Writing for publication: what nobody tells you – Part 1
Rejection rates, cover letters, and the real reason journal fit matters more than prestige
Today, Emmanuella Plakoyiannaki (University of Vienna) and I are running a workshop on publication strategies for NARTI (Northern Academy Research Training Initiative, UK). Before the session, 137 doctoral students and early-career staff answered a survey. Almost half had never submitted to a journal (not unusual given the workshop theme). Of those who had, only 19% had actually published. About half were working primarily on qualitative research, which matters because publishing remains more complex for qualitative researchers, given the wide variety of qualitative research and the limited number of reviewers and editors to go around.
Catch-up service:
The numbers are worse than you think
Not to be alarmist, rejection rates at leading management journals range from 80 to 95%. And that was before AI supercharged the production of the written word. However, having been an editor for many years and responsible for desk rejects, I have seen numerous submissions that are simply out of scope and irrelevant. So, there is no reason to be too disheartened.
Unless, of course, you are desk rejected many, many times. Then, you may need to consider whether a full reset is necessary. One thing I have noticed is that novices to academic publishing systematically underestimate how much work is required to get an article published.
The other thing I sometimes encountered is an ends-means orientation: I want tenure (or a safe academic position, or a safe academic position at a better, more research-oriented university), so I need more and better publications, and how can I achieve this as soon as possible?
That’s nice.
But it’s not the responsibility of the editors, the reviewers, or indeed of the academic community reading the journal. Your job situation is absolutely none of their concern. Nobody is forcing you to become an academic; that is a choice. Maybe you begin to realise that it is not as good a choice as you thought. (Welcome to the club.) I have known many colleagues and students who changed their minds about wanting to be a part of academia. Exit is fine.
After the jump, what do you need to know if you want to play journal game … for paid subscribers, or you can redeem one free read. Also, you’ll get a reading list of useful articles written by experienced academics and editors that have published pieces seeking to de-mystify the academic publishing process.
