Dr Andrea Whittaker, Asia Institute, University of Melbourne

Publishing in international journals: Realities, tips and tricks

Why do we want to publish our work?

What do you need to know to publish?

Questions to ask yourself….

•What is the purpose of my paper?•Who am I writing for?•Why is it worth publishing? What is its significance? •Where should I send it? •What sort of journal should I target?•How long is the review time usually?

What can you publish?

What can you publish?• Technical papers• Policy/practice review papers• Papers about projects• Research papers• Primary• – Qualitative and quantitative research• methodology or mixed methods• Secondary• – Re-analysis of the existing data set• – Meta-analysis (e.g. Cochrane collaboration)• Methodology papers

• Consider writing your job! not extra activity- make time for it and as within your organisations ensure conditions facilitate writing

• Accept critiques of your work, don’t get insulted

• Do the background work to identify the right journals and follow their word limits and style guides

• Have a publication strategy

Ground rules to writing and publishing

•There are millions of journals! Best place to start is to look at who you are citing…. •Have a strategy, journal selection is THE most important aspect of publication, look at what they are publishing and write in that style (eg demography vs anthropology vs epidemiology)•Be practical, think in terms of speed, quality, quantity and reality•Talk to your colleagues who publish- check that the editor hasn’t died!•Create a file of style guide of possible journals to refer to

Choosing journals

Choosing Journals• Check the peer-review status

• What’s the journal’s impact factor & its

• Rank– ISI Journal Citation Reports

• Is my topic relevant for the national or

• international audience?

• Discipline-specific vs. multidisciplinary

Journals• Health care for Women

international• Reproductive health

matters• Health & Place• Global public health• Health promotion

international• Health policy and

planning• Practice development in

health care

• Primary health care research and development

• Others>>>Migration journals, Asian studies, gender, disaster, nutrition etc

•How is a journal article different from a research report?

Group exercise

Peer review processEditorial office

Reviewers

Editorial office

Authors

Editorial office

Realities of international journals

•Editors usually unpaid position, part of academic duties, vary in the level of support staff they have… they may be working late at night with no coffee! •Journals receive hundreds of papers, the more prestigious the higher the rejection rate•The whole process usually averages about one year from submission, so you need to plan ahead•Articles are reviewed by academics like me, they try to get appropriate people but not necessarily, check names on editorial board as well as they usually use their networks to find reviewers

Editor/ Assoc Editor• Screens papers• Does it address issues of

relevence to the readers?• Does it apply sound

methodology?• What is its significance?• Is it worth sending off for

review?

Anonymous reviewers• Between 2-4 reviewers,

voluntary• Usually experts in methods or

area of expertise• Must provide written feedback

to the editor about the manuscript

• Reviewers are human too! They work for nothing and so are unlikely to spend enormous amounts of time- your paper needs to be clear, grab attention and be easy to understand or it simply won’t be recommended

Focus of Reviewers• Literature review pertinent to the topic? Latest

research included?• Clearly defined aims and objectives, including

hypotheses?• Detailed description of the study design (data

collection methods, instruments, sampling, analysis)

• Logical presentation of the results• Sound Interpretation of the data• Evidence presented to support the arguments• Study limitations (confounding, bias)

Feedback to the authors

• The editor advises the author(s) about the outcome of the review process

• May override the reviewers’ recommendations to a certain degree and invite the author to address some concerns but ignore others

• Provides reviewers comments if revision is required

• Specifies the timeframe for revisions

Editor’s decision• To accept the manuscript as is (RARE!)

• To accept on the grounds that minor revisions be made

• To reject it but encourage revision and invite resubmission

• To reject it outright (don’t despair, it may still be publishable!)

Revising your paper• Deal with ALL comments made by the reviewers, editors• Dealing with comments doesn’t mean you have to

accept them all• However, you need to justify why you rejected reviewers

suggestions• Don’t get angry, be strategic in your thinking!• Do what is needed to improve the paper, be it new

analysis, presenting the data differently or adding new data

• Write in letter to editor the changes you have made in paper until ALL recommendations addressed, explain the changes you have made

• Please see the resubmission letter to the Editor as an example

Revised manuscripts• The revised manuscripts will most

probably go to the same reviewers

• Usually a revised paper which addresses all comments will be accepted although it may be a very different paper by then

• If unsuccessful you may choose to resubmit your paper to another journal and start the process again

What goes in a paper? What should be its structure?

Manuscript structure• Determined by the journal• Abstract• Introduction• Study design• Results• Discussion• Conclusion• References - Learn to use a software (e.g Endnote) for• generating the list of references!• Some journals are strict & do not allow for combining the• results & discussion

What goes in an Introduction?

Introduction• Know the key authors in the field – present up-

to-date literature review- SYNTHESIS not a list• Check if other researchers published on the

similar topic in that journal & make sure you refer to their work

• Explain why you did the study• Present the overall research• aims/objectives/hypotheses & those specifically

discussed in the paper

What goes in the Study design/ Methods section?

Study designDescribe clearly• – Study site• – Piloting the instruments & what was done with the

data, changes to the instruments• – Study participants’ selection criteria• – Recruitment process• – Sampling (e.g. random, convenience, theoretical),

refusals, attrition• – Data collection methods• – Data analysis & the use of software

When presenting study results

• Be concise – short sentences

• Use simple language

• Do not use vague terms

• Use active voice

• Provide evidence for your arguments

• Interpret the results for the reader

Qualitative research papers• Allow more flexibility in data

presentation than quantitative research findings

• Use of quotes to illustrate participants’ perspectives

• Presentation of case studies

What goes in a Discussion section? • In the Discussion section, summarize your

findings• Discussion presents systematic analysis • Discussion may include practical/policy

implications of findings• Compare your findings with other research• Be explicit how your research contributes to

theory/practice/policy• Suggest new areas of research•

Conclusions

• Do not introduce new arguments in the conclusion

• Conclusions sums up the key points of your argument

• Restatement of the significance and importance of the findings

• SUMMARY• Read other people’s work• Write and submit manuscripts as often as

you can• Learn from mistakes/reviewers’

comments, so you do not repeat them in subsequent manuscripts

• Practice is the best way to learn• BE PERSISTENT & DO NOT GIVE UP!