PUBLISHING: Where

1
PUBLISHING Where How?

• Garrett van Ryzin
• Columbia University

2
Where should I publish?
WHERE?

• Two main criteria for choosing outlets
• Whats best for the work?
• Fit of the topic with the journal
• Audience
• Lineage (e.g. prior related works)
• Prestige
• Whats best for the authors?
• Journals valued by the authors peers,
  institution, etc.
• Portfolio considerations (e.g. It would be good
  to have at least one article in XXX journal..
• Prestige
• These objective may conflict!

3
A perceptual map of the options...
WHERE?
Management Science
Strategic
Operations Research
MSOM
Problem Focus
IJPR
POM
IIE Transactions
Tactical
Analysis
High Math
Low Math
4
Some rankings data (ISI 2002 data)
WHERE?
Top 20 OR/MS journals ranked by 2002 impact factor
5
Some rankings data (ISI 2002 data)
WHERE?
Top 20 Management journals ranked by 2002 impact
factor
6
Journal used by FT to rank B-schools
WHERE?
7
The publication process
HOW?

• STEP 1 Submitting
• Make sure you are really finished! (e.g. dont
  submit something and then realize 3 weeks later
  that you can prove a new result, generalize it,
  etc.)
• Take time to work on the literature review and
  relation to prior work.
• Avoid sloppy errors (grammar, spelling, equation
  typos) they create a bad impression.
• Think hard about potential editors, referees,
  etc. Who will really understand and appreciate
  the work?

8
The publication process
HOW?

• STEP 2 Interpreting reviewer feedback
• Dont take it too personally take two weeks to
  cool off first!!
• Recognize that you often have to discount some
  reviewers comments (double-blind reviewing leads
  to somewhat harsh tone in assessments)
• Try to understand the reviewers point of view
  Why are they reacting this way?
• Make a plan to address each point and be
  conscientious about implementing it.
• Remember Reviewers are helping you! (Though it
  may not feel like it.)

9
The publication process
HOW?

• STEP 3 Dealing with editors and reviewers
• Be polite and civil! Remember, reviews are..
• Volunteers colleagues
• Potential tenure letter writers
• Potential future referees
• Know when to hold em and when to fold em!
• A few battles are certainly worth fighting, but
  if you do so be extra professional and polite.
• Many other battles are not worth fighting because
• 1 years later you may still get NO for an
  answer
• You may irritate reviewers create an impression
  of being pushy and/or too enamored of your own
  work.

10
Closing advice

• What matters most is your reputation and that of
  your work, and this is driven by
• The quality of your work
• The quality of your interaction with colleagues
• Its a small small world!
• Doing the right thing (almost always) pays off
  in the long-run