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James Eunsong UmRWS640 1st PaperFeb. 28, 2014

Comparison of Two Scholarly Journals

The Quarterly Journal of Speech vs. the Computers and Composition

Introduction

As the first paper in the RWS 640 class, the comparison of at least two scholarly journals in

the field of Rhetoric and Writing Studies is assigned. While one is to be selected among

general journals such as the Rhetoric Society Quarterly, the Rhetoric Review, and the

Quarterly Journal of Speech and the other should be chosen among more specialized

journals such as the College English, the College Communication and Composition, the

Composition Studies, and so on.

To complete this assignment, I selected the Quarterly Journal of Speech and the Computers

and Composition. To identify the today’s features of the two journals, I examined their latest

publications. For the Quarterly Journal of Speech, I examined the Issue 4 of Volume 99,

published in Nov., 2013, which has four articles (Olson, Morris, Vats et al., and Doss et al.).

And to discover the latest characteristics of the Computers and Composition, I mainly

depended on the Issue 4 of Volume 30, published at Dec., 2013, which has six research

articles (Acheson et al., Rendahl et al., Gries, Beck, Adsanatham et al., and Fox).

Based on the features identified, I will describe the similarities and differences between the

two journals. The main descriptions will be subject, orientation, research methodology,

research questions, approach to introduction of articles, number and kind of notes, citation

practice, and style sheet they follow.

Subjects treated in each journal

Regarding the subject discussed in each journal, it is announced that the Quarter Journal of

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Speech covers the subject of Communication studies, Language & Linguistics, Language &

Literature, Language and Communication, Listening, and Rhetoric in its website

(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?

journalCode=rqjs20#.UxBR8uN5NyE). Based on my observation, the main topic of the

articles examined for this essay is related to rhetoric. For example, Doss et al.’s investigates

Huerta’s rhetoric which demonstrates the value of studying different personae orchestrated

in combination (501). And, Morris studies Abraham Lincoln’s rhetoric and concludes that

Lincoln’s rhetorical criticism/pedagogy should be queered (398). Also, Olson analyzes

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast to demonstrate how the film’s combination of sophisticated

rhetorical strategies might cultivate a romanticized understanding (448). Furthermore, in

Vats et al.’s article “Containment as Neocolonial Visual Rhetoric,” the visual rhetoric of

containment is manifested in four ways (423).

The Computers and Composition declares that it is devoted to exploring the use of

computers in writing classes, writing programs, and writing research in its website

(http://computersandcomposition.candcblog.org/default.html). Actually, several articles from

the volume selected for this essay deal with academic writing. For example, in Acheson et

al.’s article “Kindle in the Writing Classroom,” they describe the assessment of online

surveys about student’s attitudes towards technology and their experience with the Kindle

(284). And, Adsanatham et al. make explicit the dynamic, interactive, and recursive nature of

delivery in multimodal writing and resituates digital delivery as a composition theory and

pedagogy for teaching multimedia composition (315). Also, Fox explores whether

multimodal composition can compel the academy to revise its vision of writing as an

exclusively intellectual practice (266).

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Orientation(theoretical or practical) and methodology

The Quarterly Journal of Speech is much theoretical because it mainly deals with abstract

topics such as rhetoric; on the contrary, the Computers and Composition has very practical

by nature. And, as to the methodology, the articles of the Quarterly Journal of Speech don’t

have any statement how the researches was conducted – I think the authors might employ

the archival research method which involves seeking out and extracting evidence from

original archival records; however, various methods such as interviews, surveys, or online

discussion were employed in the articles of the Computers and Composition.

It is natural that the articles of the Computers and Composition have practical characteristic

because they deal with the writing used in the real world. For instance, Rendahl et al. discuss

the pedagogy for online first-year writing course with the data of surveys, online discussion,

course management statistics and selected interviews (298). And, using the method of

interviews with two experienced scholars, Beck discusses the themes of collaboration and

access, in addition to the importance of the work people in the community of computers and

writing (349). Moreover, students’ attitudes towards technology and their experiences with

the Kindle are assessed through online surveys, and the statistical data of the surveys are

depicted in various charts (Acheson et al. 284-85) as below.

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Research questions

Four of six articles of the Computers and Composition contain research questions in their

abstract or introduction section. However, no article of the Quarterly Journal of Speech has

the research questions. With the research questions, it seems that readers can easily figure

out the main theme treated in each research article.

Among the articles of the Computers and Composition, Acheson et al. describe that “this

research addresses that question of ‘how much’ in regards to changes in student’s reading

and writing with digital versus print text (284),” Fox asks “whether multimedia writing is a

composing practice that can bride the academic divide between mind and body, compelling

the academy to revise its vision of writing as a purely intellectual practice (266),” Rendahl et

al.’s article have the research questions of “what do students in an online first-year writing

course perceive as good study habits, and what helps them succeed? (298),” and Gries’

article also has the question of “A new materialist approach to rhetorical study extends

Proter’s work by asking what if we take meaning consequentialism seriously? How can we

study how consequences emerge during futurity as discourse circulates with time and space?

(334).”

Approach to introduction of articles

Each of the journals provide an abstract section in the beginning of its article although only

one article of the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Morris does not have the abstract section – so

I was impressed that the Quarterly Journal of Speech does not have strict regulation on the

structure of its articles. And the keywords playing important roles in each article are

included in or after the abstract section. Examples of the abstract section are illustrated as

below (Fox 267, Vats et al. 423). With the abstract section, authors can give the outline of

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their articles to their readers, and the readers can easily make a decision on whether they

examine the article according to their goals or intentions.

Number and kind of notes

While footnotes – located below text body – are used in the Computers and Composition to

provide addition information, the Quarterly Journal of Speech deploys endnotes in its

articles. And the number of endnotes in the Quarterly Journal of Speech is much greater

than that of footnotes in the Computers and Composition.

An example of footnote from Fox (268) of the Computers and Composition is illustrated as

below. And the number of footnote used in each article is relatively small: Gries has the

largest number of 19 and Beck has the smallest number of 1 among the six articles.

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An example of endnotes from Vats et al. (443) of the Quarterly Journal of Speech is

displayed as below. A great number of endnotes are used in each article: three of four articles

have over 100 endnotes and the rest one has 74 endnotes. The reason of the great number of

endnotes is that the cited articles and books are listed by using the endnotes, whereas the

articles of the Computers and Composition have a separate “references” section for citations.

As to the numbering notes in the document body, the two journals accept the same formats.

Superscript Arabic numbers are used to indicate the notes in the text and are located after the

punctuation of the phrase or clause to which the note refers. Examples of notes numbering

from Vats et al.’s (424) are displayed as below.

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Citation practice

The articles of the Quarterly Journal of Speech have no in-text citation and “References” or

“Works Cited” section for citations. Instead, they use endnotes only a means to list the

articles or books cited by author(s) as below (Doss et al. 503). Thus, the endnotes in the

articles of the Quarterly Journal of Speech have a different role from the footnotes in the

articles of the Computers and Composition. So, a question that the articles of the Quarterly

Journal of Speech does not provide addition information related to the article could be rised.

Whereas, the articles of the Computers and Composition have the “references” section to

enumerate the cited references (Gries 347) and in-text citations (Rendahl 313) as below.

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Style sheet followed

To guide the style used in its articles, the Quarterly Journal of Speech asks in its website

(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?

journalCode=rqjs20&page=instructions#Styleguidelines) authors to follow the “Chicago

Endnotes and Bibliography” which presents two basic documentation systems: (1) notes and

bibliography and (2) author-date.

In the website (http://computersandcomposition.candcblog.org/html/guidelines.htm) of the

Computers and Composition, authors are required to comply with the most recent edition of

the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, except where noted in

the Computers and Composition Style Manual when preparing their articles.

Instructions to authors

The two journals provide similar instructions to be followed when authors prepare and

submit their articles. The Quarterly Journal of Speech posts the “Instructions for Authors”

(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?

journalCode=rqjs20&page=instructions#Styleguidelines) for its authors, and the contents list

of the “Instructions for Authors” are General guidelines, Style guidelines, Figures,

Publication charges, Reproduction of copyright material, and Supplemental online material.

“Guidelines for Editors and Authors” is provided in the website of the Computers and

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Composition (http://computersandcomposition.candcblog.org/html/guidelines.htm) for the

authors who intend to turn in their articles. The “Guidelines for Editors and Author” contains

Manuscript preparation and submission, style, review, tables and figures, notes, references

and so on.

Conclusion

As seen from above, two journals in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies were compared – the

Quarterly Journal of Speech and the Computers and Composition. Although having

something in common – providing an abstract section in its article, and the numbering

format of notes in text, the two journals have so many differences in their article. Even

though the differences, it is not easy to determine which journal’s style or format is better.

And, I think it is beneficial to investigate the factors which influence overall structure of

each journal articles. Furthermore, it is desirable to examine how the context is developed in

each journal articles.

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Works Cited

Morris III, Charles. "Sunder the Children: Abraham Lincoln's Queer Rhetorical Pedagogy."

Quarterly Journal of Speech 99.4 (2013): 395-422. Print.

Vats, Anjali, and LeiLani Nishime. "Containment as Neocolonial Visual Rhetoric: Fashion,

Yellowface, and Karl Lagerfeld’s ‘Idea of China’." Quarterly Journal of Speech 99.4

(2013): 423-47. Print.

Olson, Kathryn. "An Epideictic Dimension of Symbolic Violence in Disney’s Beauty and the

Beast: Inter-Generational Lessons in Romanticizing and Tolerating Intimate Partner

Violence." Quarterly Journal of Speech 99.4 (2013): 448-80. Print.

Doss, Erin, and Robin Jensen. "Balancing Mystery and Identification: Dolores Huerta’s

Shifting Transcendent Persona." Quarterly Journal of Speech 99.4 (2013): 481-506.

Print.

Fox, Bess. "Embodying the Writer in the Multimodal Classroom through Disability Studies."

Computers and Composition 30.4 (2013): 266-82. Print.

Acheson, Phoebe, Caroline Barratt, and Ron Balthazor. "Kindle in the Writing Classroom."


Rendahl, Merry, and Lee_Ann Breuch. "Toward a Complexity of Online Learning: Learners

in Online First-Year Writing." Computers and Composition 30.4 (2013): 297-314. Print.

Adsanatham, Chanon, Bre Garrett, and Aurora Matzke. "Re-Inventing Digital Delivery for

Multimodal Composing: A Theory and Heuristic for Composition Pedagogy."


Gries, Laurie. "Iconographic Tracking: A Digital Research Method for Visual Rhetoric and

Circulation Studies." Computers and Composition 30.4 (2013): 332-48. Print.

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Beck, Estee. "Reflecting upon the Past, Sitting with the Present, and Charting our Future:

Gail Hawisher and Cynthia, Selfe Discussing the Community of Computers &

Composition." Computers and Composition 30.4 (2013): 349-57. Print.

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