Comments on: ‘fess up.

By: Product Report Two… I’m a Rock Star « New Soc Prof’s Weblog

Sun, 13 Jan 2008 06:41:10 +0000

[...] Second, the larger problem with tracking the number of words produced is that I could dither indefinitely on the same paper and still meet my goals for the week. I’ve decided, then, to set more global goals for myself. This week it was to send a paper to some colleagues for their comments, prior to (hopefully) sending it out for review. This week, I accomplished this. Next week’s goal, is to actually make the ASA submission deadline this year (though I clearly will not be spending any more time trying to cut said paper down to 20 pages). [...]

By: gradstudentbyday

gradstudentbyday — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 22:53:13 +0000

I find the idea that you have to submit a full paper 8 months in advance to be ludicrous. If I had a full paper, I’d be sending it out to journals!

As a grad student who’s never submitted a paper for precisely this reason, I have a question for the more experienced folks out there. How “finished” are the papers you actually send? Jamybarab suggests you can think of the 20 page paper as an extended outline, but what if you haven’t done much of the analysis yet (but will have by August)?

Finally I just want to second olderwoman’s comments. A convention that was much more about people presenting what they’re actively working on, at all stages, and getting feedback from one another would be much more useful to me than I have found the ASA meetings so far. Thus far, it has been a disappointment.

By: Radio Free Newport

Radio Free Newport — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:16:45 +0000

Ok, for those of you who are violating the 20-page limit, are you trying to keep it reasonably close (say, 25-30 pages?), or are you submitting your paper as is? The page limit is especially tough for qualitative papers.

As for the submission question, you can submit a paper before the conference — it just can’t be accepted for publication prior to submission to the ASA:

—-
Papers are NOT eligible if they have been:

1. read previously at ASA or other professional meetings,

2. published prior to the meeting or accepted for publication before being submitted to organizers for consideration, or

3. modified in only secondary respects after similar readings or publication

By: jamybarab

jamybarab — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 22:50:07 +0000

It’s not against the rules to send a paper out for publication AFTER submission to ASA, so submit away! Also, every paper I’ve ever read for a session has been revised and resent to me before the conference. A detailed abstract is a better model, sure, but maybe if that’s how we thought of the 20pp it would be less restrictive?

Also, do make it easier to get on the program so I won’t have to pay my own way!

By: jlena

jlena — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:29:53 +0000

I am 100% with racheltk. Plus, reading 250 (or whatever–100, 50) extended abstracts (no matter how poorly written) is a much more appropriate task for your colleague (whom you are also asking to review your manuscripts, be on your book award committees, and write your tenure letters, to name a few choice tasks). I agree that there is little quality control (over an oral presentation 8 months in the future) that one can exert by reading a full manuscript, as opposed to, say, 800 words.

By: racheltk

racheltk — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:25:14 +0000

I agree–having to submit a full paper 8 months before the meetings seems insane. Of course, I’m a demographer, so I prefer the PAA model (abstracts and extended abstracts are the norm). Am I supposed to put this down for 8 months and wait until ASA to get feedback?! I have seen no evidence that having to submit full papers improves the quality of sessions or discussions, either. I could see having to upload full papers even 6 weeks before the meeting; but 8 months?!

Also: Am I not supposed to send it out for review before then?

By: qualitativeinterloper

qualitativeinterloper — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:21:08 +0000

Jeremy — you are raising false hopes. You may have some empty rhetoric about change but I have 37 years of actual change. Elect me!!

By: olderwoman

olderwoman — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:13:55 +0000

I think many ASA rules are self-defeating. The organization wants more members to pay dues and more people to attend the meetings (and take rooms in the convention hotels to get favorable rates on the convention costs) but tries to impose rules to limit meeting participation. Most people cannot get their way paid to the meeting unless they are on the program, so all the rules designed to make it harder to get on the program run counter to the goal of increasing membership & meeting attendance. Some of the leadership of ASA seems to imagine that all those non-elite sociologists out there who are not joining ASA ought to be paying dues to an organization and attending a meeting so they can sit in rooms and listen to elite sociologists talk. But another model of the purpose of a convention would be that it is precisely for the presentation of work in progress and the chance for people at all levels of the profession to connect with each other and receive professional feedback and support for their work. To be viable, ASA needs to understand and meet the needs of the folks out there at the teaching colleges & the branch campuses of public schools, not just those at R1 research universities.

By: profintheweeds

profintheweeds — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 15:10:23 +0000

I also agree this rule seems a little silly in light of the push for interdisciplinary thinking. But, like the 20 page limit, is anyone policing this? In thinking of some CV I’ve recently perused, my sense is this particular rule is often violated.

By: jeremy

jeremy — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 14:41:49 +0000

Vote for me for ASA President and I will change these rules. I will have “Change” as my entire platform and be a “change agent.”