How do you see the world?

Today, I would like you to consider how you view the world. Are you more like Murphy (left in the photo) happy and optimistic or are more of a cautious Mandy? It is important to understand that your personality affects everything in your life, from how you interact with other people to how you perceive progress on your writing.

Let me give you a few examples. An optimistic person receiving negative feedback may see it an opportunity to learn and as a challenge. On the other hand, a more pessimistic person may perceive the same feedback as evidence of their failure or as devastating news. Which sounds more like you?

While it can be difficult to change the way the world is perceived, you can at least be aware of the issue, and work to change your reactions. So my more negative readers, the next time you get a negative comment, remember everyone gets them and try to think of it as a challenge to improve your writing!

Don't be Boring!

As Mandy is demonstrating, try not to make your writing boring for your reader. What comes across as boring? Lists of facts without any integration. Repeating the same information is another problem area: resist the temptation of copying from one part of your paper to another.

Keep bringing your literature back to your study, discuss how your study will or will not address the issues you have identified. Use examples to illustrate points that may not be clear. Keep your reader interested in what you have to say!

One of many

One difficulty many authors have is accepting that although their paper is a major priority in their life, for the journal editor, they are just one of many authors. It is important to realize that the editor's time is divided among not only all of the authors, but also reviewers and other obligations and commitments.

My message today is to be patient with editors, give them a reasonable amount of time for having your paper reviewed, making decisions, answering emails, and questions. Use your waiting times productively by going on to other things. 

Tenacity

"Tenacity: the quality of holding fast; persistence" (dictionary.com). Completing an article is a long and difficult process; it will test you repeatedly. You will learn a great deal about yourself including your ability to handle delays and criticism, and whether you persist in the face of adversity. You will find yourself questioning your decision to do this frequently. However, remember that is those that persist that get published!

The Pain of Writing

Writing is painful. Sorry, that tends to be everyone's reality. It is hard work to think through complex ideas and find the best way to present them so that someone else can understand them.

A few general thoughts, first if you find it very hard to write, I recommend this book:

Saltzman, J. (1993). If You Can Talk, You Can Write. Grand Central Publishing.

As you can see, it is an older book, so it is available very cheaply online. It will reduce your anxiety and will help you get something down on paper. I strongly recommend reading your paper aloud; you will catch many errors. If nothing else, read to your dog or cat, they will find you fascinating! You will reduce the number of needed corrections by simply rereading your paper carefully.

Be prepared and open to many revisions. Your reviewers have had much more experience in writing at this level, trust their guidance. At a doctoral level, revisions are simply part of the writing process. Professionals have to rewrite their papers many times, keep in mind that the final article you see in the journal has little resemblance to where it started. As an example, a recent article that I wrote with colleagues went through 25 revisions (yes, I counted!).

What should you look for in revisions? Read a sentence aloud and see if you can restate it more clearly. You want to be very precise in your meaning. Let me give you an example from one of my papers that I wrote with some colleagues. Here is the original draft of the first few sentences of the paper:

By 2020, one in six American citizens will be elderly or over 65 years old (U.S. Census, 1993). The number of oldest old individuals over 85 years old will reach 6.6 million in 2020 and is expected to triple by 2050 and reach 18-19 million (Administration on Aging [AoA], 2010). The rapid growth of the elderly and the oldest-old population is a growing concern to the healthcare system, as it must prepare to provide increased support services.

Here is the final version:

The 2000 U.S. Census (2001) reported 4.2 million people were over the age of 85 (1.5% of the population), this group has been designated the “the oldest-old” by demographers, and is the most rapidly growing age group.  Currently the cost of health service utilization for the oldest-old averages $22,000 per year compared to $9,000 for individuals 65-74 years old (Krause, 2010).

What is different? The 2^nd version is much clearer, concise, and more to the point that the first.

Why publish?

Why should you go through all of the work required to get your paper published? Publishing your paper means that your work is added to the professional literature. As the basis of science is building on other people's work, your paper becomes the next step in the evolution of the topic. Having it be peer reviewed, means other professionals who are experts on the topic have given you advice and helped you to make it a true contribution.

Publishing is also a step in getting yourself recognized as an expert in your own right. It establishes that you are a professional and knowledgeable about your field. Publishing is not an easy task, it often requires careful work and the willingness to put your work in front of experts, but it is worth it in the long run!

Anonymity

One of the most common reasons I return a newly submitted manuscript is because the authors did not remove all identifying information, such as the where the study was done (or the IRB location). Why is this important? The basis of peer review is that it is double blind, meaning the author does not know who the reviewers are nor the reviewers know who conducted the study. Everyone has personal biases, and making the review anonymous provides some safe guards.

From the reviewer side, he or she may know the author or the institution and if the reviewer was aware of it, he or she might be easier on the author or tougher based upon their beliefs. From the author side, they may feel the need to argue or complain to the reviewer if he or she was known. Keeping it anonymous provides distance for both parties.