Getting Published

Paul-François Tremlett, Lecturer in Religious Studies & Director of Research Degrees, Arts

Why publish?

» Publishing your research is a good way to engage different publics with your work;

» It is vital to your academic career to publish your research so that it can be evaluated as part of the Research Excellence Framework;

» You can publish in a variety of ways. In the Arts the most common are blog, academic journal article, essay in an edited collection, monograph or mass market publication;

Publish what?

» First experiences of getting published are typically a book review in an academic journal or a blog post;

» Articles may develop from particular chapters of the PhD and/or from conference papers;

» An original contribution to contemporary debate – your work might develop new theoretical or methodological perspectives or contribute new data;

Blogging

» What is a blog?» Maintaining a blog» How long is a blog piece?» What should I write about?» http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/religious-studies/

Journal Publishing

» I am going to focus the next part of the presentation on getting published in a peer-reviewed, academic journal. Typical questions:

» Which journal should I choose?» What referencing style should I use?» Can I include photographs/diagrams?» How do I submit my article?» Should I collaborate/co-write?» How long should my article be?» What is peer review?» What if I get rejected?» What is open access?

Journal Publishing

» Academic Journals use standard on-line submission systems for authors;

» http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/bsa/soc» I am going to walk you through this site to

address some of the questions I posed on the previous slide.

» Let’s visit the site...

Journal Publishing

» Instructions and Forms» Reviewer Centre» Author Centre

Journal Publishing

» What if I get rejected?» There are many reasons articles are rejected:

bad journal selection;» Bad peer-review;» Unfocused submission;» Plagiarism;» Article under consideration elsewhere;» No original contribution;

Getting Published

» Always consult with your supervisors about your publishing plans;

» Don’t let it distract you from your PhD;» A word about open-access: the ideology of

open access is that it means your research is available, globally, to anyone. Don’t fall for journals that want to charge you £££s for open access.

» Good luck!