Writing a strong paper- Managing co-authors and time-scales

It is important that you keep your co-authors involved and aware of progressions within the publication process.

Let the co-authors know you are writing

You may want certain coauthors to provide written contributions for your paper on specific processing. If so, be sure to ask for these in good time – they are busy people too!

Keep them involved throughout the process! (Without bothering them incessantly! ) When you have a first draft complete and proofed by yourself, send it out. If they are good co-authors they have a vested interest in what is produced and will give good constructive criticism.

Be aware that you may get a variety of feedback, whilst it is good to listen, respect and acknowledge this - do not feel obliged to accept them all. It is okay to be wary of the critique you receive, do not assume they have necessarily read it thoroughly! But, at the same time, try to be neutral and understand where they are coming from with their comments. Try to keep writing style consistent throughout the paper.

It is best to ask your co-authors for feedback once or twice during the writing process. Send them a final version and inform them you wish to submit on xxx date. This will give them an opportunity to speak out if they wish. Be sure to send out a quick email throughout as the submission process progresses.

Time-scales

The expectations of how long it takes to write a paper vary wildly and will be different from person to person. One thing is almost guaranteed - it will take longer than you expect! Even if you quickly bash out a first draft you are happy with: Sit on it. Early drafts of papers are a far cry from the final result. After numerous revisions and iterations, expect to be submitting V40 of the paper!

Perhaps to aim for a 3 week period to get the first draft out. Politely ask for amendments to be returned by the end of the week (or another reasonable but stated time-scale.) Depending on the paper, it will take a few weeks more to get it into a submit-able state.

From my experience, papers with extensive sections provided by co-authors can be particularly time-consuming as the article is moulded into it's final state.