Negotiate!

Effective publishing of research depends on effective negotiation between researchers, editors, translators, publishers, and others. Many kinds of negotiation are needed. We all need to negotiate!

In the notes below (see highlighted links), I introduce some of the difficult issues we often face as researchers, writers, editors, translators, and publishers. Some people enjoy negotiation, others do not, but regardless of our personal preferences, negotiation cannot be ignored if we want to be effective in our work.

The first note offers two extreme scenarios of what can happen if an author fails to follow the usual steps required, and what can happen if they do follow the usual steps. For any particular piece of writing, these are life and death matters.

       The life and death of writing

It always surprises me when authors fail to acknowledge the help they have received when preparing a journal article or other research paper. This is probably because not all publishers require authors to provide acknowledgements. Some authors may have a mistaken belief that acknowledging help weakens their academic status. Here I argue that we should be as generous in our acknowledgements as the publisher will allow. This will lead to better relationships with the interpreters, assistants, colleagues, editors and others who help us in our research and publishing efforts.

       Acknowledging sources and help

Negotiation is at the heart of:

       Building trust and working relationships

Negotiating money and payment methods can create a lot of worry for all parties involved. It is best to investigate the usual methods of price calculation and payment (or gift-giving) in your geographical area, institution, and discipline before starting negotiations. For some more thoughts, see:

       Money and payments
     
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