Academic Publishing Tips (Social Sciences): Updated August 2024 from September 2023
1.
Choose your journal BEFORE you write
your paper and follow the journal’s author guidelines. Focus on
paper length, the total number of tables and figures allowed, and what
referencing system they require (APA, IEEE, Harvard, Chicago, MPA, etc.).
2.
Search both Scopus and SJR to see if it your
target journal is Scopus indexed and what tier ranking it is. You can also see
if the journal is indexed by WOS. Use these links:
Scopus- https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21101038744
(Hint: Make sure it says
“to Present”.)
SJR-https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=21101038744&tip=sid&clean=0
(Hint: Make sure you read
the comments at the bottom of the SJR page.)
WOS-https://mjl.clarivate.com/search-results
3.
If the Beall List (in Thailand many say ‘Bell List’) is
still an issue with your faculty, the old list can still be found online in
various locations on the Internet. Here is a link to one site: https://beallslist.net/
4.
Because your target journal is in English (not
Thai), references to Thai papers that are only in the Thai language is
considered bad scholarship. Scopus also has stated policies about references
should be in the English language to English language papers. Also, most top
tier journals today require DOIs (digital object identifier) and
most Thai language journals do not use DOIs. Additionally, with the new APA
Edition 7 revision guidelines , journals that use APA must use DOIs in their
references if the paper has one.
Therefore, at a minimum, a reference to a
Thai paper must include an English language Abstract, title, and
authors with an associated DOI. Putting pages of Thai language
references in a paper is the fastest way possible to get an immediate desk
review rejection.
5. Sample size is a critical consideration for most top tier journal editors and reviewers. Papers with sample sizes of less than 200 individuals are considered weak and statistically not valid.
Note: Quasi-experimental research is often used in smaller studies and typically has 30-35 individuals in a control group and the same number in an experimental group. If the topic is interesting and current and the topic is matched with an appropriate journal, these papers are not too difficult to find a home for. Here are some samples of these type of papers in some well-recognized journals:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05536 - Heliyon Q1/WOS
https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/kjss/article/view/258506 - KJSS Q2
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v17i14.30903 - iJET Q2
https://doi.org/10.18421/TEM64-20 - TEM Q3/WOS
https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v23i1.5801 - JHETP Q4
https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v22i16.5601 - JHETP Q4
6. Literature review papers must be exceptionally well researched and written to be accepted by top tier (Q1/Q2) and WOS (Web of Science) journals. I have to laugh when I see a literature review paper with only 35 references to mostly Thai papers. What are these authors thinking?
7.
Thai expert papers are deeply frowned
upon by both journal editors and reviewers of international
journals. Sometimes the reviewer comments have gotten quite nasty about these
types of papers. Asking 5-7 Thai ‘experts’ about their opinions on some type of
education issue is not the best way to publish a paper in an international top
tier / WOS journal.
8.
Conceptual papers have
difficult times if submitted to top tier journals. However, be
aware that if a conceptual paper gets published which is followed by a paper
with the actual study, there is a lot of similarity between the papers due to
the latent and observed variables being the same and their literature review
and discussion. This will of course raise paper 2’s Turnitin score
significantly.
Recently, I had a paper rejected even
though it had only a 3% Turnitin score because it was the follow-on paper to the
conceptual paper that was already published. A reviewer saw this, told the
editor (the TEM Journal), and the paper was rejected. Great thought
and care need to be given to the process of publishing 2 papers about the same
related topics from the same authors. My advice is to try and submit both
papers to 2 journals at the same time.
9.
Papers with less than 5 hypotheses
are usually rejected at the desk review phase in top tier journals.
10.
If a paper has 2 or more rejected hypotheses,
there will be problems in the review phase. The theory is supposed to support
your hypotheses development. Exceptions are of course possible due to cultural and
other issues. However, if your hypotheses are found to be unsupported, detailed
discussion is required with references to other CURRENT papers (2018 or newer)
supporting your findings.
11.
SEM and CFA papers are good. Second-order CFA
papers are usually not written correctly and complicated for reviewers to
understand. My advice is to keep it simple (KISS) and avoid 2nd-order
CFAs unless the author(s) really understand how these types of paper are
developed and their interpretation. Here is a link to a second-order CFA that was correctly done:
https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.heliyon.2023.e13769 - Heliyon WOS/Q1
Sample SEM papers:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15660 - Heliyon WOS/Q1
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06301 - Heliyon WOS/Q1
https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v23i1.5783 - JHETP Q4
https://doi.org/10.13106/JAFEB.2022.VOL9.NO7.0173 JAFEB WOS
https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv12i1art10 JGR Q4
12.
Try to keep your hypotheses development simple
and direct (not indirect). Eight hypotheses and four latent variables is easy to diagram and
write about. Beyond this, things get complicated to explain, diagram and to
discuss. Papers become too long. Remember, short papers are better.
See these author guidelines from well-known journals about paper length:
TEM Journal - Regular length of the paper is 5 to 12 pages.
GJEE - Maximum length of articles should be six (6) pages, including the title page (Note that GJEE even requires payment upon submission).
Therefore, point size and spacing is critical in paper length when journals talk about the number of pages. When you convert from 10 TNR to 12TNR font, you can expect about a 20% change in paper length. Obviously, increasing from single space to double space increases the paper length significantly.
13.
Develop papers in consistent and
logical order. If there are 8 hypotheses and 4 latent variables,
write your literature review and discussion in the same order. Number your
hypotheses in logical order. Put H1 and H2 with LV1, H3 and H4 with LV2. Do not
put H2 with LV3!
Also, make sure your put the hypotheses numbers on both the conceptual model and final model.
Excellent SEM samples:
4.
Limit Abstracts to a maximum of 250
words. Try not to use strings of descriptive statistics values but instead use words to
describe the results. Always include how the sample was done, the sample size,
year of the study, and country of study if not stated in the title. Also state
which software was used (LISREL, SPSSS, AMOS). Finally, include a short sentence as to why the study is important and how it contributes to the literature.
15.
Limit keywords to 5. Make
sure they are in alphabetical order. Always include the country of the study.
16.
Top tier journals use 3-5
reviewers/experts to review your paper. It is common for most
papers to go through at least 3 revisions, sometimes 6 before acceptance (The TEM
Journal often does this many as well as Thailand's KJSS). Therefore, the more problems that are identified and
fixed BEFORE SUBMISSION saves valuable time as each revision cycle normally
takes at least one month.
17.
Many journals require you cite at least
2 papers from their journal. Some journals such as iJET, iJOE, and iJIM
require 3 citations from 3 different journals that belong to their
online-journal.org publishing group. I wish to add that these journals are very
professional but now somewhat difficult to get a paper accepted in. If you do,
congratulations!
Sample papers:
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v17i14.30903 - iJET
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijoe.v16i02.11917 - iJOE
https://doi.org/10.3991/ijim.v15i22.24963 - IJIM
18.
Use Google Scholar to find
recent papers about your latent variables.
19.
Use Google Scholar to properly format references
(e.g., APA, Harvard, Chicago). Use the ‘cite’ link.
20.
If you cannot find a DOI, use the crossref.org
database or go the paper on the journal’s website.
21.
Keep references ‘current’.
This means 80% of your references should be NO OLDER than five years (2018).
Many editors and reviewers look at this first to see how current the research
is.
22.
A 5000-word paper should have about 50
references. An 8,000-word paper should have about 80 references. If you have an
8000-word paper with 30 references, which are half in Thai, you will have some
serious problems in the review process (if it goes that far).
23.
Most social science journals use APA.
Use this link to see how to format your paper using APA.
https://academicjournalreview.blogspot.com/2021/09/real-world-apa-reference-formatting-apa.html
24.
Many multi-disciplinary journals and ICT related
journal use numbering systems (IEEE). This is also true for most conference
papers. For IEEE formatting, use this link:
- Use IEEE citation style (IEEE Citation Reference).
25.
Some journals and publishers such as
Inderscience use Harvard. However, there is no consistent or standard version
of Harvard. Every journal and publisher use a different Harvard version.
See this link for Inderscience’s Harvard format:
26.
Use tinyurl.com for links to papers
with no DOIs. This makes all links consistent and short.
27.
Be very detailed about your sample collection
process. Almost all papers come back from reviewers with comments about the
authors’ sampling process and lack of detail.
28.
Many journals like ‘short’ papers
of no more than 5,000 words. These include Psychology journals, the TEM
journal, and many university journals.
29.
Keep paragraphs short. If
you are a non-native English speaker, limit your paragraphs to 3-5 sentences
with connectors. If you write more than 5 sentences, you have most probably
written about another topic. Paragraphs contain only 1 topic/idea.
30.
Many journals limit figures and tables
to a maximum of five. Make sure you check your target journal
guidelines before you start writing.
31.
Discuss/write about your tables and
figures BEFORE each table and figure. This is what journals expect
which is different from the style used for Thai Ph.D. thesis papers.
32.
Run a Turnitin check before submission.
Most top tier journals today will reject papers which have Turnitin scores
higher than 15% (some even 10%). Therefore, run a Turnitin report before submission and submit this with your submission if the score is 10% or below. As I have said and written for many years, Turnitin is a deeply flawed software product. However, it is backed by a group of super salespeople who have convinced the academic world that their billion dollar company is an academic necessity. Therefore, for far too many editors (or part-time staff), a score of 15% or higher is a decision line for immediate rejection or further review. Do not underestimate the critical importance of this report and its score!
33. Everyone today wants to publish their paper in a WOS indexed journal. However, WOS is for journals which are ‘science’ focused, not ‘social science’. Therefore, journals which take social science/education type papers are very limited. However, multidisciplinary journals such as Heliyon, Sage Open, and Frontiers in Psychology are WOS indexed, but they are very expensive. Expect to pay 60,000 baht up for paper publication in these journals. So you know, MDPI’s Frontiers in Psychology’s APC (article processing charge) has risen to 114,000 baht in 2023. Wow!
Note: There is one Q1/WOS journal that charges a very low APC of $75. This is the Journal of Information Technology Education: Innovations in Practice (JITE:IIP).
34.
More than 3 authors are frowned upon
for simple papers with small samples from a single institution. Recently a
paper was sent to an Australian Q1/WOS indexed journal (GJEE) which was
immediately rejected because the paper had 5 names on it. Personally, I must
agree with the editor because the paper only had 15 student-teachers as the
sample size and the 5 authors from different Thai universities was not
necessary.
35.
Many reviewers will ask the authors to
include their survey/questionnaire in their revision. Also, Heliyon
editors are now asking for the authors’ questionnaire during the submission
process before they send the paper to reviewers. Make 100% sure the
questionnaire latent and observed variables match the names in the tables and
text!
36.
Stay away from university journals. Although
most university journals are free or nearly free, they are obsessed with
English grammar and reference formatting rules and their own unique forms and
template. Some even ask for a copy of your passport. They are also extremely
slow from submission to review to acceptance to final online publication (e.g. ABAC, APSSR, DLSU, KJSS, HASSS, MJLI). Also, certain countries such as Malaysia are not
particularly friendly to outsider papers because they have their own PhD
candidate papers to find homes for. A few years ago (2016), Malaysia was stated in an article to be preparing over 60,000 students for their PhDs. That is a lot of
papers that need to be published!
I have even had a paper accepted by a Malaysian journal and before it was published, rejected by a new editor!
37. At a minimum run a Grammarly check on your English language translation. It is free. Grammarly Premium is a better version which has a plagiarism checking function. However, even though it is an excellent and realistic tool it always generates a significantly lower score that Turnitin (around 10% difference). Why? Because Grammarly is good and Turnitin is deeply flawed.
38.
A review by a native English speaker
from countries such as the USA, the UK, or Australia is a very good idea as
well. Native speakers are not from countries who use English as a second language such as the Philippines.
39.
Finally, which journal publishers are
the hardest? Which are easier? From my experience, these are the
hardest to the easiest publishers. Of course, there are countless other publishers.
1.
Springer Nature (also very expensive).
2.
Springer
3.
Taylor & Francis
4.
Emerald (also very expensive).
5.
Routledge
6.
University journals such as KJSS, APSSR, and
Malaysian university journals.
7.
Journals in eastern Europe are not easy. (Most
have incredibly arrogant staff and are very difficult to communicate with, with
Czech journals the most difficult.)
8.
Inderscience (However, knowing the editors
personally from the conferences they provide can help ease the way to paper
publication such as high Turnitin scores.)
9.
Elsevier (Huge monster in the academic journal
publishing business. They are always buying new journals, with a focus on
university journals).
10.
Online journals (Germany). https://online-journals.org/
11.
MDPI (Swiss-also very expensive).
12. Some international publishers in countries such as Brazil.
All the best,
Ajarn Charlie
Additional tips:
1. Make sure all authors have an ORCID ID. All journals ask for this now in their online submission process. Many journals also require that the submission author has to verify their ORCID before they continue the submission. This then requires the ORCID password which most have forgot.
2.
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