Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks; A Guide to Academic Publishing Success

by Wendy Laura Belcher

• ISBN13: 9781412957014
• ISBN10: 141295701X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-01-21
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

"This book is a wonderful addition to a graduate course on professional writing, to a writers' group in need of some structure, or even to the lone writer who needs assistance becoming an academic writer." - Chronicle of Higher Education Wendy Laura Belcher's Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success is a revolutionary approach to enabling academic authors to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields. Each week, readers learn a particular feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. At the end of twelve weeks, they send their article to a journal. This invaluable resource is the only guide that focuses specifically on publishing humanities and social science journal articles.Key Features Has a proven record of helping graduate students and professors get published: This workbook, developed over a decade of teaching scholarly writers in a range of disciplines at UCLA and around the world, has already helped hundreds to publish their articles in peer-reviewed journals. Demystifies the academic publishing process: This workbook is based on actual research about faculty productivity and peer review, students' writing triumphs and failures, as well as the author's experiences as a journal editor and award-winning author. Proceeds step by manageable step: Within the context of clear deadlines, the workbook provides the instruction, exercises, and structure needed to revise a classroom essay, conference paper, dissertation chapter, master's thesis, or unfinished draft into a journal article and send it to a suitable journal. Targets the biggest writing challenges: This workbook focuses squarely on the most difficult tasks facing scholarly writers, such as getting motivated, making an argument, and creating a logical whole.Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks can be used individually or in groups, and is particularly appropriate for graduate student professional development courses, junior faculty orientation workshops, post-doc groups, and journal article writing courses.Wendy Laura Belcher is assistant professor of African literature at Princeton University in the Department of Comparative Literature and Center for African American Studies. She has taught journal article writing workshops in North America, Europe, and Africa. Praise for Wendy Belcher and Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks "A comprehensive, well-written and beautifully organized book on publishing articles in the humanities and social sciences that will help its readers write forward with a first-rate guide as good company." -Joan Bolker, author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day'œHumorous, direct, authentic '¦ a seamless weave of experience, anecdote, and research.' -Kathleen McHugh, professor and director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women 'œA useful text that will be an excellent resource for any writer attempting to publish their work.' -Larry Chandler, Graduate Student 'œWendy Belcher's book is revolutionizing the way young

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Using This Workbook

Goals of the workbook

History of the workbook

Philosophy of the workbook

Pedagogy of the workbook.

General instructions

Using the workbook according to your temperament, discipline, or career stage

Using the workbook by yourself, with a writing partner, in a writing group, with coauthors, or to teach a class

Feedback to the author.

Designing Your Plan for Writing

Instruction: Understanding feelings about writing

Keys to positive writing experiences

Designing a plan for submitting your article in twelve weeks.

Exercises: Selecting a paper for revision

Choosing your writing site

Designing your writing schedule

Anticipating and overturning writing obstacles.

Starting Your Article

Instruction: Types of academic articles

Myths about publishable journal articles

What gets published and why

Abstracts as a tool for success

Getting started on your article revision.

Exercises: Hammering out your topic

Rereading your paper

Drafting your abstract

Reading a model article

Revising your abstract.

Advancing Your Argument

Instruction: Common reasons why journals reject articles

Main reason journal articles are rejected: no argument

Making a good argument

Organizing your article around your argument

Exercises: Drafting your argument

Reviewing your article for an argument

Revising your article around your argument

Selecting a Journal

Instruction: Good news about journals

The importance of picking the right journal

Types of academic journals: nonrecommended, questionable, and preferred

Finding suitable academic journals

Exercises: Searching for journals

Evaluating academic journals

Matching your article to suitable journals

Reading relevant journals

Writing a query letter to editors

Making a final decision about which journal

Reviewing the Related Literature

Instruction: Reading the scholarly literature

Types of scholarly literature

Strategies for getting reading done

Identifying your relationship to the related literature

Avoiding plagiarism

Writing about others' research.

Exercises: Evaluating your current citations

Identifying and reading the related literature

Evaluating the related literature

Writing or revising your related literature review.

Strengthening Your Structure

Instruction: On the importance of structure

Types of structures

Article structures in the social sciences and humanities

Solving structural problems

Revising for structure.

Exercises: Outlining a model article

Outlining your article

Restructuring your article.

Presenting Your Evidence

Instruction: Types of evidence

Writing up evidence in the social sciences

Writing up evidence in the humanities

Revising your evidence.

Exercises: Discussing evidence in your field

Revisiting your evidence

Shaping your evidence around your argument.

Opening and Concluding Your Article

Instruction: On the importance of openings

Revising your opening and conclusion.

Exercises: Revising your title

Revising your introduction

Revisiting your abstract, related literature review, and author order

Revising your conclusion.

Giving, Getting, and Using Others' Feedback

Instruction: Types of feedback

Exchanging your articles.

Exercises: Sharing your article and getting feedback

Making a list of remaining tasks

Revising your article according to feedback.

Editing Your Sentences

Instruction: On taking the time

Types of revising

The rules of editing

The Belcher diagnostic test

Editing your article.

Exercises: Running the Belcher diagnostic test

Revising your article with the diagnostic test

Correcting other types of problem sentences.

Wrapping Up Your Article

Instruction: On the perils of perfection

Finalizing your article.

Exercises: Finalizing your argument, related literature review, introduction, evidence, structure, and conclusion.

Sending Your Article!

Instruction: On the importance of finishing

Getting the submission ready.

Exercises: Writing the cover letter

Preparing illustrations

Putting your article into the journal's style

Preparing the final print or electronic version

Send and celebrate!

Week X: Responding to Journal Decisions

Instruction: An exhortation

Waiting for the journal's decision

Reading the journal's decision

Types of journal decisions

Responding to journal decisions.

Exercises: Evaluating and responding to the journal decision

Planning your revision

Revising your article

Drafting your revision cover letter

Requesting permissions

On the importance of persevering.

End Notes

Works Cited

Recommended Reading

Index

About the Author

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