The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: March 23, 2018

This week our collection of articles from around the web begins with advice on staying informed about scholarly communications and the opportunities existing in the global e-book market. We then found support for your writing with The Monthly Weeklies online group for goal setting and project management, ten steps for doing a literature review, and advice on writing research questions. Closing out our list this week are two posts regarding research ethics, including a list of Open Access ethics resources for researchers.

As you continue researching and writing, consider this advice from Anna Quindlen — “I’ve discovered that sometimes writing badly can eventually lead to something better. Not writing at all leads to nothing.” This week, write something. It might just lead to something better.

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Build a better plan: How to bounce back when your semester feels out of control

It’s the middle of the semester. You want to spend all your time writing but you have to grade midterms. You’re not nearly as far along in your articles as you want to be – that manuscript you said you’d submit in February is still sitting on your desk. There’s no end in sight – completing it seems like a distant goal. What do you do?

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5 Key principles for a sustainable writing practice

Why write? The old adage, “publish or perish” is alive and well, and there can be negative career consequences resulting from not publishing. In addition, writing and publishing bring career-enhancing rewards, visibility among our peers locally, nationally, and, even, internationally, and, as Boice (1990) underscores, writing is a form of “self-education.”

The expectation that faculty write and publish presents a number of challenges, not the least of which is fitting writing in with the other

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The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: March 16, 2018

“I haven’t finished writing my book, but it’s on top of my list” says Celeste Alexander. If you’re struggling with finishing a writing project, our first couple articles in this week’s collection of posts from around the web might help you find the means to move forward. Of course, according to our third article choice, “you should be writing!” and the shame that accompanies this rebuke are worthy of consideration as well.

In addition, we have found insight into word choice, the use of preprints in citations, theoretical frameworks, and peer review processes to support your writing efforts. Finally we round out our collection this week with two service platforms: DeepDyve and Skyepack that pursuer ways to reduce costs of journal articles and educational materials. Wherever your writing projects take you this week, we hope you feel a sense of accomplishment, even if you haven’t “finished”.

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Common errors leading to journal article rejection

According to the American Psychological Association’s Summary Report of Journal Operations, 2016, the twenty-nine journals included in the report received a combined total of 12,166 submitted manuscripts with an overall rejection rate of 71%. This means that on average less than 3 of every 10 submitted manuscripts is accepted for publication.

To better understand the common reasons journal articles are rejected, we sought the insight of several TAA members experienced in the academic journal article publishing process.

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