Listen to yourself

Authors have some tremendous tools at their disposal. Powerful bibliographic management software as well as programs to create eye-popping bar charts are just a couple examples. Some of these tools get a lot of buzz. But there are some features of old standards that can surprise.

All of the major word processing software programs offer a Read Aloud feature. This feature reads to you the text you have written. I will speak about Microsoft Word, but these points are true for most of the other word processing programs available on computers or online.

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3 Types of academic editors

There are three types of academic editors: developmental, copy, and substantive. Developmental editors work with authors to improve the overall quality of their work, including organization, clarity, grammar, and style. Copy editors focus on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and syntax. Substantive editors check for accuracy in terms of facts and sources.

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: July 30, 2021

Writing is a complex process. It involves more than simply a dictionary of words and a style guide for assembling them. It takes creativity, confidence, understanding, editing, and support. This week’s collection of articles from around the web addresses all of these elements and more to support you as an author.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” I challenge you this week to seek new ideas, grow, and create more freely so that your writing can stretch the minds of others. Happy writing!

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Why thank the editor?

Craving publication, we may view journal editors as the enemy, obstructing our fame, fortune, and at least one publication. And when the acceptance finally arrives (and with relentless perseverance, it will), we rejoice, send out email blasts to everyone we know, and reply to world-renowned conference directors with gracious replies. Before all this, though, we should do one thing that’s both considerate and diplomatic: thank the editor.

This action makes sense for several sound reasons:

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: March 12, 2021

What part of your writing makes you feel uncomfortable? Do you sometimes feel silly trying something new like building a writing habit or saying the word “Pomodoro”? Oftentimes our self-doubt or fear will increase these feelings as well.

In this week’s collection of articles from around the web, we look at where to put our focus while writing, facing down fear, overcoming the blank page, and habits of a successful student. We look next at research ethics, editing your writing, and treating networking like something familiar – a research project. Finally, we explore support for authors in open access publishing.

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Feedback: Ah, just right

Undoubtedly, we all know the story of Goldilocks and Three Bears. The part I have in mind, is when Goldilocks seeks equilibrium: porridge neither too hot nor cold and a bed neither too soft nor too hard.

Many authors seek out feedback or opinions on their work before submission. Of course, peer review will yield comments and likely things to change or address. All this feedback has value, but it is important to cast it in the right light.

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