How to differentiate two similar papers when both are supposed to be general surveys?

February 7, 2011 5:56 PM

Academic (social sciences) filter: How do I make chapters about my research that are destined for two general handbooks different from each other, or does it even matter?

Having just finished a chapter for a handbook on my field of research, I have been approached by another, very similar handbook, to write a chapter for them. These are linguistics handbooks, and in each case they have asked for a chapter on the language I work on. One handbook is a world-wide survey of similar languages; the other is more-regionally focussed, but otherwise there is very little difference. In other words, both handbooks expect a comprehensive, very general chapter about the language in question (about 30 pages in length).

Both are academic publications, with academic publishers, and edited by people in my field. It is generally frowned upon in academia to regurgitate too much of one publication into another. I feel really uncomfortable not hugely differentiating the subject matter of each (moreso than just giving more regional context for the regional one).

I'd be much happier if I could at least frame them differently: make one a historical overview of research on that language, for example, while the other is a more detailed analysis of the current situation. Or making one sociolinguistic in focus, and the other a sketch grammar.

But that isn't what the editors seem to want, and I already wrote the first one (and submitted it), making it really exhaustive and broad in scope, since I didn't know about the second opportunity at that time. I also used all my good examples in the first one, and feel bad reusing the same ones in the second. (And this is a field where examples come straight out of the data - you can't just make up new ones.)

Fellow academics: what do I do? Is there some way to make these chapters really different from each other? Or does it not matter in handbook-type publications?

posted by lollusc to Education (2 answers total)

Assuming these two pubs really have no difference in focus or audience beyond what you've noted, any rewrite will be an exercise in wordplay. That's a waste of your time and, as you note, something that ultimately won't add much to your CV. The handbook format doesn't give you a pass.

Might you suggest to the 2nd editor that she or he reprint (with permission, of course) your article from the 1st publication?

Qualifications: ABD in the humanities, editorial assistant for a few anthologies and textbooks in same.
posted by Kalatraz at 6:16 PM on February 7, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks, Kalatraz: that's a good solution and one I hadn't thought of. In case the publisher of the first won't give permission, though, I'd like to hear any other thoughts people have.

And in case it's relevant: I am quite early in my career and any publications are really useful to me, so I would like to try and get something worthwhile out of this if possible, even if it is just "an exercise in wordplay". Obviously I wouldn't do it if that were considered unethical, though.
posted by lollusc at 3:18 AM on February 8, 2011