Reporting Research

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Reporting Research
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Completing the Research Process

• Dr. Robert Warmbrod of Ohio State asserts that
  the research process is not complete until the
  results are disseminated.

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Why disseminate research?

• It is a responsibility of a professional
• To improve the field by sharing knowledge
• To advance in the profession
• Promotion, tenure and other good things happen to
  people who publish their research findings

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Where to disseminate research

• Professional journals
• Conferences
• Monographs

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Professional Journals

• The Journal of Agricultural Education is the most
  prestigious journal in our field
• Extension is considered to be part of
  agricultural education. Thus this journal
  publishes both extension and education articles.
  It also publishes articles focused on
  agricultural communications.
• This Journal is published by the American
  Association for Agricultural Education.

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Journal of Agricultural Education

• Manuscripts submitted to this journal are
  triple-blind reviewed.
• This means the authors name is removed from the
  manuscript and it is sent to three people in the
  field to be evaluated for possible publication.
• JAE accepts about 40 of the manuscripts
  submitted for review.

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Journal of Agricultural Education

• Manuscripts up to 20 pages in length can be
  submitted for review
• Manuscripts submitted to this journal and other
  journals must be double spaced.
• Editorial policies for this journal can be found
  at http//pubs.aged.tamu.edu/jae/jae.pdf

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Career and Technical Education Research

• Formerly the Journal of Vocational Education
  Research.
• This is the most prestigious research journal in
  the broad field of career and technical
  education.
• Articles focus on the broad field of Career and
  Technical Education or may be discipline specific
  if the article has implication for other CTE
  disciplines.

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Career and Technical Education Research

• Manuscripts can be up to 30 double-spaced pages
  in length.
• Manuscripts are double-blind refereed.
• About 30 of the manuscripts submitted are
  published.
• This journal is published by the Association for
  Career and Technical Education Research (ACTER).

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Journal of Career and Technical Education

• This journal came into existence because some
  professionals in the field of Career and
  Technical Education believed the reviewers for
  the Journal of Vocational Education Research (now
  CTER) were too harsh and discriminated against
  qualitative research.
• The Journal is published by Omicron Tau Theta,
  a CTE honorary organization.

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Journal of Career and Technical Eduation

• Manuscripts are double-blind reviewed.
• Manuscript length can be up to 20 double-spaced
  pages.
• Unlike the previous two journals, each line in
  the manuscript is to be numbered.
• About 45 of the manuscripts are published.

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Convergence??

• Over the years the Journal of Vocational
  Education Research has published more
  quantitative articles and the Journal of Career
  and Technical Education has published more
  qualitative articles (it always has)

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Journal of Extension

• This journal is geared specifically to extension
  agents.
• Articles are a mix of research, commentary and
  sharing of ideas.
• Research based articles are reviewed by three
  others.
• Manuscript length is 3,000 words.
• This journal is published by the Cooperative
  Extension Service

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The Agricultural Education Magazine

• This publication is designed for teachers in the
  field
• Most articles are non-research based articles.
• Articles based on research are published but they
  are typically not written in a formal research
  style.
• Manuscripts are typically six pages or less.
• Manuscripts to be published are selected by the
  editor.

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2010 Themes Agricultural Education

• Jan-Feb An International View of Ag Ed
• Mar-Apr Developing Professional Relationships
  in the Local Community
• May-Jun The 1st 7 years Efforts to Reduce
  Teacher Attrition
• Jul-Aug Innovative SAE Programs for the 21st
  Century Students
• Sep-Oct Leadership Skills for All Ag Ed Students
• Nov-Dec Using 21st Century Technology in the
  High School Classroom

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NACTA Journal

• This journal publishes articles (primarily
  research based but some commentary) that focus on
  improving teaching at the university level in the
  agricultural sciences.

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NACTA Journal

• Manuscripts are double-blind reviewed.
• The Journal is published by the North American
  Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture
• The manuscript acceptance rate is about 50.

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NACTA Conference

• NACTA has an annual conference in June
• June 22-25, 2010 Penn State
• Theme is Collaborate, Communicate, Celebrate
• Papers and Posters are accepted
• Very High Acceptance rates

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Techniques

• Techniques is a magazine published for classroom
  teachers in Career and Technical Education.
• It rarely published research based articles,
  however each issue does have one research focus
  article written in a style appropriate for
  teachers.
• The publisher is the Association for Career and
  Technical Education

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Professional Conferences

• Researchers may submit papers to be presented
  orally at professional conferences.
• The primary conference for agricultural and
  extension educators is the National Agricultural
  Education Research Conference (NAERC).
• Papers presented focus on agricultural education,
  extension education, agricultural leadership,
  and agricultural communications.

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NAERC

• This conference is held once a year in May
• 2010 Omaha
• 2011 Coeur dAlene, ID.
• Papers submitted for presentation are
  triple-blind reviewed.
• The acceptance rate is typically around 40.
• The entire paper has to be submitted (not just an
  abstract as do some professional groups).

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NAERC

• Poster proposals are also accepted
• Research posters
• Innovative idea posters
• There is a very high acceptance rate
• Poster presenters stand by their posters and
  answer questions about their research

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NAERC

• Submitted papers are 12 pages in length, single
  spaced.
• Typically PowerPoint is used in presenting the
  paper.
• Papers presented are bound into a volume titled
  Conference Proceedings. This is distributed
  electronically.

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Regional Research Conferences

• There are three regional research conferences
  patterned after NAERC
• Southern (the strongest of the three, meets in
  conjunction with the Southern Association of
  Agricultural Scientists)
• February, 2010 Orlando, FL
• February, 2011 Corpus Christi, TX
• February, 2012 Birmingham, AL
• Western
• Central
• Accept both papers and posters

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Monographs

• Some universities and other agencies produce
  research monographs.
• A monograph is a nicely composed and printed
  document that condenses the research into a 10-15
  page document.
• This monograph is distributed to other
  researchers, the public and those who might have
  a particular interest in the topic.

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Some Guidelines for Reporting Research

• Dont write a manuscript, then try to find a
  journal in which to publish it.
• Before writing an article first identify the
  target journal and read other published articles
  in that journal to see what they are like and
  what is being published.

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More Guidelines

• Write in the third person
• Use terms such at The author or The
  researcher. Avoid using I, me, we, etc.
• Use past tense (after all, the research has been
  completed)
• Researchers tend to be cautious and use such
  terms as It appears or The data suggests. We
  dont climb out on a limb and say this is
  absolutely true.

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More Guidelines

• Basically, for research articles, follow the
  general outline of a thesis
• Introduction
• Need for the Study
• Objectives/Hypotheses
• Theoretical Framework/Review of Literature
• Methodology
• Provide detail on type of research, describe the
  population, discuss sampling procedures,
  instrument validity reliability, field test,
  data collection process, handling non-response
  issues
• Findings
• Conclusions Recommendations

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More Guidlines

• After writing the article, set it aside for a day
  or two, then reread it.
• Have a colleague read it and provide feedback.
• If it gets rejected, polish it up and send it to
  another journal

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Writing a Book

• Very rarely does one disseminate research
  findings by writing a book
• However books should be factual and should be
  supported by research
• Most books are written as textbooks

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So why write a book?

• You have a passion for a topic and want to share
  that passion.
• There is a need or gap in the field
• For promotion purposes at the university
• To make money

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Writing a book

• Conduct a market analysis to determine if there
  is a need for the book
• While it is nice to see your name on a book, it
  is a lot of effort. Thus, I would only write a
  book only if I could reasonably expect to be
  financially rewarded.
• Potential publishers will often conduct the
  market analysis if you approach them with an idea
  for a book.

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Securing a Publisher

• Develop a moderately detailed outline of the
  table of contents
• Write 1-2 sample chapters
• Submit above to a publisher
• In Agricultural Education the primary publisher
  is
• Cengage (formerly Delmar or Thompson Delmar)
• Sign the contract if everything is a go
• With commercial publishers there is no cost to
  the author
• Authors of high school text typically get 10
  royalty
• College texts 15

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What to Avoid

• Vanity Publishers
• You pay them to publish your book
• They dont make any effort to sell your book
• Some Vanity Publishers
• Steffans Publishing
• American Biographical Institute
• Vantage Press
• Xlibris
• AuthorHouse
• PublishAmerica
• Helms Publishing
• Tate Publishing