Prof. Dr. A. P. Bram Buunk

Background. Scholars from non-English speaking countries such as Spain and The Netherlands may publish the results of their empirical work in various outlets, including research reports, congress proceedings, journals in their own language, and books and monographs in their own language. However, because English has become the scientific lingua franca it has become more and more important to publish the results of one´s research in English. Moreover, it is generally agreed upon that the most significant scientific contributions are usually published in peer-reviewed journals. Publications in such journals are accessible to all currently active scholars around the world as well as to future generations. They are most likely to be read not only by other researchers in the same area, but also by students, practitioners, and scientific journalists. In this way, they may contribute to the state of knowledge, to the spread of knowledge, and to the improvement of practice. However, for researchers from non-English speaking countries, publishing in such journals may be fraught with problems. For example, the specific style of writing and in presenting the results in English is different than in most other languages; it is often unclear on what basis one should select an appropriate journal; and one does not always know how to evaluate and handle the feedback from journal editors and reviewers.

Goal. This workshop intends to help participants develop a better sense of all the aspects that they should pay attention to when writing a journal article, including a focussed, sharp and concise style, coherency and consistency throughout the paper, an appropriate length, a format that is in line with general standards, a selective but relevant literature review, and a transparent and sound presentation of the results. In addition, attention is paid to the criteria for selecting a journal, including suitability for the specific topic, the use of an abstracting service, impact, rejection rate, and number of subscribers. Moreover, the importance of dealing adequately with revisions and rejections and the best way to handle revisions and rejections are discussed. Finally, the various ways in which one could develop a productive program of research are dealt with.

Procedure. The various topics mentioned above are presented in interactive lectures. The workshop requires an active role of the participants. An influential paper by Daryl Bem on how to publish will be used as a basis for a discussion on how to write a journal article. To develop a sense of the aspects on which journal articles are evaluated, participants receive a set of guidelines, and use these to review an article that was recently submitted to journals. They then obtain the reviews and editorial decision from the journal, and the discrepancies between their own reviews and those of the journals are discussed. To illustrate that one may present one´s findings in various ways, it is outlined how this article was rewritten quite drastically, and changed of focus before it was eventually published in the Academy of Management Journal.  Furthermore, the participants will receive the introduction to a study written by an unexperienced writer, and will be asked to rewrite this introduction by applying the rules discussed in the seminar. They may also compare closely a typical Spanish language journal article, and a typical English language journal article, to become aware of differences in style and format. Finally, the participants may also receive feedback on introductions to article that have written.

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