Invited Workshop: Journal Editors’ Forum on Publishing Qualitative Research

This workshop is for any participant seeking to publish qualitative research and scholarly work in social work journals. The workshop brings together a distinguished panel of editors and researchers from four journals: Qualitative Social Work, Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research (online), Families in Society, and Clinical Social Work Journal. These journals are highly regarded in the profession and share commitments to rigor in social work research and publication. The editors describe the aim of their respective journals and the editorial decision-making process. Most important, they will create a discussion with participants about what constitutes a rigorous publishable qualitative study that influences practice and policy.

In this workshop, the editors contribute to the scholarly development of the participants by building skills related to successful publication. First, discussion will identify how to match the topic to a specific journal. Second, editors will describe their particular review process: 1) how are reviewers selected; and 2) how do they manage the author's response to reviewer comments (or what does revise and resubmit mean?). Third, editors will discuss the key features of successful articles they have published: aims, questions, methods, and discussion sections. Fourth, editors discuss how authors should specifically address the implications of their research for practice and policy. A chair will introduce the workshop aims and facilitate discussion. Each editor will offer a brief (12-minute) statement addressing the topics outlined above. The chair will then open the floor for questions and facilitate discussion among the editors and participants. The workshop will be interactive and aim to answer participant questions about publishing qualitative research.