1. Reaching a wider audience: From conference paper to journal article, avoiding rejection Liz Marr, Open University

2. Some assumptions
WP and LL conference papers are often based on research or scholarly investigation carried out to investigate a problem, evaluate an intervention or to synthesise existing research/literature
Conference papers are rarely drawn from journal articles and often address work in progress, or a stage of a bigger research project
Converting a conference paper to a journal article often reveals gaps in theoretical underpinnings, literature reviews and methodological approaches
= it’s harder than you think!

3. What makes a poor journal article?
Difficult to read
Doesn't make sense
Has no relevance for you
Cant follow the argument
Doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know
Sloppily written with poor English
Draws unwarranted conclusions
Makes unwarranted assertions
Ignores everything/one else in the field

4. Step 1 Choose your journal
30% of authors write for a specific journal
70% write the article and panic
(Elaine Devine, Taylor and Francis Group)

5. What are the benefits of choosing the journal first?
Knowing what's expected
Getting a good fit for the subject
Ensuring your audience is the right one
Meeting the journal conventions:
Length
Style
Referencing
Reading through earlier editions and seeing where your work fits/sits
Finding out what ahs already been done in this field

6. Unpick the abstract
‘I’ve always wondered why some people don’t go to uni so I went on Wikipedia and then I asked a few people at work what they thought and the ones I thought were right said it was because they couldn't afford it. So I think we should make it free for poor people’
What is the abstract for?
How might you re-write this to achieve that purpose?

7. Hunt the research question
‘More young people are now going on to higher education than before but fewer older people are because part time is declining. There are more people studying part time in further education colleges. Those in rural and coastal areas find it difficult to attend face to face. This paper aims to investigate this.
What is this paper about?
How would you reframe the research questions into something more doable

8. Spot the research methods
For my survey I sent an out to 50 people across the UK with three questions I wanted them to answer and then I invited 4 people to be interviewed- a student, a tutor, a manager and a graduate. I also analysed policy documents from 5 universities in England.
Why do we talk about research methods in a journal article?
What are the many things wrong with this?

9. Find the theory What is a theoretical framework for?
Do you really need one?
How do you introduce this to your journal article

10. What else do you need to do?
The literature review
The findings
The discussion
The conclusion

11. Why the title matters
Transgressing the Boundaries - Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity
(Alan Sokal)
This was actually a hoax article which was published in an American media journal. You might think you are supposed to understand it but it actually isn’t intended to make sense.
Title needs to tell the reader what they are going to be reading about. Its OK to have an attractive hook like a quote from your data or a cultural reference (so long as people understand it) but its oftena good idea to have a subsidiary title which says what the article is actually about

12. Why articles get rejected
Wrong journal
Already published elsewhere
Not a journal article (too journalistic or a chapter from a report)
Too long/short
Ignores academic conventions /journal requirements
Makes no reference to existing research/literature
Poor style, grammar, punctuation or English
Not saying anything new/of interest
No context
Poor theoretical/conceptual framework
Scrappily presented and poorly proof read
Libellous, unethical, rude or lacks objectivity

13. Referee questions Comments for the editors only:
Comments for the author(s):
How clear is the purpose of the paper? How well constructed is the argument?
How well grounded in relevant literature is the paper?
How well is the method of research described and reflected upon?
How much does the paper add to knowledge?
To what extent will the paper appeal to this journal's readership? To what extent are the language, expressions and explanations of national/local terms suitable for an international readership?

14. THANK YOU