Category Archives: journal article

why journal articles get rejected – #3

Every journal article is expected to make a contribution. The writer has to say something that adds to the conversation about the particular topic in the target journal. And through this addition, they participate in the discussion in the field. … Continue reading

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why journal articles are rejected #2

Here’s the thing. Journal Editors say that one of the major reasons that papers are rejected is when the writer is not clear about their point, and their argument. Accepted journal articles have a point to make. They work with … Continue reading

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why journal articles get rejected #1

Some journal articles never get sent out for review. They are rejected at the outset by the Editor. Why is this? Well, there’s a short and a somewhat longer and a very extensive answer to this question. The short answer … Continue reading

Posted in choosing the right journal, editing a journal, journal, journal article, journal editor, rejection | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

trouble finding a writing angle? try cubing

You have research results. You want to write something – a book, a chapter, a paper. You’re in a field where there is already an active conversation. You’ve done an analysis which seems to repeat what is already out there. … Continue reading

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concluding a paper

Conclusions can be hard. There are a few big traps that conclusion writers can fall into. In order to avoid them, try the following three things. Deep breath. It’s good to be bold. The conclusion generally requires bigging up what … Continue reading

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writing a journal article – identifying “the two paper problem”

If you’re writing a journal article, you need write it so that you make one big point. Right? One unavoidable, spelled out, take home message. There may be nuancing of the point, of course. But there’s basically just the one. … Continue reading

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writing for publication – finding an angle and an argument

This is a story, a my story, which leads to eight pointers about writing for publication.  I’m currently writing a paper. Well, yes, always writing something. But right now it’s a paper. A paper designed to do some thinking work … Continue reading

Posted in argument, choosing the right journal, contribution, journal article, journal publication, literature a resource, the angle | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

style, tone and grammar – native speaker bias in peer reviews

This is a guest post from Dr Randi Stebbins. Randi is Director of the University of Iceland Centre for Writing. Peer review is a central part of academic publication. The process of back and forth between authors and reviewers is … Continue reading

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I’m writing a journal article – what literatures do I choose?

I’m often asked about the literatures sections of journal articles. Not your literatures based paper of course but your standard empirical paper. They only want a short section! I can’t cram everything I’ve read into a few paragraphs – how … Continue reading

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planning a paper

Last week I was in Norway running a three part workshop on planning a journal article. The workshop was based around a Tiny Text abstract.   As a planner myself, I use Tiny Texts for sorting out the contribution argument … Continue reading

Posted in academic writing, argument, contribution, journal article, planning, planning a paper, Tiny Text | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments