The Academic Storyteller Blog

Thanks for Visiting My Blog

In the Academic Storyteller blog I post about issues related to the different kinds of writing that academics do. This includes research articles, book chapters and books. I also cover other types of writing that we do, such as journal reviews, decision letters, grant proposals, recommendation letters, promotion and tenure letters, research statements, etc. Finally I discuss writing process issues, and topics associated with coauthoring and navigating the review process. I may even throw in the occasional interview with another scholar about writing.

I’m always on the lookout for interesting topics. So, if there’s something you’d like me to blog about, please contact me and let me know. If I decide to blog on your topic I’ll be sure to mention that you suggested it.

Tim Pollock 5/30/21 Tim Pollock 5/30/21

Choose Courage and Swing for the Fences

Jim Detert wrote a great book on Choosing Courage at work. In this blog post I talk about the importance of choosing courage when selecting research topics.

Tim Pollock 5/2/21 Tim Pollock 5/2/21

Keep It Simple

Like Rube Goldberg machines, too many theory articles use convoluted, overly complex means to accomplish something simple. I discuss the power of simplicity in theory articles.

Tim Pollock 4/18/21 Tim Pollock 4/18/21

Be Reasonable II - Arming Yourself

This week I describe some resources you can use to educate yourself, thereby avoiding the unreasonable reviewer trap, and that you can use to do battle with the unreasonable reviewers you encounter.

Tim Pollock 4/11/21 Tim Pollock 4/11/21

Be Reasonable

Everyone runs into unreasonable reviewers who take strident positions and cannot be satisfied. Learn how to avoid becoming that reviewer, and doing unto others what’s been done to you.

Tim Pollock 3/28/21 Tim Pollock 3/28/21

Is Theory Blooming?

Spring is in the air, which means dissertation proposals are being defended. In this week’s blog post I discuss the demise of the “one big study” dissertation in favor of the three-essay model, and what we’re losing because of it.

Tim Pollock 3/21/21 Tim Pollock 3/21/21

Revising after Rejections

Knowing which reviewer comments to heed and which to ignore following a rejection is hard. In this post I provide some suggestions to help you figure it out..

Tim Pollock 3/14/21 Tim Pollock 3/14/21

Get Enough Writing Exercise

Develop your writing muscles by engaging in deliberate practice

Tim Pollock 3/7/21 Tim Pollock 3/7/21

What Don’t We Know, and So What?

There are different ways to problematize a study and answer the questions, “What don’t we know, and so what?”. I use two recently published papers by former PSU doctoral students to illustrate different techniques.