Learning objectives

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

• assess the importance of journal publications for your academic career
• choose the right journal
• write your article so as to maximise the chances of acceptance
• maximise the impact of your article.

Writing journal articles

You don't need to wait until the end of your studies to begin publishing. A list of prior publications can often assist you to obtain your first job or apply for your first grant. If you are competing with other well-qualified candidates, a good publication record will often give you the winning edge.

It is crucial to publish in a peer-reviewed journal if your intention is an academic or technical career.

Some first-time authors prefer to begin slowly: submitting a book review to an academic journal or a short article to a popular journals. This is one approach. However, a substantial article in a peer-reviewed journal will yield better results in terms of your future career prospects than a review or a short opinion piece.

Think about what you have read and discovered so far. Is there anything that might make a good journal article?

Once you have an idea for an article, you need to find the right journal. It is often best to write your article with a specific journal in mind. This will increase the likelihood of publication, as you can match the contents of your article to the preferences of the journal's editors and readership.

Finding the right journal

Consider the academic journals that you read often. Look at the articles in recent issues. What types of research are represented?

Many journals have well-defined editorial policy. This is often printed on the inside cover of each issue. Editorial policies are also posted at the journal's Web site. Become familiar with a journal's policy and you will often save yourself from disappointment.

Some journals will only publish short articles. Others prefer longer items. Most journals have strong preferences regarding the type of research they publish. Some publish on a broad range of topics within a particular field and others restrict themselves to highly specialised areas. Become familiar with these preferences.

If a particular journal encourages contributions from new researchers, it is likely to be a better bet than one which only publishes work by established scholars. Even if such a preference is not clear from the editorial policy, the editors' preferences will be clear from the details which most journals include regarding the background of authors.

Journal prestige and impact

Sometimes more than one journal meets your requirements. If so, you need to consider the relative standing of a journal before making your final decision. An easy way of identifying the most prestigious journals is to look at the publications of the experts in your field. Which journals do they prefer? Another approach is to consider some of the online guides available. These include:

• Law Journals: Submissions and Ranking. This free site from the United States lists law journals by country and subject. It allows you to rank journals according to a range of criteria.
• ARC journal rankings. This is a new journal ranking system developed by the Australian Research Council. Within Australia, this system is likely to become increasingly important in terms of promotions, academic reputations and publishing rcords. Where possible, publish in journals graded A* and A by the ARC. These are the highest quality peer-reviewed journals. Titles graded A* are within the top 5%, those graded A are in the top 15%.

Other factors in deciding where to submit

Another crucial factor is the visibility of a journal in terms of the main journal databases. Many legal researchers, particularly those in the United States, rely heavily on electronic databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis. If your article will be not indexed by these services, or included in these in full text, then you are likely to miss out in terms of your international audience. If it is important to you that your article appears in a journal with an ISI impact factor, it is essential that the journal appear in the ISI Social Sciences index.

To determine if a journal is in a particular database, follow these steps:

Note: access to all these sites may not be available from your university.

UlrichsWeb is an invaluable resource. Although not limited to law journals, Ulrichs is the most comprehensive source for finding law-related publications. Ulrichs will provide a journal description, contact information, circulation figures and links to journal sites. It will also indicate the indexing services which index the contents of a particular journal. Access to Ulrichs is by subscription, but most university libraries subscribe.

Making the final choice

Ideally, you should publish in the journal with the highest academic standards. However, you must also be realistic. The higher the reputation of the journal, the greater the competition in terms of the number and quality of submissions from other potential authors.

Consider open-access journals, if peer-reviewed. Such journals can enjoy wide circulation and the best have excellent reputations. Don't be tempted to publish in a journal with lower standards: this is rarely worthwhile in term of academic reputation.

If you feel that you need further assistance, ask your supervisors for advice regarding the best journals to consider.

Journal styles

When you have found the right journal, find out all you can about the journal's rules for contributors. These provide guidelines regarding article format, the preferred referencing style, how to submit tables and figures and any other special requirements.

Rules for contributors are usually available:

• in the inside cover of each paper issue
• on the journal's Web site
• by writing to the journal editor.

UlrichsWeb usually provides you with contact details for a journal editor.

Many Australian law journals now follow the Australian Guide to Legal Citation, 2nd Edition (AGLC 2). A list of the journals which adhered to this standard in 2002 is found in the AGLC 2 itself.

Read the guidelines for contributors for the journal you have chosen and follow them exactly. Following the rules will increase your chance of being published and reduce the amount of time spent rewriting.

Knowing the ropes Keith Dowding, Publishing in academic journals, London School of Economics, September 2002. Professor Dowding is a Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics (LSE) and an editor of the Journal of Theoretical Politics. If you are seriously interested in publishing in an academic journal, you should read his paper, which is full of practical advice.

A common complaint among first-time authors is that the advice regarding referencing and bibliographies provided for contributors doesn't cover all types of publications. Even if the journal does not follow AGLC 2, this shouldn't be a problem: look through past issues of the journal and work out the journal's rules from examples in the actual articles.

Finally, send your paper only to one journal at a time. Journals review articles on this basis. (American Law Reviews are an exception in this regard).

Dealing with the editorial responses

It is common for a successful author to receive an acceptance letter which includes a request for rewriting. This is a normal part of the peer-review process.

If your article is rejected, don't be discouraged. It may be worth setting your sights a little lower and trying another journal, perhaps one where the competition is not so intense.

Where the editor has given reasons for the rejection, read these carefully and consider whether or not you can improve your article to improve its chances next time.

Some more sage advice Dr Berenika Webster, a Visiting Researcher at University College, London, has some recommendations for authors wishing to increase the impact of their publications. At a seminar presented in Sydney in February 2007, she gave the following advice: publish in the right journals (consider factors such as journal prestige, the importance of the journal to the discipline, impact factors and "diffusion factors", ie the extent to which articles in particular journals are widely read). publish in English write a article based on your own research, not the work of others if you must write an article based on secondary research, structure it as a review article (an article which systematically reviews the academic literature in a given field) make your publications available through open access (on your own Web site or in institutional or subject-specific repositories) advertise your publications on listservs and discussion groups make and maintain professional/social contacts with others in your research area. Consider her advice carefully. Each of these factors has been shown to have an effect on the impact of articles published in academic journal. How can you make use of this advice in your own academic writing?

Summary

This module dealt with the following topics:

• the importance of early publication to your career prospects
• finding the right journal
• submitting an article for peer-review
• maximising the impact of articles you write.