Writing Your Journal Article In Twelve Weeks Second Edition

This book provides you with all the tools you need to write an excellent academic article and get it published.

“Wow. No one ever told me this!” Wendy Laura Belcher has heard this countless times throughout her years of teaching and advising academics on how to write journal articles. Scholars know they must publish, but few have been told how to do so. So Belcher made it her mission to demystify the writing process. The result was Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, which takes this overwhelming task and breaks it into small, manageable steps. For the past decade, this guide has been the go-to source for those creating articles for peer-reviewed journals. It has enabled thousands to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields. With this new edition, Belcher expands her advice to reach beginning scholars in even more disciplines. She builds on feedback from professors and graduate students who have successfully used the workbook to complete their articles. A new chapter addresses scholars who are writing from scratch. This edition also includes more targeted exercises and checklists, as well as the latest research on productivity and scholarly writing. Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks is the only reference to combine expert guidance with a step-by-step workbook. Each week, readers learn a feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. Every day is mapped out, taking the guesswork and worry out of writing. There are tasks, templates, and reminders. At the end of twelve weeks, graduate students, recent PhDs, postdoctoral fellows, adjunct instructors, junior faculty, and international faculty will feel confident they know that the rules of academic publishing and have the tools they need to succeed.

All students and professors need to write, and many struggle to finish their stalled dissertations, journal articles, book chapters, or grant proposals. Writing is hard work and can be difficult to wedge into a frenetic academic schedule. In this practical, light-hearted, and encouraging book, Paul Silvia explains that writing productively does not require innate skills or special traits but specific tactics and actions. Drawing examples from his own field of psychology, he shows readers how to overcome motivational roadblocks and become prolific without sacrificing evenings, weekends, and vacations. After describing strategies for writing productively, the author gives detailed advice from the trenches on how to write, submit, revise, and resubmit articles, how to improve writing quality, and how to write and publish academic work.

Your academic writing will be more influential if you approach it reflectively and strategically. Based on his experience as an author, journal editor, and reviewer, Paul J. Silvia offers sage and witty advice on problems like picking journals; cultivating the right tone and style for your article; managing collaborative projects and coauthors; crafting effective Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion sections; and submitting and resubmitting papers to journals. This book is for anyone writing an empirical article in APA Style®, from beginners facing their first article to old dogs looking for new writing strategies. Features: • Readable and amusing, the book shows, step-by-step, how to plan and organize your academic writing. • Uses real-world examples to illustrate how to improve writing style and write better articles.

From a handy introduction to how the publishing world works, and how authors fit into it, to practical tips on writing your book, strategies for editing and re-writing, Tips from a Publisher is an indispensable guide for authors. Helping you create the perfect submission and telling you the truth about what happens once you get published, it is crammed full of common-sense advice, and some trade secrets, that no aspiring writer should be without. 'Shut up and listen to everything he has to say' – Caimh McDonnell, bestselling author of The Dublin Trilogy 'Part instruction manual, part sat nav, part friendly arm round the shoulder: this is the book every aspiring writer needs to own' – John Mitchinson, co-founder, Unbound 'A book-shaped boot camp for emerging writers... essential reading' – Judith Heneghan, director, Winchester Writers' Festival 'Scott knows the publishing industry inside-out and whenever I work with him, I know my authors are in good hands' – Charlotte Seymour, literary agent 'I wouldn't trust anyone else to give me advice, he really knows his stuff!' – Valerie Brandes, founder, Jacaranda Books 'The best editor I've ever worked with' – Ray Robinson, author of The Mating Habits of Stags

This accessible text provides a roadmap for producing a high-quality literature review--an integral part of a successful thesis, dissertation, term paper, or grant proposal. Each step of searching for, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing prior studies is clearly explained and accompanied by user-friendly suggestions, organizational tips, vignettes, and examples of student work. Also featured are excerpts from peer-reviewed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods articles. This is the first book to focus on crafting different types of reviews (systematic, traditional–narrative, or hermeneutic–phenomenological) that reflect the writer's research question, methodological choices, and approaches to knowledge. It describes what all reviews have in common and highlights distinct characteristics of each type. The book includes dos and don'ts for evaluating studies and constructing an argument, and software suggestions for locating, organizing, and arranging sources. Pedagogical Features *Checklists and "To Do" activities that break down key steps to take. *Boxed examples, graphics that organize and visually illustrate key concepts, and summary tables. *Group activities that invite students to further explore and apply the methods discussed in each chapter. *Detailed directions for using four different organizing strategies: synthesis matrix, summary table, mapping, and topic outline. *End-of-chapter summaries and "What's Next" sections. *Assessment matrices for reviewing and refining the completed literature review. Winner (First Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Nursing Research Category

Provides immediate help for anyone preparing a biomedical paper by givin specific advice on organizing the components of the paper, effective writing techniques, writing an effective results sections, documentation issues, sentence structure and much more. The new edition includes new examples from the current literature including many involving molecular biology, expanded exercises at the end of the book, revised explanations on linking key terms, transition clauses, uses of subheads, and emphases. If you plan to do any medical writing, read this book first and get an immediate advantage.

A step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal—and seeing your book through to successful publication The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. The Book Proposal Book cuts through the mystery and guides prospective authors step by step through the process of crafting a compelling proposal and pitching it to university presses and other academic publishers. Laura Portwood-Stacer, an experienced developmental editor and publishing consultant for academic authors, shows how to select the right presses to target, identify audiences and competing titles, and write a project description that will grab the attention of editors—breaking the entire process into discrete, manageable tasks. The book features over fifty time-tested tips to make your proposal stand out; sample prospectuses, a letter of inquiry, and a response to reader reports from real authors; optional worksheets and checklists; answers to dozens of the most common questions about the scholarly publishing process; and much, much more. Whether you’re hoping to publish your first book or you’re a seasoned author with an unfinished proposal languishing on your hard drive, The Book Proposal Book provides honest, empathetic, and invaluable advice on how to overcome common sticking points and get your book published. It also shows why, far from being merely a hurdle to clear, a well-conceived proposal can help lead to an outstanding book.