LIRIC Journal
Research and writing for wellbeing
LIRIC FAQ
Why should I submit to LIRIC? What do I gain from writing a LIRIC article?
Writing up your practical or theoretical ideas is a useful way to consolidate practice. This brings clarity, insight, confidence, and is a succinct way to share complex processes with others in the same field.
Sharing and publishing your work brings the spotlight to you as a practitioner, demonstrating your interests and expertise. Having a published article in a peer review journal can also enhance your career progression especially if you work in academia: practitioners can also create links between their personal websites and published papers.
What tools or background do I need to have to submit? How do I know my work is worth submitting?
To submit to LIRIC you need to be practicing with, or reflecting on, an area that impacts words for wellbeing, or a related field which can inform therapeutic writing practice, such as other arts, art therapies, or therapeutic practices. Awareness of ethical issues and an ability to be self-reflective, and reflexive, may be a regular part of your work. You don’t need to be an expert, simply a person with something useful to share with others interested in the field.
We ask people interested in submitting to send a proposal prior to submission, so that you can ascertain the suitability of your contribution before investing too much writing time.
Once articles are submitted, they are peer-reviewed, so you will receive useful feedback on your work to support its progress towards publication.
How do I find my 'question'? How do I know if I already have one?
You don’t necessarily need a question to pose, but you need to offer a perspective, so consider the roots of your area of interest, and what is already happening in the field of therapeutic writing in relation to your topic and what your article might add. You can use the article to bring both of these aspects to the reader’s attention.
How do I access current and existing research?
Lapidus website has a useful Bibliography that may give you leads to books and articles relevant to your area. Web-based platforms, such as Research Gate and Academia.edu also provide links to articles and sometime direct links with authors. It is often fruitful to search online using Google Scholar; and the British Library holds a searchable repository of electronic theses. If you are a student, you probably have access to searchable databases through your institution.
What ethical considerations do I need to take into account?
Every article brings some ethical considerations into focus and each article will vary in those ethical concerns. As a starting point, before you write your article, consider whether the information you are sharing belongs to you. Who else is implicated in your work; perhaps an intimate other, a colleague, or participant? What do you need to do if this is the case?
If you are setting out to research with others, you need to be clear beforehand that you are conducting research, and always gain written consent for any work you do together, and any learning that you would like to share. It is essential to offer an option to withdraw consent prior to the article’s publication; to explain the possible implications of publication and to share the completed work with participants.
It is important to consider the ways in which you will preserve a participant’s privacy or anonymity if this is what they want after discussing the implications of being involved in you research. The same applies for information that may make others (such as workshop participants) easily identifiable, such as photographs, locations, relationships and the content of the writing.
All citations of other people’s published work need to be referenced, so that you are crediting the authors of theoretical and creative pieces used in your article, e.g. academic papers and previously published creative work.
Are there any tips about how to turn a dissertation into a LIRIC paper?
Yes, our tip tips can be downloaded here. Additionally, APA have provided an excellent guide to "Adapting a Dissertation or Thesis Into a Journal Article" here.