Tips for turning Seminar paper into a journal article

[manierata]

Hi all,

Was wondering what your thoughts are/ experiences have been in trying to turn a seminar paper into a journal article.  I have one that I think is quite good, presented it at a conference, and was told by some notable scholars to think about publishing it.  

 

I'm just not sure how to do that.  

 

I think I know a few journals it belongs in, I'm wondering if there's any major difference between a paper and an article that I'm overlooking, and whether it should be more focused or more expansive.  What do you guys think?

 

 

[fuzzylogician]

I haven't seen your seminar paper so it's hard to tell how you'd have to revise it to be ready for a journal submission, but generally journal paper standards are higher than what would be considered a good seminar paper. The prose needs to be tighter, the evidence stronger, the structure perhaps different. You should sit down with your advisor or maybe the professor who you wrote the paper for and ask for specific advice about how to make your paper ready for submission. One important aspect is to choose where the paper goes -- the audience, background you can assume and what should be the main point(s) will be different for different journals. There are also technical issues that might differ re: editing, length, standards. Then find out what's missing or could be strengthened - usually you'd need less of a lit review and you might want to structure it differently than a seminar paper, e.g. lead with the exciting findings and your theory, and have the 'lit review' or discussion of other theories towards the end (at least that's common in my field, and it's not how beginning students tend to structure their papers). This really depends on the specifics of your paper, chosen journal and standards in your field. Ask a professor!

[manierata]

thanks fuzzy logician for the advice.  i think i need to sit down with the latest edition of the journal i'm thinking of, and outline (for structure) their submissions.  that will give me a good idea on how to proceed i think, since the content of the paper is quite good.    thanks again.