Topic: Publishing in Professional Journals (4)

10-second review: Tips on publishing in professional education journals. Submitting your manuscript.

Title: “How to Start Writing for Publication.” RayS. Teaching English, How To…. 2004. Xlibris. pp. 273-278.

Submitting Your Manuscript
In submitting the article to the journal for publication, always double space; include the required number of copies; and, unless told to do otherwise in the instructions for submission, send along a self-addressed, stamped envelope for the return of your manuscript. And, just in case, be sure to keep a copy for yourself in your files and on a CD, DVD or Zip disc.

Caution: You should not submit a manuscript to two or more journals at the same time, a practice that is considered to be unethical. Submit the article to a different journal only after you have received a rejection notice.

Your cover letter should include the following:

Title of your article.
Purpose of the article.
A one- or two-sentence summary of the article.
Your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.
Your position and school affiliation.
Past publications, if any.

Your cover letter should never be more than one page in length.

Here is the cover letter that I submitted for my article, “Reverse the Image: Involve the Public in Reading and Writing,” that was published in the English Journal in October 1982.

Title of Article: “Reverse the Image: Involve the Public in Reading and Writing”

Purpose of Article: Written in response to “Call for Manuscripts” concerning the “basics in English.” The specific purpose of this article is to respond to the question, “How do we talk to a public convinced it’s about time to get back to the basics?”

Summary of Article: To reverse the negative image of public education projected by the media and to help parents understand the limited function of the “basics” in the processes of reading and writing, I involve the public in actual reading and writing activities. I describe two of these activities that I have used successfully.

Author Information: Name, position, school district, address, date of submission, phone and e-mail address.

This article has not been published elsewhere and has not been sent for consideration to any other publication.

Previous Publications: “Observations of an Instructional Consultant,” in Robert J. McCarthy, The Ungraded Middle School (West Nyack, New York: Parker Publishing Company, Inc.,1972), pp. 213-215.

“Increasing Elementary Teachers’ Reading of Professional Journals: An Inservice Program,” The Reading Teacher, 35 (January, 1982), pp. 390-394.

Next blog: Whether to query or not; peer review; sources of topics for publication. RayS.