Q: “I have an idea for an article based on my dissertation, but I don’t know where to send it. How can I make a reasonable choice?”
A: Tara Gray, presenter of the Publish & Flourish: Become A Prolific Author workshop, sponsored by TAA:
“Ask your colleagues and consider the journals in your own bibliography. Then, query the journal editor by asking him or her if your manuscript fits their understanding of the journal’s mission.”
Q: “How do you get feedback from students about your book when you are not teaching?”
A: Karen Timberlake, author of Basic Chemistry, winner of a 2006 Texty Award:
“Use a focus group. Bring in students (from a local school using your book) for an afternoon and ask them questions about it.”
A: Marilyn “Winkie” Fordney, author of textbooks on insurance billing and medical transcription:
“I created a questionnaire and gave it to faculty using my book, asking them to have their students fill it out.”
Q: “How do I find out what a journal’s style expectations are?”
A: Kären Hess, the author or co-author of more than 30 trade books and college-level textbooks on a variety of topics including financial planning, dental marketing, art, literature, engineering, hospice care, reading, management and report writing:
“Most journals publish their manuscript requirements (usually at the end of the journal). Also, read several articles from the journal(s) of interest to see what gets published.”
Q: “I probably will have to submit my article to several journals before it is accepted. Each of the ones I am likely to send it to has a different style for footnotes and references. How do I make revisions efficiently and not spend undue hours with trivia?”
A: Richard Hull, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy:
“There are excellent reference management software programs available. You type your references in once; subsequent revisions are often possible by simply giving the periodical’s name, or by providing a simple template that will, for example, cause first and middle names to be replaced by initials (followed or not followed by periods), journal volume numbers to be preceded or not preceded by “vol.”, the year of the publication to be placed just after the author’s name or after the volume number (surrounded or nor surrounded by parentheses), and so forth. End Note and Reference Manager are two common ones, and they are sometimes freely provided to faculty by their educational institution’s Instructional Technology centers.”
Q: “The contract that has been offered on a book based on my dissertation specifies ‘camera-ready copy.’ What does this…
A: Elaine M. Hull, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Florida State University, and the recipient of 20 years of NIH funding, shares these basics tips for writing a proposal:
“1) The proposed research should answer an important question, have justification based on previous work and/or pilot data, and have a reasonable end point. Emphasize hypothesis testing, as opposed to a ‘fishing expedition.’ State how the outcome of the project will relate back to the ‘Big Issues’; 2) Present the idea clearly.
