Scholarly Publishing Resources

The steps below provide a suggested workflow for the ideation, drafting, and publication process for a typical scholarly article. This is a template and is, of course, subject to modification to best suit your own personal circumstances.

You have an idea for a paper or research project! What should you think about at this stage?

1. Create an ORCID profile. An ORCID id is a unique identifier for you as a researcher. At various stages in the publication process you may be required to provide an ORCID id, such as when applying for a grant or submitting for publication. Therefore, it is best to go ahead and create a profile first before you reach any of those steps. Connect your ORCID id with GSU so that your affiliation information can be imported, and contact Pam about adding your publications to your profile.
2. Consider whether you want to use research management software. Research management software can assist in storing and organizing sources, and often include powerful tools that can assist with the process of reading and annotating documents. GSU provides access to several research management tools, and each have their adherents, including several faculty in the College of Law. Potential options include:
   • Zotero
   • EndNote
   • nVivo
   • Mendeley
3. Consider whether you want to seek grant funding for your project.
   • GSU's Office of Research Development provides assistance with identifying funding opportunities.
   • When you identify a potential external funding source, talk to the University Research Services Administration (URSA) Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) for help developing a budget, registering as a primary investigator (PI), and submitting a proposal.
4. Determine whether you are writing for publication in a student-edited law journal or a peer-reviewed journal. This decision will impact the format and length of your piece, as formatting for student-edited law journals and peer-reviewed journals can differ dramatically.
5. Determine if your project would benefit from the use of empirical data. If your project involves collecting or analyzing empirical data:
   • Consult with Pam and Dan about:
     • Pam: data availability and collection options
     • Dan: research design and options for analyzing the data
   • Review whether IRB approval is required and consult with the GSU Institutional Review Board as necessary.
   • Consider consulting with the University Library's Research Data Services team, who have expertise on empirical research in a variety of domains.
   • Develop a plan for data management and sharing using DMPTool. This is particularly necessary if you are applying for grant funding, as many funders require that a data management plan be submitted with the grant application.

You're ready to research and write your paper!

1. Tell Pam about your project. The Law Library continuously reviews materials for purchase, and we aim to purchase materials that will be actively used by faculty in their research. Additionally, we can let you know of new resources on your topic as we find them.
2. Write an abstract and submit it to the College of Law's abstract workshop. The College of Law holds an abstract workshop at the beginning of each fall semester, and this is a great opportunity to let others know what you're working on. You can also get valuable feedback on potential research directions from your colleagues!
3. Consider participating in the College of Law's Writing Accountability Group. The Writing Accountability Group provides an opportunity for you to join with others to set and track goals to help ensure that your project progresses smoothly to completion. Additionally, you can choose to participate in dedicated weekly writing time. If you are interested in participating, talk to Pam.
4. Consider whether you need assistance from the Law Library's pool of research assistants. Pam manages a pool of research assistants who can help with large or small research requests. Typical requests include literature reviews, fact-checking, statute and case law surveys, and just about anything a faculty member needs.
5. Once you have a draft paper, submit your draft to the College of Law's draft workshop. The workshop is held in winter of each year, prior to the spring law review submission cycle. Information about how to submit a draft is sent by the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development. 
6. Review posted calls for papers for external opportunities to workshop your draft paper. The University of Georgia Law Library maintains a blog collecting law-related calls for papers, Calling All Papers! Additionally, the Law Library has a weekly calls for papers email service, which collects calls for papers from all disciplines. Contact Pam about subscribing to these emails.
7. Consult with the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development about faculty exchange opportunities. The College of Law has established relationships with other institutions and may be able to provide you with an opportunity to visit another institution to workshop your paper.

Draft written and preliminarily vetted - on to submission!

1. Determine whether to post to SSRN pre-submission or post-submission. Your decision may depend on a couple of factors. If you want to stake your claim to your topic, or if you want to receive additional feedback on your draft, you may want to post to SSRN prior to submission. Additionally, some student editors review SSRN statistics to decide whether to make an offer for a paper. However, if you are looking to publish in a peer-reviewed or non-law journal, as those journals often either discourage or prohibit posting to SSRN prior to publication. Even if you do not post the paper draft, you may want to post an abstract instead.
2. Decide where to submit your paper. How you make this decision will depend upon whether you are submitting to student-edited law journals or to peer-reviewed journals.
   • Student-edited law journals: Since student-edited law journals generally allow simultaneous submission, you can choose to submit to many top-ranked journals at the same time. There are rankings and guides that can help you determine which journals to choose.
   • Peer-reviewed and non-law journals: Most peer-reviewed and non-law journals require exclusive submission, which makes it important to target your submission to the best fit for your paper. Again, there are methods to determine which journal is the best fit.
3. Make sure your paper is properly formatted. Most student-edited law journals accept papers with similar formatting. For non-law and peer-reviewed journals, the formatting may differ dramatically from journal to journal. Each journal will have an author instructions page that will contain information on how to format your paper.
4. Submit! 
   • Student-edited law journals: Most submission is either through Scholastica or via email. There are multiple guides on how to submit to various journals. Contact the College of Law's Business and Finance team regarding reimbursement of submission fees.
   • Peer-reviewed and non-law journals: Submission information varies depending on the journal, and is generally made available on the journal website. If it is not readily apparent where the submission information is, check under the "About the Journal" or similar section. Depending on the journal, you may need an ORCID id. If you do not have an ORCID id, contact Pam.
5. Track your submission and expedites. If you submit to multiple journals at once, make sure you have a system in place to track your submissions and any offers or expedite requests. 
6. Accept an offer! Feel free to ask your colleagues for advice.

You have accepted an offer of publication - what now?

1. Review your author's agreement. Ensure that you understand the rights you retain and the rights you give up in the author's agreement. More information is available through the University Library, particularly regarding rights surrounding the ability to post an article online on SSRN, Law Archive, and in the GSU Law institutional repository. If you are publishing in a Cambridge journal, you can publish your article under an open access license at no cost. Your author's agreement will also specify the version you can post, such as a pre-submission version or the "version of record" (the published article as it appears in the journal).
2. Post your article online. As long as you retain the right to do so, you may post your article yourself to SSRN or the Law Archive. Posting to the Law Library's institutional repository, Reading Room, is done by the Law Library, so please send your article to us for posting there. If you want assistance posting to any online site, contact Pam.
   • SSRN
   • Law Archive
   • Georgia State University Law Library Reading Room
3. Tell the world. Start with the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Law Communications, and the Law Library.
4. Add your publication to the monthly list of faculty accomplishments.
5. Deposit an off-print with the Law Library. The Law Library maintains a physical collection of faculty publications, and we would love to receive a copy of your publication to add to the collection!