Tips for Getting Published in International Relations
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Author: Olivia Compton
Olivia holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto where she specialised in History and minored in Canadian Studies. Olivia is currently a Masters in Global Affairs candidate in a joint program from the University of Prince Edward Island, Canada and Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Spain. Olivia's main area of interest is in international defence and security. Olivia is also the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Global Affairs Review.
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Despite the strides that women have taken over the last century, men still dominate the field of foreign affairs in most countries and what is being published within it. According to research, only 32% of journal articles are authored by women, despite us making up more than 40% of social scientists. Publishing is an important part of your career if you hope to enter academia, in networking and getting your opinions out there. Many women I know, especially students, don’t think they're far enough into their careers to get published. However, many of my male counterparts attempt to get published at a significantly higher rate than my female colleagues. So what’s the difference? The answer is confidence. Many women are afraid to put their opinion and expertise out there but remember your opinion matters and you do have the expertise required. You have studied just as much as your male peers and are just as qualified. As an editor of an academic review here are some of my tips and tricks on how to get published.
How can I Find Publishing Opportunities?
For many, even finding opportunities can be a daunting task. My advice is to start early either while still in school or throughout your early career and to follow these tips:
Start looking in the journals and blogs that you already read.
Review bibliographies from old class papers and see if any of those journals are currently looking for submissions.
Ask your professors to see if they have any suggestions. Remember there are more journals and academic reviews out there than just the ones you see in your research all the time, even if that is a great place to start looking. Look at the journals your university hosts. Most universities will have their own graduate and undergraduate journals, which is often a great way to start.
LinkedIn can also be a good place to find opportunities. Looking up the #callforsubmissions can often help you see what journals are currently looking for articles while keeping the search broad enough to find all kinds of gems.
When all else fails you can always try Google. Try searching keywords of topics that you would be interested in whether this is global affairs, foreign affairs, defence, history, etc.
As more women continue to enter the field of international relations more organisations, such as Foreign Policy Interrupted have continued to appear that specifically provide women with a platform to share their knowledge.
Remember that there are also more places to publish than just journals and academic reviews. Blogs, such as The Zig Zag, websites and magazines are regularly looking for articles which also make them a great place to start. These articles are often shorter, less formal and more focused on a specific topic. The search process for these remains very similar to looking for journals.
How Should I Pick a Topic?
I can’t stress this enough but FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS! Make sure to read the call for submission as closely as possible. When I write articles I take notes and add them to my outline document to ensure that I don’t forget key details. As an editor, I find it incredibly frustrating when people submit articles that don’t follow the guidelines. This makes it look like you don't care, which in turn makes the selection committee not care.
When trying to pick a topic look through the call for submission and see if they provide any suggested themes. You can also look through old issues from the journal to see what kind of topics they seem to regularly publish. It’s also okay to pull research notes and ideas from papers you have written for school or for other submissions, just make sure each article you submit is original as this is usually a requirement. Be careful not to plagiarise yourself.
How Can I Get my Editor to Love Me?
Once you have decided what you are going to write and where you are going to submit your article for publication, it is time to begin writing.
Be sure to review the call for submission to see if there are any particular formatting or citation requirements. Make sure to follow this as closely as possible. If you have questions, reach out and ask if you are able. This will help make the editing process way easier if your article is selected.
SPELL CHECK! Check your spelling and grammar thoroughly before submitting your article. Attention to detail matters. While editors are there to help you, they don't want to spend hours fixing basic spelling and grammar mistakes. One way to help avoid this is to have a friend read it over, or use computer software to read the work back to you. Often they will pick up mistakes much more easily than you will having read the paper over as many times as you have. If you are writing in a second language do not be intimidated and remember that it is okay to ask for help. That is what the editors are there for.
Make sure to remove any info that would indicate that you had submitted the article somewhere else before from within the paper. It looks very unprofessional and annoys editors because, again, it feels like you did not care enough to take the few minutes to make these small changes.
Be open to corrections. Remember that the article you submit for publication is highly unlikely to be the exact article that ends up being published. While you do not have to agree with every correction or suggestion that an editor makes if you disagree about something they want you to do, talk to them about it. Don’t just ignore their corrections. Remember, the editors are there to help you and to help make your work the best it can be.
Be mindful of deadlines. Deadlines are incredibly important and missing these can mean that your article gets removed from consideration. Remember the editors have deadlines to meet on their end as well, so by missing the ones they provide can cause problems further down the publication pathway.
Check your email regularly! When checking your email be sure to also check your junk folder. I have personally had someone lose an opportunity to publish because they did not check their junk folder and missed the deadline for submitting their edits, which was very disappointing as the article itself was very good.
Concluding Thoughts
The key to getting published is persistence. You’ll probably send papers off and never hear back, or be rejected, and that's okay. Keep looking for different opportunities and keep applying. Eventually, all your hard work will pay off. Remember that your opinion matters and you are just as qualified as your peers. I hope that this helps you in your journey to publication and wish you the best of luck!
Edited by Ashvini Rae
Published 16th November 2020