The Hook Getting your grounded theory research Published

Abstract

I learned about the hook as a fledgling writer back in the late 70’s, and early 80s. I wrote about stepfamilies when almost
nobody else did (Stern, 1978, 1982a, 1982b). My big break came when I published an English-language version on how to do
grounded theory. In my field, nursing, grounded theory was the buzz word of the day, but few nurses had a sociological background, and thus the vocabulary to be able to understand the Glaser and Straus description (Stern, 1980). That article kick started my career as a writer and researcher. There was a time when it was required reading for graduate students in nursing around the world. Twenty nine years after its publication, I got a request for a reprint from a doctoral student in New Zealand. What the hook consists of then is timing, a subject that has impact, and a title that sparks the interest of a potential reader. A classic example of all three is The Discovery of Grounded Theory (Glaser and Straus, 1967), a then new approach to sociological research. Sociologists were interested, but as the authors were based at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, they had an eager audience in the nursing community who were looking for a research method to formalize what they did as nurses.

From the point of view of a writer of articles and an editor, (19 years as Editor in Chief of the interdisciplinary journal, Health Care for Women International), I have a seasoned eye for what editors and reviewers are looking for: good science, of course, fluid writing, no doubt about it, a fresh look at a familiar problem, you bet, but there’s something else they want—the hook. They want articles that make their journals the go-to for the new black. What follows pertains to articles in refereed
journals.