JOURNAL ARTICLES

If you want your research findings to reach a wider audience, it might be worth considering producing an article for a journal. Most academic journals do not pay for articles they publish, but many professional or trade publications do pay for your contribution, if published. However, competition can be fierce and your article will have to stand out from the crowd if you want to be successful.

The following steps will help you to do this:

1. Choose a topical, original piece of research.

2. Do your market research – find out which journal publishes articles in your subject area.

3. Check on submission guidelines – produce an article in the correct style and format and of the right length.

4. Read several copies of the journal to get an idea about the preferences of editors.

5. If you are thinking about writing for a trade publication, approach the editors by letter, asking if they might be interested in an article. Include a short summary of your proposed article.

6. Produce a succinct, clear, interesting and well-written article – ask friends, tutors or colleagues to read it and provide comments.

7. Make sure there are no mistakes, remembering to check the bibliography.

8. If it is your first article, gain advice from someone who has had work published. Also you might find it easier to write an article with someone else – some tutors or supervisors will be willing to do this as it helps their publication record if their name appears on another article. You may find that you will do most of the work, but it is very useful to have someone read your article and change sections which do not work or read well. It is also useful to have people comment on your methodology or analysis assumptions which could be criticised by other researchers.

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Another method of presenting your research findings is through an oral presentation. This may be at a university or college to other students or tutors, at a conference to other researchers or work colleagues, or in a work place to colleagues, employers or funding bodies. Many researchers find that it is better to provide both a written report and an oral presentation as this is the most effective way of enabling a wider audience to find out about the research, especially if you also reproduce your written report on-line.

If you want people to take notice of your results, you need to produce a good presentation. PowerPoint is a useful presentation graphics program which enables you to create slides that can be shared live or on-line. You can enhance your presentation with animation, artwork and diagrams which make it more interesting for your audience.