Care and Feeding of Editors

A recent column by Lynn Worsham in the Chronicle of Higher Education (September 8, 2008) discusses what academic journal editors look for in submissions to their journals.

She identifies several oft-made mistakes by authors:

• submitting the wrong type of article to a journal
• failing to proofread the submission for grammatical and careless errors
  
• citing sources incorrectly
• being unaware of previous similar research in the same journal and not citing it
• not following specific submission requirements (e.g., # of copies or no return envelope)
• submitting a conference presentation without rewriting it as a paper
• arguing with editor over rejected submissions

Other suggestions included knowing the appropriate style manual followed by a particular journal, following the journal's rules exactly, and realizing that rejection was a fact of academic life.

In our chapter 12, we cover some of the steps necessary to take a research project to completion. Finishing a research project can mean more than one thing. It could mean presenting your results orally in class or in public. Ultimately, it could mean publishing your research in a peer reviewed journal. If that's your goal, pay attention to Worsham's suggestions.