Crafting Papers for Publication: Novelty and Convention in Academic Writing

• Published date: 01 July 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12280
• Date: 01 July 2017
• Author: Gerardo Patriotta

Crafting Papers for Publication: Novelty and

Convention in Academic Writing

Gerardo Patriotta

University of Warwick

ABSTRACT In this article, I discuss how different social actors and established conventions

intervene in the construction of academic articles. I first provide a ‘backstage’ overview of the

review process at JMS, with a focus on how editors and reviewers influence the development

of a manuscript. I then discuss the use of conventions as a powerful tool for communicating a

message and conveying it to an audience. Next, I consider how authors use references to

engage in conversations with other scholars and establish the baseline for a contribution.

Finally, I reflect on the role of the reader as the ultimate recipient of a journal article. I

conclude with some considerations on the craft of writing for publication.

Keywords: communication, convention, novelty, text-building strategies, writing

‘I will tell you something that my father told me once: Your work has many things

correct and many things innovative. Unfortunately, the innovative things are not

correct and the correct things are not innovative’. Footnote.

PROLOGUE

Journal editors certainly have an exciting job: not only do they read studies at the cut-

ting edge of management research, but they also play a role in developing the commu-

nity of scholars. At the same time, when one is handling large volumes of submissions,

manuscripts start to look worryingly similar. This may lead to alienation, unless one

acquires an interest in learning from these similarities, identifying patterns, and under-

standing how they speak to the norms and conventions that define academic knowledge

and work. If one distances oneself from the content of submissions and their specific foci,

papers can be viewed under a different light, not as individual products, but as

Address for reprints: Gerardo Patriotta, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4

7AL, UK (gerardo.patriotta@wbs.ac.uk).

V

C2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 54:5 July 2017

doi: 10.1111/joms.12280