Writing for Publication: Transitions and Tools that Support Scholars’ Success - Mary Renck Jalongo, Olivia N. Saracho 2016

Scholarly Writing as a Project
From Novice to Expert
Writing as Professional Development

Traditionally, writing for publication has been approached as tacit knowledge (Polayni, 1966) because it is not learned through direct instruction, emphasizes a procedure, is goal directed, and has value for people in a particular social context (Sternberg, 2004). Most new scholars attain initial success through a combination of informal mentoring experiences combined with their own initiative, diligence, and persistence. As an alternative to these assumptions, we advocate for greater democratization and inclusion of scholars in writing for publication. In other words, if higher education faculty members are expected to publish, then all doctoral students—not just those who are sufficiently fortunate to attract powerful mentors— should have access to this learning. Teaching the skills of writing for publication should be part of the established curriculum rather than left to chance (Lovitts, 2008). Even though faculty recognize the value of writing for publication and students place a high value on acquiring skill in professional writing (Nolan & Rocco, 2009), the fact remains that many doctoral programs do not offer a course on writing for publication. In the absence of knowledge about how to write and publish scholarly work, many future professors lack the kind and amount of support that they need to survive and thrive in Academia.