Sample Reader Comments and Reviews

This book is a must for any European student or scholar who wants to publish in top journals. To learn how to make your writing style more attractive to those journals, definitely start with Getting Published in International Journals. It systematically takes you through all you need, from building strong sentences and writing effective paragraphs to framing and assembling the entire article according to a well-done journal analysis. You will want to use this book over and over. You will also start reading articles differently—and more easily adapt your work for publication in your target journal."

—Uschi Backes-Gellner, Prof. of Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, University of Zurich

Reid’s book demystified the art of academic writing for me. It helped me achieve clarity and logical progression in my writing and, I believe, made me a better researcher along the way. I highly recommend this book to both junior and senior European social science scholars.

—Kristian B. Karlson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Copenhagen

Both [this book’s] perspective and its contents are invaluable. All social scientists should read it and keep it on their desks for frequent referral."

—Jon Kvist, Professor, Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University

Reid’s book is unique in offering many nitty-gritty details on how to write sentences that achieve impact. To avoid receiving rejections, first ask two scholars with records of journal article publications to read your paper and make comments for revision—and mention them in your submission letter. Second, use the examples and recommendations in Reid’s book in a checklist of necessary pre-submission steps. Because Reid’s book provides so much sound advice with in-depth examples, major improvements will follow every time you refer to it and make revisions before submitting your paper."

—Arch. G. Woodside, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Business Research

This book will be as valuable to native speakers as it will to its intended audience. It should be a required college textbook (the Harbrace College Handbook pales beside it)! As a teacher of Freshman Comp, I would have welcomed it."

—Carol Faulkner Peck, Assistant Prof. Emeritus,
University of Maryland University College

I have found the book to be a fantastic reference for writing, and have already encouraged many of the international graduate students in the department to purchase their own copy. They have found it exceedingly useful."

—Jocelyn Viterna, Assistant Prof. of Sociology and of Social Studies,
Harvard University

If an editor or proofreader is seeking scholarly clients whose first language isn’t English, or is already working with such clients, Getting Published in International Journals can be instructive. Natalie Reid examines the characteristics of English-language publications and the expectations of their editors and readers. Publications in other languages, Reid says, have dissimilar traits and dissimilar standards for their contributors. Using Reid’s detailed analysis, an editor or proofreader can escort European social scientists along the “arrow-like trajectory” that English demands, as they organize, write, revise and submit their papers. Clients thus enhance their chances of publication, which can otherwise be dim in the face of stiff competition.

The author tells anthropologists, economists, political scientists and sociologists to scrutinize journals in their fields; select the one that’s most likely to accept a particular paper; and then design the paper to conform to that journal’s requirements before beginning to write. Revisions should match those requirements meticulously.

Despite Reid’s emphasis on “contrastive rhetoric” and Aristotelian logic, she concentrates on practical advice, not theory. In fact, about half the chapters rehearse the techniques of good writing and editing, providing a refresher course to the reader whose first language is English. This material—including a 17-page discussion of squinting, misplaced and "inexcusable" dangling modifiers—is familiar without feeling stale. Wordworkers with international clients will also appreciate the comparisons of American and British usage....

Getting Published in International Journalssimultaneously advises the European social scientist and the English-speaking editorial professional how to avoid common flaws while developing a logical argument that fits the rhetorical traditions of English. And the editorial pro can cite Reid when counseling a skeptical client who growls, "Who says so?" and "How do you know?"

—© 2011, Marie Shear, EFA Freelancer book reviewer
(excerpted from Sept-Oct 2011 issue)