Raewyn ConnellE: PRESENTATION OF YOUR PAPER
So you have drafted and then revised and revised and revised your paper. Now it’s
ready to send to a journal, yes?
No. There’s still some work to do, after you have finished the text to your satisfaction as
a communication to your readers. You have to get it into the hands of the journal
editors. (About journals, see Part One.)
Once upon a time, I did this by making three or four copies of the paper - carbon copy,
roneo or primitive photocopy - stuffing them in an envelope, licking a stamp, and posting
the lot to the journal. The extra copies were for the reviewers.
Nowadays with mainstream journals, articles have to be submitted through horrible
websites, designed by the corporations that own the journals. Is this faster? No. These
websites are rigid and unfriendly to humans. The journal’s editors often find them
difficult to use, too. But they have become unavoidable.
I can give no advice on how to overcome these websites, except that if you find you are
blocked, then contact the journal directly and ask if they can insert your paper in the on-
line system. Remember that journals need and want submissions.
With less-mainstream journals you may send an article by e-mail directly to the editors.
That’s much easier. But these journals will probably have smaller outreach.
Thunderbolts (Image: Yevtushenko in action at the Blok holiday Shakhmatovo 1972, by Vladimir Bogdanov)