On May 23, Professor John-David Dewsbury and Doctor Scott Sharpe gave an academic lecture titled “How to publish a research paper in English journals: What the editor is concerned about” in the west building of Zhensheng Courtyard in the Qingdao Campus at the invitation of the School of Political Science and Public Administration (SPSPA) of Shandong University. Duan Hao, Deputy Dean of Institute for Studies in Country Development of Shandong University, hosted the lecture. Professors and students in SPSPA as well as those from other related majors attended the lecture.
Professor John-David Dewsbury from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is the originator of non-representational theory in human geography and editor of the world's top academic journal Cultural Geographies. He first introduced his research areas and papers. Later, Scott Sharpe, senior lecturer from UNSW presented his own research area and introduced Cultural Geographies in detail.
In the lecture, Professor Dewsbury conducted a specific analysis on four aspects: how to find a suitable journal for submission, the golden rule for submitting papers, recent hot topics in social science, responses after submission and revisions of papers. He gave the on-site professors and students valuable recommendations on how to submit and revise papers.
On how to find a suitable journal for submission, Professor Dewsbury argued that one should first choose journals that are similar to your paper in the definition of controversial concepts, empirical research, and review. Besides, it is not a wise choice to submit your paper to journals as much as possible, as journal’s and editor’s reputation should be taken into consideration. It is necessary to focus on selecting the most suitable English journals for submission.[1] On the aspect of writing a paper, Professor Dewsbury pointed out that four golden rules should be followed when submitting papers to journals: the introduction part of the paper should have a clear and convincing statement of purpose and innovative range of the argument; the paper should have a conceptual basis and a literature review; proofreading before sending the paper; provide a brief but prominent letter of introduction together with the paper.
Through analyzing papers in the past few years, Professor Dewsbury discussed four hot topics in social science: beyond sovereignty subjects, new materialism, social technology, and the human world. Subsequently, Professor Dewsbury and Dr. Sharpe made an analysis on the four kinds of responses that one may receive after the submission of paper, and then provided detailed suggestions for subsequent disposal and revision of the paper after being rejected by the journal. From the perspective of a reviewer and a top scholar, Professor Dewsbury offered a number of suggestions and projects on how to revise the paper in terms of structure, direction and attitude of the writer. Dr. Sharpe also gave the attending professors and students a specific example to illustrate how to revise the paper after being rejected.
After the main content of the lecture, professor Sun Zongfeng, Huangqing and Liu Huaxing exchanged in-depth ideas on the content of the lecture. Students also actively participated in the discussion. The lecture ended in a friendly atmosphere.
John-David Dewsbury
John-David Dewsbury is a professor of human geography at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He is one of the most prominent founders of non-representational theory in human geography and has published dozens of influential papers in the world's top journals. He serves as a permanent editor at the world's top academic journal Cultural Geographies.
