The Eng-Lite Program Lecture Series: Talk No 8
Time：2023.05.23（Tue.）11:00-13:20
Topic：Publish or Perish: Strategies for English Publications
Lecturer：Phyllis Yu-Ting Huang ,University of Melbourne, Lecturer; Australasian Taiwan Studies Association, Secretary General
Host：Li-Hsuan Chang, Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Taiwan Literature, National Taiwan University
Venue: Online
By Conrad C. Carl
While research and preservation of the myriad kinds of languages and dialects around the world remains pivotally important for academics of all areas, one thing is clear: for a successful academic career, English is absolutely necessary. But that is not merely enough. Perhaps even more significant is to have an understanding about how to publish in English. And this is where today’s talk gives valuable insights. With an incredible amount of experience and expertise, Phyllis Yu-Ting Huang—lecturer at the University of Melbourne as well as Secretary General of the Australasian Taiwan Studies Association—guides us today through the intricacies of overseas publication and provides students or junior scholars—as Huang emphasizes—with plenty of tips and tricks for a successful start to an academic career.
Huang’s starting point of this talk is her own experience as a PhD student facing identity struggles. After finishing her first degree in a different field, she pursued a second PhD degree with a thesis related to Taiwan literature and the literary representation of “mainlanders” in Taiwan. For Huang, this shift of perspective is important to realize because it relates to the motivation of publishing in English. It is the Taiwanese perspective that needs to be embraced and made known overseas by the Taiwanese themselves and all of those working in the field of Taiwan studies. One result of this effort is that Taiwan studies is not only practiced in Taiwan itself but also in other regions of the world, for instance Australia.
Huang introduces several scholars and organizations in Australia who affiliate themselves with Taiwan studies. Very importantly, the Australasian Taiwan Studies Association (ATSA) promotes Taiwan studies in Australia, despite the hesitancy and sometimes adversity by the Australian government to support anything specifically Taiwanese, in fear of rattling China’s cage. Any junior scholar working in this field needs to be aware of this tension, while in the best case turning this into a strengthened commitment and motivation to share Taiwan’s perspective.
So, what to look out for when it comes to conference participations and the publication of articles in academic journals? First of all, conferences allow you to network, to get in contact with other scholars and to promote Taiwan’s humanities’ scholarship on an international stage. The last point is of pivotal importance. Facing China’s ubiquitous presence in global politics and culture marketing, it is up to scholars from Taiwan and those working in the field of Taiwan studies to make a case for Taiwan and its perspective because as Huang so poignantly says: “In the international context, if we don’t speak for ourselves, nobody will speak for you.” The European Association of Taiwan Studies (EATS) and the North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) are two important organizations to join as a scholar working in this field. Taiwanese students will find it much easier to get accepted to conferences held by those organizations, since the themes are often chosen broadly enough to accommodate a wide array of individual topics. But not only do they hold regular conferences, they also provide opportunities for scholarships, organize workshops and just in general combine plenty of valuable resources. That being said, workshops usually require the attendees to hand in the whole paper instead of merely an abstract because their purpose is to provide a venue for projects such as the publication of a special issues for a journal or of an edited book (H-Asia is a valuable resource to find related workshops). Speaking of abstracts, conference abstracts should be concise but still shed light on the following elements: the significance of the research, the texts covered, the theoretical framework and research method as well as the briefest form of your argument. If all of this information is present, the reviewers will have an easier time assessing your paper which then improves your chances to get accepted.
In the final part, Huang shares some of her insights regarding written publications, specifically when it comes to refereed journal articles. There are a few things to keep in mind here. Choosing a relevant journal is the first step. The Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR) publishes information with regard to each journal’s individual ranking. This helps with estimating the likelihood of being accepted as well as the time needed for the review. It is naturally more difficult to get your paper published in higher ranked journals. One of the most prolific journals in the field of Taiwan studies is the International Journal of Taiwan Studies (Brill) that everyone with confidence in their work should give a try. Aside from that, Huang urges students not to hesitate to send their abstracts to journals of other ranking categories as well. This will allow them to gather experience more quickly and to make themselves gradually more familiar with the whole process. Huang reminds us that the writing style of the paper should be modified depending on the journal and the country they are aimed to be published in. Planning to publish in English journals outside of Taiwan, one is strongly urged to provide some background information on Taiwan—specifically the historic contexts—because there will be researchers, editors and reviewers who are unfamiliar with these contents. This is related to the second advice Huang gives. The theoretical framework of your research should be adjusted in a way that makes it easier for your English reading audience to understand, e.g. Sinophone Studies and Queer Theory. And to extend this point, Huang says, you always need to keep the following pivotal question in mind: How does Taiwan fit into the global context? If junior scholars write their articles with this question in mind, English readers from overseas are more likely to connect it to their own fields of inquiries and to acknowledge the significance of those research papers.
We want to thank Phyllis Yu-Ting Huang for her insightful and helpful presentation which will be of great value for any junior scholar embarking on their academic journey.
Valuable resources:
Australasian Taiwan Studies Association: https://australasia-taiwan.org
European Association of Taiwan Studies: https://www.eats-taiwan.eu
North American Taiwan Studies Association: https://www.na-tsa.org
H-Asia: https://networks.h-net.org/h-asia
Scientific Journal Rankings: https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php
International Journal of Taiwan Studies: https://brill.com/view/journals/ijts/ijts-overview.xml?language=en