Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: June 26, 2020

Just “shut up and write”. Right? It seems simple to be a writer, until you realize that it’s not. Writer’s block, editing, reviews and criticism, etc. place barriers in a process that on the surface is quite simple. However, when we stop writing, when we stop moving forward. When we blame the culture, environment, timing, or circumstances around us we avoid failure. But, we also avoid progress.

In this week’s collection of articles from around the web, we see a lot of opportunities to avoid progress as well as ways to embrace change and opportunity. How you perceive the content in this collection will determine your continued success as an author. Whether facing changes and challenges related to COVID-19, equity, open access, and accessibility issues or embracing opportunities for marketing, managing your time, grant seeking, and overall success, this collection has something to learn.

Someone once said, “Avoiding failure is to avoid progress.” This week, let’s focus on failing forward together. Happy writing!

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Increase your publishing success by understanding the metrics that matter

John Bond, Publishing Consultant at Riverwinds Consulting, brings more than 25 years experience in scholarly publishing to TAA’s Summer Webinar Series on Thursday, June 25th as he presents “Publishing Metrics: Understanding the Basics and Using Them to Your Advantage”.

Daily, Bond advises authors and publishers on creating and delivering great content. He is the author of 4 books and as a publisher has overseen the publishing of 20,000 journal articles and 500 scholarly books. In this 90-minute interactive discussion, he’ll give you a simple, approachable explanation of the common basic metrics and ways to use them to your advantage.

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: April 17, 2020

Gustave Flaubert once said, “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” In textbook and academic writing, we often find this to be true as we search for the answers to research questions and work to clearly express ideas and knowledge to our readers. But, like art, writing and the writing process is unique for each author.

Our collection of articles begins with an approach that focuses on writing for yourself first and your audience second, methods to communicate research findings to the world, and the impact of COVID-19 on student research projects. We also consider the differences between part time and full time researchers and students and how the current state of the world has forced even full time faculty and researchers into a part time routine. Finally, we explore some industry concepts including the bundling of academic journal subscriptions, potential budget cuts to academic libraries, and the stories behind some scholarly publishing brand names.

Whether you’re working on putting a name to your work or carefully crafting each word that is placed on the page as you finish your most recent written masterpiece, let the art of your writing help you discover your beliefs. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: February 28, 2020

Are you determined to succeed? At the end of the day, are you satisfied with your results? George Lorimer once said, “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” So what are you determined to do with your textbook and academic writing?

This week’s collection of articles from around the web includes discussion on the future of scholarly communication, how to get published, and an approach to teaching writing that works. It also includes ideas for experimenting and playing with data, looking at different aspects of the same problem, and funding research and innovation through open science efforts.

What all of these ideas, innovations, and results have in common is the determination of one or more individuals to bring an idea to fruition and share it with others. As you approach your writing projects this week, start each day with determination and end them with satisfaction. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: May 3, 2019

This week’s collection of articles from around the web is full of opportunities. Opportunities to improve your academic reading practice, to tell your story, to make your writing more interesting, to broadcast your research, or to go freelance. It’s also filled with challenges and uncertainty. Challenges of parenting and academia, predatory journals, the uncertain future of university presses, neurodiversity in scholarly publishing, and the affect of the planned merger between Cengage and McGraw-Hill on the textbook market.

With each opportunity comes challenge and uncertainty. Equally so, with each challenge or uncertainty comes opportunity. As Ray Bradbury once said, “You fail only if you stop writing.” So, here’s to success. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: January 18, 2019

According to John Green, “All writing is rewriting.” In this week’s collection of posts from around the web, we have a number of revised methods for research and writing efforts discussed.

Beginning with a discussion of the impact of Plan S on researchers, a new approach to Eva Lantsoght’s “This is How I Work” interview series, and the criteria for choosing a research approach, we explore changes that impact academic writing on many levels. Our list continues with a discussion of the thoughts that lead to light bulb moments, mixed, virtual, and augmented realities in scholarly publishing and social research, and a collection of global insights compiled by Scholarly Kitchen.

Perhaps your rewriting efforts this week are literal revisions of your latest article. Perhaps they’re more a revision of thought or process. Whatever change you are experiencing, however, embrace it this week. Rewrite your draft or your mindset and happy writing!

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