Becoming a Published Scholar: Identity Work of Authors

Abstract

Faculty in higher education invest many years preparing to become professors. The emphasis during graduate school is on mastering specialized subject matter, acquiring the skills and dispositions of a scholar, and demonstrating the ability to conduct research. This background sometimes eclipses other important influences on writing for publication, such as past experiences with writing, skill in written composition, and affective variables (e.g., emotions associated with writing, motivation/interest, and expectancy for success). In this chapter, we examine an emerging theme in research on writing, namely, the identity work of academic authors. From this perspective, writing for publication is more than an academic skill set. Entering the professional dialogue of a discipline also involves the potentially ego-threatening tasks of subjecting manuscripts for review and coping with disappointing outcomes. Developing an identity as a scholar/author occurs across the entire career trajectory as new writing challenges are pursued. Authors at all levels of experience have an ethical obligation to ensure that any work attributed to them is original and has not been published previously. Understanding plagiarism—not just blatant examples but also its more subtle forms–is essential. Increasingly, plagiarism detection software (PDS) tools are in use by publishing companies to avoid intellectual property disputes. Building a sense of identity as a contributor to scientific communication relies on addressing obstacles, giving/receiving collegial support, learning from mistakes, and  making a commitment to lifelong learning.

Appendices

Issue: Confronting the Imposter Phenomenon

Sociologist Howard Becker’s book on publishing includes a chapter written by one of his former doctoral advisees, Richards (2020). In it, she is concerned that, because her class assignments to date have focused on reviewing the literature, she is only a cutter, a paster, a borrower, and a fake. She also worries that, when writing is shared with fellow students, they might think less of her intellectual abilities or secretly ridicule her paltry efforts. As a student who seeks to publish, she is well aware that it is not only her writing that will need to be effective but also the originality of her ideas—something that makes writing even more daunting. Like the Wizard of Oz who turns out to be an ordinary man operating from behind a curtain, many authors fear being unveiled as a pretender.

The imposter phenomenon (IP) was first described by psychologists Clance and Imes (1978) in their study of high-achieving women and later popularized in a book for general audiences (Clance, 1985). In this work, high-achieving individuals expressed self-doubt and worried that they would be exposed as a fraud. Whenever they were successful, they tended to give all the credit for their successes to external influences, such as luck or help from others. When they had a setback, they tended to dwell on personal inadequacies as the culprit. Such feelings have been documented in men, women, and various ethnic or racial groups across the professions and are especially prevalent in graduate students (Cohen & McConnell, 2019). In a study of 631 Austrian doctoral students, about one-third of them reported feeling that they expected to be unmasked as a fake, have their incompetence exposed, and perhaps be shunned by peers afterwards (Jostl et al., 2012). Higher education faculty report being affected by the imposter phenomenon as well (Hutchins, 2015).

Some recommended ways of counteracting the imposter phenomenon include:

• 1. Self-compassion. When a writing project falters or fails, authors need to forgive themselves and decide on a course of action that would change the outcome. Perhaps a more experienced and helpful colleague could go over the reviews with them if “revise and resubmit” was the decision or suggest a different outlet if the manuscript was rejected. Practicing self-compassion is a key strategy in buffering the effects of IP (Patzak et al., 2017).

• 2. Be growth-seeking. How long has it been since you engaged in any activities to enhance your skills in writing and research? For some, the last time anyone taught them writing skills was as an undergraduate and the last experience with learning to conduct research was in graduate school. In one study of graduate students, direct instruction in the skills in reading and reviewing the literature reduced imposter feelings by 23% (Cisco, 2020). There are so many opportunities to develop new skill sets that are freely available online (see the Applications of Technology section in each chapter) or during participation in professional conferences. One faculty member, for example, asked a statistics professor for a recommendation on the best way to analyze her data and he suggested discriminant function analysis. She had never encountered this previously, taught herself what she needed to know, and used the method in an article that was accepted for publication.

• 3. Working with a mentor or coach. In a basic research course, one instructor who had completed her dissertation recently used that experience to explain the process, the reservations about her own competence, and her preparation for the presentation to her committee. By sharing, not only her success but also the challenges—such as how she dealt with criticisms of chapters that sometimes appeared to be conflicting—she provided mentoring to all her students within the context of the course.

• 4. Emphasizing cooperation over competition in the graduate program. It is important for authors to have a sense of belonging to a supportive group rather than feeling isolated. During the first required research course for doctoral students, the instructor brought the tables of contents for Chap. 2, The Review of the Literature, from ten exemplary dissertations to class. He noted that a common concern for students was how to organize the research that they read in a coherent fashion. As they studied these outlines, the students began to see how headings and subheadings were used to build the argument for the research and establish the need for the study. The activity created a sense of collaboration, over time, with current and future program graduates.

• 5. Celebrate small successes. Even after experiencing a modicum of success with publishing, authors will sometimes ask when they can be counted as a “real” author—after at least three articles have been published? Do they need to write a book to truly qualify as an author? And so forth. I would argue that having an article accepted in a scholarly outlet with a rigorous peer review process is sufficient evidence that you are a beginning academic author. There is no “magic number”.

Applications of Technology

Tech Tool: Guide to Academic Publishing Ph.D Students’ Guide to Publishing: Expert Advice & Resources (gograd.org) (https://www.gograd.org/resources/guide-to-academic-publishing/).

Springer Nature Resource: Author Responsibilities and Ethics Editorial policies-Ethical Responsibilities of Authors | Springer | Springer—International Publisher (https://www.springer.com/gp/editorial-policies/ethical-responsibilities-of-authors).

Online Video: Helen Sword, prolific academic and creative writer, has created a five-day writing retreat online called Helen’s Word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07kKC9mpxNM.

See also the Ethics of Authorship Series from scholars in the field of Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3wEmi1rMeQ&list=PL65B059BC12E75502.