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Academic Publishers - How to Get Your Manuscript Published

Academic publishing is somewhat different from other forms of book publishing because it is meant for a very targeted audience and is usually research-based. Typically, it refers to work published in the form of research journals, books (textbooks and informational books), and theses.

In the early days of academic publishing there was a lot of disputation of published works. One of the earliest research journals is from the 17th century, The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Sir Isaac Newton’s initial premise about gravity appeared in this publication and was promptly denounced as absolute nonsense. This doesn’t happen nearly as much today.

If you are looking to publish your works in this area you will need to familiarize yourself with a number of academic publishers. Most of the time they publish very specific types of work. For example, there are numerous publications geared specifically towards teachers, doctors, lawyers, and nurses. The good news is that these highly targeted books command high list prices.

In the world of academia it is generally believed that less prestige is gleaned from publishing in journals. In this case, a more top-down ideology is in play. The most highly regarded journals are generally associated with the national association of the discipline and its field.

You should first familiarize yourself with the types of work most commonly published in whatever journal you are considering to ensure that your work will suit their needs. If you are unsure, ask. Most editors will be happy to tell you if your work is suitable for their consideration or if it should be sent to a different publication altogether.

Also most journals have very specific submission guidelines. Often submissions which don’t adhere to those guidelines won’t even be read. Make sure you know if there are word limits, if there’s a style guide, etc. It’s considered very unethical to submit your work to many academic publishers at a time.

Unfortunately, this means you may have to wait a considerable length of time before you actually hear anything regarding your work. It takes many months for most academic publishing submissions to be made and up to a year before publication finally occurs.

If you are asked to make revisions and resubmit your work, do so. If the publisher has taken the time to have your work reviewed and sends it back to you, it means they’re already interested in your work and it just needs to be tweaked some to fit their needs.

Ideas for academic articles can come from any source such as conferences, teaching, and other research. Look at the actual publications for ideas. Frequently academic publishers will put notices in the journal asking for a specific type of submission. You can also speak with an acquisition editor who’s primary responsibility is to seek out new projects for the journal.

As with any other form of writing don’t get discouraged when it takes longer to break into academic publishing than you’d originally thought. Stick with it, follow the guidelines in this article and ultimately, you will get published.

Academic Publishing - Book Publishing

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