Article published In: Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes
Vol. 4:2 (2023) ► pp.140–163
Language, research, and publication
A retrospective autoethnographic account of a peripheral outcast author
Published online: 19 December 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/jerpp.23005.che
https://doi.org/10.1075/jerpp.23005.che
Abstract
This article shares the story of a locally-educated English as an additional language author who attributed her
fledgling research publications in English-medium international journals to an innate interest in languages, extensive experience
of text engagement and mediation, and the kindness of “strangers”. The study draws from journal entries, publication records, and
correspondence with significant others over ten years, during which the author went from an undergraduate English-major student to
an author’s translator and editor before trying to conduct and publish her own research in an English as a foreign language
context. From an insider perspective, the personal account reflects on the confusion and struggle of a peripheral author who
learnt to navigate her way towards research and publication without the ease of resource access, supervisor guidance, academic
training, and support networks. Tracking how the author perceived research and scholarship along her journey, it considers the
role of language as a means of academic authors’ self-cultivation and providing egalitarian access to the world of knowledge and
research that transcends structural constraints. The article also critically examines the centre-periphery tension in scholarly
publishing and offers implications to help engage resource-deprived, disadvantaged authors in an increasingly interconnected world
of knowledge construction.
Article outline
- 1.Early-career researchers’ publishing endeavours and autoethnography as a way to empower and inspire
- 2.Data and analysis
- 2.1Time and location
- 2.2Data sources
- 2.2.1Journal entries
- 2.2.2Publication records
- 2.2.3Correspondence with significant others
- 2.3Analysis
- 3.My journey in retrospect
- 3.1Sorting things out
- 3.1.1Overdue attention to a forgotten and formidable genre
- 3.1.2Learning to read and write through text engagement and mediation
- 3.2Getting into business
- 3.2.1The familiar yet alienated community
- 3.2.2Inside a paper editing factory
- 3.3Trying it myself
- 3.3.1“A place where you can do something you love”
- 3.3.2“Do you have a special typing machine?”
- 3.1Sorting things out
- 4.Discussion
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
References
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