What is Writing Commons?
Writing Commons is
- a free online encyclopedia for writers, speakers, and knowledge workers
- an experiment in
- open education and intellectual property (Moxley 2013).
- authorship, agency, self publication (Moxley 2013, June 17; Vieregge et al. 2012)
- commons-based peer production (Benkler 2006)
- applied scholarship (Boyer 1990)
- an example of process writing
- We are constantly revising existing articles as well as adding new content.
Mission
- Democratize access to research, theory, and scholarship in Writing Studies
- Help writers communicate more effectively in home, school and work contexts
- Help writers improve their cognitive, intrapersonal competencies, and interpersonal competencies
- Help writers master 21st century literacies, including critical literacy, digital literacy, visual literacy, and Information Literacy
- Create a forum for teachers and writers to publish peer reviewed work on pedagogical matters.
Readership
Writing Commons hosts a robust international audience. It is used by students in a variety of undergraduate writing courses, including
- Composition
- Creative Writing
- Workplace Writing (including Professional Writing, Business Writing, Technical Writing, and Writing in STEM).
We integrated Google Analytics into our site in 2012. Between 2012 and 2023, 12,287,788 users consulted 216,683,374 pages.
Our readership tends to be fairly global. Below, for example, are usage analytics for 1/22 to 3/22.
Masthead
We are practitioners (scholars, teachers, and writing program directors) in Writing Studies, an interdisciplinary academic field.
Editors-in-Chief:
- Cassandra Branham
Associate Professor, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Megan McIntyre
Director of Rhetoric, University of Arkansas
Assistant Editor
- Alexandra Watkins, Austin Community College
Assistant Editor of Social Media
- Alisha Karabinus
Assistant Professor of Writing and Digital Studies, Grand Valley State University
Lead Copy Editors
- Jennifer Burke Reifman
Ph.D. Candidate, UC Davis - Roberto Leon
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Maryland College Park - Weijia Li
Writing & Teaching Consultant, Bucknell University
Current Reviewers and Editors
*Note: For past editors and reviewers, see Project History & Acknowledgements
| Kelli R. Gill Graduate Student, Texas Christian University |
| Alexander Evans Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cincinnati |
| Lindsey Albracht Lecturer and Co-Director of First Year Writing, Queens College, CUNY |
| Lauren Garskie Assistant Professor and Writing Intensive Coordinator, Gannon University |
| Amber Kidd Ph.D. Candidate, Case Western Reserve University |
| Meng-Hsien (Neal) Liu Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Kathleen Turner Ledgerwood Assistant Professor of English, Lincoln University |
| Walter Lucken IV Ph.D. Candidate, Wayne State University |
| Flora de Tournay Doctoral Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer, The Graduate Center, CUNY, Hunter College, and Queens College |
| Walker Smith Lecturer, The University of Louisville |
| Keli Tucker Ph.D. Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Gabrielle Stecher Assistant Director of Undergraduate Teaching, Indiana University Bloomington |
| Joy Santee Assistant Professor, University of Southern Indiana |
| Anthony DeGenaro Assistant Professor of English, Ohio Dominican University |
| Kate Schnur Adjunct Assistant Professor in English, CUNY Queens College |
| Katie Baker Associate Professor of Writing, Rosemont College |
| Taylor Dickson Ph.D. Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Vanessa Cozza Faculty, Washington State University, Tri-Cities |
| Farrah Goff Adjunct Professor on English, CUNY Queens College |
| Callie Kostelich Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University |
| Jun Akiyoshi Assistant Teaching Professor, The Pennsylvania State University |
| Garrett J. Cummins Senior Lecturer, Ohio State University |
| Michelle McMullin Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University |
| Aleksandra Swatek Research Assistant Professor (NTT), Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznań, Poland) |
| Heather Shearer Teaching Professor (Writing), University of California, Santa Cruz |
Publisher
- Joseph M. Moxley* – Joe Moxley
*Writing Commons is an independent effort from Professor Moxley’s work USF (University of South Florida). Professor Moxley has received approval from USF to work on this project as an independent, outside activity. However, Writing Commons is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by USF.
Ownership
Writing Commons is owned and published by Writing Commons LLC.
Articles on Writing Commons
- Heron, Josh. “Writing Commons: A Model for the Creation, Usability, and Evaluation of OERs.” Composition Forum 33, Spring 2016
This is an independent review of Writing Commons. - Academe Blog
This 2014 blog, sponsored by the American Association of University Professors, addresses some of Joe Moxley’s aims for founding Writing Commons. It explores the affordances of open authorship and open education. - Moxley, J. (2013, June 17). Bending the cost curve on college textbooks. The Tampa Bay Times.
Brief editorial reports on Writing Commons as an alternative to a traditional textbook publishing. - Moxley, J. (2013). Open textbook publishing. Academe, September/October 2013. 40-43.
This article explores the genre of the textbook, the benefits of creative commons licenses, and the goals of Writing Commons. It suggests the affordances of the internet provide faculty the opportunity to self publish their own works.
Recommended Resources
References
Benkler, Yochai (2006). The wealth of networks: how social production transforms markets and freedom (1st ed.), New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, N.J: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Moxley, J. (2012). An Alternative Publishing Model for Academic Textbook Authors: Open Education and Writing Commons https://wordpress-791598-2945919.cloudwaysapps.com. Cambridge 2012: Innovation and Impact–Openly Collaborating to Enhance Education, Cambridge, UK: 16-18 April. Web.
Moxley, J. (2013, June 17). Bending the cost curve on college textbooks. The Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved from http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-bending-the-cost-curve-on-college-textbooks/2124156
Vieregge, Q., Stedman, K., Mitchell, T., & Moxley, J. (2012). Agency in the Age of Peer Production. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.