Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett, Queensland University of Technology, presented this workshop on How to Reverse Engineer a Journal Article at the Whitaker Institute on 7th December 2016.

1. Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett
Queensland University of Technology
NUI Galway – December 2016

2. Why reverse-engineer an article?
What is RE?
Extracting
knowledge or
‘blueprint’
Discover the
methods for
writing
YOUR
article
Efficiency
(why
reinvent the
wheel?)
Effective use
of resources
(time,
money, self-
esteem)
Increase
likelihood of
success (if it
looks like a
duck….)
Caveat: This is only
one way to write an
article it is not
THE only way.

3. The proof it works
 Template:
 Harris and Reynolds
2003 –writing up
qualitative findings
(producing a model
and propositions)
 Published article
 Leo and Russell-
Bennett 2012 –
Journal of Marketing
Management (ERA
A) article on
qualitative findings
for customer-
oriented deviance.

4. Steps to reverse-engineering a
journal article
1. Pick your target
2. Read the author requirements
3. Find an example article
4. Deconstruct the article
5. Reconstruct your article-structure
6. Add your content
7. Identify papers to cite

5. Deconstruction Phase

6. 1. Pick your target
 You either:
 design your research around the requirements of the
journal
 Or
 Find the journal where your research will fit
V

7. 2. Author Requirements
 It might sound crazy but READ the author requirements
published on the journal website
 Example: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
 http://www.springer.com/business+%26+management/journal/11747
 What are the aims/scope? Will your research fit?
 In order for a manuscript to be published in JAMS it must,
at the minimum, meet the following criteria:
 Focus on a substantive issue in the domain of marketing
 Offer fundamentally new insights that advance the field
 Be literature-based and scholarly
 Demonstrate conceptual rigor
 Provide evidence of methodological rigor, if an empirical piece
 If you think your research fits then commence – if not find
another journal

8. 3. Find an exemplar article
 Articles have conventions of setting up research and
reporting findings.
 Find an example article in your chosen journal that uses
the same analysis technique
 Multilevel regression: Homburg and Furst 2011
 Experiment: Du, Fan and Feng 2011
12th Century manuscript
Requirements
• Illumination
• Colour
• Latin
• Large opening capital
letter
19th Century manuscript
Requirements
• Italics, bold and
underlined headings
• Direct quotes
• Black and white

9. 4. Deconstruct the example article(s)
 Step 1. Heading structure and paper
format
 Step 2. Style
 Step 3 Contribution
 Step 4 Purpose and key
frameworks
 Step 5 logic and structure
 Step 6 Synthesis techniques
 Step 7 Conventions
 Step 8 Linking findings back to
literature

10. 4.1 Heading structure and paper
format
 How many heading levels?
 How many words in each section?
 Where is the emphasis?
 Open up a new word doc:
 Type up the headings with word count

11. 4.2 Style
 Step 2. Style
 Title: Quirky? Every variable in your model?
 Language style
 US? British? English
 Passive vs active
 Readership age
Score Notes
90.0–100.0 easily understood by an average 11-year-old student
60.0–70.0 easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students
0.0–30.0 best understood by university graduates

12. 4.3 Contribution
 Importance of research
 Identify Gap, RQ and contribution in Introduction and
discussion
 How do they ‘frame’ the contribution?
 In which paragraphs is this stated? Add this to your word
doc
 Can you see the relationship between gap and
contribution? Gap and RQ?
 What is the scope of the research?
 At what level of cognition is the article operating?
(Bloom’s Taxonomy)?

13. 4.4 Purpose and key frameworks
 What is the goal and aim of research (should link to RQ)?
 In which paragraph is this stated?
 How is theory used in the front section of the paper?
 What theories, definitions are used and where are they
stated?
 What are the seminal papers in the field (how do you
know?)

14. 4.5 Logic and Structure
 What is the purpose of each section?
 What is the purpose of each paragraph?
 Write this for each section and paragraph on your word
doc

15. 4. 6 Synthesis technique
 How do they synthesise the literature?
 Do they use visuals?
 Mindmaps, tables, lists, figures
 List techniques you might use in your word doc

16. 4.7 Conventions
 How is the hypotheses/proposition phrased?
 How are the results reported?
 Sample, measures, validity/reliability
 Table format for results
 Add these conventions to your word doc

17. Reconstruction Phase

18. 5. Draft structure for your article
 Using the notes from the deconstruction, draft up your
own structure
 Level 1, 2 and 3 headings
 Number of words
 Purpose of each section
 Key words for each paragraph
 Wording of hypotheses/propositions
 Location of gap/RQ – top and tail
 Language
 Conventions

19. 6. Reconstruct: Now add your own
content
 Take content from your thesis and pair it down
 What is your research topic?
 What is your key contribution?
 What is a good title that ‘fits’ the journal?
 What are your headings (this builds your logic
structure)?
 What is the purp
 ose of each of your sections/paragraphs?
 How should you word your
hypotheses/propositions?
 Add the tables and reporting requirements
 Manchester Uni Phrasebank

20. 7. Who do you need to cite?
 You should continue a conversation in a
journal
 It shows you are familiar with the journal
 One of the authors in the journal may be
a reviewer
 Search the journal
 Keywords that are in your article
 Topic area of your research
 Seminal authors cited in your research
 Read the articles and work out if you
should cite them in your article

21. 8. Proofing and editing
 Pay attention to the details
 Punctuation
 Spelling
 Grammar