About this series
The academic publishing landscape is evolving, presenting challenges and opportunities for scholars at every career stage. Graduate students and early-career researchers often encounter a mismatch between their training and the demands of today’s job market. Post docs and new faculty often manage the transition from dissertation to book with limited formal support. At the same time, mid-career faculty may find themselves rethinking their publication strategies in response to changing professional goals, institutional shifts, or a desire to reach broader audiences.
This series addresses these shifting norms by offering guidance on new and emerging publication formats, the push for early and frequent publishing, and the rise of public-facing scholarship. It aims to demystify essential elements of the hidden curriculum: crafting effective grant and book proposals, responding to peer review, finding support and negotiating contracts. By foregrounding issues of access and mentorship, the series also confronts structural inequities that shape academic careers. Drawing on both expert advice and experience, it equips scholars with practical tools to write, publish, and succeed in a rapidly changing academic world.
About the Editor
Bethany Albertson is an Associate Professor in the Government Department at UT Austin. Her research focuses on public opinion, political psychology, and experimental methods. Her book, Anxious Politics: Democratic Citizenship in a Threatening World (co-authored with Shana Kushner Gadarian) was awarded the 2016 Robert E. Lane Award for best book in political psychology and the 2021 Doris Graber Award for the best book in political communication in the past decade. She has received the Josephina Paredes Endowed Teaching Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching and the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award at UT Austin and was recognized with the Erika Fairchild Award from Southern Political Science Association for service to the discipline and commitment to students and teaching.
Contact details
Bethany Albertson: balberts@austin.utexas.edu
Areas of interest include
Targeted lessons for various career stages:
- Preparing job market materials
- Publishing while in graduate school – what you should know
- Writing successful grant and book proposals
- Turning a dissertation into a (good) book manuscript
- How to write your second book
- Maintaining an active research agenda at different types of institutions
The myth of the solo-academic:
- Lab-based models for research
- Using research assistants effectively
- Writing in community: building and sustaining the kind of networks that support writing
- Finding your people: Advisors, Mentors and Co-authors
Writing for different audiences:
- Public facing writing / Writing trade and cross-over books
- Academic Publishing Across Cultures: Challenges, Innovations, and Best Practices
- The Global Scholar: Strategies for Collaborating and Publishing in an International Context