An important component of my work involves publishing papers in academic journals. There are a variety of different formats but most are either original research or theoretical pieces. Original research papers result from conducting a study or experiment. This format may be easier to publish, at least in biomedical journals as many accept submissions in this format only. In addition, with the aid of powerful statistical analyses original research may be viewed as more solid form of “proof” that new knowledge has been generated and therefore be considered to be of more merit. Qualitative research yields what is commonly referred to as ‘findings’, which can also lead to new information or knowledge. Journals are ranked based on their “impact factor”, which is calculated based on the number of times a paper is cited and other variables. It is more desirable to have your paper published in a high ranking journal as it an indication of your value as a researcher.
There are various steps associated with conducting original research. The first is generally to conduct a literature review. This is done in order to ensure that your research idea has not been previously published. Over the past ten years the literature review has evolved from simply searching a variety of relevant indexed databases to the much more rigorous “systematic review”. The way in which you conduct your literature search can impact the ability for your research to be published in the higher ranked journals. The more rigorous standards you apply in your literature search increases the chances you did not overlook publications that may presents similar results as your study. There are specialists trained to conduct literature reviews. If possible you should consult such an expert during this stage of the research.
Once you have determined that your research question is viable you may need to obtain funding in order to conduct the study. This will allow you to hire research assistants, biostaticians and others to help execute the study. To obtain funding you will need to complete a grant application, which may require anywhere from ten to twenty pages of written information. Within these documents you make the case for your study, articulate why it is worthy of funding and back this up with citations from the research you obtained in the literature review. You must then wait until a funding organization announces a call for applications that fits with your research idea, apply for funding and wait again to find out whether your project has been selected.
If you are lucky (success rates vary from ten to thirty percent) enough to be granted funding you must then apply for permission to conduct the study from an ethical review board (also known as a Research Ethics Board or REB). These boards consist of volunteers who may have specialized knowledge in research, ethics or specific topic areas (e.g. expertise in clinical trials, research with specialized populations, etc.). Universities and hospitals generally have one or more REB in order to review research conducted by or within these institutions. This application process can also take many months and may involve a series of revisions.
When approved you must now find participants for the study, which can also take months, especially if you are looking for a niche population (e.g. diabetics who use social media). When the data has been collected it must coded, analyzed and the results written up. This process can also take weeks or months, depending on how much time you have available and the schedule of others assisting in this process. In some situations you may chose to present preliminary findings at a conference in order to gain feedback on your study.
After the paper has been written you must submit it for publication. This process involves a peer review in which others with expertise in this particular area read over your work to ensure it is worthy of publication. This is also conducted by volunteers and the process can take months or longer. Your article may be accepted but require several amendments. You may need to consult your colleagues who were involved in the study in order to complete these revisions. This process may go on for two or three rounds of edits before your paper is ready to be published. All of this may take months. In addition there is often a backlog of other papers that are waiting to be published so it may take a year or more before your paper actually appears in print.
To illustrate a real world example I share the following steps and time line for a research study I recently collaborated on with other researchers:
- 2007 – Spring: I conceptualized a study involving tagging, tag clouds and how using these tools to search for health care information impact the perception and judgment of its credibility
- 2007 – Summer: I found a funding source and assembled a team of researchers to prepare the grant application, which was due in September 2007
- 2008 – Spring: We were notified that our application was successful in April 2008
- 2008 – Winter: Due to scheduling conflicts we were unable to move forward with the project until the late in 2008. A programmer was hired to create the application used in the study
- 2009 – Summer: A research assistant was hired and started in August of 2009
- 2009 – Fall: The application for approval from the ethics board was submitted
- 2009 – Fall: Approval from the REB was granted in early December of 2009. The study was submitted for conference presentation
- 2010 – Winter: Data collection commenced in January 2010. The study was accepted for presentation at a conference in February 2010
- 2010 – Spring: The study findings were written up and submitted for publication consideration in a special issue of a medical informatics journal on March 30th, 2010
- 2010 – Fall: In September 2010 we were informed that the paper was rejected for the special issue as it was outside the scope of the topic area. It was re-submitted three weeks later to this same journal for publication consideration in a regular issue
- 2011 – Summer: As of today, Friday July 22nd , 2011 the publication is still under review
Almost four years has passed since this study was started and we still have no idea of when the results will be published.
Update: This paper was accepted for publication in the International Journal of Medical Informatics on Monday October 3rd, 2011.
