Academic Writing

This seminar is an introduction to the complex world of academic publishing and is designed to give writers in a variety of disciplines practical experience in getting their work published in peer-reviewed journals, using Wendy Laura Belcher’s best-selling Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. In a supportive environment, participants revise a draft (often a classroom paper, conference paper, or dissertation chapter) into a peer-reviewed article and submit it for publication.

Using Wendy Laura Belcher’s "Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success", the course explains the publication process to students and shares strategies for achieving success in the academic writing arena, including setting up a work schedule, identifying appropriate journals for submission, working with editors, writing query letters, clarifying arguments, making claims for significance, and organizing material. In a supportive environment, participants revise a draft (often a classroom paper, conference paper, or dissertation chapter) into a peer-reviewed article and submit it for publication. The goal of this course is to aid participants in taking their papers from classroom quality to journal quality and in overcoming anxiety about academic publishing in the process. The class meets for two hours once a week.

Belcher, W. (2019). Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (2nd ed.). The University of Chicago Press.

The course explains the publication process to students and shares strategies for achieving success in the academic writing arena, including setting up a work schedule, identifying appropriate journals for submission, working with editors, writing query letters, clarifying arguments, making claims for significance, and organizing material. The goal of this course is to aid participants in taking their papers from classroom quality to journal quality and in overcoming anxiety about academic publishing in the process.

Writing assignments: Student will have some writing due every week, much of which won’t be graded, but must be submitted to pass the course.

Oral presentation assignments: Student will have one oral presentation:one PowerPoint presentation that is an overview of your article.

Reading assignments: Student will have an average of 25 to 50 pages of reading per week and will be required to complete the writing workbook’s tasks for that week and bring them to class for discussion.