Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes - Volume 1, Issue 1, 2020

Abstract

This paper examines the use of engagement strategies in reviewers’ reports on submissions to academic journals. The data examined are reviewers’ reports on submissions to the journal English for Specific Purposes. The study found that the reviewers used directives as their main engagement strategy. These directives, however, were often indirect or hedged, making it difficult for writers who are new to the peer review process to know how to respond to them. A further engagement strategy that reviewers employed was the use of reader pronouns through which they established an interpersonal relationship with authors at the same time as they delivered ‘bad news’ to them. These matters are important to highlight in the teaching of writing for research publication purposes so that beginning authors can better understand reviewers’ reports, learn how to respond to them and, as a result, increase their chances of getting published.

Abstract

This primarily interview-based study explores the perspectives of published applied linguists around the world on what has facilitated their success in reaching multiple readerships. The focus, more specifically, is on scholars in non-English-dominant settings, a number of whom have made a commitment to both inter- and intranational academic publication, and their perceptions of intercultural rhetoric issues salient in various linguacultural contexts. The findings indicated that such scholars were divided in their views on whether or not there are considerable differences in the rhetorical expectations of international Anglophone and more region-specific, or intranational, journal audiences. What this study’s participants shared was an appreciation of the complexities of authorial cross-contextual negotiation of multiple research worlds, only some of which are Anglophone.

This article reviews Novice writers and scholarly publication: Authors, mentors, gatekeepers114,39€103,99€83,29€978-3-319-95333-5

This article reviews Knowledge construction in academia: A challenge for multilingual scholars€62.30£ 42.00US$ 63.95978-1-78874-266-5