{"id":50857,"date":"2020-01-27T09:06:49","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T17:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=50857"},"modified":"2020-01-27T09:06:49","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T17:06:49","slug":"im-writing-a-journal-article-what-literatures-do-i-choose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/im-writing-a-journal-article-what-literatures-do-i-choose\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m writing a journal article \u2013 what literatures do I choose?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019m often asked about the literatures sections of journal articles. Not your literatures based paper of course but your standard empirical paper.<\/p>\n

They only want a short section! I can\u2019t cram everything I\u2019ve read into a few paragraphs \u2013 how do I know what to put in and leave out? What criteria do I use to select?<\/em><\/p>\n

This is a good question. It certainly isn\u2019t possible to jam an entire thesis literature review into a journal article.<\/p>\n

When reviewers read a paper that tries to cram the literatures octopus into the jar* they wonder if the writer is simply afraid to let go of the lengthy survey they\u2019ve already done. They just can\u2019t face starting over. Or they haven\u2019t yet understood that something different is needed for the journal article And for these reviewers, nothing says \u201cnewbie\u201d louder than a really long and un-selective essay about all of the literatures.<\/p>\n

So what to do?<\/p>\n

Well here\u2019s some pithy advice from\u00a0Tom Boellstorff,<\/a>\u00a0writing when he was Editor of the journal\u00a0American Anthropologist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Boellstorff points out that a journal article must make a novel \u2013 that is a new \u00a0and original \u2013 contribution. Just like the doctorate. And the argument for novelty can only be made through reference to the literatures. Just like the doctorate.<\/p>\n

But with less words.<\/p>\n

Like many others, Boellstorff thinks of the journal as a conversation. You need to show that you are pushing the journal conversation forward, he argues, and you can\u2019t do that without being aware of what\u2019s already been said. This is not simply referring to the existing scholarship, he points out, but\u00a0engaging with it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Boellstorff says that there is no set formula for working with literatures. So that\u2019s good and bad news. It does mean that all writers have to work out for themselves what to include and exclude. And you get to do it your way.<\/p>\n

But, Boellstorff says, \u00a0the most successful authors in his journal generally do these things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. They show that they are\u00a0aware of classic literatures germane to their topic<\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. They\u00a0engage with recent scholarship germane to their topic<\/strong><\/li>\n
  3. They\u00a0emphasise scholarship that they find useful and\/or inspirationa<\/strong>l, showing how they build on this work<\/li>\n
  4. They\u00a0don\u2019t spend time tearing down the work of other<\/strong>s in order to show the value of their own contribution<\/li>\n
  5. They avoid \u201cnamedropping\u201d disconnected authors simply for the sake of showing they know them<\/li>\n
  6. They\u00a0show the existence of a community of scholars working on an issue and they demonstrate how their work fits into that community and carries the conversation forward.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I think these are a pretty helpful six \u00a0points \u2013 they do provide some serious clues about what literatures to include and exclude, as well as the appreciative stance to take.<\/p>\n

    I hope you find them useful thinking points too.<\/p>\n

    Notes:<\/p>\n

    * This is a great metaphor and comes from a participant in a Kamler-Thomson workshop, reporting in our\u00a0doctoral writing supervision book<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Reference:<\/p>\n

    Boellstorff, Tom (2010) How to get an article accepted at\u00a0American Anthropologist<\/em>\u00a0( or anywhere) Part 2. American Anthropologist<\/em>\u00a0112 (3) \u00a0353-356.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m often asked about the literatures sections of journal articles. Not your literatures based paper of course but your standard empirical paper. They only want a short section! I can\u2019t cram everything I\u2019ve read into a few paragraphs \u2013 how do I know what to put in and leave out? What criteria do I use […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":50858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[350683],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-50857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-journal-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nI\u2019m writing a journal article \u2013 what literatures do I choose? - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/im-writing-a-journal-article-what-literatures-do-i-choose\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I\u2019m writing a journal article \u2013 what literatures do I choose? - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m often asked about the literatures sections of journal articles. 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