Gerald Olson once said, “Of course, I tried to surround myself with other people like me whose dream of writing was a constant burden….” Our collection of articles this week identify and address some of the burdens associated with academic and textbook writing as well as some opportunities to surround yourself with other authors facing the same.

We begin with articles discussing burdens of racism in scholarly publishing, summarizing your research into a couple of sentences, personal branding, author processing charges for open access publishing, and changes in peer review. We also found suggestions on ways to broaden your audience with video, to access a larger set of figures and images, and an opportunity to browse and download content from SAGE journals during their open access month.

Whatever your burden in writing, we’re glad you are connected with TAA and the authors who share your dream and passion for textbook and academic writing. This week we encourage you to connect more, to identify your challenges, and to find new ways to be successful in your writing efforts.

On being excluded: Testimonies by people of color in scholarly publishing

Today’s post, which focuses on racism in scholarly publishing, is being published anonymously at the request of the authors and contributors — all people of color — whose testimonies make powerful and shameful reading for a sector that likes to think of itself as liberal and inclusive.

Thesis knowhow – “the contribution” can create coherence

Your answer to the awkward question is “the contribution”. We have produced a something worth knowing from our research, and it speaks with, and to, what is already known about our particular topic. The contribution is our offering to the scholarly conversation.

Personal branding for academics

To be intentional about your personal brand as an academic is to carefully curate the aspects of your complex life that fit in with the professional goals you’ve set for yourself.

A reality check on author access to open access publishing

Technically, the “most journals don’t charge authors” statement could well be true. Most open access journals may not charge authors. The source that’s used to support the claim is generally DOAJ – the Directory of Open Access Journals. One of the pieces of meta-data for journals in DOAJ is whether or not the journal levies an APC – an author processing charge for an open access (OA) publication.

Amazon Peer Review: Coming to a preprint near you

Amazon Peer Review™ works by linking Amazon’s online store to bioRxiv, a rapidly expanding source for preprints in the biomedical sciences. Ratings will be tagged to manuscripts with an Amazon-branded quality badge.

Lights, camera, science: Using video to engage broader audiences

Whether it’s to help you obtain funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), improve your chances of an academic appointment, or get you a job outside of academia altogether, sharing what you do with someone other than your colleagues can help your career.

Wiley and Lumina Datamatics increase the discoverability of millions of images from Wiley Online Library

Lumina Datamatics will increase the accessibility of critical figures and images found in Wiley’s publications, while empowering users to search, identify and clear permission to reuse the most appropriate images for their needs. Whether for personal research, re-use in new publications, educational and training materials, presentations or promotional purposes, this service will satisfy the growing need to utilize a wide range of content in a new way that ensures copyright compliance.

No fooling! Open access to SAGE Journals in April!

Do you have access to an academic library with the full SAGE journals database? If not, April will be a good time to browse and download articles while the doors are open to SAGE journals.

 

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