UTP Journals Blog University of Toronto Press Journals Blog Page 2

Journal of Scholarly Publishing : Fifty Years and a Community

7 November 2019 Contributor Blog

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Over the past fifty years, the Journal of Scholarly Publishing (previously called Scholarly Publishing: A Journal for Authors and Publishers) has created a vast community of authors, publishers, scholars, librarians, academic department heads, administrators of educational and fund-granting bodies, and readers.

The University Press in the post-truth era: Why it’s more important than ever to publicly recognize our peer review community and their role in maintaining the integrity of scholarly publishing

5 November 2019 Contributor Blog

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In the populist era of Donald Trump, this idea is more pertinent than ever. Scholarly research must maintain the sanctity of truth versus falsehood, integrity versus dishonesty. As a publisher, University of Toronto Press recognizes peer review’s critical value in navigating these extremes and providing that underlying rigour which supports scholarly publishing as a whole. But what do we actually mean by “recognizing” our reviewers?

Celebrating Fifty Years of Covers for JSP

28 October 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger Mary Lui.

To commemorate the journal’s fiftieth anniversary, we invite you to travel through time and view the past fifty years of covers for the Journal of Scholarly Publishing (previously called Scholarly Publishing: A Journal for Authors & Publishers), all of which have now been made available online.

Who do academic fashions leave behind?

21 October 2019 Contributor Blog

Photo of Eugene Forsey

Written by guest blogger Christopher Dummitt.

If you really want to understand historical change, look to conservatives. You’ll almost always find conservatives lamenting what they see as a world under threat, and in danger of being lost. They’re not always able to convince others that the changes represent a decline or a loss. But they tend to be very adept at seeing change itself.

Don’t Overlook University Archives

15 October 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger Matthew S. Wiseman.

The thought of studying the influence of military sponsorship on the development and conduct of Canadian science during the Cold War first crossed my mind as a PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier University.

What virtual reality (cinema) is, today.

7 October 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger Philippe Bédard.

What is Virtual Reality (VR)? The answer depends on who you ask and where one encounters VR. In my case, my vision of VR has been informed by the experience of attending the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma (FNC) since 2015. This particular context means that while VR has been around for decades, in one shape or form, my encounter with VR has been limited to cinematically-inclined “VR films,” displayed on single-user devices named Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs).

Coming full circle: How my 1980’s U of T experience and a millennial student inspired a new research agenda

30 September 2019 Contributor Blog

Mounties at Fort Walsh in 1878.

Written by guest blogger Pierre M. Atlas.

With the publication of my article, “Frontier Violence and Law and Order” in UTP’s International Journal of Canadian Studies, I have come full circle. My undergraduate experience at the University of Toronto in the 1980s first made me a comparativist, and then helped to reset my research agenda 30 years later.

Vampires and Research and Romance,
Oh My! Or, On Making Scholarship Fun

23 September 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger Melanie A. Howard.

It all started harmlessly enough. Trying to unwind from long days of studying for my comprehensive doctoral exams, I picked up Stephenie Meyer’s novel Twilight to provide some light, mindless entertainment. As one friend helped me justify the reading choice, “Sometimes you want a 5-course steak dinner; other times you just want a Twinkie.” Twilight was my Twinkie.

Peer-Review – why it matters

18 September 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger Kathryn Simonsen.

The Ivory Tower doesn’t exist. Forget what anyone says. All scholarship is a collaborative effort. No one has ever achieved anything alone. We all depend on the insights of our predecessors and our colleagues for whatever we do. This is true for every single step along the way from initial concept to final publication. Peer review is part of this process and it matters. A lot.

Peer reviewers: the unsung heroes of the academy

17 September 2019 Contributor Blog

Written by guest blogger David Dyzenhaus.

As editor of the University of Toronto Law Journal, I follow my predecessors in taking the peer review process very seriously.

Finding reviewers is often difficult. While the reward people get is the knowledge that they are making a significant contribution to scholarship, there is no real public acknowledgement of their contribution and, given that the request comes when there are always many more pressing tasks, it is both hard to get people to agree to review and then often hard to get them to deliver. Editors spend a lot of time being pesky nags!

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