1. Publishing in Academic Journals Tips to Help you Succeed
University of Warwick, November 2012
Graham Hobbs
Education Editorial Director (Journals)
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group

2. Publishing in Academic Journals Tips to help you succeed
Journal Publishing Cycle and the Peer Review Process
Your Audience
Choosing the Correct Journal
Assessing the Best Journal for your Article
Writing for your Chosen Journal
Preparing the Journal Manuscript; title and abstract
Journal Publishing Protocol
Reasons why Journal Articles are Rejected
What to do if your Article is Rejected or Published
Help for Prospective Authors

3. Start of the Publishing Cycle
1. Idea
2. Choose Journal
3. Read back issues
4. Write first draft
5. Use critical friend
6. Refine further drafts
7. Check notes for contributors
8. Proof-read and submit

4. The Peer Review Process
1. Editor receives manuscript
2. Reviewers
3. Accept Minor amendments Major amendments Reject
4. Feedback to author
5. Amend
6. Publisher proof stage
7. Article Published!

5. Your Audience
Most academic journals are internationally read by researchers and practitioners in the field
A journal article is not the same as a magazine article, a book manuscript or your PhD thesis
It is not a book review. However, book reviews are a good introduction to academic writing
So when preparing your paper to the standards of a journal article: Do you:
- Write for a specific journal?
Find any journal for your article?
About 30% of authors write for a specific journal, the rest write their article and then panic. Be in the 30%!

6. Choosing the Correct Journal
Research the journals in your field
Visit your university library (if it still has paper copies of journals on the shelves)
Look at publisher and journal websites; the best sources of information
Talk to peers; most academics have their favourite journals
Type of journal
Generalist: a title accepting papers across the whole research field
Niche: a journal with a narrow aims and scope.
Familiarise yourself with the aims and scope statements of journals in your area
Remember you are joining a conversation with other authors; make sure you have something to say

7. Assessing the ‘Best’ Journal
What is the readership and usage? The top cited or downloaded papers may be on the journal website
Is it peer-reviewed? How long will this take?
Who is the Editor?
Who is on the Editorial Board?
Who publishes in the journal?
What is the journal’s policy on repositories?

8. Assessing the ‘Best’ Journal (continued…)
Is it in the Thomson Reuters Citation Index or SCOPUS? Does the journal have an Impact Factor? Is that an important consideration for your subject area?
Is the journal available online and/or in print? This again may depend upon your subject area
If your work is publicly funded, is your paper required to be ‘Open Access’?
Should you send an abstract of your paper to the Editor to assess its quality or ‘fit’?

9. The ‘Best’ Journal
A lot of vital information about the publication can be found on the website of a good journal

10. Writing for Your Chosen Journal
Look at previous papers to get a feel for what is accepted
Free online sample issues, visit:
Free online trials, access to subject archives, etc
Check the Aims and Scope again
Take note of maximum extent of the submission
(see the Instructions for Authors/Notes for Contributors)
Follow any submission guidelines; how should you submit your paper?
Check if submission should be made via an online editorial office, many journals use ScholarOne Manuscripts or Editorial Manager
Quote from and reference previous papers published in the journal, this will impress both the Editor and referees. It also demonstrates you have read the journal.

11. Former Editor of Journal of Moral Education
Quote from an Editor
“...I think authors need to be a little bit empathetic, they need to think ‘what is it like to be an Editor of a journal? How many papers is the Editor receiving per day, per week? What is going to actually make the journal pay attention to my paper?’”
Monica Taylor
Former Editor of Journal of Moral Education

12. Preparing the Journal Manuscript
Read the notes provided for contributors
Abstracts should be written in the third person and shouldn’t contain references. Abstract writing is a skill, it should NOT be the same as the introduction or the conclusion
Ensure references cited in the text appear in the bibliography
Expand any acronyms; remember there will be an international audience
Check spelling and grammar carefully
If English is not your first language consider using a language polishing service
Send the Editor the correct version of your paper; this is now becoming one of the most common submission errors
Continued…

13. Preparing the Journal Manuscript
Figures, tables and photographs
Check they are ALL present
Place in a separate file on the attachment
Do not embed them in the text of the manuscript
Consider how they will appear in the journal
Ensure you have the correct copyright clearance, especially for photographs, pictures of paintings, etc
Ask a colleague to read your paper prior to submission
Take care when choosing your title; most readers will access your paper online by way of a search engine or see it via a content alerting service
Remember, the title and abstract are the most visible parts of your article and therefore require care and attention

14. Professor Mark Brundrett
What Makes a Good Title
"We would typically expect a strong title, a good title that really expressed what the article was about and made it clear to the reader exactly what the topic was, and it's amazing how often writers neglect to do that.”
Professor Mark Brundrett
Editor of Education 3-13

15. Professor David Gillborn
What Makes a Good Abstract
“A good abstract will tell you what the key issue that’s addressed is, it’ll give you an idea of the methods that have been used and the conclusions that have been arrived at. So that abstract ought to tell someone whether it’s worth them spending part of their life reading this paper. If the abstract doesn’t do that the chances are the paper will have further weaknesses.”
Professor David Gillborn
Editor, Race Ethnicity and Education

16. Journals Publishing Protocol
Plagiarism: is it on the increase or are we just better at detecting it? Don’t do it!
Self-Plagiarism: authors should try to avoid using their own previously published work without attributing it
Submitting a manuscript to more than one journal at a time is not allowed, and you will be found out
Do not submit an incomplete paper just to get feedback
Always acknowledge all co-authors and fellow researchers
Always mention any source of funding for your paper

17. Top Ten Reasons for Rejection
1. Sent to the wrong journal, does not fit the journal’s aims and scope/fails to engage with the issues of the journal
2. Not a proper journal article (i.e. too journalistic, or clearly a thesis chapter, or a consultancy report)
3. Too long (ignoring the word limit of the particular journal) or too short
4. Poor regard to the conventions of the journal (failure to consult the notes for contributors) or to the conventions of academic writing in general
5. Bad style, grammar, punctuation: poor English (not corrected by a native speaker)
Continued…

18. Top Ten Reasons for Rejection
6. Fails to say anything of significance (i.e. makes no new contribution to the subject) or states the obvious at tedious length
7. Not properly contextualised (e.g. concentrates on parochial interests and ignores the needs of an international or generally wider readership)
8. Poor theoretical framework (including references to irrelevant literature)
9. Scrappily presented and clearly not proofread
10. Libellous, unethical, rude

19. What to do if your Paper is Rejected
Do nothing for a few days – calm down!
It’s usually not worth getting into a discussion with the Editor about the reviewers; it won’t alter the decision and could do you harm
Use the reviewer comments and alter the paper; submit to a different journal
If you do submit elsewhere, take care to alter the paper to the style of the new journal. Editors can easily detect a paper that was first submitted to a rival publication
If asked to make heavy amendments and resubmit, you must decide if it is worthwhile. Remember, you may be rejected again and so it may be better to go elsewhere

20. What to do if your Paper is Published (aka; How to Promote your Paper)
Reading Lists
Departmental website or personal webpage
Social and Academic Networking
- e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, MyNetResearch, Academici, CiteULike
Discussion Lists
Blogs
Library Recommendation
Free Sample Copy
signature
Use the e-prints of your paper received from the publisher to send to your colleagues!

21. Help for Prospective Authors
We have an Author Services website
The site contains audio interviews with academic editors providing advice on how to get published and how to write a research paper
Guidance is also available on:
writing an article, editing or language polishing, translating, checking references, artwork, providing supplementary data, how to choose a journal;
systems and interfaces (ScholarOne Manuscripts, CATS, Rightslink);
the review process and what to expect;
the production process and checking proofs;
post-publication, errata, reprints, optimising citations;
article versions and institutional repositories: what authors can and can’t do with their articles.
We are particularly aware of increased demand from Chinese authors
Our Authors’ Newsletter is freely available online

22. From this ... arrrgghhh, I can’t write anymore!

23. …to Publication!

24. Your Speaker Graham Hobbs Education Editorial Director (Journals)
Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
4 Park Square
Milton Park
Abingdon
Oxfordshire, UK