Don’t just send in an essay or report you have previously written

A written journal article needs much more than this – if you’re unsure, check out other articles published in Reinvention, or in journals in your own subject area. Be aware that you will have a fair amount to do on your original work to turn it into a paper.

Read the style guide before you start

All articles submitted to a journal must conform to their style guide. Those that do not will almost certainly be returned to the author without being read, so be aware of the requirements before you start. Please read and adhere to the Reinvention style guide if you wish to send your work to us.

Make sure you use an academic style and references

Your written paper will need a full bibliography, referencing works you have cited as well as those you have used to inform your work. Make sure you use a formal style of writing.

Ensure you have identified a gap in the literature

Academic journals require submissions to address a gap in the existing research literature. Make sure you are clear in your paper why your article is of interest to readers and how it is different to academic work already published on the subject.

Back up your assertions

Be aware that you should be able to justify everything you say: there should be no generalisations such as ‘everyone knows that …’ or ‘it’s true that most people tend to …’. Also don’t extrapolate from your findings that something is generalisable: even if your experiment has found something to be true, it does not mean that it holds true for the entire population, ensure that your conclusions are in line with the scale of your research.

Check your permissions

If you have included images, tables, figures, etc which are not your own, be aware that we, and other journals, can only publish them if you have obtained specific permission from the copyright holders (we can help you with this if required).

Abstracts and keywords

An abstract and keywords are necessary for most journal articles and you need to think about them carefully (see the Abstract and Keywords section for further tips) – these are the means by which readers will find your paper and decide whether or not they wish to read it.

Pay attention to ethics

Be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that your research and its presentation are ethically sound. You must have permission from participants in your research to reproduce their words, image, responses, etc even if you have anonymised their contributions.

Check your work

Don't send your work off as soon as you have finished writing it. Leave it for a day or two and then proofread your paper carefully and don’t rely on the spell checker. If necessary read your work from the back page forwards so that you can concentrate on the proofreading and not get caught up in the argument. Double check all of your equations, tables, figures, etc for accuracy. Think about asking someone else to look at your work to check it - you will often see what you think a sentence should say and not what it actually does!