Publishing Academic Research Ethically and Getting Published in Journals with High Impact Factor

Publishing Academic ResearchEthically and Getting

Published in Journals with High Impact Factor

Gary N. McLeanTexas A&M University

[email protected] University

June 30, 2010

How to Write Research Articles 2

My Qualifications

Editor and Associate Editor of HRDQGeneral Editor of HRDI; member,

Management Bd.North American Editor of Journal of

Transnational Management DevelopmentConsulting Editor and Executive Editor of

Journal of Education for Business


My Qualifications

Special Issue Editor (3 times), Advances in Developing Human Resources

Many Editorial Board Memberships, including SSCI journals, and Conference Proceedings Editorships

Co-editor, best-selling textbook, Practicing Organization Development (1995)


My Qualifications

Author, AHRD Book of the Year (2006), Organization Development: Principles, Processes, Performance

Write 10-15 published refereed articles a year, including 1-2 per year in SSCI journals

Selected as Outstanding Scholar for AHRDRecipient of several best paper awards


My Qualifications

Hall of Fame:• 2006, International Adult and Continuing

Education• 2007, Academy of Human Resource

Development

Ph.D. (hon.) awarded by NIDA in January 2010


Why Publish?

• Having fun in sharing discoveries and knowledge

• Advancing theory and practice in one’s field

• Enhancing personal reputation• Enhancing institutional reputation• Enhancing the field’s reputation


Why Publish?

• Taking pride in accomplishments• Creating worldwide professional (and

personal) networks• Building personal relationships and

professional teams in co-authorships• Increasing consulting opportunities• Fulfilling the objective of what we’ve been

trained for


Why Publish?

• Increasing opportunities to travel• Creating opportunities to fund conference

attendance• Enhancing personal development• Enhancing opportunities to author a book• Enhancing opportunities to become an

editor or editorial board member of a journal and impact the field


Why Do We Have to Publish?

• Obligation of professionals in higher education• Promotion, tenure, and pay increments (where

merit pay or bonuses are offered)• Required for program accreditation (QA)• Required for government funding• Meet the government’s KPI for higher educationWhich type of reason is most effective—intrinsic

or extrnisic?


What Does Impact Factor Mean?

• Refers to the ratio of the average number of times a journal is cited in other ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) journals over a two-year period relative to the number of articles that journal has published in that time.



• It is a measure of citation for a journal, not for an individual author. As an average, half of authors are always above and half below the average.



• Published in JCR (Journal Citation Reports).

• A proprietary index owned by Thomson through Thomson Scientific; originally, ISI (Institute for Scientific Information).

• Inappropriately used as a proxy for the quality or importance of a journal.



• SSCI (Social Science Citation Indes) List of Journals by Category and Name

• science.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jloptions.cgi?PC=J

• SCI (Science Citation Index)• scientific.thomsonreuters.com/cgi-bin/

jrnlst/jloptions.cgi?PC=J


How Is Impact Factor Measured?

• 2009 factors are published in 2010 based on 2007-8 citations.

• IF = A/B, where:– IF = Impact Factor– A = Number of times that journal’s articles

were cited in the two-year period.– B = Number of articles published by that

journal in the two-year period.


How Is Impact Factor Measured?

• So, if a journal publishes four articles per issue, four times a year, and if each article is cited once, its IF is 16/16 = 1.

• This does not reflect the number of times an individual author might be cited, but the journal.


What Are the Strengths of Such Citation Measures?

• Makes it easy for those unfamiliar with field of research and journals in that field to make judgments.

• Alternative is to use reputation of the journal, which is subjective and variable.

• It appears to be objective (though it is not).• Results are readily available.• Appears to be international (60 countries).


What Are the Problems with Such Citation Measures?

• Way too many to cover adequately, but they include lack of validity, misuse, and ease of manipulation.

• Validity: Few journals are non-English and few from developing countries

• Misuse: Comparisons across fields (sciences have much higher factors than social sciences)


What Are the Problems with Such Citation Measures?

• Manipulation: Can control by negotiations the denominator of the formula and by use the numerator (requiring authors to cite that journal’s works in their articles)

• Several fields not even indexed: Humanities, Computer Science, Human Resource Development


Problems with Use of SCI/SSCI Journals for Graduate Students

and Novice Faculty • Because it is a listed journal, many more

authors submit to that journal, increasing the probability of rejection.

• It is not a measure of quality, though it is often thought to be.

• Longer review time, longer production queues, and generally less feedback from editors and reviewers.



and Novice Faculty • May not apply in some fields because those

fields are not represented in JCR.• Inadvertently plays into the hands of those

who want to misuse the indices and reinforces the fiction of their value.



and Novice Faculty • See the Wikipedia article for much more

detail and for references; some ideas from this reference were used in this section of the presentation.

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor (retrieved June 25, 2010)


Advice to Get Published (1)

• Start with a conference paper. If it was good enough to be accepted as a refereed conference paper, it’s good enough to be published somewhere.

• Pay attention to the feedback provided by the conference referees.

• Ask people who attend your session for feedback.



• Don’t be discouraged. A paper often requires 3-4 revisions.

• Especially in SCI/SSCI and quality journals, you will probably be rejected the first time around.

• Pay attention to all of the feedback you get and modify accordingly.



• If you get an “accept with revisions,” make the revisions and resubmit in a timely way.

• If you get a “reject, but resubmission with full review,” revise and resubmit.

• If you get a “reject,” read the reviews carefully and consider whether you might have more success, after revision, with another journal.



• Revise, resubmit, revise, resubmit, revise, resubmit. Be persistent.

• When you resubmit, provide the editors with a table of how you responded to each piece of feedback.

Feedback Point

Response Point

A. …B. …C. …

A. DoneB. See p. 2C. I disagree because…



• Whenever you produce a paper--for a course, as a masters or doctoral thesis, for a company, or when a student submits the same to you—consider it as a potential publication.



• Consider co-authoring it with a colleague, an instructor, or a student—but correctly decide on author attribution beforehand.

• It’s all about mindset! (e.g., Leonardo da Vinci)



• When you attend a conference, do you hear a paper that you particularly like? (If not, you are attending the wrong conference!) Talk to the author of the paper after the presentation and explore ways in which you can work together in doing joint research.



• Co-author with a respected name in your field, which can enhance your possibilities for publication. They might say no, but they might say yes, too!

• Think of people from other countries who might add an interesting cultural component.



• The order of authorship, however, should reflect the relative amount of work that each party has contributed.



• Who is writing in areas of interest? Write to them (e-mail) and explore their interest in working with you. You might even volunteer to do a draft of an article for them to critique and add to, or you might volunteer to do some data collection, especially in a cross-cultural study context.



• Are you doing consulting? (If not, you should be! Volunteer to get started if you are lacking in experience or confidence.) Almost every consulting opportunity can be an opportunity to publish. But be sure your client knows and agrees.



• Explore grant opportunities. Even development grants (which seem to be more available than research grants in some fields) can lead to publication.



• Consider colleagues at other universities in your country or in other departments in your university. With whom do you have shared interests? Write with them.



• Talk with your practitioner friends about co-authoring. they almost always have interesting stories to tell, but they don’t know how to write them up and often have no incentive to do so.

• Attend practitioner conferences and offer to work with practitioners to write case study articles.



• Respond to CFPs (Calls for Papers) for a journal that is publishing a special topics issue that might be in your area of interest or expertise.

• Get these through professional organizations to which you belong—which suggests that multiple professional organization memberships are important.



• Many journals publish interviews and book reviews, yet they have a difficult time getting them. These may not be as prestigious as a journal article, but they give you visibility and get you comfortable with writing and being published.



• Read your professional literature—faithfully. Almost every journal article provides suggestions for future research.

• Reading the literature also makes it easier when it comes to providing your theoretical framework, doing your review of the literature, and understanding the structure of the article you are writing.



• Determine your most productive work time and focus on your writing during that time.

• Set aside time every day to do nothing but write. It can be a short time interval, but do it consistently.



• Consider all of the possibilities for publication from your research—you might be able to do a theory paper, an integrated literature review, a qualitative empirical article, and a quantitative empirical article.



• N.B. Always review and follow the journal’s guidelines exactly. These are almost always on the Web.

• Major mistakes usually occur around referencing, manuscript length, journal scope, and submitting the manuscript correctly.



• NEVER submit an article to a journal that you have not read. Know what the journal is looking for and know that your manuscript fits and follows the format used in the journal.


Advice to Get Published (17)• One of the major problems

encountered by authors in Asia is their English skills and lack of standard formatting.

• Work with a professional editor or a co-author who is experienced and has native English skills.


Problems Faced in Publishing

• Not enough time; incentives for doing publishing are too small

• KPIs are often quantity rather than quality or impact based

• Publication expectations should be consistent with assignments (e.g., teaching faculty vs. research faculty) and career objectives (e.g., masters students).


Problems Faced in Publishing

• Faculty do not receive the support they need (research assistants, IT help, budget for doing research, English editing, and others)

• Expected to move from a rather low level of competence to high level competence with little transition or support.


Ethical Issues in Publishing

• It is unethical to submit the same manuscript to two journals or conferences at the same time; this can be done sequentially once a rejection has been received.

• It is unethical to present a paper at a conference that has been presented at another conference or has been published in a journal.



• Some journals do not allow a manuscript published in a conference proceedings to be published in a journal. APA has just changed its standard; manuscripts can now be considered if the proceedings have not been widely distributed or if major changes have been made in the manuscript. Check journal guidelines for its policy.



• Taking more credit for your contribution than warranted (e.g., taking sole authorship for someone else’s writing; insisting that your name come first when you have done the least work; insisting that you be included as an author when you have made no contributions). This is all about Power Distance.



• It is unethical to manufacture data or to misrepresent the accuracy of your information.

• PLAGIARISM – this is the death of your career. Do not use others’ ideas, or, even worse, their very words, without providing adequate references.


What Is Plagiarism?

• Claiming that words you use are your words based on your ideas rather than those of a source, i.e., a paraphrase for which credit is not given

• Failure to use quotation marks and page references when exact words are used

• If you have to look at a source in order to write, you must provide a reference!


What Is Plagiarism?

• Anything you hear, read, or see that you use in your writing must be referenced unless it is common knowledge—either to the general public or to your field.

• The use of plagiarism software (e.g., TurnItIn) might be useful in checking whether you have properly credited your sources; but this is not a foolproof check.


What Does “Refereed” Mean?

• Article critiqued blindly; therefore, must avoid any indication of authorship

- Use a separate author sheet- Avoid references that are obviously yours (e.g., In my recent study (McLean, 2009), I stated….)- Numerous references in reference list from your previous publications- Avoid headers and footers



• 3-5 experts in the field• Almost inevitable that you will receive some

feedback that requires change; expect a rewrite• For a journal review, refereeing can take a long

time (4 months – 1 year; sooner if not sent out for review)

• Follow the advice of the referees or tell the editors why you did not



• Consider volunteering to be a referee; it can be an immensely rewarding learning experience, and you contribute professionally to your field.


Common Errors in Manuscript Submissions

• Poorly written (English language)• Do not follow guidelines• Poorly and incorrectly formatted (i.e., use

of space bar rather than tab key)• Not organized to help the reader• Lack of appropriate or any headings• No theoretical framework



• Lack of an abstract• Lack of a problem statement or research

question• Findings not associated with research

questions• Conclusions not associated with findings



• Recommendations not associated with conclusions

• Plagiarism• Inaccurate references• Incomplete references• Missing references• Extraneous references



• Content not appropriate for the conference or journal

• Incomplete description of methods• Inappropriate methodology for research

question• Inappropriate analysis for data collected• Tables not easily understood

Failure to follow the guidelines or accepted traditions can

result in automatic rejection or negative reviews from

reviewers


Generic Article Outline

• Introduction (BUT generally no subheading)

• What is the problem that you are addressing? (The Problem Statement)

• What questions are you asking? (Research Questions)

• Why is this topic important for your field? (Significance of the Study)



• On what theoretical frame did you build the study? (Theoretical Framework)

• What methodology and methods did you use? (Methods) (Note: These are not synonyms!)

• What did you find? (Results)• To what conclusions did these findings lead

you? (Conclusions)



• Based on these conclusions, what are your recommendations for practice, policy, or theory? (Implications)

• Based on your research, what recommendations can you make for future research? (Future Research)

• References (list all references that you used per APA)


Choosing the “Right” Journal for Your Paper

• NEVER submit a manuscript without reviewing several issues of the journal to determine appropriateness.

• Match the content of your manuscript with what is most often published in the target journal. If not sure, call or e-mail the editor.

• Determine the purpose of your submission.


Choosing the “Right” Journal for Your Paper

• NEVER, EVER submit a manuscript to two or more journals at the same time. It is appropriate to submit to another journal after a rejection.

• If your research is country specific, decide where there is the greatest interest. A paper on Thailand might have the greatest impact in a Thai or Asian journal..


Research Conferences

• Consider publishing your paper first in a research conference proceedings.

• But be careful; some journals will not allow publication if the article has been published elsewhere, including conference proceedings.

• Use the feedback, both formally and informally, to improve the paper.


Research Conferences

• Editors who attend the conference may invite you to submit to their journal if they like your paper.

• Conference proceedings are less prestigious than publishing in a journal.

• Presenting at a conference gives you an excuse to travel.


Using PowerPoints Effectively

• What is the purpose of using PowerPoints?• COMMUNICATE! Therefore,• Design is critical

– Contrast between text and background; black on white is best. Avoid yellow on light blue, white on yellow, and so on.

– Minimum 28-point font; 32 is preferable– Target for no more than 6-8 lines per slide


Using PowerPoints Effectively

• Don’t readMost participants can read; let them read.Your role is to elaborate.In a symposium setting, your role is to create

dialogue. Keep the slides basic and few.If the level of participant is such that there may

be illiteracy issues, then reading is appropriate.


Questions?

Publishing Academic Research Ethically and Getting Published in Journals with High Impact Factor

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