Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, Second Edition - (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing) 2nd Edition (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Wow. No one ever told me this!" Wendy Laura Belcher has heard this countless times throughout her years of teaching and advising academics on how to write journal articles. Scholars know they must publish, but few have been told how to do so. So Belcher made it her mission to demystify the writing process. The result was Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, which takes this overwhelming task and breaks it into small, manageable steps. For the past decade, this guide has been the go-to source for those creating articles for peer-reviewed journals. It has enabled thousands to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields.

With this new edition, Belcher expands her advice to reach beginning scholars in even more disciplines. She builds on feedback from professors and graduate students who have successfully used the workbook to complete their articles. A new chapter addresses scholars who are writing from scratch. This edition also includes more targeted exercises and checklists, as well as the latest research on productivity and scholarly writing.

Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks is the only reference to combine expert guidance with a step-by-step workbook. Each week, readers learn a feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. Every day is mapped out, taking the guesswork and worry out of writing. There are tasks, templates, and reminders. At the end of twelve weeks, graduate students, recent PhDs, postdoctoral fellows, adjunct instructors, junior faculty, and international faculty will feel confident they know that the rules of academic publishing and have the tools they need to succeed.

Review Quotes

"Belcher has updated the book for (a) wider readership, while maintaining the straightforward and engaging tone that made the first edition popular. Equal parts teacher, coach, therapist, and confidential informant, she draws on years of experience designing and leading academic publishing workshops."-- "Publishing Research Quarterly"

"Even seasoned academic writers can find something useful in Belcher's book. . . . Offers sound advice, encouragement, and confidence-building strategies that help novice writers create/recreate a written text that could be publishable."--Praise for the previous edition "Chronicle of Higher Education"

"I know of no other handbook that focuses on this particular genre of academic writing in such a thorough and, therefore, useful manner. I am confident that anybody who actively works through this book--it is, indeed, a workbook--will eventually taste the academic publishing success in the book's subtitle."--Praise for the previous edition "Steven E. Gump, Journal of Scholarly Publishing"

"Offers a practical course in demystifying journal publishing and its place in scholarship, while guiding the reader in preparing an article for submission. . . . Belcher outlines trends and provides history and explanation for current practices in publishing, giving an insider's perspective to facilitate access--and as women and people of color continue to be underrepresented in the all-important metrics of article publishing, the issue of access is important in establishing work hierarchies in academia."-- "The Editing Company"

About the Author

Wendy Laura Belcher is professor of African literature at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Department for African American Studies. She wrote this book based on her experiences as an author, a managing editor of a peer-reviewed journal, and the designer of academic writing workshops that have helped hundreds around the world to publish their work.