TAA Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Town Hall on Peer Review

Peer Review is at the heart of the process scholars use for advancing knowledge, testing theories, and authenticating claims and findings of research. Identity – both of the reviewers and the reviewed – is an inescapable component of peer review, and it can add an element of subjectivity to any assessment.

 Members of TAA’s Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will conduct a Town Hall to hear from members about their experiences in peer review. Have you experienced biases in the peer review process? How did you become aware of it, and did the publisher address the issues? Are there ways you’ve seen diverse identities improve the peer review process?

Join us Tuesday, September 21 at 4 p.m. ET for a discussion guided by members of the Committee. Take this opportunity to include your voice in the discussion, and leave with strategies for reviewers and authors navigating DEI issues in the peer review process. Let’s learn from our experiences.

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President’s Message: Doing the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion

I once again find myself writing about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in textbooks. Not because I am—or feel myself to be—an expert in any aspect of DEI. Far from it. I am writing again because these concerns continue to weigh on me.

As a textbook author, I have a grave responsibility that goes beyond the obvious promise to deliver useful content for learning my subject. It is not only my descriptions and explanations and examples that affect my users—it is also the voice and vision that comes through those written words.

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How to write a scholarly abstract that informs and invites readers

In academic writing, abstracts are the most powerful aspect of a manuscript, says Erin McTigue, a writing coach with The Positive Academic. “Realistically, to extract key findings, busy researchers may read only the abstract, and for those who proceed onward, the abstract provides an advance organizer framing their comprehension,” she says.

Abstracts need to be clear, and they need to have well-structured sentences, says Wendy Kamman Zimmer, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University. They should include concrete examples, words, and ideas, active voice, and human elements, she says: “Arguably, abstracts that are stronger have a contestable thesis or a very strong argument, something that you can touch; something that’s tangible.”

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