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Because the requirements of journals vary, it is important to study editors' expectations and to try very hard to meet them, Mr. Henson reminds writers who aspire to see their bylines in the pages of professional publications. Almost a dozen years ago I began surveying journal editors and asking them those questions that contributors who spend their time and energy writing for publication most need to have answered. In Table 1 I have summarized the responses to the most recent survey (conducted in the spring of 1995). It represents an 87.5 % rate of return for the 49 questionnaires I mailed.(1) When choosing a journal to which to submit your manuscript, you should first decide what you wish to achieve by your writing and then select a target journal accordingly. For example, if your purpose in writing is to reach a large audience, you should avoid journals that circulate to only a few hundred readers. The circulation of the journals I surveyed ranges from 200 to 200,000. Once you have selected the journal that best meets your goals, carefully craft your manuscript to meet that journal's specifications. Pay close attention to such items as the journal's status, whether or not it employs a format, whether it publishes themed issues, what its acceptance rate is, how long its turnaround time is, what length its editors prefer manuscripts to be, what its policy on revisions and re-submissions is, and how its editors prefer to communicate. Some fresh information on each of these items follows. Refereed Status Because many authors write to earn tenure, promotions, and merit pay and because many universities reward only those publications that appear in refereed journals, I devised a system to rate a journal's status. I allot one point each for three practices: 1) sends manuscripts to reviewers, 2) provides a rating instrument for reviewers, and 3) conducts anonymous (i.e., blind) reviews by withholding the author's name and institutional affiliation from reviewers. According to this rating system, 85% of the journals in my survey are to some degree, and more than half (59.2%) scored a full three points. Interestingly, some of the most prestigious journals are not refereed. Though publication in such journals is still a mark of professional distinction, academic authors who ignore a journal's could defeat one of their purposes for writing. Research Format Another factor that seems to heavily in the reward system of many universities is the research status of a journal. This characteristic is also difficult to measure. I asked the editors I surveyed whether their journals follow a reporting style (i.e., problem, methodology, results, and so on). Research journals have a long-standing reputation for low acceptance rates and long turnaround times. Thus I was shocked to learn that in this study the journals that used a style had both a higher acceptance rate (31.6% versus 25.2%) and a shorter turnaround time (11.6 weeks versus 18.8 weeks) than other journals. The message is clear: do not base your choice of journal on old assumptions about acceptance rates and turn-around times; use Table 1 instead. But, as always, once you have made your selection, carefully follow a journal's style. Some authors are in disciplines in which only articles count for promotion and tenure. Consequently, they should seek to write articles that report research. However, other authors ask whether they should consider writing other kinds of articles, such as think pieces or articles with practical suggestions. I asked the editors I surveyed to indicate the percentage of articles in their journals over the past year that reported research. Almost half of all articles in these journals (46.6%) report some research. Based on this response and related responses from previous surveys, I encourage all writers to consider including some data in their manuscripts. …
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