Hi all, I have had an abstract accepted at the following conference: http://www.fesi.org.mx/eventos/global/2005/indexeng.htm Do you think it is worth travelling from the top of the world (Australia) to Mexico to present and attend? They suggest that papers will be subject to peer review etc, but do you think this is a worthwhile investment? Cheers, George
Having the vested interest in other cultures that I do (i.e. I love meeting people from other countries) & the fact that I have such an interest in education in general I would be thrilled to attend this conference. Additionally, I could use a vacation so that'd be another good reason. I realize that you'd have a long flight, but I, personally, would make every attempt to attend a conference such as this one if I were given the chance.
Congratulations on having your abstract accepted. The conference looks worthwhile and I would encourage you to go. I have presented over 60 papers at professional conferences and is has been one of the more enjoyable experiences of my career. I always return invigorated and with many new ideas gathered from interaction and exchanges with the leaders in my field. Tony Pina Administrator, Northeastern Illinois University
Thanks for all the thoughts - most appreciated. I spoke to my supervisor today and he suggested it would be better to spend more time/ effort and, hence, money in seeking to publish in a refereed journal. I tend to agree, I think. Cheers, George
I tend to agree, I think. George, I think that statement indicates that somewhere, deep down you actually want to attend. Based on that, I have a feeling that if you don't go you may actually regret it (at least for awhile). However, I realize that time & expenses are huge factors. I believe you'll make the right call. By the way.... congratulazioni!
Actually, some of the best feedback for preparing your papers for journal publication can be gained at professional conferences. These are where the people who publish in journals go to share ideas with each other. Sometimes the publishers thamselves and the calls for papers are featured at such conferences. Two of my latest publications were as a direct result of solicitations that I received while attending/presenting at professional conferences. Tony
George: Congratulations! If I had such an opportunity -- and could afford it -- I would certainly attend. Mainly for the reasons that Tony has mentioned. Tony: Thanks for shedding light on this topic. Your comments are very helpful. Two questions: * Would you mind sharing the topic of your work and the name of the publications in which they will appear? * Does one have to be affiliated with a university in order to publish in peer-reviewed journals? This past year, while doing research for a couple of projects, I called on a number of historians and university profs. Every single one of them wanted to know what school I was affiliated with. They seemed surprised that I was doing this work on my own, as an "outsider." I got the feeling that if you're outside the ivory towers, you face an uphill battle in academic publishing. Is this usually the case? Roscoe
Hi Roscoe, As I recall, the fist time that this occurred was about 10 years ago when I presented a paper on selecting and evaluating graduate programs in instrucitonal technology. The feedback that I received from my colleagues at the conference helped me to strengthen it in a few areas and have it published in Educational Technology. Currently, I am preparing two journal articles for submission, one having to do with integrating service learning into teacher education and the other on how to institutionalize distance learning programs at colleges and universities. Sometimes, your manuscript gets rejected by one journal, so you collect the feedback and either re-submit to that journal or submit it to another one. For this reason, it's usually unwise to mention the journals' names until you hear that they have accepted your article for publication. After these two, my next one might be the Ph.D. vs. Ed.D. study that I have been kicking about for some time (Degreeinfo regulars know Ph.d. vs. Ed.D. is one subject that I cannot resist commenting upon). Now, regarding yor institutional affiliation for publishing: You do not have to be affiliated with a college or university in order to publish for peer reviewed journals. While it is true that academic journals articles are usually authored by academics (who must often "publish or perish"), there are plenty of articles authored by people who do not list "University of XXXX" under their names. Some alternatives for affiliation listing would be the company for which you work or foundations or other organizations in which you belong. If the work is being done for a specific group, you could be listed as a consultant and use that title (especially if you incorporate). There are other possibilities as well--it's likely that you are affiliated with something that could be used. The process of peer-review (also called "refereed") in academic journals is for the editor to send copies of your manuscript to expert reviewers on their board (usually three of them). All references to your identitity or affiliation are removed before the manuscript is sent to the reviewers, so your affiliation should not matter at all. If your article is judged acceptable for publication by the reviewers and fits the style and focus of the journal, it gets published. If there is something that the reviewers find lacking, they may ask for a rewrite and re-submit or reject it as unacceptable. As you can probably guess, some journals have far lower acceptance rates than others. I hope that this helps. Tony Piña Administrator, Northeastern Illinois University
Not to be impertinent or evasive, but I agree with Tony. I hope George considers his thoughts. -Orson
