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    Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Discourse, Context & Media . Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Discourse, Context & Media, 24, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcm.2018.01.006

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Negotiating tensions around new forms of academic writing

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>08/2018
<mark>Journal</mark>Discourse, Context and Media
Volume24
Number of pages8
Pages (from-to)8-15
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date12/02/18
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Almost every aspect of an academic’s role involves specialised forms of writing, and the range of digital platforms used to produce this has increased. Core genres such as the journal article and monograph remain central, but the ways they are now commonly produced via file-sharing software and online submission systems are changing them. Digital media also allows academics to stay up to date with their field, connect with others, and share research with wider audiences. Furthermore, academics are increasingly expected to maintain online identities via academic networking sites, and to create and disseminate knowledge via hybrid genres such as tweets and blogs. However, these platforms also represent a potential threat to academics’ values and sense of identity.

This paper reports on an ESRC funded research project investigating the writing practices of academics across different disciplines at three English universities. Through academics’ accounts of their experience with and feelings about the role of digital media in their professional writing, this paper explores the factors that complicate their engagement with new genres of writing. The findings reveal a tension between the values of social media, which see knowledge as user-generated and decentralised, and the forms of knowledge creation that are rewarded in academia.

Bibliographic note

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Discourse, Context & Media. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Discourse, Context & Media, 24, 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcm.2018.01.006