New Scholars Writing for Publication.

A spiring scholars rightly recognize publication of their first peer-reviewed paper as a critical career milestone. It signals active engagement with the discourse in a field and contribution to the body of knowledge. As editors, we celebrate along with those who receive a decision letter beginning with “Congratulations!”, even as we also applaud the efforts of all students advancing into the publication arena with query letters and first submitted papers. Student and trainee publication is thrilling in a positive way when it is successful but, in many cases, is also fraught with challenges and pitfalls. Inexperience and competing interests in the high-stakes endeavor of academic publishing can generate a quivering of negative emotion when the process goes awry. As editors, we see the gamut of beginning publication experiences. Our purpose in writing these editorial comments is to provide information about some common issues and guidance about how to best approach them to engender a positive experience.