1. Getting Your Research Published
Frontiers in Services – Doctoral Colloquium
Brisbane, Australia – June 2006
Getting Your Research Published
Peter J Danaher
Department of Marketing
University of Auckland

2. Outline Why publish? Research process Format for a paper
Getting the submission right
Insights from the trenches
Getting the revisions right
How it’s done at JM

3. Why Publish? Requirement for RQF or PBRF (publish or be damned)
Personal satisfaction (pure pleasure)
Establish a reputation and build a career (promotion)
Build knowledge (save the world)

4. How Does it Work? Do some research Write it up Send it to a journal
Editor rejects the paper…. or invites a revision
You revise and resubmit (possibly several times)
Paper is accepted
Paper is published

5. That’s Easy – What’s All the Fuss About?
Doing top-quality research is hard
Writing a page paper is a challenge
Top journals (JM, JMR, JCR, Mkt Sci) accept only 10% of papers
Review process is slow and frustrating
Reviewers generally less knowledgeable about your work than you are

6. What Makes Me Such a Smarty Pants?
Published over 50 refereed articles
JMR (6)
Marketing Science (3)
Journal of Marketing (1)
JASA (1)
JAR(6)
Plus, JR, IJRM, EJM, JAMS and Marketing Letters

7. What Makes Me Such a Smarty Pants?
Editorial Board member for the Journal of Marketing
Associate Editor for the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Interactive Advertising and the Australasian Marketing Journal.
Ad hoc reviewer for Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Management Science, JCR, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Forecasting

8. Paper format Abstract Introduction Literature Review The Model/Theory
Hypothesis Development (if appropriate)
Data description
Data analysis/results
Discussion
Conclusion, limitations and future research
References, tables, figures

9. Publishing from a PhD PhD work could be the best you ever do
3 years of effort
Fewest distractions
Plan to publish 3 articles from your PhD
Build this into the structure of your PhD
PhD is only the first step in publishing. It’s not the end of the road, rather, the beginning

10. What Are the Secrets? Submission
Target the right journal – were previous key papers published in this journal?
Format your paper to that used by the target journal (including references)
Get feedback before you submit the paper
Make the Abstract and Introduction exciting and get your point(s) across
Have something to say and communicate this

11. What Are the Secrets? Submission
Suggest/nominate reviewers (e.g., JM, JMR, JCR and Mkt Sci all ask for this)
Look at the Editorial Board members, some will be reviewers
Equally, gives names of those who may be antagonistic
Talk the paper up a little in the covering letter
Check spelling and grammar
Attention to details such as section numbers, equations, notation, etc.

12. Revisions –yuk! Submitting the paper is only the beginning
But still do spend the time to perfect the original paper
Revisions are inevitable
Put as much effort into the revision as the original submission
Turn it around quickly

13. Revision Secrets
Don’t ignore the reviewers or editor no matter how stupid they are
Tailor your revision notes around the reviewer comments
Number the responses or keep them in the same order as the reviewer comments
Repeat the reviewer comments then respond to them
Help the reviewer navigate through the revised paper by telling him/her where the changes are

14. Revision Secrets Don’t forget to also respond to the editor
If you disagree with a reviewer, explain this separately to the editor. This is a neutral person
Make copies of reviewer responses for editor and each reviewer. It’s amazing how often paperwork gets mixed up in the review process
If using electronic submission, watch out for glitches

15. Comments from the previous JM editor, Ruth Bolton
Normally sends a paper to 3 reviewers, one of them an author-nominated reviewer and one not a specialist in the topic
Will decide on outcome after at most 2 revisions
No third revisions, no appeals unless a paper is ‘new’
Recognizes that review process is ‘noisy’
Believe it or not, feels bad about 90% of papers being rejected

16. Meet the Editors (vicariously)
Recent Mkt Sci conf had editors of 11 marketing journals, including the top 4
Never submit a paper before it is ready
Remember to respond to the Editor’s letter
If you are unsure is a paper is suitable for their journal, you can ask b4 submission
Editors are competitive with each other
Consider putting your working paper on SSRN.com to protect your IP

17. Conclusion
Research - the old adage of 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration still applies
Editors and reviewers are on the lookout for good ideas, but don’t dismiss the details
Maintain the required hygiene
Work on your writing
Don’t give up