5371 Journal Analysis

**Note: the formatting, pictures, etc. did not come through as well, but if you would like to see a better version, I am happy to share.

Crunching the Numbers: How Does JTWC Measure Up Against Its Purpose Statement?

The Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (JTWC) was founded in 1971 by Jay R. Gould from Renesselaer Polytechnic Institute (1). JTWC is published by Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. which publishes numerous academic journals and book series, including the Baywood Book Series on Technical Communication. In its nearly forty year history, JTWC has maintained a commitment to "publish a thoroughly solid journal that performs as the needed bridge between academia and the world of practitioners ("Journal of Technical Writing and Communication"). This balance is greatly needed not only to inform practitioners and academics of new research and theories in the field, but also to get perspectives from industry about the work academics need to prepare technical communication students for. In an attempt to measure how well JTWC is accomplishing its purpose statement goals, this paper analyzes trends in tone, topics, and authorship of JTWC articles (not including editorials or book reviews) within a five year span, looking at volume 35, issues three and four (2005) through volume 40 issue one and two (2010).

JTWC has been edited by Charles H. Sides of Fitchburg State University throughout the years of this journal analysis. Sides has kept the tone of the journal focused on innovation in the field balanced with humanistic values of the faculty whom contribute to the field. In "From the Editors Desk" (or Editor's notes), Sides appeals to the need for critical inquiry into how professional communication responds to such disasters as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, and space shuttle catastrophes in their work (Sides, "From," 36.2). In the fourth issue of the journal in 2008, Sides discusses how Peter Senge's analysis of "successful" business being done in this new century would need to include "'learning organizations engaged in 'knowledge work'" and asks the field to consider how our discipline can apply such a view to its own studies and teaching (Sides, "From," 38.4). Sides also extends challenges to our teaching of students. For instance, in the second issues in 2009, Sides states that "convincing our students that their conduct in public space should be representative of their personal and professional values as well as representative of a worthwhile life remains a fundamental principle of higher education. And it should be at the core of all we do" (Sides, "From," 39.2). And, in Sides latest editorial, he considers how the economic downturn impacts the professionalization of the field. By taking an informal survey of ATTW Members' professional development funding opportunities, he found that across the board, faculty felt that they were not given enough funding and this was particularly dominate in the liberal arts. Although skeptical, Sides encourages faculty in the field to protect the funding needed in positions that require scholarship for advancement. In each of Sides commentaries, we get a look at the major events affecting the work technical communicators do both in the academy and in the private/public sphere. However, there does

seem to be a slight bias in the way faculty concerns are mostly addressed as the audience of the

JTWC Most Commonly Used Subject Tags
Subject Tags	Total
Communication of Technical Information	47
Independent artists, writers, and performers	34
Technical Writing	30
Education	13
Communication	11
Authorship	10
Research	10

journal within the editorials.

JTWC's goal, as noted above, is to bridge discussion of technical communication between academics and practitioners. It is important than to consider the trends in topics being discussed in our journal sample. In order to measure the most commonly written about topics, I used author generated subject tags for the articles and tabulated how many times each appeared throughout the five year span I was

working with. Of the 509 tags used in the journal, the most commonly used tags were: Communication of Technical Information; Independent artists, writers, and performers; Technical writing; Education; Communication; Authorship; and Research. These results seem to indicate that JTWC is trying to represent the needs of all stakeholders (academics and practitioners alike). Although the subject tags Communication of technical information and Technical writing are not surprising to find in this journal, the second most used tag (Independent artists, writers, and performers) is of interest. Independent artist, writers, and performers most clearly indicate that the work done in the academy has applications in other organizations and situations. Furthermore, the emphasis on research demonstrates the importance of invention in the field of technical communication and the need for continued invention on different fronts.

In addition to studying the total number of tags in this five year period, we can narrow down results further to see how JTWC has responded to current events in the field and the world. For instance, in 2005 the appearance of tags associated with mobile communication systems and wireless telecommunication systems rose. This implies that in 2005, the focus of technical communication through cell phone messaging devices may have been an area of concern in the field perhaps as a result of the growing popularity of the Blackberry (or similar devices). In 2007, the field took note of how technical communication related to space exploration after investigations into the Columbia shuttle explosion in 2003. In 2008, more tags were seen in workplace environment than in previous volumes and in 2009 information services and consumer goods were being examined more closely. By looking at these trends by year, we can also trace how technical communication responds to societal events and trends (even if it takes journals a couple of years to catch up) that relate to concerns beyond the classroom.

Following the theme of cooperation between academia and practitioners, it is appropriate to test how often authors from outside the academy publish in JTWC. To analyze this information, I listed all authors signed to an article and noted their institutional affiliation. I broke down affiliations into four categories: 4-Year Public Universities, United States; 4-year Private Universities, United States; International Universities; and Industry (profit and non-profit). Although a majority of the authors are affiliated with four year public universities in the United States, there are practitioners who have authored articles in the journal as well (and, as will be discussed below, practitioners often co-author articles with faculty). Industry practitioners make up 11% of the total authors signed to the JTWC article samples showing that, although limited, practitioners are engaging in dialogue with scholars in technical communication.

Furthermore, technical communication places great importance on collaboration to invent documents. Thus, I wondered how often articles are co-authored in JTWC. I isolated articles written by one author from article written in collaboration. Of the ninety-six articles published in the twenty issues of JTWC that I analyzed, only 25% percent of articles were written in collaboration. This may not seem like much, but upon further investigation, it is found that half of the total number of co-authored articles collaborate with authors from profit or non-profit organizations. Again, this is promising for the field as it is evidence that industry and the academy can actively research the needs of the discipline.

The final demographic analysis I conducted was the male to female ratio in authored texts. In questioning how "thoroughly solid" a journal is, the study of gender distribution in authorship is an important gauge of how the journal, and the field at large, respond to articles written by women (in term of acceptance). In JTWC, male authored articles outnumber female's by 19%. However, in co-authored articles females appeared in 52% of articles, whereas males made up 43% of co-authored texts (the remaining percentage represents unidentified gender or those that could not be verified). A couple trends can be seen in this data. First, women still seem to be underrepresented in the literature of JTWC. This assumption does need to be verified in yet a larger sample of data, but it is an important case to confirm. Furthermore, the data suggests that women are either better, more comfortable, or have a better chance being published if they collaborate with other writers to publish in JTWC. Again, this assumption needs to be held up to further scrutiny and may even be an item to look across journals to find overall trends in the field.

Going back to JTWC's purpose statement, it is clear from the study that the editors of the journal are mostly on target with their goal. Although still marginalized, it is clear from the topic matter and the authorship that practitioners are being considered in the make-up of the journal. As evidenced in the data, JTWC seeks not only to bridge the gap between academic and industry professionals, but academic and "real-world" scenarios where technical communication can inform our understanding of the rhetorical and practical elements inherent in our day to day operations. Overall, there are clearly areas where JTWC, and indeed the field, need to continue strengthening (such as the number of practitioners published in the journal or the gender distribution of authorship). However, when considering how well the journal is achieving its purpose, we can observe that attempts are being made be more field inclusive.

Works Cited

"Journal of Technical Writing and Communication." Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. 2009. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.

Sides, Charles H. "From the Editor's Desk." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 36.2 (2006): 119. EBSCOHost Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 2 Oct. 2010.

Sides, Charles H. "From the Editor's Desk." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 38.4 (2008): 299. EBSCOHost Communication & Mass Media Complete Web. 2 Oct. 2010.

Sides, Charles H. "From the Editor's Desk." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 39.2 (2009): 121-122. EBSCOHost Communication & Mass Media Complete Web. 2 Oct. 2010.

Sides, Charles H. "From the Editor's Desk." Journal of Technical Writing and Communication. 40.1 (2010): 1-2. EBSCOHost Communication & Mass Media Complete Web. 2 Oct. 2010.