The Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School hosted a three-hour Learning session, The Publication Playbook: Tips, Tools, and Tactics, on April 25, 2026, via Google Meet. The event gathered graduate students, faculty, and external participants eager to strengthen their publication skills.
Dr. Margarita Felipe-Fajardo, Dean of Creative Endeavors, opened the session by citing CHED Memorandum No. 15, series of 2019. She reminded participants that postgraduate studies should contribute to society’s betterment, not just career promotion.
Publishing, she emphasized, should inspire scholars to create impact beyond academic obligations. The webinar objectives included structuring papers, finding journals, addressing reviewer feedback, and mastering writing tools.
Dr. Fajardo presented types of academic articles such as original research, reviews, case reports, and policy briefs. She highlighted the importance of correct author affiliation to enhance credibility and secure funding whenever possible. She also discussed co-authorship, presenting a sample credit author statement. Collaboration across disciplines, she noted, enriches perspectives and strengthens credibility. On journal selection, she advised using indexing databases like Scopus and Web of Science. Tools such as JANE and Elsevier’s journal finder were introduced to help authors identify credible outlets. She encouraged novice researchers to start with Filipino e-journals accessible through Philippine e-journals and EBSCOhost.
“Work your way up, rather than work your way down,” she advised.
Dr. Fajardo warned against predatory journals that promise quick acceptance and varying fees.
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” she cautioned.
She noted that a 20% acceptance rate is already relatively acceptable. Researchers were encouraged to aim for journals with rigorous standards. Addressing reviewer feedback, she explained rejection, resubmission, and acceptance outcomes. She stressed resilience and professionalism, citing common reasons for rejection such as scope mismatch and plagiarism.She emphasized the importance of responding politely and professionally to reviewers, even when disagreeing. Persistence, she noted, is more important than brilliance in achieving publication success.
Dr. Fajardo cited Mary Cushman’s article How I Respond to Peer Reviewer Comments as a model for constructive rebuttals. She outlined qualities of accepted articles: originality, completeness, and adherence to ethical standards. For efficient writing, she recommended tools like Research Rabbit, Jamovi, SciSpace, Turnitin, and MyBib. Dr. Fajardo said that these resources help streamline literature mapping, data analysis, and citation formatting. She also introduced Jamovi and QDR Miner Lite for data analysis. In addition, SciSpace was highlighted for structuring papers effectively.
In her conclusion, Dr. Fajardo urged scholars to dedicate a daily “golden hour,” which is a focused period free from distractions for writing. She shared her personal ritual of prioritizing tasks and disregarding unrelated work during this time.
During the Q&A facilitated by Miss Jonah Mae Ebona, Dr. Fajardo shared her litmus test for predatory journals. She advised checking the editorial board, author guidelines, and publication fees on the journal’s website.
She noted that credibility can often be gauged by the transparency of information provided. Journals with clear peer review processes and DOI validation are more trustworthy.
The webinar ended with participants gaining technical strategies and renewed motivation to publish with integrity. The session reinforced that persistence, collaboration, and ethical practice remain the cornerstones of academic publishing.
Written by:
CHRISTIANNE O. ROMANO, PhD cand.
Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Development
Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School
