Scholarship and Documentation

1. Crafting Academic Texts from an Ethnographic Perspective

This e-book by Johannes and Sharon Merz was written for those who have little or no experience in crafting academic texts. Drawing on their own, extensive experience in academic and ethnographic writing, the authors address important issues such as questions of style, structure, argumentation, reviewing your text and seeking feedback.

Tip: When your mentee is working on an academic paper or article, use the relevant parts of this short book to help them polish their text. Encourage your mentee to read this e-book. Take time to discuss how they can apply what they are learning in their draft paper/article.

2. Intellectual Property Policy online courses

SIL offers self-directed online courses about the basics of intellectual property management at three different levels.

• IP Policy and Practice for All Audiences
• IP Policy and Practice for Administrators
• IP Policy and Practice for Authors

Tip: Encourage your mentees to take these short, free, self-directed online courses.

3. Research Tips

A collection of short articles by Sharon and Johannes Merz about participant observation, reflexivity and interviewing in research. They were published in English and French in Anthropology Allspice Volumes 4.1 – 5.1.

Tip: These tips can be a good springboard for discussion with your mentee about how to start planning for a small-scale research project linked to their everyday work.

4. The Craft of Research

This book by Booth et al. is a foundational resource aimed at research with writing as a primary outcome. Topics include developing good research questions, use of scholarly literature (sources), and argument and evidence based writing.

Tip: If your mentee is working on a bigger research project that should result in some king of write-up, this could be a good reading at the start.

5. Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks

This book by Belcher has the power to change people’s view of scholarly writing and publishing by reducing anxieties around writing for publication, and the mysteries of the journal submission and peer review process.  The book includes excellent sections on argument-based writing, giving and receiving feedback, editing and revision techniques, and how to choose a journal for submission, among other relevant topics.

Tip: The author’s website gives a detailed description of the book, resources for how to teach the material, and electronic copies of some of the tools connected to the book.