Publishing in Academic Journals Procedures & Practices

Nicholas W. Jankowski

Visiting FellowVirtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences (VKS)Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesAmsterdam, Netherlands

Co-editor, New Media & Society

Workshop: Scientific PublishingCORE Doctoral School of Communication Studies, FinlandUniversity of Tampere

Thursday, 11 November 2010, 9.00-12.00

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 1

Overview

• Prelimaries– Editorial background– Publishing routes

• Selecting a journal– considerations– Measures of Impact– Resources

• Iowa Guide• Iowa Online Resources

• Manuscript – submission– Processing procedures– Reviews & correspondence – Preparing for publication

• In conclusion– Editorial preferences– Summary: FAQs– Micellania– Journals new media

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 2

Preliminaries

• Workshop: informal– important: interrupt with questions at any time

• Materials– Article: Daft (1995), “Why I recommended that your manuscript be rejected….”– Workshop document: Publishing in Academic Journals– SAGE Journals Online– Issue New Media & Society

• Agenda (09.00-12.00)– Presentation: ca. 45 min. (with interruptions)– Discussion re presentation materials: ca. 15 min.– Break: ca. 15 min.– Small group activities: ca. 45 min.– Plenary reports from small groups: ca. 45 min.– Wrap-up: ca. 15 min.

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 3

Preliminaries: Editorial Background

• book editor– small publishers: Quintessenz Verlag, Cramwinckel, Libbey– major communication publishing houses: Hampton, Routledge, SAGE

• journal editor– Communications: European Journal of Communication Research– New Media & Society

• book series editor– Euricom Monographs: Communicative Innovations and Democracy

(Hampton Press)

• guest editor of journal theme issues– Javnost, EJCR, JCMC, EJC, IP

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 4

Preliminaries: Publishing Routes

Dissertation-Related Publications

Ph.D. dissertation (chapter)

Conference paper Other publications

*essaysJournal article * book reviews

* review essays*research-in-brief

Book chapter

Scholarly monograph

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 5

Selecting a Journal: Considerations 1

• language– minority languages– national focus– International orientation

• distribution– regional– international

• form of publication– print only– online only– hybrid: online & print

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 6

Selecting a Journal: Considerations 2

• reviewing procedure– double blind, peer review

• abstracting & indexing services– Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), Web of Science– others: Web of Knowledge, Communication Abstracts, Social SciSearch

• status of journal– discipline / peers & colleagues– department / institution– Impact Factor, H-index, Publish or Perish

• other issues– career advancement– intended audience– point of entry (close to home)– academic status: international, ISI ranked, impact factor, English language, peer

reviewed11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 7

Selecting a Journal: Measures of Impact 1

• ISI Impact Factor: Definition– Cites to Articles in current year / Articles published in past 2

years (revision: past 5 years)

• Applications– Authors: journal status; prestige– Libraries: journal comparative assessment – Institutions: staff assessment– National assessment exercises

• Alternatives

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 8

Selecting a Journal: limitations to ISI

• Inclusion in database• North American bias• English bias• ‘blind’ application during assessments• Fluctuations in factor across time

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 9

Selecting a Journal: Impact Alternatives

• Publish or Perish• Hirsch index (H-index)

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 10

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 11

discontinued

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 12

Manuscript: submission

• initial query– meeting editor– letter– draft of manuscript (ms)

• formal submission– online / email (no longer via conventional postal service)– cover letter– single electronic copy

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 13

Manuscript: Processing Procedures 1

• submission, (NM&S)– internal assessment (1-2 weeks)– external reviews (3-8 weeks)

• letter to author after review– ‘reject’, (decline to consider for publication)– ‘revise & resubmit’ (with external review by same reviewers)– accept for publication

• revision of ms (max. 12 weeks)

• assessment of revised ms (2-6 weeks)– internal assessment (2 weeks)– external assessment (4 weeks)

• letter to author: decision to publish– request to submit final version– NM&S ms final checklist

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 14

Manuscript: Processing Procedures 2

• ms prepared for ‘banking’– final check by assistant to editor– copyright release form– ms sent to SAGE London

• publication in SAGE OnlineFirst

• ms selected for inclusion in print issue– special treatment– order– publicity

• Time durations: submission to publication– from submission to decision to publish: 6-12 mo.– From decision to SAGE OnlineFirst: ca. 6 mo.– From OnlineFirst to printed issue: ca. 4-6 mo.

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 15

Manuscript: Reviews & Correspondence

• Editorial decision options– accept (with minor revisions)– revise & resubmit– reject

• Reacting to reviews– important: content of cover letter accompanying revised ms

• Revising ms

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 16

Manuscript: Preparing for publication

• final check of ms– by author– by NM&S editors

• correction of page proofs– by author– global check by NM&S editor

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 17

Manuscript: NM&S Decision Tree

Internal Assessment Submission

Reject / unsuitable Suitable for review

1st review 2nd review 3rd review

Editor assessment

Rejection R&R mixed assessment / acceptance

Submission to NM&S Co-editors

Rejection R&R Acceptance

Rejection 2nd external review Acceptance

Final internal assessment

Rejection acceptance

Final version msFinal editor checkCopyright release formBanking ms SageSelection ms issueSage copyediting msProof pages Publication

In Conclusion: Editorial Preferences

• likes– clear organization & presentation– theoretical models / formulations– empirical basis for statements– proposals for further (empirical) study

• dislikes– informal conversational letters– incomplete referencing (in-text & bibliographies)– grammatical errors & non-academic stylistic

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 19

In Conclusion: 18 FAQs (unordered)

1 How long does the review process take?

2 How much time may elapse between submission and publication?

3 What recourse is available when an author doesn’t agree with the reviewer’s comments?

4 What to do when no word from journal editor (for

what seems like a very long time)?

5 What alternatives are available to speed up publication process?

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 20

FAQs (continued)

6 Can I submit my ms to more than one journal?

7 Does it help to co-author an article with a senior scholar or mentor?

8 Can I place my published article on my or another website?

9 Can I submit a translated version of my article to NM&S that has already been published in a minority language (e.g., Finnish, Dutch) journal?

10 Who retains copyright of journal articles?

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 21

FAQs (continued)

11 Do online journals have the same status as print journals?

12 Who has the final say: the positive reviewers or the reserved editor?

13 How are articles selected for a particular issue of NM&S?

14 What happens when the NM&S editors disagree on the quality of a ms?

15 Does NM&S have a preference for particular theoretical perspectives or methodological approaches?

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 22

FAQs (continued)

16 How important is the Impact Factor of a journal in deciding whether to submit?

17 What is the status of NM&S as compared to other journals concerned with ICTs?

18 Once my article is published, is there anything else I should do?

Other issues– Copyright– Multimedia, dynamic visualizations, color– Supplementary materials (e.g., data, instruments, analyzes)– Social media (social networks, blogs, discussion sites)

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 23

In Conclusion: Miscellania

• University of Iowa, online communication studies resources

• APA Style • Chicago Manual of Style• Ohio State University site on Chicago Manual; on APA Citation Guide• Purdue Online Writing Lab. Materials related to APA Style

• Kitchin, R., & Fuller, D. (2005). The academic’s guide to publishing. London: Sage Publications. (Google Books version)• University of Toronto, Books on writing for graduate students• Capital Community College, Guide to grammar & writing

• Procedures: Review of International Economics• How to Publish in Top Journals

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 24

In Conclusion: New Media / Internet Studies Journals(small & personal selection)

• New Media & Society• J. of Computer/Mediated Communication • Information, Communication & Society• First Monday• Convergence• Policy & Internet• Intern’l J. of Internet Science• J. of Information Technology & Politics• TV & New Media

• Social Science Computer Review• The Information Society• New Media & Culture• M/C Journal

• J. of Public Deliberation• Information Polity• International J. of Communication• Javnost / The Public• Electronic J. of Communication

• Directories of (online) journals – New Jour– Directory of Open Access Journals– Serials in Cyberspace

11 November 2010 CORE Workshop: Scientific Publishing 25