Publishing in Prestigious Journals - Hands on advice

Academic careers are built in large part upon publications in high impact peer reviewed journals. Research Staff attending this workshop have the opportunity to discuss publishing with editors or associate editors of prestigious journals. This interactive workshop presents what is required in order to publish research in top journals.It also offers the opportunity to researchers to understand how the process works and what they should be thinking about in terms of their academic writing during the early stages of their research careers. The workshop aims to increase the confidence of new researchers and motivate them to engage with top journals that are relevant to their disciplines. The impact of attending the training session is immediate in terms of clarifying key information and highlighting successful practice through evidence provided by the experienced facilitator. Following the facilitator's input and presentation , participants have the opportunity to work on their own articles and shape them in a format that is appropriate for these journals. Peer support takes place during the session and this provides participants with very specific feedback that is relevant to their own work.

Evidence that we have collected up to this stage gives us the indication that more researchers are actively looking to submit their research findings to top journals. This arrangement enhances the University's reputation as more early career researchers are engaging with high impact literature. This has a direct impact to the University's rates in terms of research impact on output. In addition, the researchers themselves benefit from their potential publishing success by demonstrating the impact of their work. This should lead to better career prospects.

What is the rationale for doing this?

How does it fit with institutional strategy?

What are the main features of the provision?

What are the aims and expected outcomes?

A productive research career depends on a strong publication record and researchers must think strategically in terms of their writing output and the dissemination of their research work.

The workshop aims to offer early career research staff the opportunity to discuss writing with experienced researchers who are in editorial roles in prestigious journals. Participants have the opportunity to bring at the session one of their published articles and reflect on their own writing processes, as well as consider their target audience, the impact of their work within their discipline and reflect on their productivity and calibre of their writing.

The role of the facilitator is to discuss the scope of the journal they edit and reflect on the peer review process in terms of what they are looking for and what they expect in relation to research quality and communication of key messages in the manuscript.

 The training fits well with institutional commitment to effective reseacher development and communication amongst researchers for the benefit of the researcher community

The aim of this development opportunity is to allow groups of researchers to talk about academic writing in prestigious journals and allow them to discuss, explore and practice skills needed to meet the requirements of these journals.

Expected outcomes are to give insights into how top journals evaluate research work, emphasise what they expect from a submitted manuscript and motivate researchers to submit their work in top journals.

Are there any pre-requisites for engagement, e.g. levels of skill, years of experience, essential pre-activities?

How many participate in each 'activity'?

Participants need to have a number of articles published in journals within their discipline and are expected to bring at least one of these accepted articles in the workshop and critique their writing following the input they received from the facilitator.

The workshop is open to all research staff in the University, depending on the cohort participants may be grouped in specific disciplines to maximise benefit and relevance in the discussions. Each group has a maximum number of 5 researchers.

How do you monitor effectiveness?

Who do you seek feedback from?

Do you have benchmarks?

This training provision is part of a wider development arrangement that aims to support the career structure of research staff.

Potential benefits may include enhancing the profile of the University through a potential increase in accepted manuscripts in top journals as well as giving the opportunity to research staff to receive quality support in a demanding and highly skilled process.

The course facilitator has to engage productively with the audience and guide them through their reflective practice.

 Writing requires time and personal effort, as such researchers must find time and prioritise their busy schedule to allow for space to produce high calibre research that can be presented to meet the requirements of top journals.

 The workshop facilitators are busy senior researchers in their own roles and the session they have to deliver is demanding in terms of  preparation time and effective delivery.