling conventions, punctuation, etc.) have been followed

The length of the paper must conform to the requirements of the journal

The designated referencing style of the journal must be usedDiagrams, graphs, tables, etc. should be clearly labeled, of good

quality and should be referred to in the text

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• Once the drafting and crafting are done, it is useful to get one or two critical colleagues to read your work

• Do your final tweaking and polishing • Send off the paper to the targeted journal• You should feel satisfied that you have complied with

all the requirements of the journal and that your work is of a sufficiently high standard to warrant it being sent out for review

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The reviewing process (1)

• Good journals use a ‘double blind’ system of refereeing

• The editor will, if your paper warrants reviewing, remove your

name and dispatch it to at least two reviewers together with

the journal’s evaluation sheet

• This evaluation sheet (see slide 25) asks for evaluation on

various aspects of your paper and to indicate if it is publishable

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25

SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF LIBRARIES AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

http:/ / www.liasa.org.za/ publications/ journals

REVIEW FORM Please rate the following: (1 = Excellent) (2 = Good) (3 = Fair) (4 = Poor)

Recommandation: (Kindly Mark With An X)

Originality Relevance and contribution to the field Methodology (where applicable) Structural and technical presentation Language usage and clarity Application of reference techniques

Requires minor corrections Requires moderate revision Requires major revision Submit to another publication such as: Reject



• Reviewers are generally experienced academics and researchers in the field

• The review process can take between six weeks and three months

• Once the editor receives the reviewers’ comments, the editor will decide what happens to your paper. Should it be: Accepted Rejected Accepted with minor revisions or Be revised and resubmitted

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• Once this decision has been made the editor will inform you of the decision, enclosing necessary aspects of the reviewers’ comments

• Whatever the outcome (sometimes very bruising), deal with the editor’s and reviewers’ comments to move your paper along so that it eventually gets published even if not by the same journal

• Very rarely is a paper accepted without revisions, even for the most senior academics

• Learn how to turn critical comments into helpful feedback

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• Use the feedback to revise your paper in order to finally get it published perhaps in a different form and even in a different journal

• The time-lag between submitting a manuscript to a journal and it eventually appearing in print can take up to eighteen months

• Though a long drawn out process peer review remains a key quality-assurance process in the academic world

• The review process can be drawn on positively to build yourself as a research writer and to grow your publications record

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Conclusion

• Research is virtually lost if you do not put it out in the public domain via publishing

• By publishing you are making a contribution to knowledge creation and advancement of your discipline

• Research and publication are exciting and rewarding• However, it requires commitment to your research

area, rigour in quality and discipline in attitude to research

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Useful references

• Beck, S.E. & Manuel, K. 2008. Practical research methods for librarians and information professionals. New: York: Neal-Schuman

• Blaxter, L., Hughes, C. & Tight, M. 2006. How to research 3rd ed. Berkshire, England: Oxford University Press

• Bless, C., Higson-Smith, C. & Sithole, S.L. 2013. Fundamentals of social research methods: an African perspective. 5th ed. Cape Town: Juta

• Davies, M.B. 2007. Doing a successful research project. New York: Palgrave• Denscombe, M. 2010. The good research guide: for small-scale research projects. 4th ed.

Berkshire, England: McGraw-Hill• Epstein, D., Kenway, J. & Boden, R. 2005. Writing for publication. London: Sage• Leedy, P.D. & Ormrod, J.E. 2013. Practical research: planning and design. 10th ed. Boston:

Pearson• Pickard, A.J. 2013. Research methods in information. 2nd ed. Chicago: Neal-Schuman• Tarling, R. 2006. Managing social research: a practical guide. London: Routledge

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Thank you!Jaya Raju

Library and Information Studies CentreUniversity of Cape Town, South Africa

[email protected]

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