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

The Art of Having FunThe Art of Having Fun

Joining a grand conversation Leaving your mark on the world Building a reputation Building professional relationships Learning and growing Shoulders of giants