Article writing - How to make a beginning?

by

Dr. Rajeswari Krishnan

Principal, Sree Narayana Guru Institute of Management Studies, Coimbatore 29.04.2010

There is no way to get experience except through experience. .

Why write articles?

Publications way to communicate, stay abreast, exchange ideas Knowledge growth essential for our profession Service to the profession Personal growth Increasing pressure from administrators Practically speaking ........... to get a job/ to keep your job / to get promoted / to get funding

Prepare Yourself
Go through a lot of journals and magazines national and international Observe the style of articles Select the specialization area based on your comfort level and plan for the specific topics Decide on co-authors, if any, and start collaborative work Plan your timings and decide target dates

Types of articles
Concept articles
In-depth study of a concept or recent development A theoretical study

Research articles
It is based on a empirical study involving data collection and analysis

Concept Articles
Select a topic timely, unique, current interest and future minded
Examples: Organisational commitment & Employees innovative behaviour in retail sector Soft & Hard aspects of Quality management practices influencing service quality & customer satisfaction in manufacturing sector Determining relationship marketing instruments Forex trading as an investment tool Stock Market Investment in 2009 Can the Threats be transformed into Opportunities?

Study the topic study the periodicals & surf the web-sites avoid text books except for understanding purpose Collect and Sort the material Collect a lot of relevant material and sort the ones best suited for the topic. Outline the paper construct a road map to ensure the most direct and logical route throughout

Research article
Structure
Abstract: It is a concise single paragraph summary of completed work. In a minute or less a reader can learn the rationale behind the study, general approach to the problem, pertinent results, and important conclusions Normally around 200 words to cover the most important elements of the paper focus on summarizing the results Key words:
Important words in the article which are repeatedly used

search terms that will help someone find your article Introduction:
theoretical context of the work to appreciate your objectives It acquaints the reader with the rationale behind the work

Research article
Statement of the problem specific on the objectives and need for the research Review of Literature to be relevant to the study Objectives & Hypothesis of the study Research Methodology
Research Design, Sample, Data collection, period of study, tools used, limitations

Analysis & Discussion to include the testing of hypothesis Conclusion References.doc to follow the APA style

 Use active voice & simple style but use action words eliminating forms of verb to be, wherever possible Use past tense in case of research articles Check the facts and be specific Include examples and personal experiences real, concrete and latest Add figures and tables with appropriate statistics, wherever relevant Explain the points in short paragraphs Dont include too many details, especially the ones which dont relate to the main idea
Not too long, not too short, but just right

Get started Some tips

Get started - Step by step process

Organize the material in a point-wise fashion and start writing Write a first draft without worrying about the correctness of the exact wording you can always rewrite and polish it You can also request others to read it and get a feedback. Repeated proof reading helps. Editing never ends In the first paragraph, clearly state what the article is about At the end of the article, summarize what you want to say; try to find a way to echo some striking aspect of your lead While submitting, the copy should be perfect word processed, spelling/grammar checked, clean and appropriate.

General Guidelines
Standard font to be used
Normally: Times New Roman 12 point

Standard size of the article around 2500 words (including figures & tables) it comes about 10 pages A4 size paper with 1 margin all sides Text to be double spaced or 1.5 spaced A brief profile of the author highlighting his/her credentials can be enclosed with the article A declaration regarding not publishing/ presenting the paper elsewhere is to be enclosed, in case of acceptance of the paper

Publication ethical issues

Never fabricate data. Never falsify data. Do not plagiarize.
Reword (and even then attribute the source). Direct quotes are rarely used, but make sure you use quotation marks and properly cite the source.

Publication targeting journals

Know your product
Academic content & its contribution to knowledge

Know your journal

Suitability of the content & status

There are journals, who pay for the contribution/ there are journals, who demand for subscription for publishing - select Understand the guidelines
Information is usually inside the front or back cover or on the journals website go through the guidelines and modify the article accordingly Journal Guidelines advise on issues such as:
Subject area Format Length of paper and abstract

Journal responses
There are normally three responses you get from a journal.
Accepted with no revisions (pretty much never happens) Accepted with revisions (the editor and reviewers will list specific items that need to be addressed before final acceptance) Rejected

If you get rejected

Do not despair, it happens Read what the reviewers wrote
Fix the problems (unless they are really fatal problems that doom the project)

Research other lower impact journals that would be appropriate Reformat according to the journals instructions Resubmit Some of the journals

Some of the shortcuts???!!!

Literature review need not study the entire article(?); go through the abstract and that will give you enough information time saving Copy & Paste (?) dont do that in a obvious manner; try to change the words / sentence formation without change in meaning & escape from plagiarism check Projects done by your students take special care to give different topics; guide them to use relevant tools for analysis (carefully frame the questionnaire so that tools can be used) convert the project into a research article.
Examples: relationship between stock market performance and currency performance Effect of FII inflow on stock market performance Sector wise indices performance

Some important websites

Historical data is provided by many web-sites http://scholar.google.co.in
This search engine can be used for locating related research articles for review of literature

http://finance.yahoo.com
Provides historical data pertaining to sock market indices

http://fx.sauder.ubc.ca/data.html
a web-site of The University of British Columbia, providing exchange rate data base for academic research

http://www.moneycontrol.com
Provides historical data on FII/ FDI inflows/outflows

http://www.federalreserve.gov
official websites of Department of Energy & Federal Reserve, USA Govt.- data pertaining to oil prices, currency exchange rates etc.

Case study Award Winning Research Article

oil prices vs dollar value Parameters considered
Current & relevant topic Clear objectives Justification to the research problem identification Enough literature review Clarity in research methodology Use of tools for analysis Analysis & Findings clearly explained and justified with tables & Graphs Good flow throughout Abstract to Scope for further study

Shortcomings pointed out

more references can be sited in the article

Wish you all a happy and successful article writing

All the very best! Good luck!! Eagerly awaiting to see your articles in reputed journals!!!

Thank You Questions please