Publishing pleading

14.05, 6 November 2009

An incident happened recently that I thought I would share as a gentle reminder… A student submitted an article to Midwives – something I always like to receive, because it is important that students have a voice within the publication. After email correspondence, she assured me that she hadn’t submitted the piece to another magazine and I did explain why I was asking, but low and behold, it in fact surfaces in another midwifery title just shortly after I have worked on the piece, my art editor has designed the page, and my picture editor has sourced images. This in itself (despite wasting three people’s time and effort) isn’t the problem. The problem is that I would be breaking copyright law if I reproduced exactly the same piece without permission from, or acknowledgement to the original publisher. This practice is also deemed within the publishing world as unprofessional – it’s just not ‘the done thing’, as I’m sure those ‘previously published’ midwives reading this are fully aware of.

When it comes to publishing, you should choose the publication you want to write for, tailor your work to its readership and if at all possible adhere to the publication’s author guidelines and then submit it. You should follow the review process and the correspondence through to the end, whether that is revision and publication or ultimately revision and rejection. If your work has been accepted for publication, and you have submitted it elsewhere, the very least you should do is inform the editor/editorial team immediately – preferably don’t do it at all!

I am pleading with all midwifery lecturers and educationalists, please please please could you pass this message on to your students. It would be very much appreciated.

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