Academic Writing Conventions Traveling by Negotiation with Reviewers

Abstract

Accomplishing a publication in English represents a challenge for scholars in Mexico (Hanauer and Englander 2011; Diaz-Sosa and González-Videgaray 2019, 39), where Spanish is the national language and academic writing mentors are scant. Like Bal (2002), this narrative explores the concept of Academic Writing Conventions (AWCs) in English as an additional language that traveled through interactions between a Mexican scholar and reviewers of research articles for publication. The narrative allowed the researchers to identify the AWCs concept based on the analysis of the narrated data gathered from the Mexican scholar, while trying to fulfill the AWCs in order to publish in English, and the comments provided to standardize academic writing in English for the international disciplinary community through the revision tool in Word by the reviewers. This main AWCs concept involved grammar, rhetorical structure, clarity, and style. In conclusion, AWCs are a differing concept traveling disciplinarily through the interaction of different stakeholders.

Keywords

• Traveling concepts
• Academic writing conventions
• Narrative inquiry
• Research article