interpreted in a context where other scholars can grasp it as sig-
nificant for some controversy or debate in their discipline.
Almost the first question that journal referees ask of authors
with case studies is: ‘What is your case study a case of? And
why should we care?’ For a PhD intrinsic interest can play a
larger role in justifying case analysis, but professional readers are
much more sceptical when it comes to journal publication.
Similarly a piece of text may be accepted as meeting the doctoral
standard, without being inherently well written or appealing.
Acceptable doctorates can be worthy and dull, unexceptional,
micro-focused, ponderous, over-referenced, hyper-cautious,
overly methodological, and so on, without being failed. But
none of these qualities are recommendations for publication
in a journal.
Start by identifying which chapter of your thesis has most
potential to become a paper. Think about how your possible
paper is likely to score on the criteria considered in Figure 9.1
and then do your market research. In the library, look carefully
at the various journals you might submit to, so that you are
thoroughly familiar with what they accept and are sure that
your paper will fit their established pattern. Get your supervi-
sors’ advice on what changes are needed and which are the pos-
sible outlets that you might send it to. As in every other walk of
life, choosing a journal involves trade-offs. If you go for a very
prestigious journal with your first serious publication and are
successful then you will scoop more prestige points. But you are
also far more likely to wait quite a long time (three to six
months) only to be eventually rejected. You may also get rather
strong criticism of your piece, which can be demoralizing. Or a
top journal may reject the paper in its current form but leave
half-open a possible door back, if very time-consuming
demands for changes are met. Even if you make these revisions
a ‘sniffy’ editor may still not accept that the piece is sufficiently
changed, which is invariably very demotivating.
To lose half a year to a whole year on abortive efforts to
publish like this can seriously jeopardize your overall work
rhythms, so there is really no point in pitching your material
higher than it is likely to be accepted. Journals rarely change
their spots, so do not let the idea that your paper is particularly
path-breaking or novel affect your judgements here. Opt for
PUBLISHING YOUR RESEARCH◆ 245