From Pipedreams From Pipedreams to Pipelinesto Pipelines
Scholarly Publishing and Scholarly Publishing and
the Art of Having Funthe Art of Having Fun
Topics for ConversationTopics for Conversation
Why publish?
What to publish?
Where to publish?
How to publish? Technical aspects
Psychological aspects
Why Me?Why Me? Editorships
Review of Educational Research
Journal of Experimental Education
Florida Journal of Educational Research
External reviewer
Educational Researcher
American Educational Research Journal
Psychological Methods
Educational and Psychological Measurement
Published in a variety of journals for 20+ years
Five Not-So-Easy PiecesFive Not-So-Easy Pieces
Have something worth saying
Say it well
Find the right place to say it
Persevere
Enjoy
Why Publish?Why Publish?
Mandated Professional responsibilities
Educational preparation
Choice Prestige
Perks
Pleasure
What’s Worth Saying?What’s Worth Saying? Problem/Questions
Trivial vs. Substantive New twists and insights Know the literature
Research of the finest kind Every compromise a weak link Why waste your time on junk?
How much more effort?
Good problems + good methods = success
What’s Out There?What’s Out There?
Empirical studies Reviews & syntheses of others’ work Descriptions of “my stuff” Advocacy Criticism & re-interpretation Book reviews Theoretical papers
Things Well SaidThings Well Said Read, read, read Write early, write often Know your audience
Good writing is good teaching The intelligent but naïve reader Target a journal and follow a model
Seek advice from the published Mentors, co-authors and friendly critics The promise and the peril of the “next draft”
The good-enough principle
Things Well Said (Cont’d)Things Well Said (Cont’d) Series of steps
First draft Internal proof and revise
Second draft Friendly critics Proof and revise
Third draft Conference presentation (Hopefully) friendly critics Proof and revise
Fourth draft Editors
Anatomy of a Scholarly PaperAnatomy of a Scholarly Paper
Theory, policy, major trends
Review previous empirical work
(detail & critique)
My Study Purpose Method Results
Discussion & implications
For theory, policy, future work
First: Accuracy and clarity
Second: Style and interest
Choosing an OutletChoosing an Outlet Know the field
Major journals Major authors (where do they publish?) Sources you’ve cited The web is not enough
Target the best journal with the best fit Appropriate content first Academic reputation second
Model your paper Follow recently published examples Instructions for authors
What Makes a ‘Good’ Journal?What Makes a ‘Good’ Journal? Readership and circulation
Practitioners Researchers/scholars General public
Impact factors Total citations by others Long-term citations by others
Selectivity Acceptance rates/rejection rates Not a very meaningful criterion, but some folks
are impressed with these statistics
Editorial Process: The EditorEditorial Process: The Editor
Submission to editor/editors Pre-submission query? Cover letter Paper/electronic: follow the rules!
Be patient but not too patient Reject/Revise/Send out for review
Appropriate content Appropriate quality
Editorial Process: The ReviewersEditorial Process: The Reviewers Anonymity of author(s) and
reviewer(s) Reviewer expertise? Decision letter from editor
Accept without revision (extremely rare!) Accept with minor revision (rare!) Revise and resubmit (common) Reject (common)
Be patient but not too patient!
Editorial Process: ResubmissionEditorial Process: Resubmission Which revisions to make?
Mandatory revisions Suggestions
Explicitly address all criticisms Same reviewers or different reviewers Cover letter to editor/editors
Detail changes (page numbers) Defend your work Be gracious
Editorial Process: RejectionEditorial Process: Rejection
Consider reviews carefully Fatal flaw in your work? Misunderstanding by reviewers? Poor fit with journal?
Does ‘no’ really mean ‘no’? Major revision and submit as new
manuscript? Don’t criticize the critics
Conversation with editor
Editorial Process: Acceptance!Editorial Process: Acceptance! Congratulate yourself and your co-
authors Keep copy of acceptance letter or email
Immediate publication credit Manuscripts get lost (changes in editorships)
Page proofs Check for typos No major changes – only corrections Quick turn-around
Purchase reprints?
The Psychology of ScholarshipThe Psychology of Scholarship Habits
Publishing is an important part of our profession (teaching, research, service)
Finite time and energy to see a manuscript through the publication process (be selective)
Reading, writing, keeping up with the field
Feeding your soul Colleagues and co-authors
The Psychology of ScholarshipThe Psychology of Scholarship Willing to take risks
“Rejection” is a harsh word, but a helpful one An error in conversation is limited in time and
breadth An error in publication lasts forever and can be
seen by anyone Every rejection holds a lesson for us
Thick skin Critics are your friends Don’t take things personally John Tukey and Jacob Cohen: publication
challenges in their careers
Professional PerseveranceProfessional Perseverance Patience and the lengthy pipeline
Avoid the temptation to double dip Same reviewer pool for multiple journals “Least publishable unit” Multiple papers from single project Self-plagiarism
Multiple, staggered projects Pleasures of “Revise and Resubmit” Pleasures of “Reject”
Tough skins and the love of flowers Plethora of potential publishers
Top Related