Submitting the article

Finalising the article

Before publication, your article will be reviewed by other academic experts in the field. They will judge whether or not your article is worthy of publication. To increase your chances of acceptance, ensure that your work:

  • Has a clearly articulated argument that reflects or engages with current academic discourse.
  • Reflects the expectations for academic writing and is in a formal tone.
  • Is grammatically correct, and without spelling errors and typos (see online guide).
  • Follows the journal's submission guidelines and/or style guide carefully. You need to show the journal editors that you have followed the journal’s requirements and guidelines; After all, they determine whether or not your work is worth publishing. Check the journal’s website for information regarding fonts, spacing, margins, referencing styles, title conventions and document templates.

Submitting the article

Once you have an article ready to submit and have selected a journal, the submission process is as simple as finding the contact details for the journal and following their 'submission guidelines'. For best practice, follow these tips:

  • Don't submit to multiple journals. Most journals will not consider a submission while it is under consideration elsewhere and the attempt to improve your chances through multiple submissions is considered unethical (Sadler, 2009).
  • Be patient. You may need to wait weeks or months between submitting your article and being notified that the review process is complete. Journal editors rely on the goodwill of academic experts with other high-priority commitments. If there is no word after several months, you may choose to send a polite query to the journal editor.
  • When the review of your article is complete, the outcome is likely to be fall into one of the three following categories:

References

Hartley, J. (2007). There's more to the title than meets the eye: Exploring the possibilities. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 37(1), 95-101. https://doi.org/10.2190/BJ16-8385-7Q73-1162

Mewburn, I. (n.d.). Write that journal article (in seven days). [PowerPoint slides]. Google Docs. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZsY680ToDwh3m7ShaVvvNSx4JrPpMUB9jQkvoXQWmVk/

Murray, R. E. G. (2013). Writing for academic journals. Open University Press.

Sadler, D. R. (2009). Up the publication road: A guide to publishing in scholarly journals for academics, researchers, and graduate students. Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia.

Silyn-Roberts, H. (2013). Writing for science and engineering: Papers, presentations and reports (2nd ed.). Elsevier.

Thomson, P. & Kamler, B. (2013). Writing for peer reviewed journals. Routledge.