Academic Publication and Presentation in the Social Sciences - 4 ECTS

This course offers advanced instruction in the skills needed to successfully write and present an academic research paper, as well as in professionalization for an academic career more generally. Lessons will address the various stages of paper writing (outlines, abstracts, literature reviews, overall structure, writing style and strategies, submission for publication), conversion of papers into conference presentations; and understanding the academic career and job market. This course focuses specifically on writing in the social sciences and humanities, which have their particular structures and expectations commonly distinct from most natural science fields.

General information

Dates:	Period 4
Contact person logistics:	Marcella Haan
Contact person content:	Robert Fletcher
Credits	4 ECTS
Venue	Wageningen campus

Lecturers

• prof.dr. Robert Fletcher, Sociology of Development and Change
• dr. Nowella Anyango-van Zwieten, Sociology of Development and Change
• prof.dr. Edward Huijbens, Cultural Geography
• dr.ir. Martijn Duineveld, Cultural Geography
• Ana Aceska PhD, Cultural Geography
• Prof.dr. Bram Büscher, Sociology of Development and Change

Schedule

Session 1	February 9, 10.00-12.00
Session 2	February 12, 10.00-12.00
Session 3	February 16, 9.50-11.50
Session 4	February 19, 10.00-12.00
Session 5	February 23, 9.50-11.50
Session 6	February 26, 10.00-12.00
Session 7	March 2, 10.00-12.00
Session 8	March 5, 10.00-12.00

Programme

To receive course credit participants should attend at least 6 out of the 8 sessions (but can certainly do more). Some sessions are considered mandatory, as designated below, while others are optional.

Session 1, February 9 10.00-12.00: Understanding the Publishing Landscape

This session introduces the course and provides an overview of the academic publishing landscapes and different strategies for engaging with it.

Readings:

Loehle, Craig. 1990. A Guide to Increased Creativity in Research--Inspiration or Perspiration? Bioscience (40)2: 123-129.
Dunleavy, Patrick. (2003) “Publishing your Research. Ch.9 in Authoring a PhD: How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Session 2, February 12, 10.00-12.00: The Art of the Abstract

Writing a good abstract for an article or conference presentation is an important yet underappreciated academic skill. In this session we’ll discuss techniques for how to do this well.

Readings:

Sword, Helen. (2010) “The Big Picture.” Ch. 13 in Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Session 3, February 16, from 9.50-11.50: The Literature Review

A good literature review demonstrates your command of the field while also establishing the originality and importance of your own analysis. Hence it is a key component of a good article and we will discuss how to do it well.

Readings:

Taylor, Dena. nd. “The Literature Review: A Few tips on Conducting It.” University of Toronto. Http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/
Becker, Howard S. 2008. “Terrorized by the Literature.” Pp. 136-149 in Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. 2^nd Edition. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Optional:

Bernard, H. Russell. 2004. “The Literature Search.” Pp. 96-108 in Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 4^th Edition. New York: Altamira Press.

Session 4, February 19, 10.00-12.00: Outlining your Article/Dissertation 

This session will address how to create a detailed outline to guide the writing process of an article as a component of an overall dissertation or thesis project.

Readings:

Dunleavy, Patrick. (2003) “Planning an Integrated Thesis” and “Organizing a Chapter or Paper.” Chs. 3 & 4 in Authoring a PhD: How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

van Assche, K., Beunen, R., Duineveld, M., & Gruezmacher, M. (2023). Adaptive methodology. Topic, theory, method and data in ongoing conversation. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 26(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2021.1964858

Optional:

Sword, Helen. (2010) “Structural Designs. ”Ch. 11 in Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Session 5, February 23, 9.50-11.50: Writing Strategies: Planning and Executions

In this session we will delve into the mechanics of the writing process itself, discussing how to organizing your writing and how to keep yourself motivated and on track as you develop it.

Readings:

Becker, Howard S. 2008. “One Right Way.” Pp. 43-67 in Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. 2^nd Edition.  Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Dunleavy, Patrick. (2003) “Developing your Text and Managing the Writing Process.” Ch. 6 in Authoring a PhD: How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Optional:

Emerson, Robert, Fretz, Rachel & Shaw, Linda (2005) Chapter Four: Writing Up Fieldnotes II: Scenes on the Page. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. Pp. 66-107.
 

Session 6, February 26, 10.00-12.00: Co-Authorship: Navigating When, Why and How to Do it

This session explores co-authorship and co-writing. We will discuss when and why it makes sense to co-author a manuscript, considerations for choosing co-authors, strategies for working and writing with a co-author(s), and politics and practices of publishing within uneven power relations (ie. with supervisors, senior academics, and others).

Readings:

According to WUR: https://support.wur.nl/sys_attachment.do?sys_id=aaa3921fc35076d4ce1098a4e40131f4&view=true.

Some useful tips, though the intended audience is ‘natural science’/quantitative researchers: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006508.

An illuminating thread on some of the controversies surrounding this topic:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Who_should_be_among_co-authors_of_the_scientific_paper_TOPIC_CLOSED

Session 7, March 2, 10.00-12.00: The Changing Publishing Landscape / Presentation Preparation

Online Q&A about presentations with Ana on 3 March at 9.00-10.00.

This session outlines and explores the current and evolving landscape of scholarly publishing. This should help in making choices about where to submit your work, in relation to ethical and financial considerations regarding who controls publishing and who gets paid for it.

Readings:

Wainwright J, Bervejillo G. 2021. Leveraging monopoly power up the value chain: Academic publishing in an era of surveillance capitalism. Geoforum 118, 210-212

Büscher, Bram (2020). Not-so-SMART: Why new platform and surveillance technologies are bad news for science and understanding. Geoforum 112: 3-5

Wainwright, J. and B. Büscher (2019). From a New Deal to Projekt Deal: Time for solidarity with German scholars. Geoforum 103: 1-2

Session 8: March 5, 10.00-12.00 Presentation "Boot Camp"

In this final session participants will deliver mock presentations of a research paper for feedback from instructors and peers.

Readings:

Bourne PE (2007) Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations. PLoS Comput Biol 3(4): e77. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030077.

http://www.nextscientist.com/improve-presentation-skills-of-phd-students/

https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/presentations

General Resources

• Becker, Howard S. (2008) Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago. IL: University of Chicago Press.
• Dunleavy, Patrick. (2003) Authoring a PhD: How to plan, draft, write and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Van Maanen, J. (2011). Tales of the field: On writing ethnography. University of Chicago Press.
• Sword, Helen. (2010) Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Germano, William. (2016). Getting It Published. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 
• Narayan, Kirin. (2012). Alive in the writing: Crafting ethnography in the company of Chekhov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Peters, Kimberley. 2017. Your Human Geography Dissertation: Designing, Doing, Delivering. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Learning outcomes

After successful completion of this course, participants are expected to be able to:

1. Develop a quality research paper for academic peer review
2. Deliver a research paper in conference presentation format
3. Demonstrate command of the academic publishing landscape

Assessment

Weekly writing assignments.                     

Target group and min/max number of participants

This course is intended for PhD candidates and advanced research master students; 10 min/25 max participants

Assumed prior knowledge

Msc. Social science; advanced qualitative research methods; having completed a substantial research period and ready to write up results

Course fee 

WGS PhDs with TSP	€ 300
a) All other PhD candidates b) Postdocs and staff of the above mentioned Graduate Schools	€ 640
All others	€ 900

Cancellation conditions:

The participants can cancel their registration free of charge 1 month before the course starts. A cancellation fee of 100% applies if a participant cancels his/her registration less than 1 month prior to the start of the course.

The organisers have the right to cancel the course no later than one month before the planned course start date in the case that the number of registrations does not reach the minimum.

The participants will be notified of any changes at their e-mail addresses.