Strategies and Tips for Publishing Articles in Academic Journals as a Doctoral Student
Publishing during your doctoral program has become an increasingly important component of securing post-doctoral positions. While this process can seem intimidating at first, there are many strategies and tips that can help you along the way when you first start publishing. Below are tips and strategies for publishing during your doctoral program.
1. BEFORE SUBMISSION
Preparing your Manuscript
Before starting the submission process, make sure you have a complete manuscript that has been evaluated and approved by all of your co-authors, if applicable. Everyone on your research team should be on the “same page” regarding the submission. Sometimes journals also want to confirm that all coauthors have read and approved the manuscript or to provide specifics on which author contributed what work to the manuscript.
Check the website of journals you are considering on components required for submission, as these occasionally differ from journal to journal (for instance, some journals may require a cover letter to accompany your manuscript, while others do not). When first familiarizing yourself with the social work field, it is a good idea to first get a sense of what journals are popular within your specific field of interest.
Here is a link to prominent social work journals that span different sub-disciplines: https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=3323
As a doctoral student, it can be helpful to have your advisor read your manuscript before submitting it.Your advisor likely has an illustrious publication record and, therefore, “knows” when a manuscript is at the stage where it is suitable for publication, If they do not believe the manuscript is ready to submit, make a plan with them on how to get it to submission-ready quality.
Tip: Try to resist the urge to overthink. No manuscript is ever perfect (especially upon the first submission). Smaller details such as grammar or spelling errors, while hopefully minimal, are typically addressed in the copyediting process post-acceptance.
Assessing Journal “Fit”
You will need to consider journal fit and suitability, meaning you and/or your team will evaluate to what extent the content of your manuscript fits within the scope of different journals. This step is integral to the process for two main reasons. First, desk rejection is prevalent among articles that do not match the stated scope of a journal, and careful consideration is a way to avoid this disappointment, and second, the journal you select could ultimately be the permanent outlet of your manuscript’s contents.
Tips: If your article discusses addiction or substance use, your article may not be the best fit for journals that discuss child welfare or policy. Or, if your article is conceptual or theoretical by nature, your article may not be the best fit at a journal that emphasizes social work practice (unless you go to great lengths to make sure the implications of your findings are practice-oriented). Most journals post their mission and author guidelines on their website, which can help you to make decisions regarding your manuscript’s match with a journal’s scope.
Things to consider
You will also want to consider a journal’s “impact factor.” An impact factor score is a number representing the extent to which researchers cite articles from a journal. Generally, impact factors around one are considered average, while those at or above ~2 or 3 are considered “good” (note: journals also typically report overall impact factors and “5-year” impact factors, which is a more recent impact factor score). Journals with higher impact factors tend to be more competitive or harder to get an acceptance, and lower ones are comparatively less competitive.
You can use the journal’s impact factor to make an honest assessment of your manuscript’s competitiveness for various journals. However, impact factors aren’t everything. While impact factor and a journal’s prestige/notoriety are often important in academia, it is not the be-all-end-all. As social workers, we know that dissemination and ensuring access to information is crucial, so also consider what journals can best facilitate access, as well.
If your manuscript is not a “traditional” research article, several journals have specific sections that allow for thought pieces, commentaries, or editorials. If this applies to you, consider what journals allow for these submissions.You will want to avoid journals that are predatory or “pay to publish.” If you have any doubts or questions about a journal’s validity, I recommend asking your advisor or trusted colleague for advice on a journal’s legitimacy.
Following Journal Guidelines
After selecting a journal, you will also want to carefully follow the instructions that the journals put forth regarding the manuscript's formatting. They all have their own specifications regarding word and page limits, formatting requirements, and organization. While most social work journals require APA formatting, some journals in other disciplines may require alternative referencing styles, and therefore you may need to familiarize yourself with them while navigating the submission process.
Tips: Get all information you will need together—author info, emails, contact information, etc. that journals require for submission—this will save many headaches! I recommend compiling all this information in one document before embarking on the submission process.
REMEMBER: A MANUSCRIPT CAN ONLY BE IN CONSIDERATION FOR PUBLICATION IN ONE JOURNAL AT A TIME.
It is considered unethical to submit the same work to multiple journals (and could get you in hot water if you do so). If your article is ultimately rejected by a particular journal, you are then free to submit the manuscript for consideration at a different journal. I recommend making a plan for second or third journals to submit to in the event that you receive a rejection to facilitate this process.
2. SUBMITTING YOUR ARTICLE
To submit an article, most journals will have you first register on their website. You must provide basic info such as name, email, etc., to create an account and therefore become eligible to submit manuscripts as an author.
Carefully input material and follow instructions (double and even triple-check!). Make sure all your authors’ info is correct and in the right order.
Sometimes, a journal will ask you to recommend individuals to review your manuscript. If this happens to you and you are unsure whom to recommend, take some time to familiarize yourself with prominent authors in your discipline or leverage your connections with professors to find potential reviewers.
Tip: Allot yourself a full day dedicated to submitting your article. Putting everything together correctly is a time-consuming process, and extra time will help you ensure everything is accurate and polished, which will only increase your chances of a happy outcome.
3. AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR ARTICLE
The Wait
Once your manuscript is submitted to your selected journal, it is time to wait for a decision. You will likely receive automated messages from the journal on when they receive your manuscript or when they start reviewing it, etc. I recommend keeping track of these messages and using them to update your team and/or advisor on review progression.
The time it takes for journals to review your manuscript and formulate a final decision is highly variable. Some journals provide information on their website on average times to first decision, while others do not. This information, if available, is found on the home page of the journal website.
Tips: After you submit your manuscript for consideration in your selected journal, put it out of your mind. At this point, the process is out of your hands and outside your control, and the only thing left to do is wait until you hear back from the journal.
If you have an urgent question about your manuscript, you can usually reach out to the journal staff via email (not the editor-in-chief, as this could compromise the review process!). Be sure to reference the unique manuscript identifier that they provide to you when asking a question; this helps them quickly reference what you are addressing in your email inquiry.
The Decision
When the editor-in-chief receives comments from the assigned reviewers, they then will make a decision regarding your manuscript. The editor-in-chief ultimately decides which comments to weigh most heavily, consider important, and most relevant before making a decision.
Often, reviewers must “grade” various parts of your manuscript, such as the readability, methodology, or presentation, and the editor would then use this information to guide their decision-making. You will receive all reviewer critiques (not the grades, typically) as well as the editor-in-chief’s thoughts/comments on the manuscript when you receive the decision.
4. POST-DECISION: WHAT NOW?
The editor-in-chief, typically, will email you to notify you of the decision they made.
Broadly, there are three possible decision outcomes. Each possible decision informs the next steps you will take, outlined below:
Rejection: Unfortunate but a learning opportunity
Unfortunately, rejection happens to everyone at some point or another in academia. Rejection is not fun, but it is important to use it as a learning opportunity to learn and grow. It is never personal!
It is possible to be rejected soon after submission (this is referred to as a “desk rejection”) or after the review of your article is completed. If the latter, consider the feedback from the reviewers and editor-in-chief and make a plan. You may decide to make substantial revisions before re-submitting your article to a different journal, or you may more immediately submit the article to a different journal.
Tip: After a rejection, take at least a day or two to process it before taking action. Some comments may take a while to digest (reviewers can be tough!). With some distance, you may also have time to reflect on what course of action to take (either revising some, or all, of your manuscript, or re-submitting it elsewhere).
Revise and Resubmit: An invitation to revise your work.
This is a common outcome. This decision ranges from minor revisions required to major revisions. If you receive an R + R (as they refer to it more commonly), do not fret! It means the journal is considering the publication of your article and is giving you the opportunity to improve the manuscript to meet their standards.
Tip: I recommend compiling all reviewer comments into a table format via Microsoft Word. Doing this will make organization much easier and help you to determine prioritization of how you address each reviewer comment.
Acceptance: You made it!
Receiving an acceptance without requested revisions from a journal is very rare, but it does happen. If this happens to you, congratulations! Acceptance can also occur after addressing revisions suggested by reviewers. You can now designate your article as “in press” within your CV!
Tips: Let your coauthors and school know when you get your acceptance! They love to know when students succeed in publishing and may open up avenues of further recognition. Provide your coauthors with the citation for their CVs and thank them again for contributing to your success.
Post-acceptance, some journals offer the option of publishing your article online before it is in print (known as an “advance online publication”).
This is a great opportunity to expedite the dissemination of your research, as publishing online often occurs much sooner than in print. Some journals have a significant delay in publishing print articles due to many accepted articles being published at a time.
After your article is accepted, be sure to follow journal deadlines for copy editing or making final edits to your manuscript (typically emailed to you within a month of acceptance). If you need more time, be sure to communicate this with them (usually, they understand delays, particularly with apt justification).
Celebrate! You worked hard and deserve to celebrate your accomplishment! Be sure to acknowledge your success in a way you see fit and thank everyone who helped make this accomplishment possible!
Below are some further resources that I have reviewed and found helpful in guiding graduate students in the publication process: