How to Write a Journal Article

A journal article is one of the best mediums for an academician to publish the research findings to the broader audience of other academicians. In academics, writing journal articles is essential if you wish to pursue an academic career. Nowadays, academic careers are dependent on publication. The much high your publication is, the more it helps you in your academics.

Journal articles focus on research and are written by professional experts. A journal article is sometimes called a peer-reviewed article, a scientific article or a scholarly research article.

The following steps will help you in writing your journal article.

1. Find out what type of article will be appropriate for the material you wish to communicate

Choosing the right type of article before you start is essential. For example, if you’ve conducted an original research, you will report it as an original research article, whereas if it’s an evaluation of published scholarship on a topic, you will report it as a review article.

2. Learn about periodicals in the field and choose one as your target journal

Ensure the scope, aims and concerns published on the journal’s website are appropriate for your research. Also, the journal must publish the kind of paper necessary to communicate all important aspects of your work.

3. Study the journal’s guidelines for authors

Follow the guidelines with care as you prepare your article. Pay close attention to details, examples and restrictions.

4. Outline the structure and content of your article

The structure of your journal paper is just as important as the content itself. It helps to guide the reader through in a clear way. Individual journals will have their own specific formatting requirements, which you can find in the instructions for authors.

Also, a large number of journals now offer format-free submission, which allows you to submit your paper without formatting your manuscript to meet that journal’s specific requirements.

5. Prepare tables, figures, appendices and other supplementary materials for the article

The production of these tools for readers can help you analyze and interpret findings more effectively. In addition, writing the main text with these tools in hand helps reduce unnecessary repetition of information.

6. Start to draft the text

Start writing in an order that better reflects the research process. The methods can therefore be described first, with the report of results, the discussion and the conclusions following. Once you know the contents of these parts, the introduction, background, abstract and list of references can be added

7. Assess your methods, analyze your results and interpret your findings

Reporting what you did and what you discovered is not enough for a research paper intended for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. You will also need to tell your audience what your research means, why it is innovative and how it might be productively used by future researchers and practitioners.

8. Proofread, edit and revise your draft

As the person who knows your research better than anyone else, you are the person to ensure that your article intended for publication does that research justice.

9. Recruit mentors, colleagues and friends to read your article and offer feedback

Researchers who work in your field and have successfully published their own academic or scientific writing will be able to comment constructively on research content and presentation. If English grammar, tricky references or other challenges of language and formatting prove problematic, a professional proofreader or editor can help.