A Scholar's Guide to Getting Published in English

Critical Choices and Practical Strategies

Mary Jane Curry, Theresa Lillis

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781783090594
• eBook ISBN: 9781783090624
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Adult Education
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

In many locations around the globe, scholars are coming under increasing pressure to publish in English in addition to other languages. However research has shown that proficiency in English is not always the key to success in English-medium publishing. This guide aims to help scholars explore the larger social practices, politics, networks and resources involved in academic publishing and to encourage scholars to consider how they wish to take part in these practices–as well as to engage in current debates about them. Based on 10 years of research in academic writing and publishing practices, this guide will be invaluable both to individuals looking for information and support in publishing, and to those working to support others' publishing activities.

Chapter 1

Identifying your personal interests and commitments to publishing

1.1 Chapter focus

Scholars in many contexts around the world are coming under increasing pressure to publish, in English as well as in other languages, and are motivated by a range of interests and goals. At different points in their careers scholars write for different and sometimes multiple communities, depending on their goals and commitments. Scholars make decisions about which communities to address based on their priorities about the content, focus and audience for various publications. Understanding the range of reasons that scholars publish is important for considering which communities you may want to address at different moments in your academic work and career and in which language(s).

1.2 Scholarly interests and communities

The table in Data Example 1.1 illustrates the range of communities to which multilingual scholars contribute and the language(s) used in each community. What do you notice about the range of communities? What relationship do you see between the content and purpose of different types of publications and the languages used in publications for particular communities? Bearing in mind that any labeling of the communities that scholars write for is not straightforward, to what extent are the types of communities listed relevant to your publishing activity?

Data Example 1.1: Academic communities to which multilingual scholars contribute

Community/Language	Type of Publications
1. National academic community in the local/national/state language (e.g. Spanish, Hungarian, as discussed in the Introduction)	Scholarly publications aimed at the national research community
2. National applied community in local/national language	Practitioner publications aimed at users of research findings such as teachers, health professionals, psychologists
3. National academic community in English	Scholarly publications often aimed at a wider audience than the audience reached by publications in the local/national language
4. ‘International’ academic community in the local/national language	Scholarly publications using local/national languages aimed at a wider audience than the local context (e.g. Spanish in Latin America, Portuguese in Brazil and Africa, Slovak in the Czech Republic)
5. ‘Intranational’ academic community in medium of English	Scholarly publications aimed at a transnational or transregional audience with strong political links, such as the European Union
6. Other national academic community in national languages	Scholarly publications in languages that represent intellectual traditions related to particular (sub)fields, as well as geohistorical relations such as the role of German and Russian in central European contexts like Slovakia and Hungary
7. ‘International’ academic community in medium of English	Scholarly publications typically produced in Anglophone contexts and distributed worldwide, which increasingly often have higher status than journals published in other parts of the world and sometimes indicated by inclusion in high status indexes and with an impact factor (see Information Boxes 1 and 2)

(For fuller discussion, see Lillis and Curry, 2010: chap. 2.)

Comment

The table indicates a number of communities that scholars are seeking to address, including research and applied or practitioner communities in local languages, English or other languages. The range of communities that scholars address changes according to historical links between communities of scholars, individual interests, and personal and academic circumstances. Some scholars, for example, write for all of the communities listed in Data Example 1.1 while some write mainly for a selection of them. While many scholars are publishing in multiple languages, the ratio of their publications using the local language as compared to other languages varies considerably. Some scholars make a distinction between communities they are writing for on the basis of the content of their texts: for example, some scholars address applied communities using the local language(s), while they contribute theoretical or research publications to ‘intranational’ or ‘international’ communities in English. In contrast, some scholars find that there are more opportunities for developing advanced theory when addressing local communities in the local/national language, because their writings are part of ongoing and well-established local research and knowledge-building activities (such as seminars at which different stages of theory and research are presented).

1.3 Making decisions about where to publish

When thinking about where to publish – and which genres of text to publish (see Introduction) – scholars take into consideration a number of factors, as one scholar’s publication record across the communities discussed in Section 1.2 illustrates. Look at Data Example 1.2 and consider the following question: What does Amalia’s record of publishing in these communities suggest about her interests and personal commitments?

Comment

Amalia has published in four of the seven types of community listed in Data Example 1.2. She has published in both the local/national research and applied communities using the local language (Portuguese) and has four publications addressed to the ‘international’ academic community, also in the local language. Amalia has published one English-medium journal article for the ‘international’ community in her specialist area, which she co-authored with a colleague from Canada. In the next section we explore some of Amalia’s reasons for addressing this range of communities.

1.4 One scholar’s thoughts on where to publish

Read about the personal commitments that inform Amalia’s publishing choices in Data Example 1.3 and consider the question: How do Amalia’s comments support what her publications record suggests to you about her choices of communities to address through her publications?

Data Example 1.3: Views of Amalia, associate professor, Portugal, on choosing scholarly communities

‘I have always preferred to know that what I am working on has some application, some use. That’s why I’m working on the project with [a colleague in the education department], because we are applying our resources with people who really need that. […] That for me is important, to really do something not just theoretically.’

[…]

‘There are things that maybe you want people in Portugal to know, so it will be easier if you publish that in Portuguese here … because it may be something especially from here, from this community, for example.’

[…]

‘I like things that usually mean the application of research findings because then you are working on things that perhaps are of value. It seems the academic research publications are not worth so much in practical terms; they are worth something, but I do not have that goal.’

Comment

Amalia’s choice of communities reflects her priorities that her academic work should have value in the local context, as the majority of her publications are aimed at local/national communities, both research and applied. Although in Amalia’s context there is some institutional pressure to publish in English, other factors also influence scholars’ career opportunities. Thus Amalia’s publications in Portuguese as well as English have supported her to become a permanent faculty member at her university (along with her teaching and other academic responsibilities). Amalia has therefore been able to receive institutional recognition while following her own interests and commitments. (See Chapter 3 for different choices made by Julie, a Hungarian scholar.) Amalia’s achievement indicates that in her particular context publishing in the local/national community is as valued as publishing in ‘international contexts’. (See Information Box 1 on the meanings of ‘international’ and Chapters 2 and 3 on institutional evaluation systems.)

1.5 Thinking about your practice

1. What problems, topics and research questions are of most interest and importance to you?

2. Which of the communities in Data Example 1.1 have you already written for? What are your personal goals and priorities in terms of the community/ies you want to reach at the moment? To what extent do your priorities map onto those of your institutional context?

3. Are there other communities/groups you want to publish in, now or in the future? Which might these be and why are they important to you? (See Chapter 4 for discussion of communities such as online blogs, journals and websites.)

1.6 Suggestions for future action

1. Ask your colleagues and/or supervisor(s) about how they make choices about which communities to publish for (e.g. research compared with applied publications and publications in the local language(s) compared with other languages).

2. Consider some specific journals which you have found most useful for your work, the languages used in these publications and the audiences they appear to be addressing. Given the value of these publications to your work, do they seem like appropriate or desirable outlets for your writings?

3. Consider whether there are particular scholarly communities you want to address now – or in the next five years – and whether there are other communities you would like to address.

1.7 Useful resources

• Nygaard, L. (2008) Writing for Scholars: A Practical Guide to Making Sense and Being Heard. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget/Copenhagen Business School Press/Liber. Chapter 4, ‘Who are you talking to? Defining your audience’, discusses a range of audiences in relation to the content of scholars’ work and the types of knowledge different audiences might have.

• Murray, R. (2009) Writing for Academic Journals (2nd edn). Berkshire, UK: McGraw Hill/Open University Press. Chapter 1, ‘Why write for academic journals?’, asks you to consider their reasons for academic writing and publishing as well as the internal and external forces driving your interest in publishing.

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Table of contents

• Coverpage
• Titlepage
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Identifying your personal interests and commitments to publishing
• Chapter 2: Making sense of institutional evaluation criteria
• Chapter 3: Responding to different institutional pressures to publish
• Chapter 4: Entering academic ‘conversations’—finding out about scholarly conferences
• Chapter 5: Identifying the conversations of academic journals
• Chapter 6: Joining academic conversations in a competitive marketplace
• Chapter 7: Locating your work and forging conversations – whose work to cite and why?
• Chapter 8: Publishing articles or book chapters?
• Chapter 9: Understanding trajectories and time in the publishing process
• Chapter 10: Accessing resources for writing for publication
• Chapter 11: Doing the work of writing in multiple languages
• Chapter 12: Participating in academic research networks
• Chapter 13: Collaborating on texts for publication
• Chapter 14: Getting help from literacy brokers
• Chapter 15: Communicating with publishing gatekeepers
• Chapter 16: Producing a journal: Taking on reviewing and editing roles
• Chapter 17: Concluding thoughts – critical choices and practical strategies for global scholarly publishing
• References
• Index