The WAC Repository offers both a collection of peer-reviewed articles pertaining to WAC administration and pedagogy and a set of resources for the wider writing studies community that have been assembled through curation and crowdsourcing. The Repository pursues its mission of prompting cross-institutional conversations and making visible the work of WAC practitioners, administrators, and stakeholders by encouraging and supporting exchanges about implementing WAC principles and best practices in local contexts.
The WAC Repository is a collaboration between the WAC Clearinghouse and the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum.
8.1 Sections
The WAC Repository houses the following sections:
- Articles: peer-reviewed articles pertaining to WAC administration and pedagogy.
- Exhibits: smaller, more focused sets of materials organized by individual authors or teams of authors to shed insight on a particular topic or issue.
- Collections: larger, broadly focused sets of materials organized by individual authors or teams of authors to shed insights on a particular topic or issue.
- Crowdsourcing Initiatives: projects that feature works solicited in open calls for contributions to address a particular topic or issue.
- Resources: resources that support our professional, teaching, and writing activities.
- Related Projects: related projects hosted on other websites.
- Statements: documents that provide introductory and/or foundational information pertaining to WAC, the WAC Clearinghouse, and the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum.
- Related Organizations: related professional organizations.
8.2 Submission Process
8.2.1 Articles may be submitted on a rolling, year-round basis through the WAC Clearinghouse’s Submission Portal. Project authors/editors of larger projects should reach out to the associate publishers of resources to discuss, brainstorm, and/or plan their work.
8.2.2 Other Materials. To submit a collection, exhibit, or crowdsourced initiative, or to suggest the inclusion of resources and related work and organizations, prospective authors/editors should use the submissions portal.
8.2.3 Submission Instructions. Prospective authors/editors need to create an account on the WAC Clearinghouse's submissions portal and follow the submission instructions available in the portal. These instructions also appear on the website for the WAC Repository. The Repository accepts the following file types: PDF, Rich Text Format (.rtf), and Word (.doc, .docx) files as well as most word processing files, including Microsoft Publisher (.pub).
8.2.4 Intellectual Property Requirements. Any participant part of/contributing to a submission needs to have given permission (written or recorded audio) for their materials to be used. To ensure that resources are shared ethically, authors/editors need to address the following requirements: 1) permission from the host university approving sharing (written and as applicable), and 2) recommendation for Creative Commons (CC) license to use as per institutional/individual preference.
8.2.5 Licensing. The Repository recommends a CC BY-SA license: “This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use. If you remix, adapt, or build upon the material, you must license the modified material under identical terms.”
8.3 Types of Submissions
8.3.1 Article Types. The following types of articles are accepted.
- WAC Administration or Pedagogy Artifact with Critical Reflection (1,500-2,500 words plus artifact). These course and program materials should highlight WAC theories and evidence-based practices in application in local contexts. The critical reflection should describe the course, program, and/or institutional context; link the artifact to theories or evidence-based practices; explain the rationale of its design and design process; and critically reflect on the advantages and limitations of this artifact. Please also speak to how readers might adapt or translate this artifact for other contexts. Artifacts might take the form of handouts, presentation slides, outlines of workshops or activities, promotional marketing tools, videos, assignments, rubrics, and other suitable media
- WAC Program Profiles (1,500-2,500 words). Each profile should offer a holistic description of a WAC program and its local context. Please include a brief history of the program, its goals and mission, what theories or research inform the program, the program’s makeup and structure, its offerings by way of services and/or courses, and factors that constrain and encourage the program’s sustainability. While one goal of this type of submission is to share history and context, another is to share recommendations for current and future WAC program administrators and educators, so profile authors might reflect on elements of the program they would reinvent or build differently or share advice informed by their leadership or participation in the program.
- WAC Testimonies (1,500-2,500 words). These critical accounts can be shared by WAC administrators, faculty across the disciplines, graduate students, tutors in centers/studios, and any other WAC participants or stakeholders. Highlighting a wide variety of experiences, positionalities, and perspectives, these pieces should foster reflection on meaningful WAC practices, pivotal moments in WAC program development, program leadership, equity and justice, and community or coalition building, among other topics.
8.3.2 Exhibit, Collection, or Other Resource Submission. Project authors/editors of larger projects should reach out to the associate publishers of resources to discuss, brainstorm, and/or plan their work.
8.3.3 Review Process. Once a submission has been made to the Repository's submission portal, the Repository editorial team will determine whether the submission fits the purpose and scope of the Repository. If so, article submissions will be sent out for review and project submissions will be assigned a lead editor/publisher.
For articles, two reviewers will evaluate each submission for its fit with the mission of the Repository. The reviewers will recommend that the submission be accepted, accepted with minor revision, revised and resubmitted, or rejected. In the event of a lack of agreement by the reviewers, a third reviewer will be asked to assess the submission. This initial review period should take around four weeks.
Review Heuristic
All WAC Repository editorial board members/reviewers need to read and be committed to using ideas presented in the statement on Anti-Racist Scholarly Reviewing Practices: A Heuristic for Editors, Reviewers, and Authors. We encourage authors to read the statement prior to submitting their work.
Specifically, for the WAC Repository, reviewers will:
- Acknowledge the scope of and guidelines for articles submitted when considering what constitutes a fair critique and limiting feedback accordingly.
- Use review criteria to determine acceptance and offer supportive comments and mentoring if revision is needed to better meet criteria.
- Respect the lived experience and embrace the variety of expertise represented by those presenting submissions, as explained further by WAC Clearinghouse statements on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Compose a brief (no more than 1,000 words) message to the author(s) explaining their determination based on these criteria. Reviewers may also include suggestions for revision to further improve the piece for future publication.
In turn, the WAC Repository editorial team will:
- Welcome and support a broad range of submissions and ideas to develop a broad and inclusive repository of WAC tools and strategies for use by all WAC practitioners.
- Make acceptance criteria and review process transparent and deadlines/timelines flexible.
- Ensure that all submitted materials reflect anti-racist and inclusive ideas and language choices in content and context as well as in accompanying reflective comments.
- Review Criteria for Peer Review
Reviewers will be asked to use the following questions as they assess materials:
- Does the submission clearly align with the purpose and audience for the WAC Repository?
- Does the submission fulfill the criteria listed in the description for its article type?
- If citations are used, do those citations represent a diverse body of scholars, acknowledging some authors may be intentionally uncited because of oppressive or harmful actions? If citations are not used, is expertise communicated through other forms of evidence (i.e., lived experiences)?
- Is the submission accessible to a range of readers, including WAC administrators and professionals or various ranks, faculty across the disciplines, non-WAC institutional stakeholders and partners, and students seeking to learn more about WAC practice?
- Does the submission build on existing knowledge of WAC and/or writing studies practice in local contexts, offering novel information to readers of the journal and adding to community knowledge?