Academic Writing for International Publication Siddharth Chandra President

Academic Writing for International Publication Siddharth Chandra President, American Institute for Indonesian Studies Professor and Director, Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University

Background • American Institute for Indonesian Studies (AIFIS) • https: //www. aifis. org/ • Consortium of 30 US universities • Professors with links to Indonesia • Research about Indonesia

Fellowship opportunities • Fellowships for US researchers to come to Indonesia • Fellowships for Indonesian researchers to travel to the USA • https: //www. aifis. org/fellowships/ • https: //www. aifis. org/take-action/

Implementing AIFIS’s Mission • Working with researchers in Indonesia to build • Research capacity • Research collaborations • Capacity to publish in international journals

AIFIS workshop series • Three days long • Intensive collaboration with mentors • Mentors include • Journal editor • Professors with experience in academic English, critical thinking and conceptualization, and publication in top journals • Individual review of a research manuscript • Continued consultation • Past workshops • Results so far

Workshop topics • What do journal editors look for in research papers when they are considering publication? • How to convey your ideas effectively when writing an academic research paper. • Academic English. • What do reviewers look for in research papers that they are asked to review? • Tips for successful publication in international academic journals.

Today’s presentation • What do journal editors look for in research papers when they are considering publication? • What do reviewers look for in research papers that they are asked to review? • Tips for successful publication in international academic journals. • Time for questions and answers.

What do journal editors look for?

What editors want Readers

The first question an editor asks • Who is going to read this paper? • To get published, authors need to • Write for a specific audience • Pick journals or publishers that serve that audience • If possible, interest a wider audience

Selecting a journal • Check journal web pages • Some journals broadly focused, some narrow • Some journals want theory, some want data • Some have a geographical focus • Ask your research community • Is the journal efficient? • Is the journal prestigious? • Do they provide thoughtful reviews? • Make sure that your paper matches the ‘culture’ of the journal • Example: qualitative vs. quantitative

What do journal reviewers look for?

Significance • Is the topic important? • Sub-text: will many people want to read it? • Does the paper advance the state of knowledge? • Sub-text: will people get something out of it?

Innovation • What is new? • Substantively/topically • Methodologically • Both

Approach • Does the paper use robust methods to answer the central question(s)? • Are the data appropriate for answering the central question(s)?

Tips for successful publication

Make it easy • Reviewers are (very) busy people • Time budget for reviews • Make the presentation of your paper excellent • Error and typo free • Good is not good enough • Automatic copy-editing • Distracts the reviewer from your research • Wastes the reviewer’s time

Make it interesting • Convince the reviewer that the paper is interesting and innovative • Importance of the abstract and introduction • Usually the first thing a reviewer will read • “The first impression is the last impression” • Importance of the conclusion • Tells the reviewer what (s)he (hopefully) got from the paper • References • SWYK or STYK: show that (or what) you know • A quick way to show the reviewer that (or what) you know • If the journal does not limit the number of references, more is better

Structures for writing • In some disciplines, there are established structures for writing • Structured abstracts • Quantitative social sciences • • • Introduction, literature review Data and methods Results, discussion Conclusion References • Epidemiology • Jim Anthony’s thirty nine questions

The importance of a research community • Attend international conferences • Get to know colleagues in the field • What are the good journals in the field? • Reputation • Efficiency • Run your paper by your colleagues • Especially international colleagues

Questions and answers Now it is your turn…