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Useful documents
EDITORIAL CONSULTING        SCHOLARLY AND PUBLIC POLICY BOOKS

Useful documents

© Teresa J. Lawson

© Harvard University and the MIT Press; used by permission

© Teresa J. Lawson

© Teresa J. Lawson

Excerpt:
"Write an Op Ed or a letter to the editor when: the public debate is missing an important fact or argument; you or your colleagues want to draw attention to new research or a new article; others are making phony arguments; policy-makers are headed for trouble; wrongs or their solutions are being overlooked; right moves deserve praise and encouragement."
Op Eds are the "guest editorials" that appear opposite the editorial page in many newspapers; the advice also applies to Letters to the Editor. I originally wrote and distributed this guide in 1990, so references to the  policies of specific papers may be out of date; however, it is still good advice on getting into print when you have something to say.
© 1991 Harvard University and the MIT Press; used by permission. (If the PDF download is slow, you can view a version of the article on-screen by clicking here.)

Excerpt:
"We encourage authors to begin each article with a summary introduction [which] should answer the following questions:
What question or questions does this article address?
Why do these questions arise? What scholarly debate or current events set the context for the article?
What answer or answers does the article offer?
Why do these answers matter? How do they affect the debate from which they arise?
What competing arguments or explanations does this article refute?
How is this article organized? A "roadmap" paragraph should explain the structure of the sections that follow.
All seven questions may not be essential or appropriate for every article, but the question, the context, the answer, and the roadmap should always be up front."

When I wrote this guide, I focused its advice on the journal of which I was then deputy editor; however, it can be applied usefully in a range of disciplines. A Google search for the name under which I wrote it tells me that it continues to be assigned in many college courses;I'm told it has also been recommended in business settings. The need for clear writing to express complicate ideas is not limited to academia.

© 2003 Teresa Lawson

You've just gotten your manuscript back from the copy-editor, or your galleys from the press, and they are covered with cryptic red ink. This guide explains some of the common "shorthand" used in marking a manuscript or galleys for revision.

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