Resources

Before you decide where to publish your work, there are several factors to consider, including:

• Manuscript Preparation: Do not rush to submit your manuscript just to check off a box. Instead, take time to prepare your manuscript well and ensure you cover all elements based on your field of study. As you write, remember to set aside your completed work for a couple of days to “simmer”, and then come back to it. This will help you catch obvious mistakes that you might have overlooked while in the thick of writing.
• Identify an Appropriate Journal: Do due diligence to identify and select an appropriate journal or publication that fits your manuscript. Once you have found the journal, take time to read their requirements, including manuscript publication style, manuscript length, turn-around time between initial submission, reviews, and revisions, as needed, and final publication. Review also the acceptance rates, bearing in mind that publishing in certain journals is very competitive, especially the top-tiered journals in your field. Aim for a journal that is likely to publish your work. As you gain more experience in publishing, you can then attempt to submit articles to top-tiered journals. To say this does not mean you cannot submit your work to a top-tiered journal if you believe you have a great manuscript that meets the requirements of the journal. Note that you can only submit your manuscript to one journal at a time. You cannot submit the same manuscript to multiple journals because of potential copyright issues. Most journals, if not all, will ask you to declare whether your manuscript has been submitted or published elsewhere.
• Title and Abstract Matter: It is critical that you choose a title that encompasses the essence of your manuscript. The title and an abstract are akin to the cover of a book that potential readers glance over to determine whether they read the book or put it down and move to the next option. Make sure that your abstract addresses the key points of your article and captures the significance of your work.
• Professional Editing: Have someone edit your work before submission to the journal for review. This will help ensure that your manuscript is not rejected because of poor writing and/or language. A poorly written manuscript will not attract the attention of any journal editor. It is not surprising that a sizeable number of manuscripts are rejected even before they get to reviewers because of poor writing. Take time to properly edit and present your work in a professional manner and to the specifications of the respective journal. This will increase the odds of being published.
• Reviewers Feedback: It is highly likely that you will receive feedback from reviewers. When you do, address all feedback accordingly. We recommend that you create a table that shows the feedback provided in one column, and in the next column add information that explains how the feedback was addressed. Send this table back to the editor with the revised manuscript.

See the following for some insights into publishing:

Knight, L. V., & Steinbach, T. A. (2008). Selecting an appropriate publication outlet: a comprehensive model of journal selection criteria for researchers in a broad range of academic disciplines, International Journal of Doctoral Studies. https://doi.org/10.28945/51

Sun, H., & Linton, J. D. (2014). Structuring papers for success: Making your paper more like a high impact publication than a desk reject, Technovation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2014.07.008

To prepare for your next conference, consider the following as early as you can:

• Conference Identification: Find the specific conference that interests you as a presenter. You can start by looking at professional organizations to which you belong to see what opportunities they have for presenting. You may also check other relevant sites related to your field for conference schedules so you can plan accordingly.
• Call for Proposals: Once you find the conference or session of interest, check the call for proposals deadlines. Normally deadlines are several months before the conference and in some instances almost a year out. Mark the date and work backward to prepare your proposal. For example, if the deadline is February 28 of the next year, you need to start working on your proposal as early as six to twelve months ahead of time. This way, you have ample time to complete your proposal and do all necessary edits rather than work on a rushed timeline when you wait until is it too close to the deadline. Do not procrastinate; keep working on your proposal bit by bit. With this arrangement, you can have more than one proposal going at the same time.
• Presenters' Instructions: Make sure that you follow directions, instructions, and requirements issued in the call for proposals. Do not do what is not asked of you in the proposal guidelines or rubric, if applicable. Doing what is outside of the guidelines is a recipe for rejection. Most reviewers follow guidelines provided by conference organizers in assessing your proposal for presentation and inclusion in the proceedings of the conference.
• Conference Tracks: Look at the tracks provided for the conference and make sure your proposal fits within at least one of the tracks unless otherwise stated in the call for proposals.

While collaborating with peers is critical, finding the right peers to work with on rigorous scholarship projects can be daunting. This often leaves scholars and faculty working alone on projects, forgoing the power of team efforts. To help you navigate through the challenges of collaborating with other researchers and finding a good fit, ensure that you consider the personal characteristics of potential working partners, the team environment where collaboration will take place, and the desired results. See the diagram taken from Gardner, Barcza-Renner, Bowen & Chongwony (2020).  

Adapted from Gardner, Barcza-Renner, Bowen & Chongwony (2020): The personal characteristics, group environment, and results that characterized the intellectual community of practice.

It is critical that you work with peers who are as focused and committed to the task as you are. These individuals should be open-minded and trustworthy colleagues with whom you can share your ideas without concern that they will use your ideas for themselves. You also want peers who are humble and who, despite their accomplishments, can be relied upon to provide you with needed support. The team environment should be safe for members to express their thoughts and ideas freely. It should also be structured to ensure that there is some order in your collaboration as well as positivity to keep members going even when they feel like giving up. Within your team environment, you should institute a means of holding each other accountable and responsible for what is agreed upon, whether be it milestones, ground rules, or deliverables.

For more details, see: Gardner, J., Barcza-Renner, K., Bowen, A., & Chongwony, L. (2020). Forming an Intellectual Community of Practice for Scholarly Writing at a Professionally Focused University. Journal of Scholarly Publishing, 51(2), 144-154.