Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences

Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences equips readers with the knowledge and skillsets they need to successfully publish scholarly articles within academic journals and beyond. Author David Royse shares accounts from his extensive publishing history as well as lessons he learned from teaching students how to write effectively. The book envisions publishing as a journey, and Royse accompanies readers on each step—from initially carving out time and identifying the journal with the best fit to finally submitting the manuscript.

Opening chapters discuss preparing for the writing process, evaluating and selecting an idea for a piece, and considering a writing partner or mentor. Readers learn about the characteristics of predatory and legitimate journals, rejection rates, what to expect when submitting to open-access journals, and more. Additional chapters answer questions about the peer-review process and writing the core components of a manuscript—the introduction, literature review, and method, results, and discussion sections. Crafting abstracts, submitting a manuscript, and processing the bad news of rejection are also addressed. The final chapter discusses what goes into and how to write a book proposal.

Developed to demystify the writing and submission processes, Writing Professionally in the Social Sciences is an exemplary resource for new Ph.D.’s, full- and part-time faculty, graduate students, college students, as well as practitioners and professionals who desire to be published.