Mary M. Lay (University of Minnesota)
Technical Communication Quarterly.13(1). 109-119. 2004. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
“Reflections on Technical Communication quarterly, 1991-2003: The manuscript Review Process” by M. M. Lay reports the history of establishing the journal of Technical Communication Quarterly. Lay reports that the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) has changed its official journal from the “Technical Writing Teacher” into “Technical Communication Quarterly” to reflect the changes in the Association and the field itself. According to Lay, ATTW members are not only interested in academic writing but also in speaking and visual design; thus, the journal should touch on such details and even update its own design. As Technical Communication has been shaping up as its own discipline, the content of the journal representative of ATTW (which has altered from The Technical Writing Teacher to Technical Communication Quarterly) changed to cover more pragmatic application of Technical Communication. Therefore, one can find materials about advertising, marketing, computers, medical applications, etc. In other words one can conclude that Technical Communication has made a jump into different fields that require communications at different level. It is also possible to say that other disciplines have had recourse to Technical Communication to survive (As Tech Comm is by definition interdisciplinary). Such alteration are documented even by the reviw process. In dealing with the editorial reviews which is the focus of this article, Lay emphasizes the interest of TCQ’s editorial on research and empirical support for the writer’s arguments. This speaks for the exactness of the field especially that it draws on all disciplines’ research strategies and findings.
I have tried in this post to highlight the change in Tech Comm through TCQ because I felt that it is an accurate mirror of the change that the field from being writing-based to being more open to other disciplines and applications in real life.
Hmmmm, I wonder if your journal analysis is on TCQ as mine is?! This looks like a good article on the history of the journal and the evolution of its focus. I agree that TCQ often mirrors the changes in technical communication over the years. A good journal to subscribe to!
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