Tips for Preparing Journal Articles for Submission

Recently we have received some inquiries from faculty about publishing their articles in academic journals. A number of funders make awards with the goal of a research article resulting from their funding. Often a research article is a scholarly summary of what has been done during the grant period, with arguments to support the validity of the conclusions reached. In a future post, we will discuss the differences between writing a research article and writing a grant proposal; for now, we’d like to share some tips on preparing journal articles for submission.

Faculty who are writing and preparing journal articles for submission, and going through the submission process may find useful this pre-submission checklist from the Taylor & Francis Group, which publishes books and journals across a wide range of subjects and disciplines including Social Science and Humanities books under the Routledge, Psychology Press and Focal Press imprints.

Here are a couple of other helpful tips from the late Howard B. Altman, professor emeritus at the University of Louisville, founder of the Center for Faculty and Staff Development, and Kentucky’s statewide faculty development consortium, as reprinted with permission by Union University’s Center for Faculty Development:

• Have at least one colleague (whom you trust) read your manuscript critically and give you feedback. Two colleagues are even better. Consider this feedback as you revise the manuscript.
  
• If you are not certain that your article is really appropriate for a given journal, contact the editor and ask. Don’t just send it in and wait to get feedback.
  
• If you need to publish (lest you perish), aim for journals whose rejection rate is not so high. (You can get this information from editors.)
  
• It is often easier (and frequently more prestigious) to publish in foreign journals. (And some foreign journals actually pay for contributions!)
  
• Consider finding a co-author. . .ideally one who brings to the writing task skills and knowledge which complement your own. Two heads are often better than one.
  
• If your submission gets rejected, don’t give up! Ask the editor for reader feedback (if this hasn’t been sent to you already). Consider a revision which takes into account the objections/ recommendations of these readers. If you do this revision, resubmit the paper to the same journal. (It will probably be sent out again to the same readers for a second evaluation.)