Crafting Scholarship in the Behavioral and Social Sciences: Writing, Reviewing, and Editing by Robert M. Milardo (review)

To the crowded market of books on writing for scholarly publication, Robert M. Milardo offers a text that highlights key elements of the generation and evaluation of scholarship. Unlike the focus of many such books, which promise tips and tricks for a (presumptively) desperate audience seeking only to ‘get published,’ Milardo’s presentation in Crafting Scholarship in the Behavioral and Social Sciences emphasizes the major written scholarship–related roles and identities that scholars commonly embody over the course of their lives. Although the bulk of the book centres on writing, the final quarter of the book targets reviewing and editing. These two concluding chapters were added not as an afterthought but as a means for new writers for scholarly publication both to understand their partners¹ along the road to publication and to aspire to such undertakings themselves. I assume that Milardo’s deep knowledge of roles and relationships—he is, after all, professor of family relations at the University of Maine, as well as an experienced author, reviewer, and editor — informed the premise and conceptual framework of this book.

A preface is followed by ten chapters, most of which end with summaries, lists of activities, annotated recommended readings, notes, and references.² (The back matter lacks a comprehensive bibliography, but two appendixes, particular to the author’s academic field, are followed by a subject and author index.) The chapters need not be read sequentially. In fact, I suggest that less experienced writers who wish to construct or strengthen their philosophies of (or approaches to) writing begin with the chapters in the second part of the book, ‘The Experience of Writing.’ These three chapters underline the import of place and ritual in successful writing practices and cite Robert Boice’s concept of writing mindfully — that is, with ‘calm attentiveness to the present moment.’³ Milardo emphasizes perseverance and the needs for setting priorities and writing regularly, points out that writing ‘at its core. . . is about risk and criticism’ (102), illuminates that productive writing habits are diverse and can be quite idiosyncratic, and (as if to prove the particularity of habits) offers a peculiarly intriguing section on writing implements (140–41). (His preferred pencils are Palomino Blues and Blackwing 602s.) In this section readers learn that Milardo also subscribes to a liberatingly broad understanding of writing: ‘Prewriting, reading, note taking, analyzing data, and thinking are part of writing’ (126). Such a conception emphasizes that the essentialist task of writing— putting words to page or screen — is but one element of the iterative process of crafting scholarship.

Once aspiring scholarly writers know both what to expect and how to determine productive writing practices for themselves, they can then delve into the chapters in the first part, ‘Writing for Journals, Grants, and Books.’ The four chapters in this section are of the nuts-and-bolts, tips-and-tricks type, but some chapters seem more effective for a broader audience than others. A chapter entitled ‘Writing Theory and Review’ is more descriptive than instructive and, as such, ends up being among the least transferable of the chapters. Milardo primarily invokes examples of journal articles within his field. He describes the goals of the authors and then challenges his readers to proceed similarly — without explaining how to accomplish these often impressive objectives. A sample conclusion: ‘Authors would do well to understand precisely the purpose of their work, communicate this with readers, and organize their arguments and critical reviews of the relevant literature accordingly’ (46). I cannot disagree, of course; but guidance on how to ensure my writing approaches that lofty ideal would help. (This chapter does, however, include useful suggestions for winnowing results of bibliographic database searches.)

Grants as a genre receive short shrift (no single chapter focuses on them...