Writing For Academic Journals

This revolutionary text is the product of thousands of hours of discussions with academics about their writing. Busy academics must develop productive writing practices quickly. To pass external tests of research output, academics must write to a high standard while juggling other professional tasks. This may mean changing writing behaviours.This book draws on current research and theory to provide new knowledge on writing across the disciplines and is jargon-free, user-friendly, practical, and motivational.

Rowena Murray is based at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. She is a visiting professor at Swinburne University, Melbourne.

Preface

xi

Acknowledgements

xiv

Introduction: Beyond reason and vanity

1

(8)

1 Why write for academic journals?

9

(27)

What is academic writing?

10

(1)

Can it be learned?

11

(1)

Is it innate?

12

(1)

Reasons for writing

13

(1)

Reasons for publishing

14

(1)

Internal and external drivers

14

(2)

Career implications

16

(2)

Research profile

18

(1)

What is 'research'?

18

(4)

Reasons for not writing

22

(1)

'I haven't done any research'

23

(1)

Intellectual capacity

24

(1)

Turgid writing

25

(1)

Narrow range

26

(1)

Pre-peer review

27

(1)

Guilt, fear and anxiety

28

(2)

Procrastination

30

(1)

The writing self

31

(1)

Team and collaborative writing

32

(1)

Barriers to writing

33

(1)

An integrative strategy

34

(1)

Checklist

35

(1)

2 Targeting a journal

36

(31)

'That's interesting!'

37

(1)

Getting to know the journals

38

(3)

Peer reviewed or professional?

41

(1)

Instructions for authors

42

(1)

Journals that 'count'

43

(1)

Analysing a journal

44

(6)

Working out what is acceptable

50

(1)

Becoming a scholar of the journal

50

(2)

Analysing abstracts

52

(5)

Defining genre

57

(2)

Joining the conversation

59

(1)

Cloning or creativity?

60

(2)

Mediating

62

(1)

Personal negotiations

62

(1)

Contacting the editor

63

(2)

Editors' responses

65

(1)

Wait time

65

(1)

Checklist

66

(1)

3 Finding a topic and developing an argument

67

(32)

Finding a topic

69

(2)

Conference presentations

71

(2)

Thesis

73

(1)

Freewriting

74

(7)

Generative writing

81

(1)

Writing to prompts

82

(3)

The writing 'sandwich'

85

(6)

Finding readers: critic, mentor, buddy and others

91

(2)

Finding a voice

93

(1)

Finding an argument

93

(1)

Formulating a hypothesis

94

(1)

Constructing an argument

95

(1)

The quality question

96

(1)

Calibrating your topic

96

(1)

Writing a working title

97

(1)

Checklist

98

(1)

4 Outlining

99

(18)

Level 3 outlining

104

(4)

Allocating word lengths

108

(1)

Writing an abstract - Brown's 8 questions

108

(6)

Outlining a paper - Murray's 10 prompts

114

(1)

Calibrating your outline

115

(1)

Checklist

116

(1)

5 Drafting

117

(20)

What constitutes good writing in journals?

119

(6)

Shaping sections

125

(1)

Streamlining

126

(1)

Turning headings into prompts

127

(7)

Internal critique

134

(2)

Checklist

136

(1)

6 Revising the draft

137

(15)

Foregrounding generic aspects of academic style

139

(3)

Revising the outline

142

(1)

Revising drafts

143

(3)

Generative writing

146

(1)

Using the writers' group

146

(1)

The critical friend and the 'tame' subject expert

147

(1)

Revision processes

147

(1)

Iterative processes

148

(1)

Developing a concise style

149

(1)

Polishing

150

(1)

The final revision

151

(1)

Checklist

151

(1)

7 Finding time to write

152

(17)

Incremental writing

154

(1)

'Binge' or 'snack'?

155

(1)

A writing plan

156

(3)

Goal setting

159

(4)

30-minute slots

163

(1)

Monitoring progress

163

(1)

Creating a place for writing in your life

164

(1)

Becoming a regular writer

165

(1)

A six-month writing programme

165

(3)

Checklist

168

(1)

8 Dialogue and feedback

169

(18)

A writers' group

170

(6)

Writers' retreat

176

(8)

Dialogue

184

(1)

More freewriting and generative writing

185

(1)

Checklist

186

(1)

9 Responding to reviewers' feedback

187

(27)

The 'grim reader'

188

(1)

Examples of reviewers' comments

189

(5)

Destructive feedback

194

(2)

What to do with hostile reviews

196

(1)

Contradictory comments

196

(1)

Rejection

197

(3)

Resubmission

200

(1)

Responding to feedback from editors and reviewers

201

(1)

What now?

202

(1)

Acceptance

203

(2)

Proofs

205

(1)

Offprints

206

(1)

Marketing your writing

207

(1)

What next?

208

(2)

Recycling and 'salami-slicing'

210

(1)

Writing a book

211

(1)

Developing a programme for writing

211

(2)

Checklist

213

(1)

Bibliography

214

(7)

Index

221

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