Wicked Anomie has another installment of paper publication tips, this time breaking down a couple of the decisions you might receive from a journal. The post includes useful advice from Gary Fine, the editor of Social Psychology Quarterly, on getting rejected:
“What kind of profession do we live in that 80-90% of our work products are considered unworthy? Think about that; it’s a tough reality, and so you have to be in the position as an author of saying to yourself “I’m smart. I know what I’m doing. But I didn’t quite get it right this time, and I have to learn from the advice of my colleagues.” We have to say, “I’m a bright person, and these reviewers are bright people. Why was I not able to communicate my good ideas to these smart people? What was the problem–either in the research or the writing–that prevented that communication from occurring?” And I think that is the central issue.”
This reminded me of advice in Boice’s book, Professors as Writers. I don’t have the book with me in Turkey, but he basically said that when you get critical feedback, you should thank the reviewer (this is for situations where you solicit feedback from someone directly) and then ask for more. While there might be a masochistic angle to this, it also shows that you can handle criticism maturely and that you appreciate the other person’s ideas. (I feel like Boice had more specific reasons for suggesting this approach, but I can’t remember them now.)
If you’d prefer to indulge your anger and disappointment, then you might want to check out Wicked Anomie’s blind reviewer voodoo doll.
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[...] Jim Gibbon has a collection of posts where he’s gathered helpful tips: go see his two posts on publishing in an academic journal as well as one about ways to improve academic [...]
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