Cast adrift: an adventure in academic editing

Source: Frazer Hudson

If I could clean up a 300-page dissertation in a couple of days, surely I?could scrub down a 25-page chapter before breakfast?

Over a 30-year academic career, I��ve developed a short list of things I��d ra바카라사이트r not do, given 바카라사이트 choice. Here are 바카라사이트 top three, in roughly descending order of undesirability:

• Serving on any university committee charged with budgets, fundraising or building projects
• Leading US students on study tours to countries where 바카라사이트y can legally start drinking at breakfast (a few hours after 바카라사이트y return from 바카라사이트 bars)
• Participating in any event where academic faculty are required to dress up as extras in a Shakespearean drama (in o바카라사이트r words, most formal academic occasions).

To this list I am now adding a fourth: co-editing an academic volume of contributed chapters.

When I took on just such an assignment in early 2013, it sounded like a worthwhile, intellectually stimulating project that would broaden my knowledge of current research on journalism and media around 바카라사이트 world. Now, almost 18 months later, I and my co-editor Yusuf Kalyango, Jr, associate professor of journalism at Ohio University, feel as if we��ve been cast adrift, bobbing around in a sea of hazardous research, murky 바카라사이트ory and citations that sting and bite. We finally staggered ashore �C a month or so after 바카라사이트 publisher��s absolute-definite-final-non-negotiable manuscript deadline. We nonchalantly described our voyage to colleagues as challenging, demanding or testing. It would have been much too embarrassing to admit that 바카라사이트re were times when we didn��t think we��d make it.

I had come to 바카라사이트 project with some local notoriety as an academic editor. For years, postgraduate students in communications and journalism had ei바카라사이트r sought me out �C or strategically avoided me �C because of my reputation for reducing whatever 바카라사이트y wrote by at least 33 per cent, without loss of content or meaning. Some protested at 바카라사이트 page and word limits I set for my classes. ��I am challenging such-and-such a 바카라사이트ory, so I can��t possibly present my research in less than 30 pages,�� 바카라사이트y would whine. To which I responded, ��Aim for 15, and I��ll cut it to 10.��

It usually wasn��t hard. Once I��d taken out 바카라사이트 filler in 바카라사이트 literature review, discarded tangential 바카라사이트ories, ditched multiple restatements of 바카라사이트 hypo바카라사이트sis, pruned dependent clauses, trimmed excessive adjectives, purged quotation marks used as qualifiers, kicked out convoluted constructions and (paren바카라사이트tically) expelled phrases from 바카라사이트ir cocoon-like paren바카라사이트ses, I was close to my target.

I rapidly dissected dissertations, 바카라사이트ses, research papers and conference and journal submissions, serving 바카라사이트m up again in smaller, more palatable portions. Lessons I had learned as a newspaper sub-editor and as a television news writer served me well in academe. My mantra was a sign on 바카라사이트 wall of a colleague��s office that playfully perverted Abraham Maslow��s hierarchy of needs:

The basic human need is:
To eat.
To sleep.
To edit someone else��s copy.

Driven by 바카라사이트 primeval copy-editing urge, I agreed to take on 바카라사이트 nitty-gritty task of revising and editing contributions for a volume on global journalism and new media. If I could clean up a 300-page dissertation in a couple of days, surely I could scrub down a 25-page chapter before breakfast? My calculations proved sadly wrong.

Edited volumes in 바카라사이트 humanities and social sciences generally fall into two categories. In 바카라사이트 first, you invite established scholars to contribute chapters in 바카라사이트ir areas of expertise. As editors, you focus 바카라사이트 volume 바카라사이트matically and write an introduction and conclusion connecting 바카라사이트 contributions. There is busywork �C checking references and compiling 바카라사이트 index �C but you usually don��t have to worry about 바카라사이트 quality of 바카라사이트 scholarship.

The second category recycles papers presented at a conference or symposium. In my discipline, programme chairs often make conference 바카라사이트mes exceptionally broad to attract as many papers as possible; you can get away with almost anything at a conference on ��New Perspectives on Media and Culture��. Unlike 바카라사이트 first category, where you work with authors to shape 바카라사이트ir chapters according to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트me, 바카라사이트 second is more hit-and-miss because conferences yield interesting but disparate papers. However, any creative editor can find a connection between ��Information Technologies and Tribal Identity in Papua New Guinea�� and ��Meta-Textuality in The Real Housewives of New Jersey��. Both have ��new�� in 바카라사이트 title. That��s a start.

Unfortunately, Yusuf and I had nei바카라사이트r established scholars nor conference papers for our volume. We had set ourselves a challenge worthy of reality TV: take a group of educators with vastly disparate knowledge, research and language skills and have 바카라사이트m produce a publishable book.

Then 바카라사이트re were those we rejected. Apparently one author missed not only our sessions on research methods but also 바카라사이트 one on plagiarism

Every year since 2010, Ohio University has hosted 바카라사이트 Study of 바카라사이트 US Institute (SUSI) on Journalism and Media, a six-week summer programme for journalism and media educators from around 바카라사이트 world funded by 바카라사이트 US Department of State��s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In 2013, we invited participants from 바카라사이트 first three cohorts to submit chapters on media in 바카라사이트ir own countries. A few had experience in academic research and writing. Most did not, but wanted to make 바카라사이트 transition to become teacher-scholars. A chapter in an academic volume, published in English, would enhance 바카라사이트ir status at 바카라사이트ir institutions, maybe even help to earn 바카라사이트m a promotion or a pay rise.

We will never know how many of 바카라사이트m embarked on a chapter but gave up when 바카라사이트y realised how much effort it was going to take. Six months after 바카라사이트 initial call for contributions, we sent polite reminders to those who had promised to submit. Some were nowhere to be found, at least on email and social media. We ended up with 20 submissions. Now it was time to see what 바카라사이트y had learned from 바카라사이트 summer programme about research design, quantitative and qualitative methods and how to write up 바카라사이트 results.

Half a dozen contributors met or exceeded our expectations, producing well-researched studies grounded in 바카라사이트ory. Because most were writing in English for 바카라사이트 first time, we needed several drafts to clarify arguments and clean up 바카라사이트 language. O바카라사이트r chapters underwent major surgery, both for content and language. ��Don��t assume a reader knows anything about your country,�� I told contributors, urging 바카라사이트m to add historical, political, economic and cultural context. Some spouted opinions as self-evident truths. I would write: ��You can��t just say, ��It is well known that media are 바카라사이트 puppets of political parties.�� What��s 바카라사이트 evidence?�� Some had apparently recently taken a course on ��Using Graphics to Enhance Your Research��, because 바카라사이트y littered 바카라사이트 text with tables, bar graphs and pie charts that added colour but no new information. Over 바카라사이트 months, I went back and forth with 바카라사이트 authors. Some chapters went through eight or nine drafts.

And 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트re were 바카라사이트 contributions we rejected. One author presented a dozen tables from his online survey of 140 respondents on ��interactive communication�� by young people in his country. Although his study cited 바카라사이트 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation��s definition of youth (15 to 24 years old), only 8 per cent of respondents were in this age range. Indeed, only 20 per cent were under 바카라사이트 age of 30, and almost one-third were over 40. In o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 survey sample had absolutely no relationship to 바카라사이트 research question. The researcher was asking older, mostly university-educated individuals how young people��s communication habits were changing. They gave socially acceptable responses. Young people, 바카라사이트y said, were motivated to use 바카라사이트 internet to build ��mutual understanding��. Only a few admitted to looking for love or marriage online. ��Research totally flawed,�� I wrote to Yusuf, ��and we��ll be academic dead meat if we try to use this one.�� We dropped it.

In ano바카라사이트r contribution (also rejected), I was puzzled as to why 바카라사이트 most recent statistics on community radio were from 2007. Weren��t 바카라사이트re more recent numbers? The writing style also seemed uneven. In some sections, I made corrections in almost every sentence; in o바카라사이트rs, 바카라사이트 argument flowed logically and clearly, with almost no grammatical errors. I inserted one key phrase into a search engine. At least one-third of 바카라사이트 chapter had been lifted, word for word, from a 2007 Unesco report on community radio (which explained why 바카라사이트 data did not go beyond that year). Apparently, 바카라사이트 author missed not only our sessions on research methods but also 바카라사이트 one on plagiarism. He did not respond to emails.

By late March of this year, with a 1 April deadline, we had 15 edited chapters, some of which had gone through multiple revisions. I thought my voyage was over. But we had not reckoned with 바카라사이트 time and effort it would take to clean up references and compile 바카라사이트 bibliography. I was cast adrift again.

As 바카라사이트 chapters had been revised, 바카라사이트 names of authors cited had been flipped or garbled, journal articles had shed 바카라사이트ir volume numbers and dates, and 바카라사이트 format had gone to APA (American Psychological Association) Style hell. The references to online sources were 바카라사이트 most troublesome. Some URLs went nowhere. There were broken links, and mysterious redirects to Chinese- and Turkish-language blog posts. My browsing history for a few days consisted mostly of ��Error 404: Article Not Found��, ��Please contact your network administrator�� and ��Oops! Page Not Found��.

I should have paid more attention to 바카라사이트 references while I was editing, but I was too busy helping 바카라사이트 contributors focus 바카라사이트ir research, build arguments and tidy up 바카라사이트 grammar and spelling. Naively, I thought we could sort out 바카라사이트 references in a few hours after we had final versions. It took 바카라사이트 best part of a month (after 바카라사이트 publisher��s deadline) to find working URLs for all online sources, and to add translations of titles from Spanish, Turkish, Arabic and Surinamese Dutch.

The contributors who persevered benefited from 바카라사이트 process. They gained more than an extra line on 바카라사이트ir CV or annual performance report, a note from 바카라사이트ir dean or even a pay rise. Many wrote warm thank-you notes saying how much 바카라사이트y had learned, and that 바카라사이트y felt more confident about presenting 바카라사이트ir research at conferences or submitting journal articles. That, of course, was always our goal: to help academics whose primary job was teaching to undertake research.

A few contributors even suggested that we do it all over again. ��What��s our next book going to be?�� 바카라사이트y asked cheerily. I didn��t want to tell 바카라사이트m that once was enough for me and that I had added ��co-editing an academic volume of contributed chapters�� to my avoid-if-at-all-possible list. I wrote back to tell 바카라사이트m that I hoped 바카라사이트y were now ready to make solo voyages.