1. Ready—Set—Publish! Maureen Pettitt, Ph.D. Skagit Valley College PNAIRP 2007 Victoria, BC

2. The Topics Identifying the ‘right’ topic for your article Finding an appropriate outlet for your article Writing and editing Understanding the submission and refereeing processes Handling rejections and requests for revisions

3. The outcomes of any serious research can only be to make two questions grow where only one grew before. ~Thorstein Veblen

4. Generating Potential Topics: Passion or Practical?

5. Generating Potential Topics What have you been researching lately? What are you passionate about? Are they the same—or not? Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~William Wordsworth

6. The Research Journal Record your ideas!!!!

7. Potential Publication Outlets 1.What potential audiences might be interested in your research? 2.Do you have a preference for print journals? E-journals? 3.How much time do you want to spend on writing and revising the article? Publication is the auction of the Mind of Man. ~ Emily Dickinson

8. Potential Publication Outlets Resources for finding journals http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Journals/ http://journalseek.net Look at contents/abstracts from several journals that seem appropriate for your topic, then: Carefully review the submission guidelines See if there is an ‘accept’ rate and/or time from ‘accept’ to publication

9. Get Writing!! (for some, it’s a bloody process) There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. ~ Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. ~ Gene Fowler

10. Collaborate or Fly Solo?

11. Research Articles Conceptual framework Context The research question(s) Literature review Methodology Empirical findings Implications for practice or policy

12. Other Options Research Briefs (i.e., Journal of Applied Research in the Community College) Editorial pieces (i.e., Liberal Education) Monographs or Abstracts (i.e., the League for Innovation in the Community College’s Leadership Abstracts and Learning Abstracts) Book Reviews

13. Writing Relationships Your best friend is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5 th Ed) There are several web-based resources available: http://apastyle.apa.org/ http://campusgw.library.cornell.edu/newhelp/ res_strategy/citing/apa.html http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/5 60/01/

14. Writing Relationships Your second best friend is the colleague, mate, or pal who is willing to review and make comments on your drafts

15. Writing Relationships Your third best friends are web-based search engines, especially Google Scholar, and on-line library databases like EBSCOHost and ProQuest – get journal alerts from the latter two for the journals of interest to you!

16. Your article should…. Say something new, important, different or interesting Indicate an awareness of recent literature or debates on the topic Address the journal’s readers/audience Be well written…

17. Writing Tips EDIT, EDIT, EDIT No author dislikes to be edited as much as he dislikes not to be published. ~ Russel Lynes

18. You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what’s burning inside you. And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke. ~ Arthur Polotnik

19. The Submission Process Review articles in recent issues of the journals in which you have an interest Still not sure your topic/theme is suitable for the journal? Ask an editor… Read the submission guidelines thoroughly and follow them! Submit one article to one journal at a time If your article is rejected, you are free to submit it to another journal

20. The Refereeing Process Refereeing is a long process; reviewers are generally unpaid volunteers The decisions are usually: accept, accept with minor revisions, revise and resubmit, or reject The ‘accept’ decision is not common; expect to do revisions Don’t be put off by harsh comments Contradictory referee comments? Ask the editor for advice.

21. Revision Remember, “Yes, but…” means “Yes” with a detour Think of the revision process as a learning opportunity (don’t gag!) Address the comments; note what you’ve done (or not done) and why Easy reading is damn hard writing. ~ Nathaniel Hawthorne

22. Rejection I am returning this otherwise good typing paper to you because someone has printed gibberish all over it and put your name at the top. ~ Unnamed English Professor Ohio University

23. Rejection “No” might well mean “Not today.” In some ways, you are selling a product… so, be flexible. Have more than one solution for the problem: Do you have another approach? A different spin with more fire?

24. Final Thoughts Don’t get discouraged… Every writer I know has trouble writing. ~ Joseph Heller I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork. ~ Peter De Vries

25. Thanks for your attention!!! Questions?

26. A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions—as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all. ~Friedrich Nietzsche