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A Scholar's Guide to Getting Published in English

Critical Choices and Practical Strategies

Multilingual Matters

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?

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.

• The 'Patter' Blog includes a wide range of resources and postings about academic writing and publishing: http://patthomson.wordpress.com/.

• Purdue University's Online Writing Lab offers a broad range of resources on academic writing, including a blog on grammar: http://owl.english. purdue.edu/owl/.

1.8 Related research

• Buckingham, L. (2008) Development of English academic writing competence by Turkish scholars. International Journal of Doctoral Studies 3, 1-18. This article documents the perceptions of 13 Turkish humanities scholars about their development of English-medium writing expertise.

• Swales, J. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. New York: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 9 of this seminal work provides case studies of multilingual scholars from Egypt, China and Iran writing for publication in English.

Information Box 1: 'International' publications

Whether a journal is considered 'international' is a complex and often subjective question. Some criteria that are used to determine whether a journal counts as 'international' can be the language(s) in which abstracts and articles are written; whether a journal's authors, editors, editorial board members and reviewers come from a range of geographical and institutional locations; whether the journal is included in prestigious journal indexes; and whether a journal has an impact factor and what this might be. However, especially outside of the Anglophone 'centre' (see Introduction), the term 'international' may act as a stand in for 'English', whether or not a journal represents other aspects of geographic and linguistic diversity. Similarly, in some institutional evaluation criteria, the term 'foreign' implicitly refers to publications in English, whereas in other criteria it may refer to publications in any language originating outside the local or national context.

Making sense of institutional evaluation criteria

2.1 Chapter focus

Official institutional evaluation criteria play a key role for scholars in being hired, promoted, tenured and awarded grants as well as participating in other academic activities such as supervising doctoral students. Publishing activity is often a central focus of institutional evaluation criteria for academics. Although specific evaluation criteria are not explicitly articulated in all contexts, such criteria can exert powerful pressure on scholars' decisions about how to spend their limited time and other resources. Exploring the governmental or institutional evaluation criteria used in your context can help you decide how to navigate evaluation and reward systems in relation to your personal interests and commitments. In this chapter we present criteria from two contexts to begin this exploration.

2.2 Finding out about explicit and implicit criteria for evaluating scholarly publications

Data Example 2.1 includes some of the information that scholars must provide about their publishing activity as required by the public university system in Spain. Part A lists the documents that scholars are required to submit; Part B shows the range of points that each type of document can accrue. Look at these examples and consider these questions: How many points are awarded for different types of publications or scholarly activities? Do points vary with the language of publication?

Data Example 2.1: Documentation on publishing required when applying for an academic position

Part A. Documentation [to be submitted with application] [...]

4.2.3 On academic/scientific production and dissemination:

4.2.3.1 Publications

A) Articles in academic journals

For journals with an impact factor:

• The pages of the journal that include the title of the research, author's name, number and date of the publication of the journal, and the ISSN [International Standard Serials Number]

• The ranking of the journal in the impact index of the year the article was published

For journals without an impact factor:

• The pages of the journal that include the title of the research, author's name, number and date of the publication of the journal, and the ISSN

• The journal's system for selecting articles, the relative diversity of the members of its editorial board, its inclusion in international databases, frequency of its publication, place and date of the founding of the journal, whether it includes abstracts and key words

B) Entire books or book chapters:

Book title, author(s), publishing house, year of publication, ISBN [International Standard Book Number] [...] and number of pages.

The book's index

For teaching books, the program of the applicant

For research books, the pages that describe the methodology and Objectives of the project

For book chapters, the title of the chapter, its authors, number of pages [...]

The system used by the editor/publisher for selecting chapters, the importance of the publishing house, how international the book is, the diversity of the members of its editorial board, inclusion in international databases, place and date of publication of the book, whether it includes abstracts and key words

Comment

As indicated by the list of criteria, particular kinds of publications are clearly valued by the reward system in this context. For the most part, the items on the list are not unexpected although some of them may come as a surprise for some readers; for example, the points awarded for translated works or points awarded for a particular kinds of thesis – the European doctoral thesis. The ways in which publications are evaluated are explicitly set out here through the point system in Part B, where journal articles are awarded higher points than conference proceedings. However, implicit criteria are also at work, which we can see by looking at both Parts A and B. Notably, a key example is the distinction made in Part A between journals with and without 'impact factor' (see Information Box 3), which indicates that the status of a journal (as measured by impact factor) is one criterion used to evaluate the quality of articles that scholars publish. So while Part B does not seem to make this distinction - and in fact gives equal weight to journal articles of all types and to chapters, books and conference proceedings – we can see that other, more implicit criteria come into play, most obviously that an article published in a journal with an impact factor is evaluated more highly than an article in a journal without an impact factor. Another important implicit criterion relates to the language of publication. In this evaluation document language is not mentioned, the implication being that the criteria – as in the points – are used regardless of language. Yet we know from scholars' accounts that in practice different values may be unofficially awarded to articles published in particular languages as compared with other languages: English-medium publications are usually valued more highly than publications in other languages.

Data Example 2.2 shows some of the documentation that one scholar used for promotion ('reclassification') in another context, Slovakia. Look at the data and consider these questions: What similarities and differences do you see between the promotion report in Data Example 2.2 and the application requirements in Data Example 2.1? What assumptions appear to be at work in Data Example 2.2 about the value of publications in journals included in particular indexes and receiving citations?

Data Example 2.2 shows some of the documentation that one scholar used for promotion ('reclassification') in another context, Slovakia. Look at the data and consider these questions: What similarities and differences do you see between the promotion report in Data Example 2.2 and the application requirements in Data Example 2.1? What assumptions appear to be at work in Data Example 2.2 about the value of publications in journals included in particular indexes and receiving citations?

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Excerpted from A Scholar's Guide to Getting Published in English by Mary Jane Curry, Theresa Lillis. Copyright © 2013 Mary Jane Curry and Theresa Lillis. Excerpted by permission of Multilingual Matters.
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