Publishing your work

Güliz GerBilkent Üniversitesi

Where do you want to be in the community of researchers?

• Which community(ies) of researchers? Which debates?

• Respect your work and put in the time

• See yourself in the international field

Aim for (start with) the “Top” Outlets

Outlets– Journals (management/marketing)–Books (sociology, anthropology)

“Top”?

But then, every paper has a home!

Writing: Mental shift

Write for an audience

Audience? 3 reviewers, Associate Editor and Editor of a particular journal

Communicating with a N. American audience

North American colleagues typically assume that everyone knows about trend topics of American pop culture, or abbreviations, or about some American phenomenon. And, the assumption is: something happening in N. America is inherently of interest and hence worth studying (and universal).

But, a nonAmerican incidence, phenomenon, or context requires a demanding translation process (at conferences, presentations, papers)

Reading for Writing• read to develop “sensitizing concepts” (Blumer) or

analytic perspectives • read to figure out the debates in the field AND in the

journal• don’t use the literature to provide ready-made

concepts or models; use the ideas in the literature to develop your own perspectives/conceptualizations on your own data, drawing out comparisons, analogies, metaphors

• Read to figure out how to write – positioning of your work, framing of conceptual issues, being convincing, how others handle data-theory, intro-conclusion...

• Read broadly - different literatures

Use writing as a way to develop and crystalize your own thinking

• Writing as thinking about the data: the meanings, understandings, voices, and experiences in the data

• Writing as analysis: think through the data-theory – develop analytical ideas and try them out in the process of writing

Data-theory spiral• Writing as theorizing: thinking with and thinking

through data in light of theories• Writing as building an argument, building an article• Getting feedback

Write and rewrite and rewrite .........

Writing in English

• Think in English, do NOT translate

• Use an English language editor.Even the native speakers do!

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Submitting

• Choose journal–Publish in outlets that are read & cited

• Review process– Typically 3 reviewers, double blind–2-3 cycles of revisions–Response to reviewers, AE, and the editor–How to “read” the AE’s and the editor’s

letter

How Reviewers Evaluate ResearchTypical criteria: • Theoretical/conceptual contribution• Rigor and appropriateness of methodology & analysis• Presentation/writingMoreover: • Usefulness: does the work aid and inspire further inquiry?• Innovation: do the constructs provide new and creative ways

of looking at acts and experiences?• Resonance: is the work enlightening, evocative, suggestive?– Grandma or taxi driver test

• Adequacy: are conclusions and claims grounded in the data?

A reviewer:

“There is a lot that is new and good in this manuscript.

But unfortunately,

what is new is not good and what is good is not new.”

“Talking” to the reviewers• Position your work with respect to the

conceptual debates in the field• Engage in a written dialogue and negotiation

with reviewers & editor• Respond to reviewers–Choose key points–Politely & clearly refuse points you don’t want

to follow and explain persuasively why not– If you are a novice, have someone

experienced read the E’s, AE’s, and reviewers’ reports and give you guidance

Check out the actual review histories

JCR web page

Example: Karababa & Ger 2011 «Early Modern Ottoman Coffeehouse Culture and the

Formation of the Consumer Subject»

1. Version 1 (Nov 2008)2. AE report on V1 (Dec 2008)3. Version 2 and Authors’ Notes (March 2010) 4. AE report on V2 (April 2010)5. Version 3 and Authors’ Notes (June 2010) 6. E’s acceptance letter (July 2010)

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Example: Sandıkcı & Ger 2010 «Veiling in Style: How Does a Stigmatized Practice Become Fashionable?»

1. Version 1 - June 20072. AE report 1 – Aug 20073. Version 2 and Authors’ Notes – April 20084. AE report 2 – May 20085. Version 3 and Authors’ Notes – July 20096. AE report 3 – Sept 20097. Version 4 and authors’ notes –Oct 20098. E’s letter of acceptance – Nov 2009

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From the editor of American Anthropologist (Boellstorff 2008, 2010)

• Show a novel contribution• Engage with the relevant literature• Be professional• Show us your methods• Link your data with your claims• Avoid sweeping generalizations• Use citations effectively• Craft an effective structure for your MS• Revise, revise, revise

Why do we do research in the first place?• We want to learn something that we do not

already know• We want to be confident that this “something” is

“true”/valid • We want to make a contribution to knowledge –

an impact to our field • We want that new learning and impact to be

important

And all of this is exactly what the journals want

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