See also, Information for Authors
From, the Society for Applied Anthropology Newsletter
Vol, 12, No. 1
REPORT FROM THE HO EDITOR
By Donald D. Stull
<stull@lark.cc.ukans.edu>
University of Kansas
"I think that the president and many others have misinterpreted my writings, which are written in a very academic context, which are very nuanced, which are very ponderous."
Lani Guinier, June 5, 1993
"Easy reading is damned hard work."
Nathaniel Hawthorne, as quoted by Maya Angelou on the Today Show, January 19, 1993
As I write this column, the HO staff is working on the Summer 2001 issue -- our tenth. It is hard to believe the time has gone so quickly. The first year we didn't know whether we were coming or going much of the time, but since then it has been smooth sailing except for a few swells.
Through the first three-quarters of 2000, we maintained an average of 90 days from the initial receipt of a manuscript until we reached a decision on it. In fact, we took an average of 17 fewer days to review and evaluate first-time submissions than authors did to revise their accepted manuscripts for publication (107 days)! Once we received an acceptable revised manuscript, we invariably brought it to publication in one to two issues. The average time it took us to publish an accepted manuscript (including authors' revision time) was 251 days. In fact, our average time to publication would have been much shorter, had one author not taken 14 months to revise a manuscript. Now tell me, where else can you go to get that kind of turnaround? And Human Organization comes out on time -- every March, June, September, and December.
Yes, I am bragging. Why not? But I also want you to know that we are on the scout for good manuscripts. We will process them promptly and fairly, and we put them into print as fast as anybody in the business. I hasten to add that we will also continue to maintain our journal's high standards-- only about one in four initial submissions will be accepted. And even when manuscripts are accepted, they often require considerable revision before being published. But you can tip the odds in your favor -- and make our job much easier in the process.
Before submitting a manuscript to Human Organization carefully consider whether HO is the best place for it. Review past issues to see if your manuscript is akin to what we have published previously, and if you aren't sure whether it is a good fit, feel free to e-mail me or give me a call (785-864-2641) to discuss it. Before submitting, carefully read -- and follow -- the "Guidelines for Preparing and Submitting Manuscripts" in Vol. 58 (3): 349-350. Publishing in Human Organization is a privilege, not a right. You may not like our requirements for submission, formatting, or graphics, but we have them for good reason, and we enforce them. It will be much easier on us -- and you -- if you abandon your wicked, wicked ways, stop questioning authority (in this instance), and follow instructions. We'll love you for it, and it will mean fewer headaches for you in the long run.
When preparing your document, remember E. B. White's dictum: "Simplify, simplify." Use the default commands for everything, and don't embed commands and codes. They give us fits. When preparing graphics, do not embed titles within the graphic -- type titles on a separate page and leave their placement to us. And please don't do anything fancy. When in doubt call or e-mail our design editor, Laura Kriegstrom (785-864-9120 <lstull@ukans.edu>), and she can tell you what works for us -- and what doesn't. Or visit our Web site for the column she wrote in Vol. 11, No. 3, of this Newsletter (August 2000).
We do our best to select appropriate referees for manuscripts, but our expertise is finite, and finding qualified reviewers for some manuscripts can be daunting. We welcome authors' suggestions for competent and objective persons to review their work. If you do wish to suggest potential reviewers, please provide postal and e-mail addresses.
But most of all, please remember that Ms. Guinier did not get the job in large measure because her writings were "written in a very academic context, which are very nuanced, which are very ponderous." And you will hurt your chances of getting published in HO if you write like her. We expect the articles we publish to be well researched, well-reasoned, and relevant to applied social science and public policy. We also expect them to be clearly written, carefully copyedited, and to the point. The more you stray from the standards of good writing you first learned from Strunk and White (The Elements of Style, 1979, Macmillan) the more you invite editorial intrusion -- and ire. Neither of us wants that. We'll be waiting eagerly at our mailbox for your next manuscript. Please don't disappoint us.
"Writing is adding; editing is subtracting."
Michael Larsen, 1994
"Most editors are failed writers - but so are most writers."
T.S. Eliot
