WritinganArticlein12Weeks

INHERBOOKWRITINGYOURJOURNALARTICLEin12Weeks:AGuidetoAcademicPublishingSuccess,WendyLaura
Belcherbreaksdownthewritingprocessintomanageabletaskstohelpanyoneprepareanarticleforpublicationinjust12
weeks.

Week1.Designyourplanforwriting

Insteadofstartingfromscratch,thinkaboutwhatyou'vealreadywritten.Textsthatreceivedpraisefromfacultyorthat
youstillthinkbackonwithpleasure,researchfindings,apaperyoupresentedataresearchconference,orasenioror
master'sthesisprojectareallexamplesoftextsyoucanreviseforpublication.AccordingtoBelcher,revisingisthekeyto
publication,soithelpstoreworkanexistingtext.

Inadditiontoidentifyingatextforrevision,decidewhenandwhereyouwillwrite.Draftadailyschedulewithsetwriting
timesofonetofourhours,thensticktotheschedule.Themoreconsistentlyyouwrite,theeasieritwillbetowrite.
Choosingawritingsiteispartofdevelopingaproductivewritinghabit.Findoneortwolocationswhereyoucanwrite
withoutgettingdistracted.

Week2.Startyourarticle

Inthesecondweek,determinethepurposeofyourarticleandyourargument.Publishablearticlestellsomethingnew
aboutsomethingold.The"new"ideadoesn'thavetobeanoriginalidea,butitshouldbringnewknowledgetothetopic.
Writinganabstractwillhelpsolidifyyourargumentandprovideaguideasyouworkthroughyourrevisions.

Week3.Advanceyourargument

Becausejournalarticlessetouttopersuadereaders,it'snecessarytoformulateasolidargument.Startbystatingyour
argumentsimply,andthenwriteashortlistofevidencetosupportit.Makesureyourargumentisstatedinyourabstract
andreviseyourabstractifnecessary.Next,makesureyourargumentispresentinyourarticle.Spendtherestofweek3
revisingyourarticlearoundyourargument.

Week4.Selectajournal

Findingtherightjournalforyourarticleisessential.Youradviserandcolleaguescanprovidesuggestionsofjournalsthat
maybeappropriateforyourarticle.Sendthemyourabstracttohelpthembetterunderstandthetypeofarticleyou're
writing.Youalsocanfindpotentialjournalsbyreviewingyourcitationsandbibliographiesandcheckingoutelectronic
databases.Afteridentifyingyourshortlist,evaluateeachjournaltodeterminewhichisthebestfit.

Week5.Reviewrelatedliterature

AccordingtoBelcher,journalarticlesaretypicallypublishedforthreereasons:1)tofillagapinexistingresearch,2)to
extendexistingresearchor3)tocorrectunsoundresearch.Ifyouassertthatfewotherornoother

researchershaveaddressedyourtopic,makesureyou'vereviewedenoughliteraturetoconfidentlymakethatstatement.
Additionally,whenpublished,yourarticlewillcontinuetheconversationaboutyourtopic.Thismakesunderstandingwhere
yourideasandfindingsfitwiththecurrentliteratureanimportantpartofpublication

Week6.Strengthenyourstructure

Yourstructureprovidesanaturalflowthatwillleadreadersthroughthearticle.Inadditiontoaidingyourreaders,an
organizedstructurewillhelpyouconnectyourideas.Belcherrecommendsoutlininganexistingarticlebeforestartingon
yourown.Usewhatyoulearnedinyourmodeloutlineexercisetocreateanoutlineforyourarticleandreviseyourarticle
basedontheoutline.

Week7.Presentyourevidence

Printoutyourarticleandusetheoldfashionedpaperandpenmethodtomarkinstanceswhereyouusedevidencetoback
upyourargument.Determineifyourevidenceisusedclearlyandlogically.Thenrereadyourarticletodetermineifyour
evidencemovesyourargumentforward,andreviseyourarticlebasedonyournotes.

Week8.Openandconcludeyourarticle

First,Belcheradvisesrevisingyourtitle.Thetitleofyourarticlewillhavealifeofitsownlongafteryourarticleis
published.ItwillappearonyourCVandinelectronicsearches.Itneedstobeaclearinvitationtoyourdiscussionand
shouldbeeasilyfoundinanonlinesearch.Belchersuggestsavoidingbroadtitles,namingsubjectsandidentifyingyour
argument.

Makesureyouropeningstatesyourargument,introducesyourtopicandprovidesstatementsaboutyourtopic,suchas
generalhistory,statisticsorbackgroundinformation.Yourintroductionshouldalsoprovidearoadmapfortherestofyour
article.Theconclusionisanopportunitytosumupyourargumentandbringittogetherwiththeevidence.Thisalsoisa
placetodiscusshowresearchcanmoveyourtopicforward,solutionstoaproblemoryourpersonalreactions.

Week9.Give,getanduseothers'feedback.

Sendoutyourarticletoyouradviserandcolleagueswitharequestforfeedback.Besuretoletyourreadersknowwhat
kindoffeedbackyouneedforexample,youmayjustneedsomeonetohelpfindtyposanderrors,oryoumaywanta
reviewertotellyouwhetherthearticlecomestogetherattheend.

Week10.Edityoursentences

Uptothispoint,thebulkofyourwritinghasbeenrevisingthecontentofyourarticle.Nowit'stimetoedit.Inadditionto
herowneditingadvice,Belcherrecommendsthesebookstoaidtheeditingprocess.

CommonMistakesinEnglishbyT.J.Fitikides

DictionaryofEnglishUsagebyMerriamWebster

EditYourself:AManualforEveryoneWhoWorkswithWordsbyBruceRossLarson

ElementsofStylebyWilliamStrunkandE.B.White

Style:TenLessonsinClarityandGracebyJosephMWilliam

See"TheGraduateStudentWriter"onpage8ofthisnewsletterforsomerevisingandeditingstrategies.

Week11.Wrapupyourarticle

Belcherrecommendsrereadingyourarticletwiceduringweek11.Asyoureadthroughitthefirsttime,makenotesabout
whichsectionsneedtobeimproved,payingextraattentiontotheflowofyourargument.Duringthesecondreading,look
foroverallcohesivenessofyourwriting.Reviseyourtextbasedonyournotes.

Week12.Sendyourarticle

Nowthatyourarticleisfinished,it'stimetobeginthesubmissionprocess.Writeacoverletterthatintroduces

yourarticleandprovidescontextfortheeditor.Besuretoincludethetitleofyourarticleandadescription(usingpartof
yourabstractisfine),andhighlightthecontributionyourarticlemakestoyourfieldandwhyitwillappealtothejournal's
readers.Also,reviewyourstyleformattingtobesureitisconsistentwithyourdiscipline(APA,MLA,etc.),andprepare
yourfinalversionaccordingtothejournal'sinstructions.

Finally,sendyourarticleoutforsubmission.

Asagraduatestudent,therearemanydemandsonyourtime,andrevisinganarticleforpublicationisn'talways
atoppriorityduringtheacademicyear.Belcher's12weekplanforwritingajournalarticlefitseasilyintothe
summermonthswithafewweekstospareforvacationtime!

Source

Belcher,W.L.(2009).WritingYourJournalArticlein12Weeks:A
GuidetoAcademicSuccessinPublishing.LosAngeles:Sage.