Join us Thursday, November 15 from 12-1 p.m. ET for a one-hour webinar, “You Got This: Marketing Strategies to Create a Signature Platform,” that will empower you with resources to discover your signature brand, provide social media tips and Internet marketing strategies to engage students, and build an audience to publish scholarly content inside and outside the classroom.
4 Principles of academic revisions
A recent visitor to the TAA website used the live chat feature and stated, “I would like to know some academic principles we can use for revisions.”
As authors, revisions can be one of the most challenging parts of the writing process. Most writers create easily but find it difficult to critique and edit their own work. Regardless, the revision process is essential for producing polished and effective manuscripts.
3 “Not-so-obvious” tips for article submission and review
Take a moment and imagine yourself as the editor who has just received your article. You need to quickly decide whether to pass this manuscript on for peer review or reject it at submission. How well does your article clearly and concisely demonstrate its fit with the journal and its readership? If the fit is murky I would suggest rethinking how you’ve framed your study’s context and findings. Can they be revised to be a better fit, or do you need to move on to another journal? Checking your fit with the journal early can reduce your chances of an immediate rejection.
Purdue global nondisclosure agreement runs roughshod over faculty rights
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has released a copy of a four-page non-disclosure agreement that appears to be a condition of employment for Purdue Global employees, including instructional faculty, that states that any work product, including all course materials “or other intellectual property that arises in any part in the course of … employment at Purdue Global, is commissioned and owned by Purdue Global as a work-for-hire and may not be used, duplicated or distributed outside of Purdue Global.”
Reviewing your author contract: Planning for the future
The life cycle of a successful textbook reaches well past the life of its author, given that copyright law currently extends rights in a work to the life of the author + 70 years. That means not just your children, but even your grandchildren may benefit from the fruits of your labors. At the same time, for books—and in particular textbooks—governed by publishing contracts, it is important for both you and your heirs to understand your, and by extension their, rights and responsibilities.
The first step is to pull out your publishing contract. If it is a typical royalty-bearing contract, then you likely have rights in every revision in which you participate.
How to write an engaging title for your academic journal article
We’ve all been told to “never judge a book by its title” and yet, we all do. In a world with abundant information, indexed and cataloged into a series of links on the screen, the title may be the only part of your work a potential reader ever sees. Unless, of course, that title encourages them to click the link and read more.