P rofessional development: How to publish Marcel van Aken (2008-2014 editor IJBD)

1. Professional development:How to publishMarcel van Aken(2008-2014 editor IJBD)

2. How topublish. The most important thingto do is to:

3. Convince readers, reviewers and editors! • M: magnitude: try to present strong effects with a meaning • A: articulation: clearly explain why and how you performed your study, with the accent on clearly. • G: generalizability: make and present your results as much as possible in a way that the can be generalized to the population of adolescents • I: interestingness: present your questions, methods, results and discussion in a way that your paper becomes interesting for readers • C: credibility: make sure that people believe what you say (avoid suspicion) (MAGIC; Adelson, 1995)

4. Helpful information: Publication manual of the American Psychological Association www.apastyle.org Bem, D.J. (2002). Writing the empirical journal article. In J.M. Darley, M.P. Zanna, & H.L. Roediger III (Eds.) The Complete Academic: A Career Guide (pp. 2-26). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Kail, R.V. (2014). Scientific Writing for Psychology: Lessons in Clarity and Style. SAGE

5. How should you write: - strive for accuracy and clarity - write simply and directly Use your favourite article as a model For whom should you write: - students? - your colleague in Art? - your grandmother? Intelligent non-psychologists should understand the broad outlines, especially the introduction and the discussion. The actual technical material may be more specialized. end

6. Maybe one exception The shape of your article: an hour glass The introduction begins broad, then becomes more specific At the end: introduce your specific study Method and results: the most specific The discussion begins with the implications of your study, then becomes broader again.

7. In your first paragraph: draw the attention of the reader • Introduce the topic briefly • Explain why it is relevant • Say what you are going to do with it

8. The elements of your paper: Title: Not too long (10-12 words) Should give a quick overview of the study Should be explanatory when standing alone Should identify the theoretical issues or variables under investigation Abstract: Not too long (see journal requirements): 120, 150, 200 words

9. Introduction: the background and nature of the problem being investigated • Write English prose, not psychological jargon • Build up your story • Use examples • Talk about people, not about psychologists Content: • Opening statements • Literature review • Brief overview of your own study

10. Method: All relevant information about your research, for someone who wants to repeat it. To back up the reliability and the validity of what you will present in your results. But only that what you use for the results of this article (not everything you did for your study!). Describe procedures used to handle the data (e.g., factor analyses), and explain what analyses you will report. Give the rationale of the analyses.

11. Results: Present the findings Remind the reader of the research question and the hypotheses. Use those to structure your results section. Give a clear answer: tell the reader what s/he should see in the analyses. Figures and tables: not too much, not too little.

12. Discussion: Should feed back to the introduction (and the research questions) Begin with telling what we have learned from this study Compare your results with other studies. Why did you (not) find what they did? Mention limitations: but remain positive!! Mention questions that remain unanswered, or even were raised by your results At the end: give a clear take-home message, in a positive manner

13. Rewrite and polish: the submitted version is what is judged, make it the best version Ask a colleague to read it. Accept this judgment (and do something with it).

14. Polishing: Omit needless words Avoid meta-comments (‘now that I described the theory, we can look at…’) Use repetition and parallel construction. DON’T use synonyms Avoid gender bias in language, use plural.

15. And then: Submit !!!! • take care of the cover letter: has to convince the editor! • submit a polished manuscript (APA) • check the specific author guidelines at the journal website • And after that: Revision • do revise when you get the chance! • structure reviewers’ comments • answer ALL editor and reviewers’ comments in cover letter, in detail, • referring to the revised manuscript • revise in time, or ask for more time! • And in the end: Acceptance • first thank and offer a drink to your co-authors • concisely answer all editorial mails (documents, copy proofs, etc.)

16. Often asked questions for Publishing Workshop Scope: 1. How "big" does a paper need to be to get published? 2. How are these decisions made? 3. How are manuscripts developed? 4. How to decide, pick a journal? 5. How important is the impact factor. Process: 1. What does the publishing process entail? 2. How long may it take to have an article published? 3. How many reviewers evaluate the paper? 4. What is the difference between a reviewer, action editor, and editor? Communication: 1. At what point in the publishing process is it appropriate to contact an Editor? 2. How does one decide which Journal is best for a particular manuscript? 3. How does one interpret the paper's reviews? New: 1. What about Open Access?