Writing for Publication

Ashenafi Hagos
Addis Ababa University
 Outline
• Starting point for publication
• Select the right journal
• Understand the Journal's Emphasis
• How to organize your manuscript
• Proofreading your work and letting others
comment
• Manuscript Submission
• Expected responses from the journal
• Ethical consideration while writing for publication
 Where to start?
• Pick your journal before you write
– Avoid predatory journals
– If you pick international journals, make sure known
bodies like pub med, web of sciences, Scopus, and
DOAJ indexed the journal.
– Look for journals with known and reputable
publishers like sage, Routledge, Francis and Tylor,
Oxford University, Cambridge University, Elsevier,
Springer etc…
– If you pick local journals, make sure that their
respective universities or MOSHE granted their
reputability.
 Tips to pick the right journal
• Make an online search on the topic at hand.
• Consult experienced peers or mentors
• Look for the list from professional associations and/or
research offices
• Once you have the list of journals
– Look at their current volume
– Impact factor could be an indicator for the quality of that
journal
– Learn their policies and scope
– Review their editorial policies
• Finally, prepare a short list of journals
 Once you pick the journal
• Understand the peer review and other
processes
– How many reviewers
– How many volumes each year
– How long does it take on average to get the first
response (reject or revision) and final publication
– Rate of acceptance and rejection
– Check whether or not it is open access. If open
access, look at APC. Some reputable journals have
wavers for Ethiopian authors
 Understand the journal emphasis
• Some journals prefer a comprehensive literature
review
• Other journals would like to have only a background
and more emphasis on the finding/result section
• The depth of the method section also varies from one
journal to the other
• Looking into sample articles from the journal is
advisable. If possible, look for the author’s choice.
• If you have a research report at hand recognizing the
above information is very important to make the right
decision.
 Looking into your study
• Make sure that you have either new topic or
novel idea in the field.
• Is it timely topic in the area?
• Following the length and the format of the
journal is very important.
• Make sure you are following the journal
writing style: often journals use APA, AMA,
and Chicago styles.
 Common Social Science Journal
Headings
• Topic
• Abstract
• Introduction/Background
• Literature review
• Methods
• Result/Findings
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• References
 How to produce the first draft
• Producing first draft is very important while
writing for publication.
• Preliminary
– Review and renew your literature search
– Determine who your audience is? Since your aim
is journal publication mostly academicians and
practitioners/policymakers. And the primary
readers are the reviewers, these people are the
gatekeepers.
 How to produce the first draft
• Writing the initial draft is the creative part of the job.
• Just produce first draft editorial works can be done once you have
your draft.
• Create an outline comprising a list of all your figures and tables. Put
them in order of presentation. Arrange them in a logical sequence.
• Do not write the introduction at this time. The introduction is the
hardest section to write.
• The easiest part to write is the method and literature review sections.
• Once you have the method and literature review section write your
finding/result and discussion sections.
• Write the findings and discussion section based on your outline.
• Then, write your conclusion.
 How to produce the first draft
• Now write your introduction
• There are two important things in the introduction
– Why was the study done? What is its purpose?
– Collect relevant and essential background information and
put them together in the introduction
• Producing the references of the paper is another
essential section.
– While writing the draft, don’t interrupt your writing to
document references rather, take a side note.
– Once you have your entire draft, it is crucial to have a
reference section to give information to the reviewer and
readers.
– While writing your list of references, follow the journal
preferred style.
 Writing your Abstract
• An abstract is the most readable section next to the
topic.
• Journals often have word limits regarding the abstract
and strictly follow that.
• If the author guide has a detail regarding the abstract
follow that, otherwise learn from sample articles from
that journal.
• Don’t forget that the abstract is a concise summary of
the paper.
• Often authors’ are expected to forward keywords.
These are the most commonly used keywords in the
manuscript.
 Proofreading Your Draft
• This is probably the hardest part of writing for
publication.
• At this stage, you need to read your draft several times.
• First, avoid unnecessary paragraphs and sentences.
• Make sure that each paragraph has a unique or
supplementary idea to communicate. Don’t forget the
basics like a topic sentence, developer, concluding
sentences.
• Make sure that there is a logical flow among the
paragraphs under each heading.
• In each sentence, avoid unnecessary words or phrases.
 Proofreading Your Draft
• Look for grammatical and spelling errors.
• Use common jargon/languages, which are
common in the area, rather than presenting
them in simple terms.
• Familiar with common expressions.
• Avoid long sentences and passive voices as
much as possible.
 Let other comment on your draft
• Make sure that your colleagues read your
paper and critic.
• Consider their feedback seriously and address
them where you see fit.
• Give it one more close cheek for grammar,
spelling, format, and style.
 Manuscript Title
• The "title" should be descriptive, direct,
accurate, appropriate, attractive, concise,
precise, unique, and not misleading.
• This is where the keywords you have identified
come in.
• Incorporating the most relevant keywords in
your title is vital to make your article more
discoverable in online searches.
 Submit to the Journal
• Often you would be asked to prepare two
versions: anonymized manuscript and
manuscript with author detail.
• In the anonymized version they expected you
to avoid everything which can expose the
identities of the author/s.
• You might also require having a title page
where the author/s detail and the topic
should be presented.
 Response from the journal
• Once your article being submitted the editor/s will
check
– If your manuscript is within their scope
– If it contributes new things or if it is novel
– they will check language clarity, being analytical, and
applicability for the journal audience.
– They will also check if you write it as per their guideline
and preferred style. They will check it for plagiarism
• If it cannot meet the expectation of the editor/s it will
be either rejected or they could ask you to address
their concerns and re-submit
• If it passes this stage, it will be sent to reviewers.
 Response from the journal
• Who are reviewers
– These are people who have published in similar
areas
– Those who have expertise in the area
– Those who have up-to-date information on the
issue
– Those who have experience reviewing journal
articles
 Response from the journal
• This process could take from three months to one
year
• You should expect both responses: reject or
revision (minor or major)
• You have to know that the probability of
acceptance is way lower than the probability of
rejection
• Whatever their decision is it will come with
comments
• If it is rejected, consider the comments seriously,
and you can either re-submit it to the same
journal or you can submit it to another journal
 Response from the journal
• If they ask you to revise, you could have various
comments
• The tone of the comments varies from one
reviewer to the other. Focus on the comments,
not how the comments are presented.
• There could be comments you can accept, accept
partly, and not accept at all.
• You should do the modifications you have in the
manuscript based on the comments either in
track change or you should color them.
• They also expected you to write an author
response.
 Response from the journal
• In the author's response letter, they expected you to put the
comments parallel with your response.
• If you don’t accept the comment, you should clearly and
politely justify your reason. You shouldn’t be too polite.
• If you accept you should let them know how you incorporated
their responses in the document.
• Don’t oblige to accept everything the reviewers say.
• If you get contradictory comments from the reviewers ask for
advice from the editor.
• Make sure you address everything.
• If the comment is not clear, respond to it based on your
understanding and let them know you had difficulty to
understand their comment.
• If your justification for not accepting the comment, consult
with the editor.
 Ethical Consideration while writing
for publication
• Journals differ on what constitutes a proper
ethical concern.
• Sensitive issues must constantly take extra
ethical precautions to protect the participants.
• A letter or number of IRB permission may be
necessary.
Thank You!