Tips for Writing an Academic Article

Are you about to embark on the adventure of doing an academic publication to share your research findings or educational experiences? Then, this information is for you. In our last webinar of December 2019, Dr. Sandra Gudiño shared with us different media where you can publish an academic paper as well as the process of getting published.

In this session, Professor Gudiño answered many questions from our audience, for example: Is it possible to know if my article is suitable for a particular journal? How is co-authoring handled? Can I send my article to two journals simultaneously? Is publishing in journals equal to publishing in conference proceedings? What journals are out there for possible publication? Are there differences between articles published in open journals and ones in the paid journals? In this article, you will learn the answer to these and other questions.

“An article with a poor theoretical framework, or with few references, usually conveys no idea of serious research. Often an article is rejected because of references; it is key that they are well supported and reviewing several studies that have been carried out, in both Spanish and English.”

– Sandra Gudiño –

Q & A | Webinar: Tips for a successful academic publication

1. How long does it take to write an article? (anonymous)

   SG: It’s relative. However, starting from when you finish your research, on average, it takes three to six months for an arbitrated or indexed journal article, but it could be more, and that’s perfectly normal. Writing time varies, whether it is a journal article or an article for a scientific publication. Usually, a journal article takes less time. It may take a month or less because the number of requirements is less, and the article does not require as much structure. The time-to-publication for an article submitted to an indexed journal can be longer.

2. How long does it take (on average) for a journal to respond if my article was accepted or rejected? (anonymous)

   SG: On average, two months, but some journals take up to 6 months. If you plan to publish in a specific journal, consult someone who has published in that same journal before. Don’t despair, because it can take a long time.

3. Is it possible to know if our article is suitable for a specific journal? (anonymous)

   SG: Yes, it’s possible. Like I said in my presentation about the cover letter (or inquiry letter) – it is a letter that you can send to the editor-in-chief and ask him through a summary of the article if he considers that the topic may be likely to be published in that journal. On the internet, there are formats to fill out an inquiry letter that you can use and fill in your information. Some editors are very kind and respond to you quickly if they think that your topic aligns with the journal in question and is relevant; in fact, they encourage you to submit it.

4. How do you define the scientific method? (Marta Flores Padilla, Mexico)

   SG: The structured scientific method has several steps such as observation, experimentation, and results and then repeats and continues in cyclical form. However, it is very different from applying it in the social sciences (be careful of that). In the social sciences, in education, we work with human beings; we cannot apply the scientific method per se, because it is complicated to repeat phenomena with human beings. We might be able to define the scientific method for a publication in social sciences as that structured methodology that shows that our research is substantiated. The study must follow a process, begin with an analysis of a problem, a research question, and conclude with a discussion and a contribution to the field of knowledge that interests us. The purpose is to leave a grain of sand of contribution to knowledge and enable other people to contribute as well.

5. Do you recommend using systematization as a methodology, and could you share a bibliography? (Ismael Pecher, Guatemala)

   SG: If, by “systematization,” you mean to follow specific steps to help you structure and carry out planning, yes, I do recommend it. The main idea is that the journal clearly understands what was done from start to finish. I cannot recommend specific literature because a lot depends on what methodology you want to apply. But I can recommend John Creswell’s book about qualitative methods and another one of his, also, about Mixed Methods.

6. “When writing every day,” as you mentioned in the presentation, what do you recommend that we document? (Misela Ruíz)

   SG: It can be your diary, your memories, what happened to you during the day, etc. But if you already have in mind to publish something in particular, what you have implemented in your classroom, and you have results, then spend two hours on starting your publication. Those two hours you can use to write, but also to search for information sustaining your theoretical framework or the problem you are solving with that innovation that you applied in your class. That’s what I mean about writing, dedicate at least two hours a day to your article if you already have in mind to publish it.

7. Could you give us tips about how to search for conferences? (Andrea Marcela Rodriguez, Colombia)

   SG: Yes, the Observatory of Educational Innovation is an open and free website that has educational content, among them a section about events related exclusively to educational innovation; they announce many conferences. You can choose, depending on the topic that interests you.

8. Can I send my article to two journals simultaneously? (anonymous)

   SG: Ethically, one cannot do that. All journals ask before submitting your article that you fill out a form where through your signature, you make a statement that what you are submitting has not been submitted to any other journal and that it has not been published before. No, it is not good practice to send two simultaneously; do not do that, please.

9. How are co-authorships handled? (anonymous)

   SG: When you write an article with more than one person, it’s good that before starting, all agree on the percentage that each one is going to write. For example, if there is a team
   of four or five people and, from the start, there’s a fair share of the content each person will write, that would mark the order of the authors. In academic writing, yes, the first author is essential, since he writes most of the article, gives it form, gives it structure, and all the meaning of the article. The co-author also supports the writing of the article in a particular, specific part. The first author is the one who contacts the journal; it cannot reach the five co-authors, then it will register only one person, the one who submits the article and who would be the lead author. There may be more co-authors as well. As far as I know, there is no limit, although a lot depends on each journal. So, ideally, all will agree before beginning to write. It causes a lot of trouble when someone puts himself in an article he has not written. It is essential: if someone wrote it, his name goes on it; if he didn’t write it, his name does not go on it.

10. How is plagiarism or copy-paste viewed in publications? (Leonor Dillon, Switzerland)

    SG: Don’t do any of that at all! All publishers have tools that detect the percentage of your article that is a copy. The software they use generates analysis and a result. If your article has less than 10% match of repetition, that is “acceptable” at the editorial level, and it passes on to the next review. If it has more than 10% of content or phrases that appear in other articles, it is rejected. My recommendation is, do not copy, always paraphrase, and pay attention to the citation; if you are going to put a sentence, there is a limit to the number of words you can enclose in quotation marks. You must add the author and precisely on what page that textual sentence was written. Be very careful with that.

11. Is publishing in journals the same as publishing in conferences? (anonymous)

    SG: It’s the same. As for the level of work requirements, it could be a little more in the journal. What happens is that researchers are usually accrediting themselves to CONACYT and other agencies; those assign less value to publications that are presented in conferences than to those published by journals. But that is relative; I would say the work is the same. The advantage of conferences is the networking because you find many people from many countries who are interested in the same thing as you, and you can find ideas to share, so your work is heard by an audience that has more or less the same interests. That is the advantage of a conference, but the work that is required by both is almost the same.

12. To what extent is the saying “more is better” real? (Diego Alberto Diaz Leal, Colombia)

    SG: It depends. First, you have to locate the journal to which you want to submit your article. The journal will always have a section “For authors,” that contains a template or a description of the format it wants, for example, the fonts, margins, the parts that the article should have, how extensive each needs to be. I think that “more is better: in terms of the writing in each section. If the journal requests less, then you summarize. What has worked for me is to make an Excel spreadsheet with the rules of each journal, because each one has its own. There is not a standard set of rules of all. I pass it to Excel, and then I check that my article complies with each of the requirements as a checklist for me before sending it.

13. How can one validate a research instrument with a qualitative approach if the research sample is not parametric? (Susana González)

    SG: There are several methods to validate qualitative tools. Since it is qualitative, the sample does not need to be parametric or extensive. However, the peer review and piloting have to have been applied to people who more or less have the same characteristics as the audience, and those people provide feedback about what they thought of the questionnaire, if the questions were accessible, if they were understandable, etc. Typically, qualitative instruments are validated by experts or tools are used that have already been published or piloted. Piloting is very important.

14. “The instrument is a book of codes that shows the operationalization of variables.” How can it be validated? (Susana Gonzalez)

    SG: The validity of the instrument is usually done with piloting or through using the validation methods that the social sciences research programs have, such as SPCS. That implies the application of the instrument; those validations that are made with software suggest that this instrument has been tested. Then using factor analysis, you can see if the items are congruent or not. If you are starting the research, I would say that you take some instrument already validated, already tested, previously published, so you don’t need to run the same tests. Although, if you are going to apply it to a different population, it would be advisable to pilot it and then do a factor analysis to see the congruence of the items, and that they measure what you need.

15. What journals are available for possible publication? (anonymous)

    SG: Lots of them, you could not finish with them in your lifetime! What you can do is search the JCR catalog or the SCIMAGO catalog or also in Google Scholar. You type the keywords that you want to search for or that relate to your article. There will appear many published articles, and each of them is a different journal option that you can have. Universities usually also have their journals. Check the universities’ journals, go into the university sites, and they are going to have sections where it says, “Our journals” or “Our publications.” They are usually publication journals or indexes that are very serious. You must know about the “predators.” Suddenly, you start receiving emails telling you, “We saw your post on the such-and-such side; don’t you want to publish it with us? We are located in such-a-such place,” and they are lying. What happens is, you send your article, and they steal it, so you should be very careful that they are serious journals where you see the articles there, that they have a proper editorial committee, that they belong to some university and have a proven background of prestige because everything is out there.

16. If I submitted an article to a journal, and I went a year without receiving an answer, can I send it to another because they didn’t respond, or what do you recommend that I do? (Wilmer Ríos Cuesta, Colombia)

    SG: If a year has passed and they do not respond to you, write to them. On the pages of the journals, there always appear who is the editor-in-chief, or they provide phone numbers. If they do not answer when you write them, call them on the phone, and if they do not answer you, send them a l
    etter saying, “As you have already delayed more than a year to give me an answer, I will send my article to another journal. Please do not keep considering it.” This way, there is an antecedent that you reported it, and you are not proceeding badly because they have taken too long.

17. If an article addresses an issue and presents a construct that has not been developed in that field before, that is, it is new, and you are rejected, what can be done? (Wilmer Ríos Cuesta, Colombia)

    SG: I suggest looking for more information about this. Maybe what you think is new is not that new. Check out Google Scholar, but review it in English, not just in Spanish. It is complicated for a construct to be unique, like discovering something new. Maybe they call it another way, so review it and prepare to support it very well, where it comes from, or what authors you are relying on to make this new contribution. Even if the journal rejects it, they should send you feedback. Use the feedback and look for more information. Many times, what they refuse is because the references are not sufficiently substantiated or are missing. An essential part of articles is that they are well supported, that the editor knows that you have reviewed several studies that have been done in this regard. A weak theoretical framework or an article with few references usually does not convey the idea of serious research.

18. Do book chapters count as a publication? (anonymous)

    SG: It depends on what. They count it as a publication for a person who has a research background validated, for example, by the National Science Council like CONACYT; they count it only if it is a prestigious publishing house. But if the case is of a doctoral student who gets asked for four publications, and he is going to publish a book chapter, well, obviously, he counts it, depending on what they are asking him for, or for his first publication, of course, he counts it. Every publication counts; how much it counts, that depends on the context or for what you are expecting that publication to do.

19. Is there a course or site of interest in academic writing? (anonymous)

    SG: Tec has one that is called CREA. It is a site where they give tips about writing and references, but there are also other free sites on the internet.

20. Can anything be published? (anonymous)

    SG: Yes, there is an audience for everything. Although, before that, you have to think, “I’m going to publish this. Is it going to interest people? Is it worth posting?” If so, go ahead. You can also ask someone to do you the favor of reading it and giving you their advice; preferably, it is someone who has published before.

21. Are there differences between the quality of the articles published in open journals compared with the paid journals? (Antonio Canchola, Mexico)

    SG: I don’t think so. There are open journals of high quality and low quality. The paid journals, I think they have a little less merit because you pay for the publishing. I say I have never paid, nor do I see myself paying for a publication. Maybe later, I will, but I think the quality depends on the quartile of the journal, the journal’s audience, and how many times an article is cited. A cited article means it is of quality. In the end, you can publish as many items as possible; but who cites you and who finds the article interesting is there. I believe that is what would mark the quality of a publication, more than paying or not paying.

22. Do you know if some research has been published about the work culture of the teacher, specifically, from one institution or one country or one region? (Edelmira Morales)

    SG: Surely, yes, there is that research. Search using those keywords in Google Academic, and you will see that you are going to get several results. Search the complete construct, what you say, or also in the search engine, place between one word and the other, the term “And” to see what comes out; do your search in English. Undoubtedly, the research is there.

Rubí Román – (rubi.roman@tec.mx) Editor of Edu bits articles and Webinars "Learnings that inspire"

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