In searching the literature, query letters are most common in the nursing and education fields. Query letters are commonplace for proposing topics for books or journal special editions, but less common for typical journal articles. Some sample query letters created by the authors based on our own experiences and aligned with survey responses can be found here. Typically, a query letter is submitted outside of the formal reviewing process employed by the journal for article submissions. For the purposes of this article, the survey, and interviews administered therein, the authors defined a query letter as an informal email to the journal concerning the suitability of the authors’ manuscript for publication by that journal. With this in mind, we set out to research editors’ views about and experiences with query letters. And we realized our personal experiences may not represent the gestalt. Yet when we have mentioned this practice to colleagues, the idea is often unfamiliar. One approach to overcoming these gaps in author-editor communication, which the authors of this study have employed, is to write query letters to potential publication venues. Meanwhile, journal editors are challenged to provide guidance to authors about best practices and how authors can engage more actively in the publication process.
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Since most librarians don’t learn about research or publishing in library school, 1 newcomers to the profession are especially likely to find journal article submission processes to be a mysterious journey, full of unwritten rules and hidden norms and expectations. However, authors typically begin at a disadvantage, with far less information about and power within the article’s review and publication process. More informal communication, well in advance of peer review, may also reduce author anxiety.Īuthors and editors have highly convergent interests in finding a good fit between an author’s work and the journal’s mission. By fostering connections earlier in the process, editors’ experience can help inform authors’ ideas and methodologies while it is still easy to correct course. Journals and other scholarly publications in library and information science (LIS) are exploring a variety of ways to empower and encourage authors to become more engaged in the publication process. Recent decades have seen librarians’ value for openness and transparency in scholarly communication manifest in ways beyond open source and open access. Thus, this article concludes with ideas for empowering authors and improving editor-author communication. Such editorial inconsistencies may contribute to authors’ uncertainty and anxiety. Yet editors expressed varying levels of enthusiasm and offered some divergent opinions. Results indicate query letters can be of great benefit to both authors and editors, if approached properly. A survey and interviews were conducted with LIS journal editors to explore experiences, attitudes, and opinions concerning query letters. Query letters may offer an effective way to increase author engagement in the scholarly communication process, yet they are not a common practice in library and information science (LIS). Meris Mandernach Longmeier and Jody Condit Fagan * Library and Information Science Journal Editors’ Views on Query Letters