Best Practices for Beginners: Getting Published - From Inspiration to Publication

ACRL New Members Discussion Group, “The Publication Process: Getting Published in LIS Journals.” Saturday, July 11, 2009, ALA Annual Conference, Chicago, IL

Presented by 1 Inspiration

Don’t worry if you were rejected for publication during library school. It’s a whole other world once you have your MLS.

Ask a more experienced colleague if they’d be interested in collaborating on a project. This is a great way to gain experience and guidance.

It’s much easier to incorporate research into your daily work duties than to separate them out. What could you learn while you’re teaching, digitizing, cataloging, etc.?

Many of the most successful research topics aren’t the most innovative. Instead, they’re prac-tical, and they’re presented in a lot of detail.

2 Inception

Have a particular journal in mind. Get to know the categories of information that it includes in most articles, as well as the structure of its arti-cles. Bear this in mind as you gather your data (and even more later, as you begin to write).

Start applying for institutional review board approval now if you’ll be gathering data on hu-man subjects! Typically you cannot gain ap-proval if you’ve already started. You can get in a lot of trouble if you publish data that was gath-ered without approval.

3 Investigation

Data is good! Big minds in the LIS field have been calling for more data-driven research in the past few years.

As you develop your research strategy, ask yourself how you can help your colleagues and patrons by gathering this data. Making it useful for everyone will help gain support from your colleagues…and it’s a good idea anyway.

Remember that patrons (and colleagues) are usually glad to help if your research seems useful – but they’re often over-taxed with surveys com-ing from many different sources in their lives. Try to keep survey times and numbers of instru-ments to a minimum.

Lisa Carlucci Thomas Digital Collections Librarian Yale University lisa.thomas@yale.edu

Karen Sobel Reference & Instruction Librarian Univ. of Colorado—Denver karen.sobel@ucdenver.edu

Preparing for that very first publication can prove nerve-wracking for even the coolest & calmest of librarians. Planning well from the very beginning helps maximize your chance of success (and you will find success)! Try following the six steps outlined in this handout. Feel free to contact Lisa or Karen with questions or thoughts. And thanks for attending our presentation!

4 Inquiry

Pilot test any instruments you’re using. If you find that an instrument isn’t working well,

don’t hesitate to stop, revise, and start again. Do a good literature review. These are very

important to editors. But also don’t freak—if you miss important sources, they’ll tell you.

Write, write, write! And stick with the organiza-tional scheme that your journal uses. (Don’t worry – if you have to switch publications later, these usually translate well.) If you write sec-tion by section, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your paper goes together.

Get trusted, experienced colleagues to read your manuscripts.

5 Publication

If an editor says that he or she is tentatively interested in publishing your work, this is a very good sign! You’re most likely in!

There will be a LOT of back-and-forth with your editor, in terms of revisions and questions. Don’t worry—this is good.

If you disagree with suggestions your commen-tators make on your manuscript, talk with your editor. Remember that the comments are often helpful – but they are only opinions.

Watch your copyright rights! If you don’t un-derstand or agree with the agreement you’re asked to sign, talk with a colleague – or a former library school advisor – who knows copyright well. Retain the rights to your own work!

6 If it doesn’t work out the first time…

Got rejected? No worries…you’ve got your manu-script ready. When an editor rejects a manuscript, he or she will often suggest other publications that might be interested. They’re generally right on target! Pick another journal, revise your manu-script to fit that journal’s traits, and send it in. Getting published for the first time feels fantastic. It also helps you gain confidence and learn more and more about the process. You can do it!

Keep in touch! We’d love to hear about your experiences and help you out with your questions. Also, please let us know if our advice helped (or if it didn’t), so we can better advise new librarians in the future. Do you think future ALA conferences should offer more programming for new librarians? We do! Let the New Members’ Round Table, or any other divisions you participate in, know that you’d like more sessions that address your needs. Good luck! Write us! Lisa (lisa.thomas@yale.edu) & Karen (karen.sobel@ucdenver.edu)