michael bieber, njit ©2003 1 getting journal articles published michael bieber information systems...

1Michael Bieber, NJIT ©2003

Getting Journal Articles Published

Michael BieberInformation Systems Department

College of Computing Sciences

New Jersey Institute of Technologyhttp://web.njit.edu/~bieber

November 2003


Outline

• Journal article life-cycle

• Article structure

• Issues

• When you are the reviewer


Journal Article Life-cycle

• Conceive idea• Write and revise multiple

drafts• Send to “friendly” critical

reviewers• Submit to journal

– only when ready• Don’t establish a bad reputation!

– possibly pick associate editor– provide suggested reviewers

• {Journal editor sends out for review}

• Result: article rejected

• Revise according to reviews; submit to new journal

• Result: “accepted with revisions”

• Iterate:– Revise according to reviews– Resubmit with letter:

• How you addressed (or why you did not address) each point in each review

• Final acceptance• Post draft on your Web site

(before publication)


Timing

• Life-cycle: many months to 2 years– Reviewing can take months if editors do not pressure the

referees to do reviews quickly, or if a reviewer is late– Physical publishing can take a few months– Journals may have a backlog of articles and issues

• Some journals publish statistics of how long it takes to get an article published.– Otherwise ask around…

• Don’t pressure the editors– you can send a friendly message periodically to ask about a

submission’s status


Dealing with Rejection

• Everyone gets their journal articles rejected periodically.

• Don’t get depressed, it happens to all of us!

• View it as an opportunity to make the paper better for next time.

• Two antidotes:– Chocolate– Commiserating with colleagues


Article Format (suggested)• Abstract

– a summary of “take home” points, not motivation

• Motivation• Theory and Related Research• {main topic}• Evaluation of your main topic

– For IS discipline:• Theoretical• Experimental• Includes user evaluation of

prototypes

• Discussion of your results– What you learned from developing and

analyzing your topic– Topic’s boundaries/limitations– Your research contributions

• Interesting issues• Future research possibilities• Conclusion

– Summary of “take home” points *and*– Further interesting discussion,

e.g., a vision of what could result from your research

• Acknowledgements– People and funding

• References


Know Your Discipline’sResearch Paradigm

• Incorporate your discipline’s research paradigm in your research and article.

• Example - Information Systems Discipline:– What problem or opportunity are you addressing?– What are the major possible solutions?– What is your solution?– Prima Facie evidence: Before investigating further, why does

this seem to be the best possible solution ?– Rigorous evaluation of solution effectiveness (with real users

when appropriate{based on a description by Steven O. Kimbrough, University of Pennsylvania}


Issues

• Promotion and tenure issues

• Which journal?

• Co-authoring

• References

• Editing hints


Promotion and Tenure Issues

• In most fields, only books and journal articles count for tenure– Conference proceedings:

• provide initial reviewer feedback

• the “ticket” to attend the conference and talk with other researchers (very important!)

– Book chapters (in someone else’s book): • basically worthless

• Can provide some initial reviewer feedback


Promotion and Tenure Issues

• Know your university’s promotion and tenure requirements regarding journals:– Which journals count towards promotion– How many articles you need to publish, and in which

quality journals– Whether you need co-authored articles– Whether you need single-authored articles– Order of co-authors and students– What evidence you need to keep (e.g., the reviews)


What is Your Goal?

• Number of publications (quality counts)?– Go for “A” and “B+” quality journals

• Number of publications (quality isn’t important)?– Poor quality journals are easy to get accepted in

– Nobody reads them; nobody will see your work

• That your work is widely read and used?– Pick journals that people read/respect

• This may conflict with perceived journal quality by your promotion committee…

– Post copies of your articles on your Web site• Pre-publication drafts do not have copyright problems, but note on

them where they will be published


“Just say no”

• Don’t ever feel obligated to publish in – a new journal– a journal which is not “A” or “B+” level– your friend or colleague’s journal– a special issue in one of these, just because the

special issue topic is relevant to your work– a journal you review for– a journal where you are on the editorial board


Determining Journal Quality

• Ask people!• Formal rankings

– Published survey reviews

• Informal rankings– Discussion lists– Ask people in the field (outside your university) for written

opinions if you need this, e.g., for promotion

• Rankings: be aware of potential bias– Primarily U.S. opinions– subfield focus of ranking– Out of date?

• New journals: risky since they are “unknown”


On-line Journals?

• Many on-line journals are new, and therefore risky since their quality is unknown.

• Many promotion committees don’t trust on-line journals, believing them to be:– less rigorous in their refereeing– lower quality since they are not printed

• But, many on-line journals are widely read…

• Remember your goals!


Which Journal:Appropriate Content

• Check written description of target areas on journal’s Web site, and on occasion in the editor’s regular introduction

• Look at other articles published in the journal

• If in doubt, email the editor an abstract and ask whether it is appropriate for that journal

• Talk with editors at conferences!


Finding Appropriate Journals

• Ask colleagues

• Which journals are respected articles in the field published in?

• Some professional societies maintain lists of all journals in their discipline on their Web site


Know Your Journal

• Who is the journal’s audience?– the reviewers will come from this audience

• What “research paradigm” will they expect?– e.g., ensure you include evaluation if they expect it

• How rigorous is the quality?

• What is the page limit?

• Be aware of page layout/format requirements– you don’t need to follow them until the final version

– but make it easy for yourself to convert to them at that time

– See editing hints later…


Fast(er) Tracks to Publication

• Look for special issues in your topic• Look for conference tracks where selected

articles will be published in a special journal issue

• Edit your own special issue and include your own article– More work than you can imagine!– Ensure your own article is reviewed rigorously, and

document this carefully (for promotion)


Co-authoring

• Brings complementary expertise• More authors brings exponentially more coordination

overhead for the main author!• More authors dilutes the perceived contribution of each.• Ensure each co-author uses MS Word’s reviewing tool

to track changes!• Ensure each co-author uses MS Word styles• Student co-authors:

– Many universities strongly encourage student co-authors– Important for their job hunting– Author order is important (for you and them, see next slide)


Co-author Order

• Check with your university and discipline regarding co-author order– First author provides main contribution– Last author provides main contribution– Students should always come first– Students always come last

• You can state in a footnote that all authors made an equal contribution.

• If the author order does not reflect contribution accurately, you may need a written statement from co-authors explaining this for your promotion committee.


References & Literature Review

• Ensure your literature review and references are up-to-date

• Ensure your literature review and references are complete– Whoever you’ve missed may be a reviewer

• Use EndNote or other bibliographic software– saves a lot of time in organization and formatting


Editing Hints

• Always use MS Word styles– Makes formatting simple– Makes re-formatting really simple

• Use MS Word reviewing tool to track changes between versions (with/without co-authors)

• Be careful to “clear” all reviewing tool comments before submitting paper

• MB 11/5/03: Create your own “annotation” MS Word style and format, so you can include comments in the text of your document


When You are the Reviewer

• Do a thorough review– you would want the same

• Provide lots of detailed comments for the authors– you would want the same

• Establish a reputation as an excellent reviewer!

• See guidelines on my Web site– http://web.njit.edu/~bieber


When to the Review

• Volunteer to review at high-quality conferences and journals– It will make you a better author– Email the journal editor/conference program committee chair

to volunteer, stating your qualifications (if any, or just your desire)

• You are obligated to review for journals that have published your work

• You can say “no” – if you are too busy (given that we are all busy all the time…)– if the journal/conference is not high quality


Getting Journal Articles Published

• Journal article life-cycle

• Article structure

• Issues– Promotion and tenure issues– Which journal?– Co-authoring– References– Editing hints

• When you are the reviewer

Thank you! Questions, please?

michael bieber, njit ©2003 1 getting journal articles published michael bieber information systems...

Documents

journal articles

journal editor

reviewer slide

publication slide

new journal result

related research

issues promotion

tenure issues