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Avoid using acronyms, variables
by Tara Gray

Avoid using acronyms and variables when words can be used instead. "You want people to understand your stuff, not to jump through mental hoops (McCloskey 2000:46)."

I know. I wrote my dissertation on PVSNB or present value of social net benefits. Instead of calling this PVSNB, I should have called it "net benefits" after explaining that it was a present value and that I would use the social measure of net benefits. Using PVSNB required my readers to translate this long acronym into something more intuitive every time they read it. To make matters worse, my dissertation was full of other, closely related acronyms such as PVSB and PVSC. Can you imagine?

Use established acronyms that are readily digested by the reader (i.e. GNP or GDP) to be sure, but avoid inventing new ones or using difficult ones.

Even such a commonplace as GDCF pains all but the most hardened accountant." 'Gross domestic capital formation' is fine once or twice to fix ideas, but then 'capital formation' or (after all) plain 'it' will do the job. Believe me; people will not keep slipping into thinking of it as. . . GDCF or GC. The point is to be clear, not to 'save space' (McCloskey 2000:83).

Similarly, use words in equations. "It's clearer and no less scientific to say "the regression was Quantity of Grain = 3.56 + 5.6 (Price of Grain) - 3.8 (Real Income)" than "the regression was Q=3.56 + 5.6P - 3.8Y, where Q is quantity of grain, P its price, and Y real income. Anyone can retrieve the algebra from the words, but the reverse is pointlessly harder (McCloskey 2000:47)"

GLWI, where G is Good, L is Luck, W is With, and I is It! If you have any questions or comments about writing, please contact me at tgray@nmsu.edu. I'd love to hear from you and will answer your questions.

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Do you have an authoring question? Get an answer from the authoring experts at TAA:

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Recommended reading for academic authors:

Click here to visit the recommended reading list.

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Discounted editing services for members

As a courtesy to its members, TAA has asked several companies to provide their editing services at a discount to TAA members. See the list of companies offering discounted services such as developmental editing, copyediting, text formatting, reference checking and formatting, publications consulting, assistance with scholarly articles, book chapters, textbooks, scholarly books, conference papers, and grant applications: Click here

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New workshop on creating camera-ready copy

Freelance book editor Elizabeth D. Boepple will present her workshop, "Creating Camera-Ready Copy: The Process Demystified," as part of TAA's expanded Text and Academic Authoring Workshop Series. Boepple's six-hour workshop describes the steps involved in creating camera-ready copy for publication. Working from sample materials they bring to the workshop, attendees will have the opportunity to apply editing and production skills using Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and Paint Shop Pro, as an illustration of how to work with graphics. Learn more about this new workshop and how to bring it to your institution: Click here

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Philosophy journals going electronic
by Richard Hull

Blackwell Publishing Company, publisher of philosophy journals Noûs and Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, has announced a six month moratorium on new submissions to permit the journals to move from paper to exclusively electronic operation. The combination of the moratorium and move to electronic editions will reduce the time lags that the two journals now suffer in both reviews of submissions and in the time from acceptance to publication. No submissions will be accepted after the date of the announcement, Wednesday, 18 October 1006. At the end of the six-month moratorium, both journals will accept only online electronic submissions. Instructions effective mid-April 1007 will be announced on the journals websites, www.blackwellpublishing.com/nous and www.blackwellpublishing.com/phpr

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New website navigation tool

Members having trouble navigating the TAA website may find the association's new FAQ, which provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about the TAA website, useful. "Frequently Asked Questions about the TAA website" answers members' questions about the difference between Industry News and TAA Notes; how to access the archives; what the TAA weblogs are and their purpose; and how the TAA website can be a resource to textbook and other academic authors. Read the FAQ: Click here

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Lessons on landing your first grant

Once you land a grant, your goal should be to keep getting it refunded every year, said Kenneth Henson, distinguished professor at the Citadel's School of Education, and author of a new book by Allyn & Bacon, Grant Writing in Higher Education: A Step-by-Step Guide.

"It's not only easier to get the second and third grants, it looks good to those whom you are requesting additional funding," he said.

Henson shares some of the lessons he learned from his first grant:

• Do it yourself. It might not get done if you don't do it yourself.
• You've got to do it. Don't talk about it, do it.
• Be flexible. Don't be rigid with your project. If you see another possibility during your meeting with the proposal reviewers, go with it.

"Grant proposal reviewers look for unique features," he said. "Include something in your grant that is different."

For example, when he wrote his second grant proposal for the summer seminars, Henson said that if the grantor gave him a car and gas money, he would visit the teachers who took the summer seminars every fall to see how they were using what they learned in the classroom. "The reviewers look at this as 'he's doing all this and then wants to visit these teachers in the fall?' I just wanted to see the results of my work. I asked the teachers all the same questions ('What did you bring back from last summer's institute and use?' and 'What might the institute have offered that you could have used?') and I used their answers to write the next year's proposal."

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We would love to get your input!

Please let us know what you think of this new TAA member benefit. Send an email to TAA's Associate Executive Director Kim Pawlak at kmpawlak@centurytel.net. We are open to any comments, suggestions for improvement, additions, and questions!

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