Deconstructing the publishing process: preparing and submitting a manuscript
Repost from July 23, 2024
After talking with friends and colleagues about publishing peer-review articles, I was inspired to dedicate a few blog posts toward deconstructing the publication process. Important to note: much of this manaʻo comes from my advisor Daniel Solórzano and through trial and error. In this post, I define manuscript preparation as writing and editing a paper and formatting the document according to a publication's guidelines (e.g., recommended citation style, word limit, required paper sections, etc.). Manuscript submission refers to identifying a potential publication, registering for an account on their submission site, and submitting a full paper and cover letter to the submission site. In my experience, these two sub-processes in the publication process overlap.
There's no order to this list of strategies...they're thoughts that are currently simmering as I reflect on recent submissions.
1. Finding a home for your manuscript requires intentionality. Before I prepare a manuscript, I usually research potential publications, then tailor my writing to fit those journal's guidelines. As a graduate student, I tend to look for publications that are friendly to master's and doctoral research. This usually means searching for journals affiliated with graduate schools like InterActions or Atzlán. Additionally, I look at journals and books that other Indigenous scholars have used to share their research. This is how I came across AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples as a candidate for my conceptual paper on huikau, kūʻē, and the Lāhui. Once I identify potential publications, I go through their aims and goals, editorial guidelines, and their recently published content. I also search "Hawaiian" to see if they've ever published anything on the Lāhui. From there, I narrow my options to one or two sources then search for any ongoing calls for papers or special issues. I prefer these because they usually come with a tentative timeline that I can use to hold myself accountable.
If you're working with other authors or even an advisor or senior scholar, they may have their own opinions about where to publish, too. This is where self-advocacy and intentionality come into play. If you feel strongly about where your work is published, I think it's important to make a case around the significance of "finding a home" for the manuscript to thrive. This is wisdom from Danny that I continue to use in the publishing process. I define a "home" in this context as a publication that is open to creative writing formats, friendly to CRT, intersectional, Indigenous research, and supportive of graduate student work. I do not pay much heed to impact factors; rather, I attend to the types of papers that have been published and the relevance to my personal research approach. I also stay away from publications that charge fees for submission and publishing.
2. What comes first? The manuscript or the publication? This varies in my opinion. My first peer-review publication was a literature review that I originally completed for my master's capstone, then revised to fit the guidelines for the publication. With my most recent submission (a qualitative study using CRT), I started with a call for papers from a publication and wrote the manuscript in response to it using data that I collected for a pilot study. Sometimes, a call for papers will come at the most opportune time, and although the paper may not be fully formed yet, if the timeline is doable, the publication may come before a full draft.
3. Moving from a research paper to a manuscript may take time. If you're considering submitting a graduate paper for publication, it is worth reflecting on possible revisions that may be needed to ensure your manuscript is accepted for peer review. I heavily revised my master's capstone literature review into a manuscript suitable for publication by reorganizing the paper into recognizable sections (e.g., introduction, conceptual framework, methods, findings, etc.) and removing inconsistent first-person pronoun usages (this was mainly because of the publication's guidelines for authors). With most publications, you have more than 10 to 12 double-spaced pages to write, so you may want to expand on your argument and reference more literature in your conceptual framework. It really depends on the selected publication's rules, your intended audience, and your manuscript's overall purpose. With my literature review, I had a hard time deleting two sections of narrative writing that opened and closed the manuscript. However, upon deeper reflection, I proceeded with removing those sections and saving them for another piece. Ultimately, revising this paper from a capstone project into a manuscript improved my odds of publication.
4. General recommendations for preparing your manuscript based on my experience as a peer reviewer: Proofread your manuscript to ensure consistency in citation formatting, verb tense, active/passive voice, and word choice. This is extremely important for co-authored papers. Check that all your references are cited in the text. If your publication uses a double-blind review format, remove personal identifying information (e.g., citations, positionality) from your anonymous version. Define jargon and complex phenomena, concepts, and constructs. Assume some readers may be unfamiliar with your area of research. Read through your full manuscript.
5. Refer to your selected publication's author guidelines for a specific checklist of materials to submit your manuscript. Additionally, prepare a manuscript with author details and an anonymous manuscript. Draft a cover letter addressing the journal editor/s (or special issue editors), and detail the strengths of your manuscript. Register for an ORCID ID for streamlined access to multiple journals. If interested in publishing open access, refer to your institution's publishing protocols; they may be able to cover the entire fee for this service!
Future post ideas: navigating the peer review process, responding to feedback, disseminating your work
