How Do I Publish a Journal Article?

SPEAKER 1: How Do I Publish a Journal Article?Journal articles play an important role in academia.Peer-reviewed journal articles areinvolved in ranking, appointments, and promotionsin the physical, biological, and biomedical sciences.Writing a social science book may come with more statusreward, but there is still an expectation for oneto publish journal articles.

SPEAKER 1 [continued]: First, identify the journals you'd like to target.Make sure that they publish pieces with the word countyou intend for your article.Most social science journals will publish piecesthat are around 8,000 words.While others, like biomedical journals, want shorter pieces.Second, make sure to take into accountany notes from contributors.You wouldn't want your article to be rejected

SPEAKER 1 [continued]: because you ticked the wrong box or used the wrong referencestyle.Third, do research on the members on the editorial boardof the journal.It's typical for one of the refereesto be a member of the board.And you can often work out which editorial board membermight get your submission.This doesn't mean you should try and please them.Just take a look at their work and think about their approachas you work on your article.

SPEAKER 1 [continued]: Fourth, does your methodological approachsuit the chosen journal?You don't want to waste your time submitting workto a journal that is not likely to publish the kind of articleyou write.For example, The British Journal of Sociologytends to be more quantitative, reflectingthe views of the more positivist end of the discipline.The Sociology and Sociological Revieware more eclectic, with the latter having a tendency

SPEAKER 1 [continued]: toward qualitative work.Finally, think about the status of the journal you have chosen.Some journals are ranked by citation indiceswhile others are ranked by the ratio of paperssubmitted to papers accepted.The rank of a journal may matter for research assessmentprocesses, and for appointments or promotion.However, if you are primarily concerned with impact,

SPEAKER 1 [continued]: it may not matter as much.People use web searches.These days, they can find something publishedin almost any journal.We hope these steps will help you in submitting your work.Good luck.