Where do the ‘disciplinary culture’ differences in communication lie?

Ana Marušic, organizer – Croatian Medical Journal and University of Zagreb, Croatia

Language, editing, review practices and communication in general seem to differ among journals and editors and writers from different academic disciplines. This panel will explore possible differences and common grounds for those who work with texts across disciplines. The question that gave rise to this panel discussion came out of our experience trying to organize writing and editing workshops that could be of service beyond the biomedical research community.

  • Playing the field: some things to watch out for when changing disciplineAlan Lounds, Language and Terminology Services – Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

    Alan Lounds has 15 years of experience working for a university-based language service as a translator, editor and supervisor of other language professionals. This has given him insight into a variety of scientific fields and taught him that new ones sometimes offer surprises.

  • Symposia participants and invited lecturers’ styles across disciplinary cultures: interpersonal featuresSally Burgess, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

    Every English teacher knows that speaking/listening and reading/writing are linked. Every academic participating in knowledge communication knows one must speak to draw attention to one’s writing—and that inter-university faculty visits are common at the highest levels but grow more frequent in Europe as higher education practices converge. Sally Burgess will focus on discipline-based speaking styles observed at her university.

  • Where does disciplinary culture lie? An ethnographic perspectiveTheresa Lillis, Open University, UK

    Drawing on a ‘text-oriented ethnographic’ study of multilingual scholars’ writing practices and experiences—which involves careful tracking of academic texts and the people involved in crafting them—Theresa Lillis will consider what an ethnographic perspective tells us about disciplinary cultures.

  • Discipline-specific reviewing practices (title to be confirmed) – Ida Raffaelli, editor in chief, Suvremena lingvistika (Contemporary Linguistics) and Professor of Linguistics, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia. Email: ida.raffaelli@ffzg.hr.

    (To be posted in September)

  • Communication in natural sciences: experience from a marine biology journalAnita Marušić, language editor, Acta Adriatica, Croatia

    Journals from natural sciences are often overshadowed by biomedical journals, although communicating natural sciences has its specificities. Anita Marušić will present the specificities of editorial work with manuscripts from marine biology.