Emerging scholars' socialization into scholarly publication : negotiating identities and investments in a neoliberal era

Ismaeil Fazel
2018
Given the paramount importance of publication in academia, socialization of novice scholars into scholarly publication has received increasing scholarly attention. Extant empirical literature has tended to predominantly focus on impediments facing English as an Additional Language (EAL) doctoral students (e.g., Ho, 2017; Li, 2007; Lillis & Curry, 2010) in getting published, although recent research has also attended to issues encountered by Anglophone doctoral students in academic publication
more » ... abibie, 2016). However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research that compares the publication processes and practices of EAL and Anglophone doctoral students. Moreover, little research thus far has compared the perspectives and practices of novices vis-à-vis established scholars in writing for publication. In this 16-month, multiple-case study on four - two Anglophone and two EAL - doctoral students in language education at a Canadian university, questionnaires, multiple semi-structured interviews, submission trajectories, and communications with journal editors and reviewers were used as the chief sources of data. Additionally, 27 editors and editorial boards members of well-known journals in applied linguistics and language education were interviewed to triangulate their perspectives with the experiences of the doctoral students in the study. The data were subject to iterative thematic analysis, and interpreted in light of the theoretical constructs of academic discourse socialization (Duff, 2010), and identity and investment (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Findings indicate that learning how to academically write a paper - i.e., discursive and generic dimensions of writing for publication (e.g., Habibie, 2016; Huang, 2010; Li, 2007) - is arguably important yet not sufficient in getting published. Perhaps more importantly, the findings suggest that navigating today's increasingly digitized terrain of academic publication demands socialization into a set of strategic competencies and tactical sensibilities, incl [...]
doi:10.14288/1.0364240 fatcat:imltqg2ln5byfpesl347wm3uiu