Publication - perils, pitfalls and pleasures

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Publishing is a tough challenge in any field, not least in a specialist area such as forensic psychology, and peers will describe it as a minefield to be negotiated with lashings of skill, a peppering of caution and a large helping of courage.

On the surface it can seem as if only certain types of paper are published. To a degree there is some truth in this; you are more likely to be published if you are aligned to a recognised organisation or institution, for example., or equally if the research on which the paper is based has been funded by a well-recognised and respected body. Publishers are very aware that what they publish needs to be read and respected by their readership if they are to retain both their finance and their reputation, so they will more readily gravitate towards papers produced with this type of backing. They are also very sensitive towards the current trends in terms of research and thinking around a field of expertise. For example, these days, a randomised control trial study is more likely to be accepted for publication than a naturalistic study for assessing effectiveness and efficacy in therapy.

Publication as an end result of a research project should form an essential part of the research planning and development process. Success in navigating the minefield that is publishing starts before the research. If it is left as an afterthought or as a consideration towards the end of the project, it is going to be much tougher to find a publisher willing to take on your paper. 

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When planning a project, it is well worth the effort to spend time considering which publishers may be interested in your work, why they might be interested and what it is about this research that is most likely to appeal to them. As a researcher, you may be passionate about a particular project, but you will need to prove to a publisher that there are compelling reasons to publish. Your paper will also have to show a degree of quality that enables the publisher to feel confident that their reputation in the field will be enhanced at best and maintained at the very least. Publishing an article is a risk not just financially for the publisher, but if the work is not of an appropriate standard or the research has any weaknesses, the publisher's reputation as well as your own will be adversely affected. Publication is a state of exposure for both the writer and the publisher. Having this worked out before you launch into the nuts and bolts of your research will help you to devise research that will feed a publishable paper.

For example, you might want to consider the following:

• Is your project essentially small and perhaps requires a follow up so that the results are more robust, strong enough to carry academic criticism which is what publication will raise from experts in your field?
• If you need the results to be robust and stand up to challenge, what type of data will you need?
• How will you analyse that data in order to come to definitive and clear conclusions?
• What research methods will you apply? Are these current and relevant?
• How will you account for bias?
• How will you be able to demonstrate that the study is valid and reliable?

A particularly important aspect to consider at this early planning stage is to identify which journals are most likely to publish your work. This form of research will mean a close study of the journals, analysing what they typically publish, which areas of research they seem to particularly focus on, and the style of writing they employ. For example, is the language particularly complex and academic or is the style more easily accessible and plain? You will also need to be aware of the style of referencing and of the abstract: getting this right at the submission stage will help make your paper that much more attractive for selection by the publisher. This close analysis will also help you to identify current research interests and gaps in the research that your study can look to address.

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There are, of course, thousands of journals, but what at first can seem a dizzyingly high cliff to climb can usually be whittled down by selecting only those journals which specialise in your particular area of research and which publish articles most relevant to your area of study. You can then work out from these, but only as far as you need to.

Once you have completed your research, painstakingly drafted your paper, checked it, revised it and prepared it, you gather up the courage and submit to your chosen publisher. There is no avoiding the wait that will then ensue as the publisher gets round to reading your submission and decides whether they will accept it and if so, when it is to be published. This process could take months, and when you do receive a response, it may be a rejection, whereupon you will need to seek an alternative publication to submit it to. Thorough research in the early stages will mean you have a list of publishers in the order in which you want to submit, so it may mean moving down that list several times over the course of many months.

Inevitably this process can be frustrating and it can be disheartening. The longer a period of time that ensues between drafting the paper and publication, the older and less relevant the results of your research becomes. Alternatively, you find that another article with similar theme is published instead - it is very difficult to come up with original research, as an earlier blog post points out.

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Feedback from the publisher can be harsh, or hard to take - after all, this paper is the results of months and months of planning, research, analysis, overcoming all sorts of challenges and the sheer graft of writing. However, it is important to look on the positive. If your paper is not quite to publishable standards, you have this opportunity to learn your shortcomings and improve. Sometimes it is a matter of presentation needing improvement and since this is different for each publisher, a rejection can teach you to ensure that you follow each publisher's guidelines closely. For example, a rejection could be triggered by not having enough theoretical basis in the literature review, leading to the results not being sufficiently guided by theory. This might result in a full re-write of the literature review, as well as alterations to the results section and discussion section of your paper as you endeavour to improve the theoretical basis for the results.

As with the research project itself, planning and preparation is essential to achieve success in publication of your paper. You can, of course, publish on-line either yourself or through various on-line publications. However, to achieve the recognition that your work deserves and your career requires, you need to achieve recognition by journals or magazines with the gravitas of publications such as the Oxford, Sage or Wiley journals. Publication in any of these journals is a gratifying reward for the effort of researching and writing a fitting paper. Practice makes perfect when learning how to submit for publication.

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Essential Ethics

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You have a keen interest in a particular area of study and you're chomping at the bit to get going with some original research - it's hard enough as it is to come up with an original idea to follow up and you know that the more time you spend getting geared up for the research, the greater the risk of someone else getting to publication first.  At this point, before you go any further, you have to pause and think - does this project fall within ethical guidelines?

Ethical approval is essential in any sort of research.  The coulds, shoulds and woulds of research must fall within the boundaries of scientific investigation and ethical norms in order to carry validity.

With Stage 2 training, as with any advanced degree such as a Masters, students have to go that extra mile in order to demonstrate impeccable ethical practice; arranging for an ethics committee to sign off a project alone is not enough.

There are guidelines for trainees to follow, including the BPS Code of Ethics and Guidance, and the DFP Resources pages, which provide ethical guidelines specific to Forensic Psychology.  These are the rule books which should provide the background to whatever work you carry out on any aspects of competence in the Stage 2 training.

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It helps to extend your thinking when planning your research in order to ensure that it falls within the guidelines. With technological advancements moving at lightning speed and within the easy grasp of trainees, the ethical guidelines agreed by committees may very quickly be left behind or fall short.  Trainees should demonstrate that they have applied the principles of ethical research to each situation and taken ethical issues into account regardless of whether committee guidelines have allowed for innovation.

For example, if using online survey tools, you should be checking what the survey providers do with the data submitted, how long this is kept, how secure it is and is the data sold on to third parties.  Their policies on the use of cookies or privacy will have to be looked into, always with a view on how these might affect the participants.

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The best way to cover as many of the ethical issues as possible is to associate the research with an organisation that has an ethical board who will consider and agree the project.  Without this, you and your supervisor will need to demonstrate thoroughly that all ethical issues have been considered and that they have been managed within overall guidelines.  In addition to this, I would recommend that you obtain permission or a statement from your particular governing body, such as the DFP or BPS before proceeding with the research project as this can be submitted as evidence that you have applied ethical consideration to your work and that you have been permitted to proceed.

Although I have focused on ethics in research, it is wise to remember that ethics permeates every core role in the Forensic Psychology Stage 2 training, and your approach and consideration to the principles of ethics will apply to training, assessment, intervention and consultation.  Ethics, in other words, is essential.

Readiness to Research and Publish

Research is a hot topic for trainees in this discipline.  It is also important for academics and professionals throughout their career, so it is essential for trainees to master the art of carrying out research and, equally important these days, having it published.  

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There is a current, rather heated debate on issues around publication of research.  There are those who voice concerns that there is a distinct lack of replicable studies, while others state that many published studies may replicate others but that this serves to confirm outcomes and push forward political or policy agendas rather than theory.  Critics of the latter focus on their belief that there currently exists too great an emphasis on novel research, or randomised control trials and that there is not enough theoretical development emerging from each study. 

Added to this discursive mayhem are the voices of those who point out that only particular types of research appear to be popular in terms of receiving funding, and there are those who complain of receiving unnecessarily caustic, even personal, criticisms from peer reviewers.  When faced with all this, as well as the ever-present possibility of rejections from editors, it is unsurprising that trainees will feel disheartened at entering this apparent academic minefield.

However, there are ways of achieving publication and recognition for your research.  A good starting point would be to ensure that if you are replicating a research study that you have a very strong case to do so - ideally you will show that you are addressing any recognised flaws in the original study, or you are developing a strand of theory that emerged from the original. If your rationale for replicating  a study is not solid,then it would be best to develop a novel research study.

Trainees in the prison service find themselves with an additional challenge to overcome since they generally have no options as to the research that they carry out: they usually will receive instruction on this as part of their duties.  Independent trainees are fortunate to have greater freedom, but their particular challenges are difficulties in obtaining both funding and access to participants. Research can sometimes be affected by the issue of access to participants since independents sometimes have to resort to researching with willing members of the public rather than a specific sample.

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The discussion must then be had on whether the first step for research is the theory or idea to be tested, or whether the research should be developed from the feasibility of certain areas of study.  When searching for research ideas either or both of these issues may be hugely influential.  

Ideas for research often do emerge from the participants that trainees can access.  To a much lesser extent, however, there are still possibilities to have an original idea by exploring the literature and the current research base and be able to create a successful proposal and gather relevant participants - so trainees do need to hold on to that thought.

Research does need to have a sound rationale based on existing academic literature, theory and  relevance in the current socio-political climate. Although, as scientists we might all wish we could easily research on subjects we feel are of pure scientific interest.  There is a two-fold purpose to this: firstly, the rationale will support at an ethical level why the researcher wishes to test participants; secondly, the rationale will provide a firm foundation with which to approach funding and supporting organisations, groups of participants, and, eventually, publications.

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With some creativity, trainees can develop a successful research proposal where they explore a field of study in which they have an interest, without funding, with access participants even if this might be time limited, and can find theoretical support or gaps in the current literature.  Trainees ought to consider these questions when contemplating developing a research project: Is this research going to be useful to the wider community and if so, why? Does this research open up the pathways to further study, and does it have implications for policy? Does it have current cultural and societal relevance and form a useful addition to the field?

I think most trainees have some great and creative ideas for research, but it is important to pare these down to those which have the attributes of relevance, feasibility and uniqueness in the field.  The research projects that can clearly show these attributes will be the successful projects.

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Trainee research projects do not have to be vast, however, trainees should be aware that though small,concise and thorough may be effective and achieve interesting results, they may be limited in terms of being attractive to publishers.  For example, pilot studies are rarely published unless part of a much wider piece of research.  It is much easier to achieve publication if the initial results are followed up and this work forms part of the paper presented.  Trainees looking to publish research may need to consider adding this dimension of time as a factor required in the research preparation and proposal.

The preparation of research studies is important to trainees and should be neither forgotten or underestimated.  With your supervisor and aided by your review of the literature, your initial ideas will be developed so that you can refine a hypothesis, define your aims, prepare your research questions, decide on the type of data you need and develop your methodology and analysis.  Working through all this with your supervisor will help you to move from an initial research idea into developing a working and feasible proposal and then creating a working project.

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A final, essential issue that must play a part in your preparation to research, is that of ethics.  In many ways, this should be obvious to trainees: research, in its idea and proposed execution, must be ethical, and wherever possible be approved by an ethical board.  Independent trainees who do not have access to an ethical board would be well advised to obtain confirmation of the acceptability of their research from the DFP or BPS in order to cover themselves and also their supervisor.  Furthermore, trainees should always demonstrate strong management of ethics by checking data protection usage and data storage, for example, if using online surveys with the general public.

The labyrinth that needs to be negotiated in order to achieve publication will be addressed in my post later in the month, but for now, happy researching.

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