efore Submission

This page is not about what you should do when you submit a paper to IREF. Rather, it includes some suggestions about what you could do to protect yourself from the apparently relentless editorial process of IREF or other journals.

Prepare a "perfect" cover and an abstract
- The cover page should contain complete correspondence information about the submitting author: (i)address, (ii) telephone and fax numbers, (iii) email address. This enables the editorial office to contact you quickly when the need arises.
- Include the current date (month and year).
- The abstract should be on the next page. This insures that when the cover page is ripped off for any reason, the abstract will reach the referees.
- Eliminate typographical errors in the cover page and the abstract. This is an absolute minimum courtesy. Of course, you have to check the spelling for the entire paper, and should do so every time you revise the paper. If the referee knows that the paper is prepared in a rush, s/he is more likely to recommend a rejection.
Is it wise to make your working paper available on the Internet?
- Get ready for the future of publishing. Most journals will become available electronically over the coming years. Hard copies may still be available, but they will be expensive because of limited print runs. They may become collectibles in the next century.
- You may put the abstract on the World Wide Web (WWW), but it is not advisable to post the article itself.
- Whether or not such articles are copyrighted by the electronic media, they may not be suitable for publication consideration in other journals. We are moving into uncharted waters. In the electronic age, the meaning of "publication" is likely to be redefined.
- During the transition period, some journals may publish articles that were "published" before on the Internet (any electronic working paper series). But as major journals move to electronic publication, there is virtually no distinction between these electronic journals and electronic working papers.
- Why should a journal (which will soon be electronically available) publish an article already "published" in an electronic medium before? If it is already on the Internet, you might consider withdrawing it before you submit it to a journal. After the paper is accepted for publication, you can reinstall it on the Internet.
- For legal purposes, the electronic publications are treated as publications. But for tenure and promotion purposes, your institution determines if they will count as publications. This might be a problem.
Do not exceed 30 pages
- If this is difficult, at least keep the text within 20 pages.
- Referees are not likely to return their reports on long manuscripts within six weeks.
Remove negative clues from the paper
- In the acknowledgement, remove any reference to when the paper was conceived or written.
- Do not indicate how often the paper has been revised. You can include this information as a non-printing comment for yourself.
- In references, eliminate any references to papers that were "forthcoming" some time ago. This indicates that your paper is not current.
- Do not cite your own unpublished papers; this reveals your identity.
- Cite your dissertations at your own risk. The referees might think you are inexperienced. If you cite someone else's dissertation, indicate that it is not by the author(s).

Writing in the old days: An archaic tablet at the Louvre, Paris. (John Heise)