Writing for Professional Journals

As a requirement for promotion and tenure, all Rutgers Cooperative Extension faculty-at both the county and state level- are expected to contribute to the body of knowledge of their discipline. Evidence of this contribution includes professional conference presentations, widely disseminated programs and teaching methods, and journal article publication.

To help faculty with journal writing, a one-day inservice education program, "Writing Skills for Professional Journals,"1 was conducted by two widely published faculty members. The objectives were to teach participants the techniques of journal writing and give them a hands-on writing experience as a base to build on for future publication. Fifty-two people from all program areas, about a third of the total Extension faculty, attended the program. These faculty were required to bring manuscript guidelines for two journals, a call for manuscripts, their calendar, and a draft or detailed outline of a proposed journal article.

The program began with an overview of the reasons for publishing, including professional visibility, contribution to a discipline, career advancement, and personal satisfaction. Participants also discussed their frustrations, such as lack of time to write, not knowing what journals to publish in, and "writer's block."

The workshop leaders then discussed the "how-to's" of journal writing, beginning with choosing a subject. Participants were asked to list topics they recently taught or found interesting. The workshop leaders also discussed adhering to manuscript guidelines, outlining a manuscript before writing, having manuscripts reviewed before submission, and using proper referencing. Faculty were encouraged to make writing a priority by blocking out time on their calendar, finding a partner or mentor to write with, and choosing writing over routine activities.

The program continued with a viewing of the new 14-minute video about writing for the Journal of Extension, a discussion of the criteria used by the Journal's reviewers, and an explanation of how to prepare quality abstracts, charts, and tables.

In the afternoon, participants completed a Personal Publication Plan. This included scheduling dates for future writing; selecting journals to publish in; identifying co-authors and reviewers; identifying necessary references, charts, and tables; and writing the abstract of a proposed article. While the participants wrote their abstracts, the workshop leaders reviewed each of their plans and drafts and made suggestions.

The training session concluded with a debunking of the "table of excuses" for not writing, such as "no one told me to," "not my job," "too much effort," "can't write." This was followed by a discussion of ways to find the time to write. Two ideas were to use a dictaphone while driving or "reward" yourself with a decadent dessert or a romantic weekend for two.

Written evaluations of the seminar indicated ratings of "helpful" or "very helpful" by all participants. The ultimate proof of its effectiveness, however, will be the number of published manuscripts by Rutgers Cooperative Extension faculty in the months and years ahead.

1. A video based on the inservice training session and handouts are available from the authors at a nominal cost.