Disseminate new knowledge Improve theory and practice Join the scholarly conversation Enhance career prospects Contribute to institution’s reputation

Research is not complete until it has been published.

Many academics publish very little over the course of their career. Typically, 80% of publications come from 20% of individuals.

A 2005 study of more than 40,000 US academics found that  26% spent 0 hours per week writing  27% had never published a peer reviewed article  62% had never published a book  43% had not published anything in the past two years  28% had published more than two publications in the past two years Only about 25% of US academics write regularly Lindholm, J. A., Szelenyi, K., Hurtando S., & Korn, W. S. (2005). The American college teacher: National norms for the HERI faculty survey. LA: UCLA Higher Education Research Institute.

Lack of momentum to write Limited writing support available Difficult to keep writing central to the academic role Lack of time for writing Why do so few academics write? Lack of confidence Fear of criticism and rejection Limited knowledge of the publication process Poor writing skills

I am just now beginning to discover the difficulty of expressing one’s ideas on paper. As long as it consists solely of description it is pretty easy; but where reasoning comes into play, to make a proper connection, a clearness & a moderate fluency, it is to me, as I have said, a difficulty of which I had no idea. Charles Darwin

Any writing which can be delayed will be

Schedule daily writing Set daily word or page goals Use imagery Say aloud what will be written Put off judging text during creation Keep records of production Reward goal achievement Control writing setting and conditions Obtain advice and feedback Zimmerman (1998) strategies of professional writers

five habits of effective academic writers 1. Write regularly 2. Set realistic goals 3. Start writing before they are ready 4. Seek help on early drafts 5. Spend time on revision Boice (1990)

what else works? Unpacking the publishing process

Decide on your paper’s focus and audience Select journal(s) Review journal editorial policy Sample recent papers Align your paper to journal style Follow submission requirements Understand the review process

what reviewers look for Hartley (2008) Is it interesting? Is it new? Is it true?

Respond fully to reviewer comments Be prepared for rejection

why journals reject papers 1. Focus too narrow or too wide 2. Off topic 3. Not scholarly 4. Too defensive 5. Not sufficiently original 6. Poor structure 7. Not significant 8. Theoretically or methodologically flawed 9. Too many spelling and grammatical errors Belcher (2009) Radloff Deakin HERG Colloquium 26 February 2010

what else works? Unpacking the publishing process

What When Where Who Why How

8 questions 1.Who are the intended readers? List 3-5 by name 2.What did you do? 50 words 3.Why did you do it? 50 words 4.What happened? 50 words 5.What do the results mean in theory? 50 words 6.What do the results mean in practice? 50 words 7.What is the key benefit for readers? 25 words 8.What remains unresolved? No word limit Murray (2009)

what else works? Unpacking the publishing process Writing collaboratively

collaborative writing can be more efficient may produce better quality papers requires less revision is cited more frequently Hartley (2008)

what else works? Unpacking the publishing process Using writing heuristics Writing collaboratively Joining a writing group Following a structured writing program

Wk 1: Designing your plan for writing Wk 2: Starting your article Wk 3: Advancing your argument Wk 4: Selecting your journal Wk 5: Reviewing the related literature Wk 6: Strengthening your structure Wk 7: Presenting your evidence Wk 8: Opening and concluding your article Wk 9: Giving, getting and using feedback Wk 10: Editing your sentences Wk 11: Wrapping up your article Wk 12: Submitting your article Wk X: Responding to journal decisions

Thoughts Actions Feelings

Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. Mark Twain