Tips on Publishing

Abstract

I am pleased to report that the interest in the journal of Innovative Higher Education continues to increase, and our readership and submissions are now truly global as we enter our 37th year of publication. Since 2001, manuscript submissions to the journal have almost tripled! To accommodate this growth and to be able to accept the high quality manuscripts we receive, in 2005 we moved from producing 4 issues each year to 5; and beginning with volume 37 (which covers 2011) Springer Press has allowed us to increase the page limit for each issue. In effect, this expansion allows six to seven articles per issue rather than the standard five. Manuscripts are first reviewed editorially before placement into the blind and peer review process. As you may imagine, the members of our editorial board, which is made up of highly distinguished scholars, are reading more manuscripts each year. In addition, we use invited guest reviewers, primarily for two reasons: 1) a particular area of expertise would be desirable in reviewing a manuscript, and/or 2) our own board members are overloaded at a particular time. I am writing about the numbers and our editorial board and review process because our acceptance rate is now at about 15%; and I thought it might be useful, especially for emerging scholars, to know some of the reasons manuscripts are rejected and to gain insight into the “system” of comments from reviewers. Some of the problems with manuscripts may be easily fixed; others, not so. Common problems include the following, and I include sample reviewer comments.