{"id":14,"date":"2019-06-13T10:43:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T10:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postgradproofreader.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14"},"modified":"2021-06-17T16:28:02","modified_gmt":"2021-06-17T16:28:02","slug":"how-to-get-your-qualitative-study-ready-for-publication-in-five-easy-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgradproofreader.co.uk\/blog\/2019\/06\/13\/how-to-get-your-qualitative-study-ready-for-publication-in-five-easy-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to get your qualitative study ready for publication in five easy steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Are you a postgrad student with a comprehensive, beautifully written qualitative thesis? You know your research deserves to be read by a wider audience, but after looking at journal word lengths, you’ve realised you\u2019ll need to cut your gorgeous study in half (or maybe even quarters) to be eligible for publication. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How on earth can this be done? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t panic! This blog will outline five easy steps to help you cut your study down into a bite-sized, publishable piece without losing any of the nuance you\u2019ve put your blood, sweat and tears into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Select a journal <\/strong>Think about audience, word-length and style <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you even start thinking about making cuts to your precious study, the first thing to get straight is which journal you\u2019re writing for. Who is your ideal audience<\/strong>? Do they have a key publication? If so, that could be the one for you. Run a quick search through your chosen journal\u2019s archive to ensure they are open to qualitative publications; it will be a waste of your time and theirs to send your gorgeous IPA findings to a publication which only deals with stats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wow your audience with your awesome findings
Photo by Wendy Wei <\/a>on Pexels<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve found your ideal journal, search their website for their instructions for authors, and note down their word length<\/strong> and style guidelines<\/strong>. Some journals might ask for a certain number of pages rather than a word length. Most will have requirements for font, point size and spacing, which you will do well to adopt from the outset so you don\u2019t get a nasty shock when it turns out you have to double space the article you\u2019ve spent hours getting down to 30 single–<\/g>spaced pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Re-read your study<\/strong> What are the novel points? What will be of particular interest to your chosen journal\u2019s audience? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve selected your ideal journal, go back and re-read your study. It\u2019s unlikely you\u2019ll be able to fit all the findings from a master\u2019s or PhD study into one paper, so think about which findings are the most novel, or which will appeal most to the audience of your chosen publication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Choose two to three themes <\/strong>Which would work as an individual paper?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Feeling overwhelmed by words? The Post-Graduate Proof-Reader can help!<\/em>
Photo by Patrick Tomasso<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You might have to make some big choices at this stage. Have you got five themes? Perhaps there will only be room in this paper to present two of those. Don\u2019t worry \u2013 it could be that you could put the other three into a second paper for another audience. Maybe there\u2019s just one theme that you feel is really hard-hitting. That\u2019s fine too \u2013 you can pull that out of the study and present it alone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Re-write your lit review and discussion <\/strong>Tailor these to your chosen themes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve selected the theme\/s you want to focus on for this paper, you\u2019ll need to tailor the introduction, method and discussion sections to fit. Which papers from your lit review are relevant just for these fewer themes? Add a short section in your method explaining that you have (for example) selected two themes from a wider project, and explaining why you\u2019ve chosen to do this. You might also want to include some recommendations and reflections towards the end of your discussion section. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Send your paper to the Post-Graduate Proof-Reader <\/strong>
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Your study should be looking much more like a publishable paper now. It will be shorter and more tightly focused towards a specific audience. Congratulations! But\u2026 you may still be a little beyond that elusive word limit. Could you make your points more succinctly? Perhaps you don\u2019t need all those limitations you\u2019ve humbly included in your discussion section! Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is needed at this stage. Visit http:\/\/postgradproofreader.co.uk\/<\/a> and I\u2019ll be happy to help you get your piece down to the correct word length and help you share your fabulous research with the wider world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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