Review of "Detox Your Writing" and "Getting Published in Academic Journals"

Abstract

In an era of increasing pressure to publish and complete doctoral degrees as quickly as possible, all while managing heavy administrative workloads, it likely comes as no surprise that do-it-yourself (DIY) doctoral supervision tools are becoming increasingly prolific (Kamler & Thomson, 2008). Perhaps these materials are a response to a growing friction between time needed and time available for doctoral supervision, as well as between the crucial place writing occupies in a doctoral researcher’s life and the often tacit nature of apprenticing to become an academic. As both a doctoral student and a writing coach that works with other doctoral students, I am keenly interested in resources that can support me in both roles. Recently I picked up two texts to aid me with navigating my first attempts at publishing an article and with facilitating a doctoral writing workshop: Thomson and Kamler (2016), Detox your writing, and Paltridge and Starfield’s (2016), Getting published in academic journals. Both texts are geared toward a doctoral audience, though master’s level students and supervisors may equally appreciate the texts for their practical strategies. The texts are complementary as well. Where Thomson and Kamler focus mostly on the journey toward producing a dissertation, Paltridge and Starfield pick up from there to discuss how and why to consider publishing articles from the dissertation.