Turning Research into an Article for Feminist Economics and other

Scholarly Journals

Günseli Berik and Diana StrassmannEditors, Feminist Economics

Barcelona, June 27-29, 2012

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Key Questions

• What are the characteristics of a good article?

• How can you enhance your chances of publication?

• Common submission mistakes

• Where to submit?

• How to respond to conflicting reviews

• What if your paper is rejected?

• What is a good example of an empirical Feminist Economics article?

Common Starting Points

• Crafting a paper from:• A PhD dissertation or a Master’s Thesis• A Report

• Keep in mind that journals care about importance, originality, and potential impact of their papers

• Remember: an article is not a report

Developing Your Article: A Good Article

What are the characteristics of a good article?

• A well-focused research question, situated within the literature

• Makes the case for the importance, originality, and potential impact of the article

• Is a good fit for the journal:• genre• mission• current debates

Developing Your Article: Share Your Draft Paper with Others

• Form a network of peers

• Workshop your paper locally

• Present your paper at conferences

• Respond to the advice you get

• Ask others to comment on your paper

• Consider a co-author

Developing Your Article: For Non-native English Speakers

• Short sentences

• Use grammar and spell check

• Solicit advice on usage/language

• Consider professional editing help

Consider the Journal’s Audience

• Revise papers originally developed for an audience different from your target journal’s• e.g., national audience, specialist group,

conference, etc.

• Provide a contextual framework, especially for broader or different audiences

• Consider genre, length, and level of detail appropriate for your audience

• Read and follow journal policies and guidelines carefully

Developing Your Article: International Orientation

• Explain things unique to your country

• Do not treat a phenomenon as though a particular country's experience is universal

• Explain country-specific economic behaviors and international relevance

• Include citations to contributions from other parts of the world

• Specify geographical context of any cited studies

Developing Your Article: Choosing a Journal

Many possible reasons for choosing a journal

• potential impact on debates

• prestige, reputation, impact ranking

• reviewing speed

• audience for journal

• which issues/proportion of journal welcome “open” submissions?

• diversity in where you publish

How to Judge Whether Your Paper Might Fit

• Review the journal’s website

• Examine the journal’s mission

• Look at past and themed issues

• Consider whether you could connect your paper to better fit into the forum

Edited Books versus Journals

Disadvantages of books

• Not a referred publication

• If not yet accepted by a press, may not get published

• Contents often less accessible through indexing and reference sources (can lead to lower impact, citations)

• Many universities count book essays as less important

• Often published more slowly than themed journal special issues; more expensive

Revise Your Paper to Better Fit the Journal

• Recast introduction and reorient paper

• Consider the journal’s audience

• Engage with and cite existing literature, especially if from the journal

• Conform to journal guidelines and policies

Conform to Journal Policies and Guidelines

• Read policies and guidelines carefully

• If any are not clear, ask for clarification

• Most journals do not permit submissions under review elsewhere or already published in a book

• Follow procedures to the letter to avoid reviewing delays and rejections

Rewrite Again

• Get more feedback after recasting paper

• Make sure paper is clearly developed and tightly argued

• Don’t include excessive tables

During and After the Reviewing Period

• Contact the editor if you have questions or if you have particular circumstances (upcoming review)

• Ask for clarifications if you don’t understand a revision request or if you would like more guidance

• Alert the editor as soon as possible if you need extra time to revise, particularly if you’ve been given a deadline

• Don’t ignore revision requests: if you disagree, explain your position thoroughly and respectfully

After Acceptance

• Respond punctually to queries, requests for publishing agreements, and proofs

• Keep in mind journal’s copyediting processes are meant to improve paper’s readability and citations

• Don’t expect that paper will appear in next issue; journals often have planned their contents several issues ahead

Participating in a Community of Scholars

• Offer to review papers, and if invited to do so, accept and do a careful, timely job

• Acknowledge the help of others

Example: Empirical Feminist Economics Article

Structure of an Article*

1. Introduction

2. Literature Review

3. Methodology and Analysis

4. Discussion of Results

5. Conclusions

6. References

7. Appendix

* Section headings do not have to be cut and dried as above, but each should signal the content of the section.

1. Introduction

Provides an overview of the article• What is the research problem? • Why is this an important research question? • Spells out the main positions in the literature

to situate the problem • Places the paper within the journal’s mission

(engages with topics, ideas addressed by journal)

• How will you analyze this issue?• What contribution is the research likely to make

to the literature?

2. Literature Review

• Purpose: to justify the article by evaluating the state of knowledge on the topic; provides context• What do we already know about this issue? • What is contested? • What do we not know?

• Join a conversation: tie your paper in with current discussions

• Engage with other papers published by the journal on the topic

2. Literature Review: A Critical, Thematic Evaluation

Identify the main trends and patterns in the literature:

• Contribution of each scholar’s work

• Common/differing assumptions; concepts; methodologies

• The points of agreement/disagreement among authors

• Strengths and weaknesses of studies

• The evolution of literature on the topic in recent years

2. Literature Review A Critical, Thematic Evaluation

• Avoids stacking summaries of one study after another

• Shift the focus from existing literature to the argument you are developing

• Be selective in citations: “Why am I including this reference?” The answer must:• Make a similar argument or an argument you

are disagreeing with • Illustrate a weakness that you propose to

overcome

2. Literature Review The Relevant Literature

• Move from general statements on background to detailed and critical evaluation

• Three types of relevance:1. Background• acknowledge, but not at length or in detail

• e.g. studies on history of the problem

2. Somewhat relevant • greater attention but without critical detail

• e.g. general literature on the problem

3. The most relevant• careful examination of studies that directly pertains to article

• e.g. region- or country-specific literature

Topic: Microcredit in Kenya

Question: Does microcredit empower women in Kenya?

Literature review:

• Poverty reduction policies in developing countries

• General literature (mostly South Asia focused) on the question

• Sub-saharan Africa and/or Kenya-specific literature on poverty reduction policies and microcredit-empowerment nexus

Literature review could span separate sections, each with informative and engaging headings

2. Literature Review The Relevant Literature

Example

2. Literature Review The Relevant Literature

ExampleQuestion: What is the impact of financial crisis of 2008

on gender inequalities in labor market of country X?

Literature review:

• Background on Country X macroeconomic policies

• General literature on the question (includes review of methodologies used, empirical findings)

• Regional and/or Country X-specific literature on the question

2. Literature Review Thesis Statement

• Comes at the end of the literature review• concludes section with the most relevant literature

• Explain how your study will • fill the gap or add to the scholarship • connect and contribute to the accumulated

knowledge on the topic

• Explain what you expect to find or show

• Bridge into the Methodology section of the paper

Make Clear Your Contribution

• Old question/new evidence

• Old question/new methodology (and evidence)

• New question

• New theory

Indicate contribution in the Introduction, the thesis statement, Methodology, and Conclusion sections

Do not claim as original the points already made in previously published papers.

3. Methodology and Analysis

• Explain:• how you will examine the research problem• the methodology and the data you will use

• The analysis (e.g. regression analysis)

• Aim to communicate methodology to a broad audience

• Avoid excessive jargon

4. Discussion of Results

Focus on the results that are most relevant for your paper’s main question/argument

• Not every single coefficient

• Not every robustness check

5. Conclusions

• Summary of the main findings

• Discussion of implications of the study• e.g. theoretical, empirical, or policy

• Emphasize the contribution of the study to existing literature

• Future directions for research (the gaps that emerge/are left based on your article)

Overview of a Research Article

FE Questions to Reviewers

1. Does the manuscript make an important contribution to feminist economic scholarship?

2. Does the manuscript build upon and adequately reference the appropriate literature?

3. Is the manuscript clearly written and accessible to a broad audience with any tables and figures clearly laid out?

4. Is the manuscript’s length appropriate to its purpose? Are there an appropriate number of tables and/or figures?

5. Is the manuscript appropriately worded for an international audience e.g. with specific country references and institutional definitions included where necessary? (Please see the journal's policy on international orientation.)

6. If statistical techniques are used, is the journal's policy on statistical reporting adhered to? (Please see the journal's policy on statistical reporting.)