Getting Published: Tips and Refreshers for Faculty


Erran Carmel
Professor and Orkand Chair
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: March-April 2009

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

Note: This article is adapted from the September 30, 2008, white paper for UMUC doctoral students entitled "How to Get Published" by Professor Erran Carmel.

Why Publish?

Scholarship and publishing keep you active as a trained professional. These activities not only help your teaching and increase your visibility but also contribute to the greater good by expanding our societal knowledge. Currently, there is some recognition at UMUC for publishing scholarly papers—and this recognition (and reward) will increase in the coming years.

If you are working on a project, you should try to prepare and publish some of your written work while it is still fresh, as it is difficult to come back to the material two or three years later.

Where to Get Published

There are many channels for getting your work published. All of the following outlets provide opportunities for academics to submit scholarly work:

  • Academic journals
  • Practitioner journals
  • Magazines
  • Conferences with proceedings
  • Books
  • UMUC working papers

Practitioner/industry journals may be a source for scholarly publishing, especially for management faculty. While most industry journals are not considered "academic,"  some—such as the Harvard Business Review—have great impact and reach a wide audience.

It is useful to find a list of all the outlets related to your field. For example, in my field (information systems), a good list of journals can be found at the Association for Information Systems Web site.

Also, keep track of "special issues" that are in planning for the future (there will be notices posted on the journal Web site). It may be easier to place your article if it fits to a theme issue.

Consider which model of peer review process is used to referee your manuscript  submission. You need to know if your manuscript will have to first pass muster with  expert peers in the field. You also need to know that, if published in such a peer-reviewed journal, your work is more likely to be regarded seriously—rather than suspiciously—by readers. The journal's selectivity is part of its branding.

There are several models of peer review you may have to contend with, including:

  • Double-blind: Both authors and referees are anonymous.
  • One-way blind (also known as single-blind): The author does not know the identity of his/her paper's reviewers but the reviewers know the author's identity.
  • Editorial review: The editor makes unilateral (and presumably very experienced) decisions.

Also keep in mind the journal's ranking. Generally speaking, A journals (also known as top-tier journals) are prestigious and well cited, while B and C journals have lesser impact—fewer read them and fewer cite them.

How to Get Feedback

Give an informal talk with your colleagues to share your work in progress.

  • Collaborate with other faculty or even talented students. Don't write alone.
  • Submit your paper to the new annual "Provost's Award for Best Paper in Online Education Research" competition at UMUC. (See the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Web site for more details.)
  • Self-publish your work and ideas as you go along using blogs, online journals, cases, etc.
  • Submit to the UMUC working papers Web site. The committee will give you feedback, as will readers who find your article.

Completing the Manuscript

When you have made the decision to prepare a manuscript for a scholarly publication, follow these steps to keep yourself on track:

  1. Make a short list of outlets that you will target in the next 12–24 months.
  2. Set deadlines for yourself and stick to them.
  3. Write to the editor with an abstract and ask if your article is a good fit.
  4. Ask a colleague to read your draft.
  5. Be sure to follow the writing, style, presentation, and submission rules for the outlet(s) you are looking to publish with.

The Review and Publishing Process: A Typical Timeline

Keep in mind that articles take time to get published—particularly those that appear in peer-reviewed journals; it often takes roughly one year from the first submission date to the actual print date. The timeline below represents a typical sequence for this process:

Cumulative time (in weeks)

Incremental time (in weeks)

Event/ Phase

  Article sent to journal.
2 2 Editor reviews; if deemed fit, editor sends to two outside reviewers.
10 8 Outside reviewers return recommendations with detailed comments.
12 2 Editor looks over article one more time, looks over reviewers' recommendations, and makes recommendation. Sends back to authors. [Another revision is required in our narrative case.]
20 8 Authors revise paper and resubmit.
22 2 Editor reviews resubmission; if deemed fit, editor sends to the same two outside reviewers.
30 8 Outside reviewers return recommendations with detailed comments.
32 2 Editor looks over article one more time, looks over reviewers' recommendations, and makes overall recommendation. [Accepts paper in our narrative story.]
35 3 Authors make final small modifications.
38 3 Galleys are prepared and sent to authors for review.
41 3 Authors review galleys and publisher accepts final changes.
49 8 Article awaits next printing of the journal.
  Article is printed.

Additional Resources

The following sources on getting scholarly work published may also be helpful:

About the Author(s)

Dr. Erran Carmel is serving as the Orkand Endowed Chair in Management and Technology in UMUC's graduate school for the 2008-2009 academic year while on leave from his regular position as a professor in the Information Technology department of the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, DC, where he served as chair of the Information Technology department from 2005-2008.

Dr. Carmel's area of expertise is globalization of technology. He studies global software teams, offshoring of information technology, and emergence of software industries around the world. His 1999 book Global Software Teams was the first on this topic and is considered a landmark in the field. His second book, Offshoring Information Technology, was published in 2005 and is currently in its third printing. He has written over 80 articles, reports, and manuscripts; consults and speaks to industry and professional groups; and has been a visiting professor at Haifa University (Israel) and University College Dublin (Ireland). Dr. Carmel received his PhD in Management Information Systems from the University of Arizona, his MBA from the University of California at Los Angeles, and his BA from the University of California at Berkeley.

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