All 30 entries tagged Issue

MRC at 50 – Conference & Special Issue Contribution Launch

Writing about web page https://warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/

MRC anniversary celebrations set the scene for an exciting future journal volume.

Yesterday I attended the 50^th anniversary symposium in honour of the Modern Records Centre (MRC) at Warwick. If you’re not been previously aware of the MRC and its work, the website and indeed the Centre itself is most certainly well worth a visit: if only to marvel at the variety and breadth of their collections. This diversity was a key element reflected across the spread of topics discussed at yesterday’s event. Speaker’s talked about their research which had all been generated – in part or in its entirety through usage of the MRC’s collections. From sex workers to trade unions through the French Resistance, disability and cycling: it was an undoubted smorgasbord of themes.

I recall, many years ago and in a previous post at Warwick, I had the opportunity to be walked through the MRC’s archive itself by the then Archivist. It was a rare opportunity to get ‘up close and personal’ with the ephemera, communications and collected papers of many significant figures in political, social and national history alike. Certainly, being that close to historical documents was a thrilling moment.

Since its founding though, the MRC has clearly had an impact far beyond Warwick itself. This was undoubtably reflected through the international scope of the discussions and presenters represented yesterday. I shan’t try and capture the essence of the day: there was so much to take in. Plus, I suspect offering this kind of perspective is an element which the special issue call we informally launched yesterday will do to a greater degree.

An archive of thinking and research to honour the archive itself!

Hence, we will be approaching all of the presenters, and a few other selected people too, over the coming weeks to invite them all to contribute a paper to this forthcoming special commemorative issue of Exchanges. I can assure readers that if its contents are anything like as engaging as yesterday’s talks, then you are in for a real treat! We hope to bring you the issue sometime in early to mid-2024, so watch out on our social media for more news as we get closer to the launch date.

My thanks to Pierre Botcherby and the whole MRC team for inviting Exchanges to form a modest but valuable marker of the MRC’s first 50 years of success!

A copy of the call for papers is now available.

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For more information on the MRC’s work or collections, visit warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ or contact archives@warwick.ac.uk. For more about the forthcoming special issue, contact Exchanges at exchangesjournal@warwick.ac.uk.

Gareth Johnson : 21 Sep 2023 10:41 |  Tags: Archives Collaboration Conference History Issue Launch Mrc Special |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Special Issue – Celebrating 50 Years of the Modern Records Centre

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/special-issues

Wouldn’t you know, it’s another special issue announced!

Following hot on the heels of our other special issue project announcement, I am delighted to announce that we have a second new special issue in production. This time we are partnering with the Warwick Modern Records Centre (MRC) as part of their 50^th Birthday celebrations, to produce a volume incorporating reflections, insights and narratives inspired around the MRC’s work over the decades. I am especially pleased as the lead collaborator, Pierre Botcherby, is someone I worked closely with on the Then & Now Special Issue a year or so back.

The special issue is going to specifically driven by the papers and speakers who appear at the MRC’s birthday conference (The MRC at 50: Research Informed and Inspired by the Modern Records Centre) this September (20th), and will be primarily critical reflections. The idea being in this way we can more rapidly produce the issue, and share it with the world before too many months have gone by. I am also pleased to note we’ve already recruited three associate editors to work on the issue, and am looking forward to training and working alongside them on the issue.

Naturally, more news on this and the conference over the next month or so, but for now, and just before your EIC heads off on a couple of weeks of leave, it is fantastic to have these two new and exciting projects in the offing!

Gareth Johnson : 19 Jul 2023 09:29 |  Tags: Announcement Birthday Issue Mrc Special |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Special Issue in Research Cultures Announced

Writing about web page https://warwick.ac.uk/research/supporting-talent/research-culture-at-warwick/

A new special issue project represents an exciting long-term collaboration between the journal and Research Culture programme.

We are delighted to let you know that we have partnered with Warwick’s Research Culture programme and the forthcoming Research Cultures Forum to produce a special issue. This issue, which we hope will mark the first of a series of annual collaborations, aims to comprise a range of critical reflections drawing on the sessions and speakers contributing to the conference. The conference itself is to be held Mon 25^th September 2023, details of which can be found via the link above.

One reason I am especially delighted to announce this collaboration, is due to the centricity of research culture work at Warwick at the moment. Personally speaking, research cultures were the area which triggered my PhD studies a decade ago – in my case relating to open access publishing habitus of scholars in the UK.

Naturally myself and the rest of the Editorial Board are looking forward enormously to working closely with the Research Cultures team over the coming months. With any luck, the issue itself should be out in the first half of 2024, and naturally I’ll be updating readers about progress both here, in the journal editorials and our monthly newsletter too.

Meanwhile in the background, the reviewers, authors, associate editors and myself are working feverishly to bring you the long-anticipated Pluralities of Translation special issue in the latter half of 2023. More concrete news on that exciting issue, as soon as I know more.

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For more on special issues and how they come about - visit our IAS pages. Or to see the past and future special issues programme, see the journal site itself.

Gareth Johnson : 04 Jul 2023 09:00 |  Tags: Announcement Collaboration Culture Issue Research Special Warwick |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Issue Published: Volume 10 Number 3

Writing about web page https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3

Spring brings with it the next regular issue of Exchanges

While it barely feels like five minutes since the last issue (it’s been about 6 weeks actually) we are pleased to announce the publication today of the Spring 2023 issue of Exchanges. This is the regularly scheduled issue of the journal, and contains a variety of articles on various topics. It also includes our first overt book review – of which more in my next blog post.

You can access the issue directly here:

And in case you were wondering what’s in it – here’s the table of contents.

• Birkett, I., 2023. Literature in Politics: The Appropriation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in contemporary British parliamentary debate. pp. 1-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1197.
• Minoli, A., 2023. An Aesthetic Portrayal of Republican-era Shanghai: The exciting and discordant beauty of the metropolis in Zhang Ruogu’s Urban Symphony. pp. 48-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.920.
• Wakefield, M., 2023. McGahern: Lover of words, creator of worlds. pp. 62-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1182.
• Khair Allah, R., 2023. The Use of Miro in Teaching Practice. pp. 77-91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1277.
• Jabri, A., 2023. The Doctor-Writer Experience of Intissar Haddiya: A Moroccan figure. pp. 92-98. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1280.
• Yi, R., 2023. Review of Wang and Munday (2021) Advances in Discourse Analysis of Translation and Interpreting: Linking Linguistic Approaches with Socio-cultural Interpretation. pp. 99-104. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1290.
• Johnson, G.J., 2023. Feeding Back, Looking Forward: Editorial Volume 10, Issue 03. pp. i-xiv. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i3.1351.

My thanks to all contributors and editors for their work on this issue, and we look forward to seeing you back for our next issue hopefully over the summer with the Pluralities of Translation special issue.

Gareth Johnson : 04 May 2023 13:26 |  Tags: 2023 Issue New Published Spring |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Special Issue: Anthropocene and More–than–Human–Worlds Published

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/45

Issue 10.2 of the Exchanges journal is another special one.

Myself and colleagues are delighted to announce the publication of the latest special issue of the Exchanges journal. This issue contains contributions inspired by and from participants to the associated British Academy funded research project and workshop series. The workshops, centred around the theme of the 'more-than-human-world' ran online during late 2021 and saw scholars from around the world come together to talk about, and develop, their writing practice, around the project's area of interest.

Many of the participants also took the opportunity to contribute to this associated special issue, and I am grateful to each of them for their efforts in this regard.

For your ease of reading – here’s the issue’s table of contents:

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Exchanges Volume 10 Issue 2 (March 2023): https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i2 & https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/45

Price, C., 2023. Saying Goodbye and Fighting for the Future. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 1-4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i2.1343.

Cicholewski, A., 2023. Empathy as an Answer to Challenges of the Anthropocene in Asian American Young Adult Science Fiction. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 5-25. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.958.

Tarcan, B., Pettersen, I.N., & Edwards, F., 2023. Repositioning Craft and Design in the Anthropocene: Applying a More-Than-Human approach to textiles. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 26-49. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.973.

Price, C., 2023. Do we need Artificial Pollination if we have Multispecies Justice in the Anthropocene? Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 50-73. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.966.

Westgate, J., 2023. Corals, Geo-Sociality, and Anthropocene Dwelling. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 74-105. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.979.

Vieira, N., 2023. Whales Lost and Found. Rescuing a history of biodiversity loss in early modern Brazil. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 106-130. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.976.

Srivastava, S., 2023. Res(crip)ting the Gaze: Agency and the aesthetics of disability in ‘Animal’s People’. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 131-143. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.1127.

Melian-Morse, A., 2023. Teaching to Care for Land as Home: Thinking beyond the Anthropocene in environmental education. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 144-162. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.969.

Ressiore, A., & van de Pavert, M., 2023. Caring with the Non-Human: Reciprocity in market gardening. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 163-176. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.972.

Price, C., & Chao, S., 2023. Multispecies, More-Than-Human, Non-Human, Other-Than-Human: Reimagining idioms of animacy in an age of planetary unmaking. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), 177-193. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.1166.

Johnson, G.J., 2023. I’ve Seen the Future, and it Will Be: Editorial, Volume 10, Part 2. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(2), i-xii. DOI: 10.31273/eirj.v10i2.1340.

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Naturally, my great thanks to Catherine Price and Amy Gibbons as special issue lead and associate editor on this issue. Plus, thanks to my editors and reviewers who also helped us bring this issue to publication.

Should you be reading this and think ‘Could Exchanges help us publish a special issue?’ – please do get in touch! We are more than happy to talk you through the processes and offer advice, without any commitment. However, as past collaborators will tell you, it can be an enriching and rewarding experience for everyone involved!

Gareth Johnson : 29 Mar 2023 10:28 |  Tags: Anthropocene Issue More-Than-Human-World Published Special |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Early–Stage Researchers – Special Issue Invitation Launched

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/special-issues

A new special issue project is launched, tying into a researcher developmental course.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Warwick’s Leadership and Management Development Course on reflective practice for early-stage researchers. The course, which is being run three times this year aims to generate some discussion and exchange of experience between researchers who are early in their career and are looking to broaden their understanding of the wider research landscape. Yesterday’s session was focussed in on writing and publication, which was why I was there: to offer insights into the art of peer-reviewing and editing journals.

While only a relatively small cohort of delegates, there were some excellent and perceptive questions and insights shared, and I think considerable interest in what I had to say! The course will be running with two further researcher cohorts this academic year, and I’ll be popping up in each of these as well. It certainly is nice to interact with some scholars I’ve not met before, and who for once, aren’t directly linked to the IAS. I am also looking forward to learning more about new researchers’ perceptions of academic authorship and scholarly publications too.

Synergistically we’ve also partnered with the LMD [1] to launch a special issue call tied to this course. In it, delegates are being invited to submit critical reflections around their research practice inspired by or promoted by the course contents themselves. Naturally, we hope a few of the course participants might also get involved as associate editors for the issue too, so we’ll see how that develops over time. I suspect there will be some very interesting papers submitted to the issue on the basis of what I heard yesterday.

Special Issue - Early-Stage Researcher Reflections: [Anticipated Publication - 2023]
This special issue is devoted to participants within the three cohorts of the Warwick Leadership and Management Development course for developing early-stage researchers. Course delegates are being invited to submit critical reflections concerning their own research practice. These are expected to be inspired by their experiences, insights or considerations arising from the course contents and discussions with their peers. Manuscripts may opt to provide a holistic overview of the researchers’ experiences or choose to focus in on particular aspects of their life and work.

Find out more about all our past, present and future (!) special issues here:

https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/special-issues

My thanks to Dr Harriet Richmond of the LMD for the invitation to get involved in this course, and for proposing the special issue too!

Endnotes

[1] Which I now realise is also the same acronym as Life Model Decoy in the MCU

Gareth Johnson : 10 Nov 2022 10:59 |  Tags: Academic Authorship Course Early Issue Researchers Special Stage Workshop |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Issue – Vol 10.1 Published

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/69

It probably hasn’t escaped many of our regular reader’s attention, but last week saw the publication of the first issue in the tenth volume of Exchanges. This is an exciting moment as it officially kicks up the countdown to our 10^th birthday issue in October 2023! Given that a lot of smaller, scholar-led journals such as ours barely make it a few issues once the initial enthusiasm dies down, that Exchanges is on the cusp of moving into its second decade 12 months from now is quite the achievement.

As always, this issue comes with a range of work from across the disciplinary spectrum. From academic fakery and citizen participation through collage and autoethnography to unpublished literary works and electric vehicles; there’s something to tantalise and engage most readers I suspect.

Access the issue here:

https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1

Or for direct article access – here’s the issue’s TOC:

Johnson, G.J., 2022. A Time to Broaden the Family: Editorial, Volume 10, Part 1. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), i-xi. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i2.1241.

Teixeira da Silva, J.A., & Al-Khatib, A., 2022. The Deontology of Using Pets in Academic Publishing-Related Sting Operations. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 1-20. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.843.

Redfern, N., 2022. Distributional Thinking About Film Style: Quantile comparisons of motion picture shot length data. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 21-42. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.853.

Fedotov, P., 2022. Critical Analysis of the Electric Vehicle Industry: Five forces and strategic action fields. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 43-56. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.362.

Huang, H., 2022. Reflections from Research Practice: Realism and its reality, coming to know this, and working out its mechanisms of socio-material change. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 57-93. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.815.

Hutchinson, C., 2022. End of the Line: The unpublished novels of Anita Mason. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 94-107. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.846.

Varwell, S., 2022. A Literature Review of Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation: Lessons for contemporary student engagement. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 108-144. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.1156.

Richmond, H., 2022. The Use of Collage in Autoethnography. Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 10(1), 145-154. Available at: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v10i1.1218.

That is probably our last issue for 2022, unless there’s a sudden rapid accumulation of completed work on one of our special issues. Nevertheless, as always, we’re delighted to receive new work for future issues in the meanwhile.

Gareth Johnson : 02 Nov 2022 09:22 |  Tags: Exchanges Issue Journal New Publication |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Special Issue: The Lonely Nerd

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/42

I am understandably delighted to announce that the latest issue of Exchanges is now live. This is our fourth special issue, and focuses in on experiences of lonely nerds around the world, along with explorations of their representation, perception and isolation within various media forms. I will confess it’s with a slightly heavy heart that I released this issue – mainly because it has been such a genuine pleasure to work with Ben and Filippo as the special issue leads. But, also because I’ve enjoyed many stimulating and enjoyable exchanges with many of the authors whose work appears in the issue too.

On the other hand, considering this issue started life with a conversation in November 2019, part of me is very grateful we have finally reached the finish line. In part because it releases the articles into the world, but mainly because after all this time it is great to have a little closure on the project. Only a little, because once I finish my promotional work on the issue launch, I move on to (hopefully) a number of podcast interviews with authors in the issue about their work. And after that, my focus is squarely returned to our next regular issue’s preparations as well.

Nevertheless, for this afternoon at least I’m going to back in the afterglow of the issue release and the lovely words of praise I’ve been receiving from some of the authors. Makes the job well worthwhile! Just a pity none of us are local so we could gather for a small celebratory drink or something as a capstone to the publication. Ah well, one day!

Meanwhile, to aid your reading, here’s a table of contents for the issue with DOI links to each and every article, along with the entire issue file too.

Volume 9 No 3 (2022) – Special Issue Lonely Nerd: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3

Table of Contents

Gareth J Johnson. Going Where My Heart Will Take Me: Editorial, Volume 9, Part 3. pp. i-xii. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.1186.

Filippo Cervelli & Benjamin Schaper. Socially Inept?: The perceived loneliness of nerds. pp. 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.946.

Benjamin Schaper. Conquering the Meatspace: The lonely nerd in David Fincher’s The Social Network (2010) and Baran bo Odar’s Who Am I (2014). pp. 11-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.866.

Janée Burkhalter. ‘Gus, don’t be the comma in Earth, Wind & Fire’: Understanding Psych’s (sometimes) lonely blerd Burton Guster. pp. 30-45. https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.869.

Alena Cicholewski: ‘A place where everybody is a legendary hero… and a total dork’: Representing the American nerd community as an antidote to loneliness in G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel Comics (2014-2019). pp. 46-61. https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.861.

Sharon Coleclough. So Many Ways to be an Outsider: ‘Nerdism’ and ethnicity as signifiers of otherness. pp. 62-83. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.859.

Rebecca Lewis. The Simultaneity of Loneliness and Popularity in Dear Evan Hansen. pp. 84-103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.864.

Daniele Durante. From Misfit to Guide: Toward a corrective depiction of Otaku and Hikikomori in Japanese videogame Persona 5. pp. 104-123. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.854.

Natalia Rumak. Sherlock and Shārokku: ‘Nerdy’ detectives in the West and in the East. pp. 124-144. https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.860.

Kwasu David Tembo. Social and Spatial Representations of the Nerd in Donnie Darko. pp. 145-161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.917.

Carolin Fleischer-Heininger. Loneliness as the New Human Condition in Murakami Ryū's In za miso sūpu: Otaku-ness, space, violence and sexuality. pp. 162-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.893.

Christopher Smith: Consumable Bodies, Consumable Self: The queer potential of otaku subjectivity in Kio Shimoku’s Genshiken. pp. 185-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.855.

Filippo Cervelli. Saved by the Nerd: Otaku and the space of family in Summer Wars. pp. 203-225. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i3.887.

Gareth Johnson : 03 Aug 2022 15:52 |  Tags: Announcement Cultural Issue Nerds Publication Special Studies |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Volume 9 Issue 2 of Exchanges is NOW Available

Writing about web page https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i2

We are delighted to announce the publication of the Spring 2022 issue of Exchanges: The Interdisciplinary Research Journal. This is our 21^st issue overall, and as a regular issue of the title, contains a range of articles, critical reflections and conversations on a broad spectrum of topics. It is, like all our past issues, entirely open access and free to read at point of publication.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v9i2

PDF: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/46/46

Page: https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/issue/view/46

This is the twenty-first issue of Exchanges, published in April 2022. This issue contains a variety of articles from different corners of the disciplinary academic traditions, from authors around the globe. Article topics within include: schizoanalytic cartographies, post-urban life in the Alps, factual divergence and expert trust, challenging stereotypical representation of Italian women, environmental epiphanies, disability representation in the media; along with two extended conversations with noted scholars. The issue’s editorial by the Editor-in-Chief briefly introduces the issue and provides an overview of the articles published within it. It also highlights two opportunities for participation through a reader survey and an anniversary call for papers on ‘authentic interdisciplinary’, alongside the regular open call for contributions to future issues. Ways for readers and authors to engage with the journal in-between issues are also highlighted.

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As always, my thanks to all the authors, reviewers and editors who helped make this issue possible. Hopefully, the next issue you’ll be seeing will be one of our especially exciting special issues. Watch this space for news, or sign up to be an Exchanges reader and get emails directly.

Gareth Johnson : 29 Apr 2022 10:00 |  Tags: Exchanges Issue Journal New Publication Research |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Writing for Academic Journals (Part 2)

Writing about web page https://exchanges.warwick.ac.uk/index.php/exchanges/special-issues

The second workshop in the Anthropocene writing development special issue project tackled peer review and exposed some of the common fears of early scholar authors.

Today was the second of my two part writing for academic journals workshops. I’ve been providing these sessions as part of the Anthropocene and more than human world project, which is tied to the special issue of Exchanges by the same name we have scheduled for 2022. It’s rather a lovely and mutually beneficial arrangement: I deliver training to a group of early career scholars from around the world in academic writing, and in return they all contribute articles to an issue of the journal. Given this helps satisfy both our journal’s primary mission of exposing new scholarly discourse from emerging voices, and provides the opportunity to support their authorial development, I couldn’t be more pleased to be involved. Plus, as those of you reading this who know me, I’ve never been one to shy away from the opportunity to speak publicly about academic publishing! [1]

I was originally invited to give a single three to four hour session as part of the workshop series. However, I concluded given these were being delivered online, and because I am well aware how fatiguing it can be to engage with training for even an hour, let alone for four via Teams, splitting them into two shorter sessions was a more satisfying solution. I think, reading between the lines in the comments from the participants that they recognised and were appreciate of this too.

Whereas the first workshop looked at creating impactful titles and abstracts, before moving on to building the framework of your draft article, today’s second session moved beyond these themes. Hence, we looked at elements such as effective editing, polishing and proofreading, alongside dealing with and responding to peer review feedback. There’s always lots to say about peer review, and I know it’s one of the areas many new scholars approach with considerable trepidation, so it is always worth exploring some more. In this way though, the two halves of the workshop were specifically designed to take the delegates on a journey from inception to delivery of their published article. Albeit in a slightly compressed mode. [2]

Additionally, by splitting the workshops in half, I was able to give the delegates the best part of two months to absorb and reflect on the first workshop experience, and begin to develop their article drafts. As a result, I designed this second session to run a little shorter because I wanted to give more time over to addressing the attendees’ questions and authorial concerns informed by this writing developmental experience. I am delighted to report they certainly didn’t disappoint as there were some excellent questions and comments, and I regret we couldn’t have been in the same room to continue some of these over a coffee and cake afterwards. [3]

One of the two hands-on exercises I had the delegates work through today, was intended to offer a moment of catharsis and revelation. In this they exposed their fears and trepidations concerning writing an article - any article - at this early stage of their academic career. I’ll be picking up on and returning to these comments and suggesting a few answers in a subsequent post and episode of the podcast. What was satisfying to spot, and I hope comforting for the delegates, is none of these fears were unexpected ones. Each were exactly the sort of thing I would expect to be hearing from relatively inexperienced authors.

I came away from the session invigorated and delighted by the discussions, and I hope some of that transferred to the delegates as well – it is always difficult to tell conclusively via teams. However, from the exceptionally positive comments and those delegates I spoke to during the session, I think I can file these workshops under the heading: major success.

Personally, I have considerable confidence that both workshop sessions will have gone some way to answering the delegates’ concerns. Alongside this I hope they will have strengthened the delegates’ resolve, confidence and self-belief that they can and will be able to write excellent articles which have something significant to say. Because, having read their abstracts, I firmly believe each and everyone of them does!

My thanks to Dr Catherine Price for leading on the project, and inviting myself and the journal to participate, and of course each and every delegate for their good humour, patience and engagement with the practical exercises! I await your articles with not inconsiderable interest.

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[1] Or, to be fair, speak loudly publicly anyway.

[2] At the back of my head there’s a weeklong summer school which would seek to decompress what was covered in these workshops, and actually deliver a publishable paper at the end of it. I think I’ll hang on until post-COVID times to look into that though.

[3] Note to potential collaborators, provide me with coffee/tea and cake and I will talk for hours with and about publishing and early career scholars.

Gareth Johnson : 17 Nov 2021 18:51 |  Tags: Academic Anthropocene Issue Special Training Workshops Writing |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem