Revisit the introductory session of the most recent PhD Symposium, which featured top tips on how to get published. The session was chaired by Hannah Walsh, and the speakers were Professor Jo Neale, Dr Emma Beard, and Professor John Marsden, who are all actively involved in the publishing process both as authors and editors.

Jo Neale, Emma Beard, and John Marsden have all recently published their own papers and have editorial roles in the top journals in the field of addiction:

  • Professor Jo Neale is Professor of Addictions Qualitative Research at KCL and Senior Editor at the International Journal of Drug Policy.
  • Dr Emma Beard is a Principal Research Fellow at UCL, and Deputy Statistics and Methodology Editor at Addiction.
  • Professor John Marsden is Editor-in-Chief and Commissioning Editor at Addiction.

In November 2021, they brought their wealth of experience and insight to the SSA’s PhD Symposium for a session on ‘how to get published’. If you didn’t attend the event, but are interested in knowing what editors are looking for when deciding whether to publish, you can watch it now.

In video one (below), Jo, Emma and John take it in turns to give their advice on how to get published. Jo focuses on preparing and submitting qualitative manuscripts, including why the ‘active voice’ is not just a style preference but adds to the clarity of texts. Emma discusses the need to be open about the limitations and disadvantages of our studies (because they all have them), and cautions about the use of causal language. And John talks about why an academic paper is first and foremost a piece of persuasive communication (“you’re primarily wanting to get past the peer reviewers”).

In video two (below), Hannah Walsh presents the editors with questions from the audience, eliciting opinions on topics including pre-print servers, ‘salami-slicing’, and the role of cover letters. The editors suggest there is no universal ‘right time’ to start writing papers based on your PhD. And, they address how you respond to (and even politely disagree with) reviewers’ comments.

The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.

The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information.