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Series:   Elements in Publishing and Book Culture

The Edited Collection

Pasts, Present and Futures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

Peter Webster
Peter Webster
Affiliation:
Webster Research Consulting

Summary

Edited collections are widely supposed to contain lesser work than scholarly journals; to be incoherent as volumes, no more than the sum of their parts; and to be less visible to potential readers once published. It is also often taken as axiomatic that those who make decisions in relation to hiring, promotion, tenure, and funding do so agree. To publish in or edit an essay collection is thought to risk being penalised for the format before even a word is read. After examining the origins of this critique, this Element explores the modern history of the edited collection and the particular roles it has played. It examines each component part of the critique, showing that they are either largely unfounded or susceptible of solution. It proposes the edited collection as a model of one possible idea of scholarly community: collaboration, trust, and mutual obligation in pursuit of a wider good.
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Keywords

academic librariesacademic publishingpublishing history
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Publishing and Book Culture
Online ISBN: 9781108683647
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 04 June 2020

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The Edited Collection
  • Peter Webster, Webster Research Consulting
  • Online ISBN: 9781108683647
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The Edited Collection
  • Peter Webster, Webster Research Consulting
  • Online ISBN: 9781108683647
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The Edited Collection
  • Peter Webster, Webster Research Consulting
  • Online ISBN: 9781108683647
Available formats
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