writing academic journal articles

Gerard GogginDept of Media and Communications

University of Sydney11 September 2015

why journal articles?• important part of advanced research (i.e. higher

degrees by research) is disseminating your work by publishing

• journals remain important part of this• many reasons for this: they define the field; they are

laboratories for thinking; they are now – more or less – accessible via databases & Internet search; they allow people (e.g. future academic employers) to evaluate your work and potential; they offer great way to get feedback – peer-review – from experts in the field; they provide way for other researchers to know, interact with, and cite, your work

contemporary context for research• local university context• International context: discipline & fields (standards, norms,

questions, agenda)• quality discourses & frameworks: Excellence Research Australia

(ERA)• justifying research: expectations of different publics

– ‘end-users’, ‘stakeholders’, ‘media’, ‘taxpayers’, ‘communities’• expectation that researchers will seek funding• new emphasis on collaborative, team-based research in humanities• new idea of the research career in humanities & social sciences (cf.

sciences)• Expectation that researchers will work across disciplines,

universities, and sectors (i.e. with industry, communities)

contemporary context for journals• the quality turn: Excellence Research Australia;

ranking of journals (ISI listing; university & national rankings)

• means greater emphasis on quality/standing of journals – and pressure to publish in top journals in field

• other factors: great proliferation of journals; transnational companies that dominate academic journal publishing (Taylor & Francis; Sage; etc); Internet/new media models of circulating journal content; emergence of open access journals; issues concerning independent journal publishing; Google Scholar (and emergence of h-index in academia)

writing & publishing

• build writing into your research – and research career – early on

• aim to publish 2 very good journal articles by time you have finished your PhD

• develop strategies for sustaining your writing practice

• seek different kinds of feedback for your work• think strategically about where you publish• gain experience in academic publishing (reviewing;

editing; publishing)

Journal selection

• It’s important that you familiarize yourself with academic journals

• Which are the journals in your field/s• Which are ‘best’/most influential• What the characteristics/style of journal &

what kind of work they publish• Who their communities are

Journal selection

• What are the journals in your field?• What are the top journals?• Which do you wish to publish in?• Are their journals that aren’t best, but are

important for communicating with particular audiences – e.g. national audiences, professional/practitioner audiences?

• Where you do want to publish over a 3-5 year period?

Top journals

Most widely accepted (still problematic) ranking is ISI Journal Citation reportsFor communication, ISI lists 76 journal journals & measures their number of citations and impact factorsYou can access this via the USYD library Google Scholar is rising in importance, it offers an alternative ranking of journals now - see, for instance, its ‘top publications - communication’

Which journal for this paper?

• Think about which journals you wish/need to publish in;

• Think which journal is best fit for this paper/piece of research

• Know the journal! – read it, understand its place in field/history/etc

• Take advice from your supervisor, other academics, colleagues about suitability of journal

rationale

• Why are you writing this paper?• What’s its point?• What your approach/methods?• With whom are you hoping to communicate?

writing a journal article 1/3• abstract• journal – sense of audience/outlet• drafts of paper• conference paper are great way to work up draft

& get feedback (quickly revise afterwards for submission)

• pre-review critique• adhere to style (as many don’t); keep to length;

be professional in dealings with editor• article submitted; will be assessed; then, if

thought suitable, will go to review

writing a journal article 2/3

• follow up to see if reviews have been received (after time journal stipulates – e.g. usually 2 months); NB: always follow up – don’t wait for months or years

• editor will advise decision, and include reviews

• usually: accept w/o revisions; minor revisions; major revisions; reject. Or points of this spectrum.

writing a journal article 3/3• when editor advises decision (even rejection), do write back, be professional, and

acknowledge email • negative reviews are tough to receive; so read them, feel the pain, then make

considered decision (in consultation with trusted advisors)• be careful about understand what decision actually was – e.g. editor will signal if

they want paper, even if one (or more) review was harsh• revise quickly, and resubmit; include cover letter detailing response to reviewer

feedback (take all reviews seriously: don’t try to dismiss out of hand; but there is an art-form to responding to reviewer comments)

• if accepted, the paper will go into production• deal with any further requirements (final queries; proofs; contracts; etc) quickly

and professionally• create an open access version of your paper to put on website/in repository

before it is finally published• when article is published, especially if in special issue, please consider thanking the

editor (whose contribution is generally unsung)• send copies of paper/links to it to interested colleagues• Create an open access (OA) version of your paper through a repository

publishing strategies

• publish in the journals that – help you communicate your work to the audiences you

wish to reach & be read, & cited by– affirm and place your contribution, to the intellectual

communities and traditions, in which you wish to belong

• ensure you publish in top journals in field because– It lifts & endorses the quality of your work– Australian & international universities will increasingly

require it

publishing strategies• continuing publishing in other, less prestigious or top, journals too,

as they will often– be the most suitable & reach the audience with whom you wish

to communicate– be where the cutting-edge thinking is happening

• Think about your other publication, and communication strategies– Always put your work in open access & institutional repositories,

as well as publishing it in books & journals– Give conference papers, talks, media, on your research– Write op-eds in newspapers; esp. new online publications (Inside

Story; Online Opinion; New Matilda; The Conversation)– use potential of digital & social media to distribute &

communicate your work & ideas (website, blogs, Twitter, Facebook)

publishing• Book publishing

– While book publishing is changing dramatically (esp. sustainability of academic and quality presses; and new publishers emerging specializing in print-on-demand, e-books, or publishing theses), there are many opportunities for publishing your research as a book-length study

– Depending on the expectations of your field, publishing a book is important to do, so devote some time to thinking about suitable publishers, and learning how to approach them

• Book collections & chapters will remain important– in the humanities, especially, book collections can be field-

defining, and enormously important, so it is worth publishing book chapters in well-conceived, influential anthologies (& proposing book collections)

resources on writing & researchExcellence Research Australia: http://www.arc.gov.au/era/Rowena Murray, The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach (Open UP, 2006), and Writing

for Academic Journals (Open UP, 2006)William Germano, Getting It Published, 2nd, (Chicago UP, 2008)Lagoze, C., Edwards, P., Sandvig, C., & Plantin, J.- C. (2015). Should I stay or should I go? Alternative ‐

infrastructures in scholarly publishing. International Journal of Communication, 9, 1052-1071.Publishing discussion by 6 editors of leading media & communications -- Australian Journal of

Communication, 35.1 (2008): 90ffJohn Hartley, Graeme Turner, Roslyn Petelin & Richard Nile, ‘Beyond the classroom: publications,

career development, and further academic study’. Australian Journal of Communication, 27.3 (2000): 143-162

Graeme Turner, ‘The ERA and journalism research’ Australian Journalism Review, 33.1. (2011); 5-7.Graeme Turner and Kylie Brass, Mapping the humanities, arts, and social sciences in Australia.

Canberra: Australian Academy of the Humanities.Special section of Communication Research and Practice, 1.3 (2015), including Terence Lee and Sue

Turnbull, ‘ “Parochial Internationalism’: Publication in Australia’, DOI 10.1080/22041451.2015.1079151

& Gerard Goggin. ‘The Surprising Value of Regional Journals in International Media and Communication Research and Publishing.’ Communication Research and Practice 1. 3 (2015). DOI: 10.1080/22041451.2015.1079152