Writing, evaluation and publishing in a scientific journal

Writing, Evaluation and Publishing John Tribe The Research Process World (of tourism) Tourism Knowledge THE RESEARCHER 2 Structure •Writing •Evaluation •Publishing /443 Writing 4 The Problem 3 •Imbalance between research training / effort and writing training/ effort 5 The Challenge Making our writing: •Compelling •Beautiful •Elegant •Edward Said –make it like a symphony •Texture •Cadence •Movements •Variety •Surprise 6 Writing for what? Writing for whom? 7 Title •Academic •Informative •Concise •Creative •Enigmatic •Google-ability •The Indiscipline of Tourism •The Philosophic Practitioner •Tourism: A Critical Business •Tribes, Territories and Networks in Tourism Studies •Not such smart tourism: The concept of elienation 8 Abstract: Technical Issues •Problem statement •The focus of previous research literature •Your distinctive approach •Your methods or data sources/datasets •Your original key findings 9 Conceptual Model 16 Findings •Presentation of findings •Strong Narrative •Critical analysis / interpretation of findings •Discussion against literature. •Conclusion summarising main findings 17 Getting lost in findings •Too much data •Bogged down in detail •Damien Hirst Forms Without Life 1991 18 Tip: •What are the five really important things you found out? •Make sure you give them a proper fanfare … 19 Haydn’s Creation “Let there be light, and there was light” •https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vUPovDNm_Q 20 Findings: Some detail and texture Tracy Emin My Bed 1968 21 Contribution to Knowledge •CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE eg. xDevise a model of the tourism area life cycle (Butler) xConstruct the tourism knowledge system (Tribe) xRe-think the concept of authenticity (Wang) xProve the theory of gravity (Newton) 22 Contribution to Knowledge •VERB •Devise •Construct •Re-think •Prove •Reconceptualise •Reveal •Create •Develop and test •Discover •Demonstrate •Invent •NOUN •Model •System •Concept •Theory •Method •Practice •Situation •Problem •Typology •Classification •Framework 23 •EXPLANATION / CONTEXT •Tourism Area Life Cycle •Tourism Knowledge •Authenticity •Gravity •etc. Contribution to Knowledge •VERB •Invent •Build •Challenge •Solve •Refute •Verify •Revise •Design •Uncover •Find •Explain •Validate •NOUN •Principle •Idea •Prototype •Solution •Technique •Cause •Knowledge •Understanding •Idea •Procedure •Network 24 •EXPLANATION / CONTEXT Evaluation •The following slides offer a typical set of criteria against which a PhD by thesis would be evaluated. 25 Evaluation •Is the abstract satisfactory? 32 Evaluation •Is the Bibliography satisfactory? 33 Evaluation •What is the overall quality of the work? 34 Publishing 35 Know your journals •ATR •TM •JTR •JST •JOHLSTE •Top Tier •Middle Tier •Lower Tier 36 37 /44 What do you think the rejection rate of Annals is? 38 /44 Total articles / acceptance rate Editorial (EES/EM) Articles received and processed by the Editorial Office (previous year's values in brackets for comparison). Subm. Final disposition Month Articles Articles Articles Processing times (in weeks) Results w/o review Subm. to 1st decn. Auth. rev. time Sub. to fin. disp. Withdrawn Accepted Rejected Rejec. rate Total 544 (439) 488 (449) 236 (187) 8.1 (8.5) 8.9 (11.1) 14.1 (16.3) 8 (7) 88 (99) 392 (343) 0.82 (0.78) /44 My home screen 40 /44 My inbox 41 /44 Rigour Rigour will be understood in terms of the intellectual precision, robustness and appropriateness of the concepts, analyses, theories and methodologies deployed within a research output. Account will be taken of such qualities as the integrity, coherence and consistency of arguments and analysis and the due consideration of ethical issues. 48 /44 Thresholds •Of publishable standard: Demonstrates a level of significance rigour and originality that meets international standards of excellence. Enhances theory, knowledge, policy or practice of the social science of tourism and is likely to become an important point of reference in tourism research. Elegantly written with clarity and insight. Innovative. 49 /44 Desk Reject •Annals papers need to convey a “big new social science idea” in a straightforward way and the "big new idea” is not clear here. •Annals papers have to demonstrate a high level of originality. The title / theme of this paper is too similar that which is already available in the existing literature. •More of a managerial paper than an Annals' type social science paper. 50 /44 •Deals with quite specific issues rather than broader Annals' type tourism issues. •Proceeds by the testing of a number of small/specific hypotheses. This procedure advances the understanding of some very specific relationships but it does not have a wide enough sweep to extend the boundaries of cutting edge and significant research ideas. 51 /44 •Does not provide a high level of engagement with theories and ideas. •This study is what might be termed "another case of something". It applies existing theories to a new activity and/or market segment and/or geographical area. Such articles are useful in incrementally extending our knowledge but do not make a contribution that satisfies the originality or significance criteria for Annals. They fill in some gaps but are not cutting edge in pushing the boundaries of research. 52 /44 Original Contribution •The research design and execution of this paper fall short of the standards required by this journal. Broadly, qualitative research must offer a thick, deep and original understanding of phenomena, quantitative research must deploy effective sampling and conceptual research must offer a robust method. 54 /44 •This paper falls short of Annals’ standards in terms of structure, coherence of argument, logical flow and development of ideas and themes. 55 /44 Assigning an Editor / Subject tags 56 /44 The Review / Decision Process •Double Blind Review •Reviewers can be suggested by the system •The role of the resource editor •Reject: Try not to write me an angry email telling me that me, or the journal or the editors are fools. •R & R •Responding to R & R 57 /44