The writing and publishing process for academic papers - delivered in Alexandria, Egypt 2016

1. The path to publication
Roger Watson PhD, FRCP Edin, FAAN
Editor-in-Chief, JAN
Editor, Nursing Open
The 3rd Biennial Australian Capital
Region Nursing and Midwifery
Research Conference
Canberra, Australia

3. Quality assurance in the publication process:
authors, editors, reviewers, publishers
Submission
Peer review
Editorial decision and input
Revision
Production
Publication
• submission requirements
based on international
standards (e.g. ICMJE) re
content, ethics, authorship etc
• peer review (blind or open)
• reasons for rejection include
plagiarism, redundancy, sub-
standard research, faulty or
incomplete analysis, poor or
incomplete reporting
• revision (minor or major) aims
to improve quality
• further checks at production
• post-publication scrutiny
(internal and external)

4. What are the barriers to writing

7. Decide what motivates you to write
Academic obligation
Career progression
Prestige of your institution
To share research findings
To disseminate good practice
Money
Because you enjoy it?

8. Being a writer
I learned to write by writing
Professionalism comes from being able to write on a bad
day
Norman Mailer

9. Application to the job of writing
Apply the seat of your pants to the seat of a chair
and don’t get up until you’ve written something.
Beaverbrook

10. Some don’ts
Don’t think about it
Don’t tell anyone about it
Don’t wait for inspiration
…just do it!

11. Remember
You can edit a bad page….
…you can’t edit a blank page

12. Inspiration
Instead of planning or talking about your plan, I say, just get
something out on paper before you forget it – no matter
how uncertain you feel or how confusing it sounds.
I also suggest that (you) write the first draft before (you) do
any research.
Rarely do we know what we’re going to write about until
we’ve completed a first, stumbling draft
Dale Salwak (THE)

13. Understand the publishing
process
Write first for:
•Editors
•Reviewers
•Your audience

14. The four rules of writing
Read the guidelines
Set realistic targets and count words
Seek criticism
Treat a rejection as the start of the next submission

15. Journal guidelines
Journal guidelines

16. Journal guidelines
Length
Layout
Organisation
Referencing system

17. Setting targets
All good writers do this
Try to write a specific number of words per day or every
time you sit down to write
When you have reached your target…STOP!

18. Setting targets
Set daily targets, stick to them and give yourself plenty of
rewards afterwards. The people who succeed are those
who treat it like a job…
Phillip Hodson (THE)

19. Seeking criticism
Find a ‘critical friend’

20. Seek criticism of your writing
NOT THIS
OR THIS
THIS

21. Seeking criticism
Find a ‘critical friend’
Find the type of person who will tell a man:
“your trouser zipper is open”

22. Expect to have several revisions
…I’m one of the world’s greatest rewriters
James Mitchener

23. Learn when to let go

24. International relevance
Keep asking yourself whether a reader in a region or
country very different from your own will be able to make
sense of everything in your paper
Abstract
•refer in the aims and/or background to the global
relevance of the topic
•include name/s of country/ies in which the work was
undertaken
•emphasise the international relevance of the conclusions

25. JAN adheres to international guidelines
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/

27. JAN adheres to international guidelines
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/
PRISMA http://www.prisma-statement.org/

29. JAN adheres to international guidelines
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/
PRISMA http://www.prisma-statement.org/
COPE http://publicationethics.org/

31. JAN adheres to international guidelines
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/
PRISMA http://www.prisma-statement.org/
COPE http://publicationethics.org/
ICMJE http://www.icmje.org/

33. Dealing with reviewer’s comments
Apply the ‘golden rules’ (Williams 2004)
Rule 1. Answer completely
Rule 2. Answer politely
Rule 3. Answer with evidence

34. Answer completely
Deal with every point, even if you don’t agree or
can’t change it
Make a list of points – even if not presented with a
list

35. Answer politely
Don’t start with:
‘We completely disagree with the comments of the
reviewer’
‘Who on earth are your reviewers?’
…etc!

36. Answer with evidence
If you disagree with the reviewer then provide
evidence: facts and references

37. Edited by Karen Holland and Roger Watson
An invaluable guide on writing for publication, enabling
the reader to develop skills in writing articles,
book reviews and other forms
of publications, written by experts in the field.
September 2012, 288 pages
ISBN: 9780470657829
£19.99 / €25.90 / $32.95
Order online at www.wiley.com
Prefer digital? Visit your e-book retailer to order
Writing for Publication in Nursing and Healthcare:
Getting It Right

38. • High standard, rigorous peer review
• Quality and reputation
• Immediate open access
• Fully compliant with all open access mandates
• Authors retain copyright–articles publish under CC-BY license
Open access research in all aspects of nursing
and midwifery practice, research, education and policy.
Editor
Roger Watson, University of Hull
www.nursingopenjournal.com

39. email: r.watson@hull.ac.uk
@rwatson1955
@jadvnursing
journalofadvancednursing.blogspot.co.uk