School of Human Services & Social Work Getting published Clare Tilbury Life Without Barriers Carol Peltola Research Chair

School of Human Services & Social Work Discussion to cover  choosing a journal  preparing a quality manuscript  the submission process  responding to reviewer feedback

Why publish  To contribute to scholarly debate in your field  To disseminate your findings that are interesting, important, fill a gap …  To see yourself in print!  Writing up: the point where rich data, careful analysis and lofty ideas meet the iron discipline of writing (Woods, 1999) School of Human Services & Social Work

Writing a paper  It takes time to prepare a manuscript for publication … a lot of time  Organisation – deciding what goes where is part of structuring your argument  Conform EXACTLY to publication standards and submission standards  APA guidelines are not just about referencing  Always get someone else to proofread School of Human Services & Social Work

Selecting a journal  Get a good draft of your manuscript – and match your work to a suitable publication  Read journal scope and aims – write to an audience  Aim for where the best researchers in your field publish; where you will be read  Rejection rates are high for the top journals – but most journals WANT YOUR SUBMISSION  Don’t bother the editor School of Human Services & Social Work

Structure  Choose title and key words carefully  Lit review – 2 pp of 15pp manuscript  Methods »When and where study conducted »Who participated and why selected »How study was done incl ethics  Results  Discussion »link results with literature »contribution of current study »limitations School of Human Services & Social Work

Editing checklist  Insufficient guidance in the introduction  Weak conclusions  Structure - similar material in different sections, insufficient signposts  Theoretical or conceptual framework  Faulty grammar – tenses, singular and plural forms etc.  Clutter eg. adverbs and adjectives  Check every single word and sentence – is it necessary? Does it make sense?  Accuracy  Evidence – don’t under or over claim, beware of speculating, significance  Bias, hidden ‘persuasive rhetoric’, loaded words (endured, unfortunately)  Ethics  References  Tables  Punctuation - ‘Full stops and commas are lovely because they are simple. Express ideas directly, eliminate unnecessary hedges and forgo smart-aleck asides’ (Robinson 2002) School of Human Services & Social Work

Submit and nominate preferred reviewers  Follow instructions for submission  Not your friends, family, colleagues  Someone whose frank opinion you would value School of Human Services & Social Work

Dealing with reviews  Avoid: »Dejection »Outrage »‘guess the reviewer’  Acceptable responses »Appreciate that people have taken the time to carefully read your work »C’est la vie! Life goes on … »Gratitude - someone has picked up your incorrect referencing or unclear phrasing »Even if they don’t like it, another journal may! School of Human Services & Social Work

Responding to reviews  Be polite  Take it seriously  List the changes you have made  You don’t have to accept every suggestion – but justify why it is not necessary School of Human Services & Social Work

War stories to share? School of Human Services & Social Work

Further reading  APA manual (not just for referencing)  AGPS Style Manual  Richardson, Laurel (1998) ‘Writing: A method of inquiry’ in Denzin N.K. and Lincoln Y.S., Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials, Sage, California.  Woods, Peter (1999) Successful Writing for Qualitative Research, Routledge, London. School of Human Services & Social Work