Reaching a wider audience: From conference paper to journal article, avoiding rejection Liz Marr, Open University

Some assumptions WP and LL conference papers are often based on research or scholarly investigation carried out to investigate a problem, evaluate an intervention or to synthesise existing research/literature Conference papers are rarely drawn from journal articles and often address work in progress, or a stage of a bigger research project Converting a conference paper to a journal article often reveals gaps in theoretical underpinnings, literature reviews and methodological approaches = it’s harder than you think!

What makes a poor journal article? Difficult to read Doesn't make sense Has no relevance for you Cant follow the argument Doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know Sloppily written with poor English Draws unwarranted conclusions Makes unwarranted assertions Ignores everything/one else in the field

Step 1 Choose your journal 30% of authors write for a specific journal 70% write the article and panic (Elaine Devine, Taylor and Francis Group)

What are the benefits of choosing the journal first? Knowing what's expected Getting a good fit for the subject Ensuring your audience is the right one Meeting the journal conventions: Length Style Referencing Reading through earlier editions and seeing where your work fits/sits Finding out what ahs already been done in this field

Unpick the abstract ‘I’ve always wondered why some people don’t go to uni so I went on Wikipedia and then I asked a few people at work what they thought and the ones I thought were right said it was because they couldn't afford it. So I think we should make it free for poor people’ What is the abstract for? How might you re-write this to achieve that purpose?

Hunt the research question ‘More young people are now going on to higher education than before but fewer older people are because part time is declining. There are more people studying part time in further education colleges. Those in rural and coastal areas find it difficult to attend face to face. This paper aims to investigate this. What is this paper about? How would you reframe the research questions into something more doable

Spot the research methods For my survey I sent an email out to 50 people across the UK with three questions I wanted them to answer and then I invited 4 people to be interviewed- a student, a tutor, a manager and a graduate. I also analysed policy documents from 5 universities in England. Why do we talk about research methods in a journal article? What are the many things wrong with this?

Find the theory What is a theoretical framework for? Do you really need one? How do you introduce this to your journal article

What else do you need to do? The literature review The findings The discussion The conclusion

Why the title matters Transgressing the Boundaries - Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity (Alan Sokal) This was actually a hoax article which was published in an American media journal. You might think you are supposed to understand it but it actually isn’t intended to make sense. Title needs to tell the reader what they are going to be reading about. Its OK to have an attractive hook like a quote from your data or a cultural reference (so long as people understand it) but its oftena good idea to have a subsidiary title which says what the article is actually about

Why articles get rejected Wrong journal Already published elsewhere Not a journal article (too journalistic or a chapter from a report) Too long/short Ignores academic conventions /journal requirements Makes no reference to existing research/literature Poor style, grammar, punctuation or English Not saying anything new/of interest No context Poor theoretical/conceptual framework Scrappily presented and poorly proof read Libellous, unethical, rude or lacks objectivity

Referee questions Comments for the editors only: Comments for the author(s): How clear is the purpose of the paper? How well constructed is the argument? How well grounded in relevant literature is the paper? How well is the method of research described and reflected upon? How much does the paper add to knowledge? To what extent will the paper appeal to this journal's readership? To what extent are the language, expressions and explanations of national/local terms suitable for an international readership?

THANK YOU