Providing the Final Touch: Guidelines for Finalizing Your Publication

You are very close to becoming a published author or editor. Your book or journal is in the final stages of preparation with a release date inching closer and closer. It’s an exciting time, and a relieving one, too, because your hard work will finally pay off. However, your hard work is not over quite yet.

After all, a research publication does not consist solely of research findings. You must furnish your publication with all the trappings of an excellent reference source: a table of contents, a preface, a list of your Editorial Advisory Board members, and more. These items help round out your research into a comprehensive publication by providing information about the information, in a matter of speaking.

A preface introduces your reader to your research, its objectives, and the impact it will have on the scientific community. An acknowledgment, if you choose to write one, is an opportunity to thank your contributing authors and reviewers. A list of reviewers provides recognition for those individuals who strove to ensure the publication contains the highest quality research. Clearly, these elements combined with your research create an excellent reference source that elevates its field and bolsters the credibility of those who worked on it.

IGI Global is more than happy to provide resources such as templates to aid editors and authors in supplying these materials, which are vital to the quality (and timely release) of your work.

Please see below a list of items pulled from our Editor Checklist for both edited reference books and scholarly journals. For each edited reference book, the editor(s) must include:

1. Table of contents: Which should include section divisions, the order of the chapters, chapter titles, and the contributing chapter authors’ names and affiliations. The page numbers will be added by IGI Global within the publishing process.

2. Foreword (Optional): A foreword guest authored by an expert in the field can provide an interesting perspective and overview of the topic and the publication. A sample foreword can be found here.

3. Preface: The preface must be between 3,000 and 4,000 words long, which is about 7-8 pages, and must follow the points outlined in the Editor’s Guide. A sample preface can be found here.

4. Acknowledgment (Optional): Acknowledgments can be an excellent way of thanking contributing authors, reviewers, colleagues, and editorial staff, for their role in bringing the publication to fruition. A sample acknowledgment can be viewed here.

5. List of Editorial Advisory Board members: A list of all participating editorial advisory board (EAB) members arranged in alphabetical order by their last name, with affiliation and country information included as well.

6. List of reviewers: A list of all participating reviewers arranged in alphabetical order by last name, with affiliation and country information included as well. If a reviewer is also part of the EAB, include their name with the EAB only. The reviewer list and EAB list should be compiled in the same document with headings that differentiate them.

For each journal, the editor(s)-in-chief must submit one per issue:

1. Editor’s note (Optional): An Editor’s Note provides an interesting introduction into the purpose of the journal and can highlight some of the broad topics of that issue.

2. Preface: The preface must be between 500 and 1,500 words long, roughly 2-3 pages. A sample journal issue preface can be found here.

Finally, if you include a case study written by an outside author, please provide a Case Permission Form, and if you include the transcript of an interview, provide the Interview Release Form. These forms will not apply to every book or journal issue, but please familiarize yourself with these requirements and provide the necessary permission forms if needed.

Templates for all of these items and more are available on IGI Global’s Contributor Resources page. If you have any further questions, please feel free to consult our Book Editor FAQ or our eEditorial Discovery® User Guide - Journals. With these alongside your research, your publication will be ready for official release, and your publication will be much more robust and complete because of it.