A Temporary Break from Scrapworthy Lives Dissertation Posts

Every Wednesday (at least most Wednesdays) for the last year, I have posted a tiny chunk of writing from my dissertation. My original intent for sharing my dissertation on this site (and creating this site in the first place) was to distribute my findings to as wide an audience as possible. I want my research to benefit not only the sociological community but also the scrapbooking community. Unfortunately, at this point, I have to take a break from publishing these particular posts.

Over the last few weeks, I have reached the conclusion that I should publish 2-3 articles about my research in peer-reviewed journals. One of their stipulations is that the content can not be published elsewhere first (outside of the dissertation). Right now, I have to turn my attention to these publications and that means I need to temporarily stop my posts based on my research. You can still download the complete dissertation or even just a chapter. You can still ask me as many questions as you want about my research.

The way academic writing works is that it needs to be published in a peer-reviewed journal first, then it can be published elsewhere (traditionally, in book form or not published at all. Blogging raises new issues. I do not want to risk losing a peer-reviewed journal publication by publishing too much of my dissertation on my blog. I don’t really want to be one of the first to have to make the case that my publishing here is distinct from my publishing there.

I am furiously working on my peer-reviewed publications so that I can get back to sharing my findings with you.

So why peer-reviewed publications? Well, blogging is not my career. Who knows, it could be one day. Anything can happen. Right now, I have a very full-time job teaching at my local community college. In most academic jobs, it is expected that you publish in peer-reviewed journals, therefore, I need to make sure I do some of this. I don’t know what the future could bring. I want to make sure all my bases are covered. I hope you understand.

In the meantime, I still will be posting to My Scrap Happy Project, Books & Blogs, and Minimalist Scrapbooking. You will also see other posts that do not fit neatly into one of these current categories.