How to Get Research Published in Journals

Rating:
Summary: No-nonsense guide to getting into scholarly publications.
Review: How to get research published in journals, Abby Day, Gower

I liked this book. I liked it a lot, in fact. Here's how it starts: "Publishing may seem like a difficult and mysterious business, but it's not". And then, in a nicely economical style, in not much more than a one-sitting reading, Abby Day proceeds to demonstrate exactly how it's not that mysterious and difficult. It doesn't ignore the difficulties of the strange process of converting research data and ideas into a communicative document; it confronts them, one by one, takes them apart, and provides a range of coping strategies.

As an editor, I almost wanted to be resistant to the mystique of the process being debunked. But what editor could resist this: "why is it that so many authors send editors junk mail?.....editors reject half the articles they receive simply because they are not suited to that particular journal's brief". Or this: "scratch the surface a little and most editors will admit they experience a thrill from helping...authors along". Hey, yes, that's me! I like being an editor! Don't send me junk! Put in some effort to give me papers which make my life easy and are a pleasure to read and review, and are a pleasure for my review board, and are a pleasure for my subscribers. Then we'll all give some of that effort back to you.

And as an author, I was really impressed. Every chapter has a little series of action points. Every part of the creative process, from thinking of an idea in the first place to composing a covering letter to a journal editor, to the psychology of fear of being rejected, is outlined in idiot-proof detail.

And here's a thing. You can read this book. Compared to most business texts, this positively zings along, with lots of memorable little phrases and techniques. "Twenty words or less" and "So what?" will be stuck in my head forever. And the really neat and unusual part was the exposure of referees' comments to illustrate points made, all the way through

We live in a knowledge society now, and readers of this will be, by and large, working in the knowledge business. To make a knowledge society work means that knowledge needs to be disseminated. That's not just academic researchers writing for other academic researchers; it's managers writing about quality improvement; it's CEOs writing about strategy; it's politicians writing about social policy. Effective dissemination of knowledge means we all get richer.

This is a clear, no-nonsense, pull-yourself-together-and- get-on-with-it exposition of exactly how to do all that. I was impressed by it and I'd recommend anyone in the knowledge business to read it, whether you are a neophyte thinking about writing your first scholarly paper or an old hand with a publication list as long as your arm. Much as I'm not terribly good at being humble, I think I'm a better writer and maybe a better editor too as a result of having read it.

John Peters Editor, Management Decision Journal

Rating:
Summary: Practical and inspiring step-by-step guide
Review: The premis of this little book is "seven days to a finished paper". True to its word, this is just what it delivers. If you've already done the research and are wondering (a) how to write it up for publication, and/or (b) who would publish it, some very helpful answers can be found here.

It takes only a few hours to complete a careful cover-to-cover read of the 130 pages. The author starts by examining typical motivations for publishing or not publishing one's work, and then leads the reader through a self-analysis of one's research in order to discover how to target journals and write an article that is likely to be accepted.

Chapters 10 and 11 give a step-by-step blueprint to the actual writing of the paper and -- having tested the formula over the last four days -- my newly finished article is proof that this really can be accomplished quite painlessly.

One thing to note is the author's bent towards the practical. Her reference to Ockam's Razor and the removal of the abstract might not appeal to those whose research careers are based on quiet contemplation and abstraction. Her repeated advice to offer 'practical implications' might not exactly meet the needs of such authors. However, in a cut-throat academic world where the tendency is to focus on the practical, this approach might in fact provide a way in which to make one's abstract ideas and theoretical research seem more "relevant".

This book does assume that the research has already been completed and that the prospective article writer knows what s/he wants to say but isn't sure about the mechanics of doing so. Those who are looking for something to help them forumlate a research plan or actually conduct academic research would be better searching for a good book on how to research and write a thesis or dissertation.

Particularly for the junior academic who must "publish or perish" to build a reputation and survive but is not quite sure how to get started, this guidebook is godsend. Seasoned academics who already have solid bibliographies might be happily surprised to discover their writing lives become a little easier if they follow some of the advice in this book.