In this section, Prof. Anne McCants discusses the journal assignment in 21H.911 Theories and Methods in the Study of History and how it helps prepare students to engage in scholarship.
[The journal assignment is] an effort to give our students early exposure to the various professional standards that one can discern if one reads journals carefully—not just one article at a time on the internet (i.e. disembodied from the venue), but actually in the context of the journal itself.
—Anne McCants
Exposure to Professional Standards through Journal Reviews
The journal assignment in 21H.991 Theories and Methods in the Study of History asks students to select three journals from a curated list according to three criteria: one must be a journal they have read before; one they have never read before; and one they are interested in, but may not have read from yet. They review a recent full year (one volume number) of each journal, preferably using a physical volume of the journal. They familiarize themselves with each journal’s methodology and/or topic, the sponsoring organization, the composition of the editorial board, peculiarities of submission requirements, the front and back matter, the layout of the articles, the division of contributions by categories of submission, and any other stylistic features. Students write up their brief impressions of each journal (no more than a page each) and conclude with an analysis of how publishing appears to “work” for the journals they selected.
Origin of the Idea
I cannot take credit for the brilliant idea of the journal project. It was suggested to me by one of my doctoral students. When she was completing her program, I asked her to share one thing that she wished had been included in the first-year course. She said the area she knew the least about, and about which no one talked, was how to actually be a scholar, how to know your audience, and how to get something published in a journal. The journal assignment was the result of that conversation. It’s an effort to give our students early exposure to the various professional standards that one can discern if one reads journals carefully—not just one article at a time on the internet (i.e. disembodied from the venue), but actually in the context of the journal itself.
This assignment was a great success. I’m definitely going to do this again in every capacity where it makes sense.