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Southeast Asian Studies Regional Exchange Program (Seasrep) Call for Applications “Writing Workshop for Academic Publication”
22 February, 2017 - 24 February, 2017
Submission deadline: 9 January 2017
Date: 22-24 February 2017
Venue: Manila, Philippines
Organizer: The Seasrep Foundation
The SEASREP FOUNDATION invites Southeast Asian postdoctoral students and young to mid-career academics and researchers residing in the Southeast Asian region to participate in this three-day writing workshop. This workshop is supported by the Japan Foundation Asia Center.
Background
Each year, universities across Southeast Asia produce graduate theses and dissertations, yet only a few find their way to journals and books. Several reasons explain why. One is that writing a dissertation is vastly different from writing for a journal or a book; graduate students learn how to do the first but not necessarily the second. Until recently, moreover, some students tended to look upon the doctoral dissertation as the pinnacle of their career when, in fact, it is merely the beginning. Today academics are under great pressure to publish research findings in highly regarded journals. Hence the need for training in academic writing is felt more strongly now than before. A big challenge springs additionally from the fact that English is not the basic language for many scholars in Southeast Asia.
Among the most common weaknesses in academic writing are the following. The second point, in particular, is frequently mentioned by journal editors.
- Absence of a clearly stated research question;
- Lack of an argument developed in response to the research question; • Failure to identify the central issue in the abstract and introduction;
- Failure to identify a target audience;
- Insufficient explanation of the significance of the research;
- Inclusion of irrelevant material;
- Excessive detail in the supporting data; and
- Failure to provide adequate support for the argument.
These weaknesses often cause manuscripts to be rejected without being sent for peer review, and as a result significant research findings go unpublished.
Objectives
The goal of the workshop is to help researchers prepare manuscripts that will clear an initial screening, and that editors will send out for review. Specifically, the presentations will:
- Provide writers a clearer understanding of what editors look for when evaluating submissions;
- Highlight the underlying dynamics or argumentation in a research article so that the argument in it is organized for clarity and effectiveness;
- Increase awareness and efficiency in the use of linguistic conventions so that ideas are conveyed accurately, clearly and appropriately;
- Develop and deploy strategies for planning and revising a manuscript;
- Explain the evaluation process and how to respond to referees’ reports.
Workshop Components
- Needs assessment. Prior to the workshop, participants are required to submit a sample of a written academic work so that the facilitators would be able to have a sense of the level of discussion and inputs they would need to consider in conducting the workshop. A pre-workshop survey will also be circulated for the participants to fill-out to further identify areas that may need improvement;
- Input. Discussion of publication requirements, structuring the argument, and linguistic conventions; and
Feedback. Small group and individual consultations to discuss writing samples submitted by participants.
Source: http://www.seasrepfoundation.org/Writing%20Workshop%20for%20Academic%20Publication.pdf.
