INI410H1 Scholarly Editing and Publishing

INI410H1: Scholarly Editing and Publishing
Instructor: Roger Riendeau
Innis College, Room 315
Telephone: (416) 978-7789
Email: roger.riendeau@utoronto.ca

Lecture / Seminar: Mondays 1:00-4:00 pm at Innis College, Room 312

To be published and widely read is the ultimate goal of most professional and advanced writers. Success in getting published depends not only on the author’s creativity and writing skills but also on the editorial process. Especially in scholarly writing, editing is the systematic process of selecting and preparing a manuscript for publication as it progresses through five distinct stages: peer review, copyediting, line editing, proofreading, and typesetting/printing. This editorial process is vital to the production and dissemination of correct, clear, concise, coherent, complete, and consistent writing that not only appeals to its intended audience and but also fulfills the purpose and enhances the reputation of the author and publisher. Ultimately, the editorial process transforms writing from an individual initiative into a collaborative and coordinated endeavour.

Editors are the bridge between writers, publishers and readers. Quietly and diplomatically behind the scenes, they work with writers and publishers to shape and guide writing from conception to final form in order to ensure that the writing says what it means and means what it says. In effect, the editing process originates with a consideration of the focus, direction, and relevance of the written work and continues in the working relationship between the author and the editor that invariably involves the application of creative skills, human relations, and a precise set of methods. An effective editor must be endowed with a broad range of practical skills and qualities: an excellent command of language, grammar, and usage; a diverse knowledge base for spotting factual errors; a sound critical thinking capacity in order to recognize inconsistencies or vagaries; solid interpersonal tendencies for dealing with writers and other principals in the editorial production process; meticulous attention to detail; and a strong sense of style. Also, an editor must establish priorities and balance a desire for perfection with the necessity to follow deadlines and to serve audience interests. Indeed, the editor must be the most pragmatic and versatile member of the publishing team.

Learning about editing and its role in the scholarly publishing process is an insightful and inspirational opportunity for advancing writers. INI410H1 Scholarly Editing and Publishing presumes that students who have gained experienced in writing essays for other university courses or who may have enhanced their skills by enrolling in courses offered by Innis College’s Writing and Rhetoric Program will be interested in elevating their writing and critical thinking skills to an even higher level. Students enrolling in INI410H1 typically aspire to write major research papers and theses at the senior undergraduate or graduate level and eventually to become published authors. INI410H1 is definitely not designed for students who lack basic writing experience or instruction and who find the English language to be challenging. The submission of a sample of academic writing along with the enrolment ballot will help to determine whether the course is potentially suitable and manageable.

Specifically, students at the beginning of the course are expected to be able to write essays that exhibit

• an appropriate, comprehensive, and competent response (focus) to the topic;
• clarity and some depth of thought about the topic based on competent research;
• control of organization and development of the topic;
• control of expression and style, committing relatively few errors;
• control of documentation and manuscript form by adhering mostly (with only minor inconsistency and imprecision) to a designated format.

Students who ultimately achieve the learning goals of the course should be able to write essays that exhibit

• a precise and perceptive, and possibly an innovative, response to the topic, resembling graduate level work;
• clarity, complexity, and depth of thought about the topic, with some degree of original thinking and advanced conceptualization skills based on a critical analysis of both primary and secondary research;
• command of organization and interesting or unique development of the topic;
• command of expression and style, with notable clarity, conciseness, and correctness;
• mastery of documentation and manuscript form by adhering meticulously to a designated format in a manner that enhances the analysis.

In other words, by the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate behaviour and skills that suggest their readiness to engage in graduate level or publishable writing.

• a 1,000-word research proposal due in early October with revisions thereafter (10%)
• the first draft of a 5,000-word research essay due by late November (20%)
• the revised final draft of a 5,000-word research essay due by mid December (40%)
• Class participation (10%)
• Contribution to the peer review process (20%)

Evaluation of a student's participation in the class will be based on (1) regularity of attendance at weekly classes, (2) willingness to contribute to class discussion, (3) quality of contribution to class discussion. Contribution to the peer review process will involve working collaboratively to help other students to revise their writing in the manner of a typical scholarly editor.

Course enrolment is limited to 25 students.