Writing for Peer Reviewed Journals: Strategies for getting published

201 Pages·2012·1.892 MB·English

by  Pat Thomson, Barbara Kamler

W
It’s not easy getting published, but everyone has to do it. Writing for Peer Reviewed R
I
Journals presents an insider’s perspective on the secret business of academic T
I
publishing, making explicit many of the dilemmas and struggles faced by all writers, but N
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rarely discussed. Its unique approach is theorised and practical. It offers a set of moves

for writing a journal article that is structured and doable but also attends to the identity F
O
issues that manifest on the page and in the politics of academic life. R

P
The book comprehensively assists anyone concerned about getting published; whether E
E
they are early in their career or moving from a practice base into higher education or R
more experienced, but still feeling in need of further information. Avoiding a ‘tips and R
tricks’ approach, which tends to oversimplify what is at stake in getting published, the E
V
authors emphasise the production, nurture and sustainability of scholarship through I
E
writing – a focus on both the scholar and the text or what they call text work/identity W
work. The chapters are ordered to develop a systematic approach to the process, E
including such topics as: D

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• The writer O WRITING FOR PEER REVIEWED
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• The reader R
• What’s the contribution? N
A JOURNALS
• Beginning work
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• Refining the argument S
• Engaging with reviewers and editors Strategies for getting published
Writing for Peer Reviewed Journals uses a wide range of multi-disciplinary examples
from the writing workshops the authors have run in universities around the world: PAT THOMSON and BARBARA KAMLER
including the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Norway, P
Sweden, Denmark and the United States. This international approach coupled with A
T
theoretically grounded strategies to guide the authoring process ensure that people at T
H
all stages of their career are addressed. O
M
S
This lively book uses a combination of personal stories, student texts, published journal O
N
abstracts and excerpts from interviews with journal editors and publishers. Written in a
an accessible style, one which does not use the patronising ‘you’ of advice books, it n
d
offers a collegial approach to a task which is difficult for most scholars, regardless of B
A
their years of experience. R
B
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Pat Thomson is Professor of Education in the School of Education, University of R
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Nottingham, UK. K
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Barbara Kamler is Emeritus Professor at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. L
E
R

EDUCATION
Cover image: Alamy
ISBN 978-0-415-80931-3
9 780415 809313
www.routledge.com/education
Writing for Peer
Reviewed Journals
It’s not easy getting published, but everyone has to do it.Writing for Peer Reviewed
Journals presents an insider’s perspective on the secret business of academic publishing,
making explicit many of the dilemmas and struggles faced by all writers, but rarely
discussed. Its unique approach is theorised andpractical. It offers a set of moves for
writing a journal article that is structured and doable but also attends to the identity
issues that manifest on the page and in the politics of academic life.
The book comprehensively assists anyone concerned about getting published; whether
they are early in their career or moving from a practice base into higher education or
more experienced, but still feeling in need of further information. Avoiding a ‘tips and
tricks’ approach, which tends to oversimplify what is at stake in getting published, the
authors emphasise the production, nurture and sustainability of scholarship through
writing – a focus on both the scholar and the text or what they call text work/identity
work. The chapters are ordered to develop a systematic approach to the process, including
such topics as:
• The writer
• The reader
• What’s the contribution?
• Beginning work
• Refining the argument
• Engaging with reviewers and editors
Writing for Peer Reviewed Journals uses a wide range of multi-disciplinary examples
from the writing workshops the authors have run in universities around the world:
including the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark and the United States. This international approach coupled with
theoretically grounded strategies to guide the authoring process ensure that people at
all stages of their career are addressed. This lively book uses a combination of personal
stories, student texts, published journal abstracts and excerpts from interviews with
journal editors and publishers. Written in an accessible style, one which does not use the
patronising ‘you’ of advice books, it offers a collegial approach to a task which is difficult
for most scholars, regardless of their years of experience.
Pat Thomson is Professor of Education in the School of Education, University of
Nottingham, UK.
Barbara Kamleris Emeritus Professor at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.

Writing for Peer
Reviewed Journals
Strategies for getting published
Pat Thomson and
Barbara Kamler
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 P. Thomson and B. Kamler
The right of P. Thomson and B. Kamler to be identified as authors of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Thomson, Pat, 1948–
Writing for peer reviewed journals: strategies for getting published /
Pat Thomson and Barbara Kamler.
p. cm.
1. Journalism–Authorship–Vocational guidance. 2. Peer review.
3. Manuscript preparation (Authorship)–Handbooks, manuals, etc.
4. Publishers and publishing.
I. Kamler, Barbara. II. Title.
PN147.T46 2013
808.02–dc23 2012010077
ISBN: 978–0–415–80930–6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–80931–3 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–09707–6 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter,Devon
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: Why this book now? 1
1 The writer 13
2 The reader 29
3 What’s the contribution? 51
4 So what? Who cares? 69
5 Beginning work 89
6 Refining the argument 107
7 Engaging with reviewers and editors 127
8 Writing with others 145
9 Living hand to mouse 163
References 181
Index 187

Illustrations
Figures
2.1 The three layers and the thesis 32
2.2 The three layers and the journal article 34
2.3 IJIE editorial board 38
2.4 IJIE editorial panel: the potential reviewers 41
2.5 A sample IJIE issue with titles 42
2.6 IJIE sample abstract 43
2.7 IJIE mission statement 46
3.1 Screen shot: British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 53
3.2 The four moves of a Tiny Text 61
3.3 Questions for analysing the moves 67
3.4 Some sentence beginnings to get unstuck 68
5.1 The abstract becomes the road map 92
5.2 Excerpt from Calvin’s journal article 97
5.3 Charlotte’s brief introduction 99
5.4 Charlotte’s revised introduction 100
5.5 CARS Analysis of Kamler and Thomson (2008) 102
5.6 Sentence skeleton (Lavie, 2006) 104
5.7 Rajee works with Lavie’s sentence skeleton 105
6.1 Meta-commentary argumentative moves, example 1 118
6.2 Meta-commentary argumentative moves, example 2 119
6.3 Analysis of moves in Pole’s (2007) conclusion 123
7.1 Typical journal decisions and their consequences 129
8.1 Excerpt from research project proposal about publications 157
9.1 Writing mates: template for giving feedback 173
9.2 Writing-for-publication group principles and procedures 174
9.3 Instructions to reviewers 177
9.4 Questions to guide reading an article to be reviewed 178
9.5 Pat’s rules for writing referee reports 180
viii Illustrations
Tables
2.1 Analysis of IJIE 15(9) 44
6.1 Headings that convey argument 113
9.1 Sample timetable for research and publication 171
Abstracts
1.1 Gerri struggles to take a stand 26
3.1 Four moves in a published paper 61
3.2 Five moves in a published paper 63
3.3 Three moves in a published paper 64
3.4 Different discourse communities have different conventions 66
4.1 Dorothy drowns in detail 70
4.2 Supervisor revisions to Dorothy’s abstract 72
4.3 Maria tries to say everything 74
4.4 Carl does not know his reader 76
4.5 Carl’s revised abstract and title 78
4.6 Sylvia cannot find the angle 79
4.7 Sylvia’s revised abstract 81
4.8 Elaine lacks authority 82
4.9 Elaine’s revised abstract 84
5.1 Abstract for use as a planning tool 90
6.1 McDowell abstract, 2004 112
6.2 Pole abstract, 2007 122
9.1 Jessie finds her argument through publication planning 168
Acknowledgements
We want to acknowledge the ways in which the very many academics who
have attended our workshops have shaped this book. We have worked all of
our ideas over time in many different places with many different participants.
We particularly want to thank those people who have donated their less-than-
polished texts, both for our benefit and that of this book’s readers. Their
generosity makes this text possible and we hope that readers will approach the
texts as unconditional gifts to the learning of others. We want to note, in
particular, that we are grateful to the writers who have allowed us to use their
abstracts and titles here and elsewhere. While we highlight the problems these
individual writers face, in our experience these problems are widespread,
although not widely discussed. We thus urge readers not to see these as
inadequate texts, but works in progress. What is required is a new way of reading
analytically to see what writing is and what it may become. We would hate to
think that anyone might see these draft texts as emerging from the work of
deficient scholars. No red markers please!
We have given all these writers pseudonyms. There are, however, some in
the text who we call by their own name, with their permission. So, it’s thanks
particularly to Simon Bailey and Kerry Vincent for producing some writing
about writing specifically for this book, and to the co-authors who graciously
allowed us to interview them – Bob Lingard and Fazal Rizvi, Michelle Fine and
Lois Weis and Michael Peters and Tina Besley.
We thank Wiley-Blackwell for permission to use a screen shot of the British
Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 65 (3) 377–385, Graham Hobbs for his
reasons why articles get rejected, and Taylor and Francis for their foresight in
having provided us – and everyone else as well, since they are published on the
Education Arena website – with ‘horse’s mouth’ interviews with journal editors.
The first draft of this book was written in two very intensive eight-day blocks,
the first in Singapore and the second in Melbourne. In between and after we
also wrote, emailed and skyped. Our forgiving partners Randy and Greg have,