Five Things That I Think That I Think About Publishing

As readers of this blog probably know, I’m co-leading a session at the Alexandria Archive Institute’s NEH sponsored program, Networking Archaeological Data and Communities, this weekend. As part of that, I’ve been musing on publishing lately. I posted something yesterday related to publishing and something a couple months ago and something a few weeks before that.

Yesterday morning, I decided that I finally HAD to put something more formal together. 

This is what I got:

1. I think of publishing as part of the research process. This means thinking about how you want to publish your work from before the work begins.

2. I think of publishing as process not product. Think about how your data will be used in by other scholars in other situations. Remember that books are arguments, tools, and spaces for engagement.  

3. I try to think about citational politics. Promote the data and sources that you use in your work and use data and sources that reflect your values. Citational politics matter.  

4. I think it is essential for authors to work with publishers. The publishing landscape is dynamic and fluid, but there are real pressures to streamline workflows and standardized the process. Authors play a part in shaping how publishers work. 

5. I try to anticipate where the ball will go. In publishing, archaeology, and academia, the past exerts a gravitational pull on the present, and it is tempting to allow it to draw us back into traditional publishing models and practices. 

Thoughts?