About this Guide
The mission of Montgomery Library is to support the intellectual, cultural and spiritual life of Campbellsville University by providing an active learning environment. As part of this endeavor, the Montgomery Library supports faculty and graduate students in their efforts to develop their research projects and publish peer-reviewed scholarly articles and books.
The purpose of this guide is to provide a roadmap to publication with updated information on the current publishing environment.
Before sending out an article or book manuscript for review, it is always helpful to ask colleagues on campus or elsewhere to take a look at your work and provide feedback. Once your draft is nearing completion, here are some steps to take as you decide where to publish your work:
- Evaluate peer-reviewed scholarly journals or book publishers, and put them in order based on the suitability of your work for each venue and your objectives. (Are you aiming for the highest tier of scholarly venue or something more modest?) Make sure none of them have a reputation as a predatory publisher.
- Select one publishing venue to submit your work to first. It is unethical to submit a work for peer review at multiple scholarly journals/publishers at the same time, and any breach of this standard can have career-impacting consequences. Make sure your work complies with all ethical principles in your field, and that you understand what kind of copyright or license agreement is used by the publisher.
- Examine the publication submission guidelines and make changes to the format of your work if necessary.
- Compose a cover letter and submit your work according to the guidelines.
- If you don't receive acknowledgment of receipt, it would be appropriate to contact the editor within a couple weeks to confirm they received it.
- After a period of usually several months, you should hear back on the editorial decision. If your work is accepted, congratulations! Your next step is to make the reviewer's/editor's requested revisions.
- After a work is published, there are steps you can take to increase the visibility of your work and maximize your impact.
- If your work is not accepted, you will typically receive constructive feedback to help you revise your work further. Then go back to Step 1 on this list to re-evaluate publication venues.