David Ockert Toyo University Writing for Academic Publication Producing a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal David Ockert Toyo University

The two most important words… Thank you.

Topic Choose a topic / project that interests you.

Topic Choose a topic / project that interests you. Why is this research worthy of being published in a peer-reviewed journal?

Topic Choose a topic / project that interests you. Why is this research worthy of being published in a peer-reviewed journal? What is the ‘gap’ in the literature that your paper will answer / fill?

Two approaches to writing The laissez-faire approach Advantages: Freedom of topic No limitations on font, word count, format, etc.

Two approaches to writing The laissez-faire approach Disadvantages Where to submit? Will have to reformat paper: font, word count, etc.

Two approaches to writing The targeted approach

Two approaches to writing The targeted approach Writing a paper targeted at a specific journal.

Two approaches to writing The targeted approach Advantages: Word count, formatting, etc., are all known

Two approaches to writing Print out a copy of the guidelines. Keep it in a clear file with the journal name and your login-info (Do these first).

Journals… Bi-annually Tri-annually Quarterly Bi-monthly Monthly ‘Random’- 9 times per year?? and on-line…

The Organization… Begin by putting ‘the basics’ on the paper:

The Organization… Write the title as instructed by the journal guidelines in twelve words Your name Affiliation Abstract The abstract must spill the beans. Tell the reader what type of study, number of participants, what theory was tested, the results, and etc. Finish by stating something like: The results and implications are discussed. It is usually indented and in block formatting. Try and write your Abstract at the exact word count limit – just for fun! Pretend this text is also indented on the right. Keywords: (alphabetize)

The Body Introduction (What’s the ‘gap’?) Literature Review

The Body Research Questions Hypothesis/es Introduction (What’s the ‘gap’?) Literature Review Research Questions Hypothesis/es Methods (Participants, Materials, Procedures),

The Body Results & Discussion Introduction (What’s the ‘gap’?) Literature Review Research Questions Hypothesis/es Methods (Participants, Materials, Procedures), Results & Discussion Conclusion (Limitations & future research) Acknowledgements References Appendices (Figures ok, Tables not)

Formatting Use page numbers. The Abstract – Again, spill the beans The Introduction – Yes or no? Body – Caps? ALL CAPS? Title Caps? Main headers Sub-headers & sub-sub-headers Methods (Procedures, Participants, Instrument)

The writing… The Literature Review: ‘Build’ your paper. Copy / Paste, Citation, Reference & Copy / Paste, Quote, Citation (page #), Reference

The writing… The Literature Review: ‘Build’ your paper. Put together a ‘puzzle’. Keep it relevant (use a New Ideas doc…) Hint: Quantity of production over quantity of time. Avoid a ‘top-to-bottom’ approach.

Stylistics Avoid the use of “I”

Stylistics Avoid the use of “I” Use your own voice (Do not try to ‘sound’ profound)

Stylistics Avoid the use of “I” Use your own voice (Do not try to ‘sound’ profound) Avoid train-of-thought sentences.

Stylistics Long sentences are worthless…Zzzzzzz~

Stylistics Long sentences are worthless…Zzzzzzz~ Syntactical fender-benders are not necessary

Stylistics Long sentences are worthless…Zzzzzzz~ Syntactical fender-benders are not necessary Impress with your results, presentation, etc.

Reporting Results Include the statistical significance levels.

Reporting Results Include the statistical significance levels. Include the effect size level (Cohen’s d) for non-experimental studies (differences between two means).

Reporting Results Include the statistical significance levels. Include the effect size level (Cohen’s d) for non-experimental studies (differences between two means). Use Glass’ delta for statistically significant differences as a result of an experiment.

Reporting Results Include the statistical significance levels. Include the effect size level (Cohen’s d) for non-experimental studies (differences between two means). Use Glass’ delta for statistically significant differences as a result of an experiment. Only report the statistically significant differences in the Discussion.

Pre-submission suggestions Lay out all of the pages from left to right, top to bottom: ‘A,B,C’ all the way through

Pre-submission suggestions Lay out all of the pages from left to right, top to bottom: ‘A,B,C’ all the way through Do the same for pages (4 & 5, 6 & 7, etc.) (beware ‘bumping’ Tables, etc.)

Pre-submission suggestions Lay out all of the pages from left to right, top to bottom: ‘A,B,C’ all the way through Do the same for pages (4 & 5, 6 & 7, etc.) (beware ‘bumping’ Tables, etc.) Ask a member of the PSG to give it a read. Save a copy of every iteration with a date.

Submitting Write a very polite cover letter. Have it proofread and proofread, again. (That’s what friends are for!).

Working with the editor… The editor – like Google – is your friend. Ask any questions you may have.

Reviewer's comments Don’t argue… Go down the list and make the corrections one by one… Use the ‘edit’ function

Reviewers comments… If the edit function is used… If the comments are in Word .doc format

Resubmitting Make all of the corrections as suggested. Ask a colleague or a member of the PSG to review the new paper. Include the ‘before’ and ‘after’ versions with the Reviewer’s comments, too.

Acceptance Layout: Check, check, and double-check Proof the paper again.

Good Luck & Thank-you!