Writing a manuscript and submitting it to a journal

Outline
Types of articles
Manuscript structure and content
How to find a journal
Peer review process and timelines
Questions

Types of Articles
Empirical Studies
Literature Review
Theoretical Articles
Methodological Articles
Case Studies

Manuscript Structure and Content
Title
Author’s name and Institutional Affiliation
Author Note
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Footnotes
Appendices and Supplement Materials

Title
Summarizes the main idea
Should be clear, not so long, meaningful, not necessarily a sentence, no abbreviations, formulas, jargon, etc.
Use words that are relevant to understanding the article and avoid words that serve no useful purpose
Words such as methods, results, and terms such as a study of, or an experimental investigation of, should be avoided in the title.
Title should be typed in upper case and lower case letters, centred between the left and right margins, and positioned in the upper half of the page.

Author’s Name and Institutional Affiliation
First name, middle initial(s), and last name
Use the same form for publications throughout your career
Omit all titles, e.g., PhD, EdD, Dr., Professor, etc.
Institutional affiliation identifies where the author was when the research was conducted
Authors are listed in order of importance to the research

Author Note
1st paragraph: Complete departmental affiliation
2nd Paragraph: Changes of affiliation if any
3rd Paragraph: Acknowledgments and Special Circumstances
4th Paragraph: Person to contact (mailing address, email).

Abstract
A brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article that allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly and, like a title, it enables persons interested in the document to retrieve it from abstracting and indexing databases
It should:
1. state the principal objectives and scope of investigation
2. describe the methods employed
3. summarize the results
4. state the principal conclusions
Should be accurate, non-evaluative, coherent and readable, concise
Abstract word limits vary from journal to journal and typically range from 150 to 250 words.

Introduction
Introduce the problem. The body of a manuscript opens with an introduction that presents the specific problem under study and describes the research strategy. A good introduction answers the following questions in just a few pages:
Why is the problem important?
How does the study relate to previous work in the area? If other aspects of this study have been reported previously, how does this report differ from, and build on, the earlier report?
What are the primary and secondary hypotheses and objectives of the study, and what if any, are the links to theory?
How do the hypothesis and research design relate to one another?
What are the theoretical and practical implications of the study?

Method
Describes in detail how the study was conducted including conceptual and operational definitions of the variables used in the study
Participant characteristics
Sampling procedures
Sample size, power, and precision
Measures and covariates
Research design

Results
Summarizes and reports the data in sufficient detail to justify the conclusions
Should be given in tables and graphs
The results should be short, clearly and simply stated

Discussion
Evaluate and interpret the implications of the presented results
Emphasize any theoretical or practical consequences of the results
A clear statement of the support or nonsupport for the original hypotheses

Conclusion
Draw a brief conclusion answering the question, “so what?”

References
Follow the style guideline of the journal, e.g., APA

The proper choice of a journal
Prestige
Access
Impact factor

Other factors to consider
Speed of publication
Quality of printing
Likelihood of acceptance
Instructions to authors

Authors Responsibilities
Quality of presentation
Scientific writing in English
Format (typeface, special characters, line spacing, margins, line length and alignment, paragraphs and indentation)
Order of manuscript pages (title page, abstract, text, references, tables, figures, appendices)
Page number and running heads
Spelling check
Supplemental materials (check the journal’s website)
Interim correspondence

Complying with Ethical, Legal and Policy Requirements
Ethical conduct of research and conflicts of interest
Permission to reprint or adapt the work of others (tables, figures, data, questionnaires, long quotations)
Transfer of copyright, posting articles on Internet

How to find a good journal?
Thomson Reuters data base (ISI WEB OF KNOWLEDGE and ISI WEB OF SCIENCE)
Elsevier data base (Scopus www.sciencedirect.com, www.scopus.com,
www.elsevier.ru)
ERIC data base of the US Education Department
EBSCO data base (11 data bases http://search.epnet.com)
Academic research premier
Springer data base (www.springerlink.com)
Emerald Research Register (www.emeraldinsight.com)

Electronic data bases and information systems on Economics, Management and Finance
ABI Inform Global
Best of Biz
Blackwell
Cambridge University Press
Ebrary
EBSCO
EconLit
eLibrary
Elsevier
Elsevier Business, management and accounting backfiles
Elsevier Handbooks, Book series and Encyclopedia
InfoTrac One File
Integrum
JSTOR
JSTOR Business
Oxford University Press
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Sage
SCOPUS
Springer/Kluwer
SSRN
Taylor&Francis
Emerald
Factiva

Decision on the manuscript?
Acceptance
Rejection
Rejection with invitation to revise and resubmit

Peer Review Process
Three Decisions to Make:
Accept/accept with minor changes: manuscript meets high standards of scholarship, be written so as to engage the interests of a diverse readership, and requires only minor editorial changes
Seek major revisions: manuscript is not acceptable in its present form and requires major revisions to meet publication standards. Depending on the nature and extent of the revisions that are needed, the editor may in turn decide to: a) accept the manuscript subject to satisfactory revision or b) reject the manuscript and invite the author(s) to revise and resubmit for review
Reject: manuscript is not suitable for publication in the journal either because it is inappropriate for the journal readership, it is too weak to be worth revising, or because it makes little or no contribution to the field