Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: February 5, 2021

No matter where you are in your writing career, I can promise you two things: 1) you have the knowledge and experience necessary to move ahead from where you are and 2) you still have further you can go. Early career writers have a tendency to look at themselves as anything but a author and remain paralyzed by imposter syndrome. Veteran authors often question how much more they have to contribute. Arthur Ashe reminds us that no matter the current situation, you should “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”

In our collection of articles from around the web this week, we have advice on finding the angle and argument for your current manuscript, choosing methodologies for online studies, writing more compelling sentences, and triumphing over writer’s block.

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: December 11, 2020

John Steinbeck once said, “Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” There’s much more to successful writing than ideas, though. We must be able to handle them.

In this week’s collection of posts from around the web, we found some ideas for handling ideas like focusing on process, a shared peer-review taxonomy, revising like a reader, fostering trust, getting confident with statistics, subscribing to open, and making the most of the time you have for writing.

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: August 7, 2020

Textbook and academic writing is hard work. It’s a tiring endeavor. It stretches the individual and the discipline with each new publication. To be successful, though, we need to consider the words of David Goggins who said, “Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.”

Whether you are starting a literature review, attempting to describe theoretical, conceptual, or analytical frameworks, editing a book, or simply editing your work for your reader, our collection of articles this week has some advice to keep you moving forward in your efforts to reach your goal.

Increase your publishing success by understanding the metrics that matter

John Bond, Publishing Consultant at Riverwinds Consulting, brings more than 25 years experience in scholarly publishing to TAA’s Summer Webinar Series on Thursday, June 25th as he presents “Publishing Metrics: Understanding the Basics and Using Them to Your Advantage”.

Daily, Bond advises authors and publishers on creating and delivering great content. He is the author of 4 books and as a publisher has overseen the publishing of 20,000 journal articles and 500 scholarly books. In this 90-minute interactive discussion, he’ll give you a simple, approachable explanation of the common basic metrics and ways to use them to your advantage.

Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: February 21, 2020

This week’s collection of articles from around the web contains a variety of topics important to academic authors and researchers. Many of these topics question our personal actions and beliefs as well as the effect of our actions on others with whom we interact.

We begin with personal issues of adapting core skills and the emotional cost of asking for something in academia. We then explore intercultural research, IRB regulations, the place of animals in academic life, and thanking anonymous reviewers. Finally, we close with some broader issues including research assessment reform, indigenous research methodologies, discrimination, and pure publish agreements.

As you research, write, and collaborate with others this week, pay close attention to your own belief systems and the interactions you have with others in your academic circle. What are you saying about your values in both action and written word? Happy writing!

The Why: Explaining the significance of your research

In the first four articles of this series, we examined The What: Defining a research project, The Where: Constructing an effective writing environment, The When: Setting realistic timeframes for your research, and The Who: Finding key sources in the existing literature. In this article, we will explore the fifth, and final, W of academic writing, The Why: Explaining the significance of your research.