PROFESSORIAL BANDING

DISCIPLINARY NORMS AND EXPECTATIONS

Department/School:English

Discipline (only if different to the above):English and Creative Writing

Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences

I confirm that the discipline norms detailed below were completed following consultation with Professors in the department, and have been verified by an external advisor.

Completed by: Tim Armstrong Date: 18/08/2014

RESEARCH

  1. What are the top-rated forms of research work in your discipline? E.g. journal articles, monographs, editions

The leading categories of relevant kinds of work are: 1) [in no particular order] scholarly/research monographs, scholarly editions, scholarly/research-based biographies, and theoretical and critical monographs of a high intellectual order; novels, volumes of short stories or poetry; edited collections (in some circumstances); 2) then, in a lower category, essays and articles in distinguished journals and collections and the editorship of distinguished volumes of essays; individual publication of short stories, groups of poems.For creative writers, other forms of output (such as installations, video or sound art, digital works or libretti) might fall into either category 1 or 2 depending on length, quality and significance.
The editorship of distinguished journals and the editorship of distinguished historical, theoretical and critical series are also important contributions and indicators of standing, though they relate partly to the research leadership and enhancement criteria.

  1. What lesser publications such as encyclopaedia entries, programme notes, reviews etc. command respect in your discipline?

Generally, guides, primers, casebooks, series for beginners and for the most part anthologies (though introductions can be scholarly) fall in a lower category, with the important caveat that an authoritative introduction to a field can produce MA and graduate students. Encyclopedia entries, reviews, blog postings, etc. are rarely seen as substantial, though long articles or reviews in major publications such as the LRBand an influential online presence may carry cumulative weight, especially in the creative field.

  1. What are the top-rated outlets for dissemination of research in your discipline? E.g. major publishers, top journals?

In strict accordance with the policy of the Research Excellence Framework 2013, English as a discipline should not rank publishing houses. Instead, each published item must be judged on its own merit and on its impact on its field. No publisher has a list of consistent quality, which further strengthens the argument against identifying a ranking.

Nevertheless, it must be recognized that publication, especially of monographs, with top university presses and journals in the UK and USA does carry a weight and prestige recognized in international metrics and in the international job market: Oxford and Cambridge in the UK (with Edinburgh and Manchester below that); Chicago, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Duke in the USA (with Michigan, New England and others a step down). Below that level are the top commercial academic publishers (in rough order Polity, Palgrave, Blackwell, Routledge, Continuum, Ashgate) and, a step down again, European presses (Rodolphi, Berg, Brill). Essay collections often appear with less-prestigious presses because of the different publishing models involved. Last-resort publishers like Cambridge Scholars and Edward Mellen are not usually part of a professorial profile. That said, the diverse nature of research conducted within the Department cannot be serviced by a set list: specialized publishers deal with drama, cultural history or visual culture (for example Tauris, Four Courts), and the field for poetry and fiction is even more wide open. The list above also needs to be adjusted for field: for example Bucknell University Press is often a first-choice publisher in eighteenth-century studies.

The novelists, poets and practitioners within the Department produce work which would not be suitable for traditional university or commercial-academic presses (many have dropped their poetry lists). Publication by major commercial presses – Random House, HarperCollins, Picador, Penguin, Faber, Macmillan, Bloomsbury, Canongate, Carcanet, Bloodaxe, etc. – carries considerable weight, but in the case of poetry in particular smaller presses and web publication may be involved. Practice-based work may need to be considered in terms of major exhibitions and commissions, collaborations with other creative practitioners, and other performance-related criteria published by HEFCE.

Major scholarly/research monographs will also usually appear with top academic publishers, as above. Major scholarly editions will usually be published by one of the top university presses; Oxford and Clarendon or Cambridge perhaps above all in the UK, but distinguished series also appear with more specialized presses (Longman/Pearson and others) and increasingly major editions or archival publications are web-based. Major biographies appear with a variety of academic and trade publishers, the latter including Faber and Penguin, but also Macmillan.

Theoretical and critical monographs of a high intellectual order: Theoretical and critical monographs constitute one of the most significant forms of work in English Studies. They are hard to assess as there is no consistent way of ranking publishers. They must be evaluated individually. The standing of their authors may also be gauged by metrics such as citation indices and in terms of markers of esteem and reputation as indicated below: academic or writing prizes, reviews, major invitations and so on.

Essays and articles in distinguished journals and collections: one would tend to expect a professor with an expertise to have a record of publication in the appropriate specialist journal(s) and/or specialist collections, recognizing that top American journals are especially hard for UK scholars to publish in. Those who specialize in the work of particular authors will be likely to publish partly in journals devoted to them (e.g. Shakespeare and Shakespeare Survey, Dickens and the Dickensian). The same will often hold good for those who specialize in periods (egNineteenth-Century Studies, the Eighteenth-Century Studies or Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies for the eighteenth century, Modernism-Modernity for modernists) or themes (postcolonialism in Postcolonial Studies, etc.). Increasingly important specialist series appear with less prestigious academic publishers. Major collections of specialist essays will otherwise usually be identifiable by the status of the publisher (as above). So in general will be the editorship of distinguished theoretical, critical or scholarly series. Series for undergraduates or sixth-formers are also part of the department’s profile, and should not be ruled out of consideration, though they are more germane to teaching assessment.

  1. What are the guiding assumptions about sole authorship, PI status, percentage contribution, joint editorship, etc.?

Joint authorship is less common in English, but should be considered with the understanding that the actual work in any co-authored or co-edited book is likely to be rather more than 50% of a single-authored one, because both authors need to cover a research field and look at each other’s work closely. The same considerations apply to projects and performance work.

There are problems associated with involvement in large-scale collaborative scholarly editions that need to be noted: the schedules are not under the individual editor’s control, and may depend on many factors including the availability of any co-editors, access to travel funds, the printing schedule determined by General Editors and the press.

  1. What is the volume of productivity over what sort of timeline that might signify a.) a reasonable performance; b) a positive step-change for a professor in your discipline?

One or two significant published papers per year sounds right; a monograph every 6-8 years is likely. This depends on the monograph: some monographs are more surveys of existing knowledge than major contributions to knowledge or paradigm-shifting. A research monograph (which might take well over six years alongside other work) could itself be viewed as a step change triggering a reconsideration of research ranking, as it would at the SL/Reader boundaries.

There also needs to be some consideration of what would be appropriate for creative practitioners. A novel every 3-5 years could be right – but again this might depend on the kind of novel.Similarly for poets: a volume of poems every 3-5 years sounds about right – but sometimes a project might take more than five years. In each case, some appropriate supporting publications should be expected, such as short stories, critical essays, performances, installations, and reviews should be taken into account

  1. What are the top-rated funding sources for Research in your discipline? E.g. ESRC, AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, Wellcome etc.

In the intense and increasingly competitive field of research funding in the Humanities the award of any grant should be highly regarded. The time-consuming process of application should also be considered. The major grant-giving bodies for traditional scholarship are still AHRC, BA and Leverhulme. It is true that European funding is also gaining ground and carries prestige, but in English it is extremely difficult to obtain, because of the categories at present in force. The 2-3 year Leverhulme Research Professorships are much coveted and highly rated. Some schemes favour early career researchers and therefore exclude professors or senior staff.

  1. What levels of funding would you regard as indicating a) a reasonable performance; or b) high performance in your discipline?

As funding has become much tighter in the Humanities this is difficult to quantify: any award is evidence of standing and expertise. We are unwilling to name a sum or sums which bring a prestige ranking. The significance of the award should be judged on the content and outcomes of the research project.

  1. Are invited lectures/ conference plenaries/ conference organization/ visiting professorships/ particularly significant in your discipline, and in what sort of ranked order?

Inaugural, keynote and plenary lectures are indications that a scholar is seen as having an eminence in his or her field, though obviously more so if the occasion is an international one and the field large (it is easier to have a ‘name’ in smaller fields, author studies, etc.). One would expect a major scholar to have received a series of invitations to deliver keynotes or plenaries over a period of time, some of the invitations being international. ‘Name lectures’, or lectures which have a specific title attached to them are more prestigious but rare. At the top of the scale would be a British Academy lecture or a series of lectures at a world-leading university, e.g. the Clarendon Lectures at Oxford.

Visiting professorships for a semester or a graduate summer school at top universities in the USA carry considerable weight; as do those elsewhere, though shorter invitations in Europe and Asia can be indicative of personal links rather than esteem. There are also residencies and prestigious fellowships for creative writers.

Further signs of esteem include, for creative writers, commissions, and conferences about his or her work or criticism about his or her work; invitations to serve on prize panels.

  1. What awards, prizes and honours if any, are significant in your discipline?

We should be open to any form or source of honour or recognition, at home or abroad. The FBA is prestigious; FEA, FRSL etc. much less so. Awards from American subject bodies are an important indication of recognition in the largest academic community; European awards less significant. For creative writers, major book prizes are important indicators. Honorary degrees are also signs of distinction.

  1. Membership of which learned societies or other discipline-specific groups or organizations carry weight in your discipline?

Most academics in English belong to somelearned societies, though these do not carry any particular weight. Those invitation–only bodies listed above (especially the British Academy) carry some prestige, but can also be rather arbitrary in membership. Membership of the boards of national advisory bodies such as University English (formerly CCUE) and PEN carries weight; as does work on the executive board of learned societies.Editorship of journals and membership of editorial boards might also be included here.

TEACHING

  1. How many PhD students (in FTEs) would you expect to be supervised by Professors in your discipline?

This is difficult to quantify because it is significantly harder to attract research students in some areas (e.g. eighteenth-century literature) than in others (e.g. contemporary literature). But professors in Shakespearean studies and the post 1800-periods with a significant research reputation should be able to attract research students and should have a good record of completion across their careers (ideally several students at least, with a number progressing into the profession). Professors in areas of low recruitment should be judged by the strategies they devise to address the issue.

  1. What are the norms for contribution by Professors to Masters coursesand their validation in your discipline?

Not all Professors can contribute in this respect, because of the way in which research areas map onto our MA provision, but again professors in Shakespeare and post-1800 would normally have a good record of MA course development, provision, and supervision, sustained over several years, and would often have served as MA directors.

  1. What are the norms for Professors devising and teaching undergraduate courses in your discipline?

To some extent this is again dependent on area (teachers in the modern periods have more chance to develop and ’sell’ options in the Royal Holloway system, which begins with the earlier periods). In general Professors should have a strong record of undergraduate course development, with a number of courses to their name over a ten-year period. Exceptional performance in this area will be marked by a strong record of course development and innovation; evidence of reflexive approach; and publication on teaching and/or internal and external teaching awards.

EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENT AND IMPACT

  1. What are the norms for external involvement in your discipline within University of London, UK universities, international HE activity etc. that indicate a) a reasonable performance; b) a high performance?

Professors would be expected to be involved in the organization of seminars and conferences at the IES and/orother London colleges. A high performance could include organization of long-running and influential seminarseries and major conferences; the forging of interdisciplinary links with other institutions in the UK and internationally; work for subject bodies like the English Association; work as AHRC, Leverhulme, Welcome Foundation panellists and assessors; external evaluations undertaken for other departments nationally and internationally in periodic reviews, professorial appointments, REFassessment and the like.

  1. What particular forms of external academic, and where relevant non-academic,impact would indicate an acceptable and high performance in your discipline?

These do not differ markedly from College norms, but it should be noted that non-academic impact is harder to achieve and demonstrate in the Humanities (with some partial exceptions like Creative Writing) than in other subject areas. A high performance might include television and radio programmes and series based on the individual’s work; participation in drama or film productions involving a creative writer or academic’s work; organization of public events and festivals which draw on the individual’s work; a substantial web presence.It should also be noted that impact in the Humanities often involves unpaid and local work: answering queries from TV and radio researchers; dealing with teachers and the public, whether via direct inquiries or in media streams.

  1. What kind and volume of Third Stream activity (including patents, spin-outs, outreach, knowledge transfer, consultancies, cultural interventionsetc.) of benefit to the College etc. would be important in your discipline?

There is very little applicable to the subject area in this category. Occasionally literary academics act as consultants on television or radio programmes or series; or to speak at literary events outside academia. Creative writers may also be asked to work on or present programmes, to contribute to festivals or other activities. To some extent there is an element of ‘luck’ in this area - some academic are in fields of more general interest than othersor their work might coincide with a centenary or similar major anniversary – so lack of presence in this area should not be regarded as a detriment.

LEADERSHIP AND ENHANCEMENT

  1. What forms of leadership, internal and external, command respect in your discipline?

Internally, these do not differ from College norms: work in major departmental jobs (Exams; Research; DoGS) and as HoD; work as Deputy Dean and on College committees. Externally, they include appearance on government committees, on national bodies such as HEFCE, OfQual, and the English Association; work on A-level Exam Boards; work for learned societies like the Shakespeare Association. Creative writers may be involved in advisory work for or directorships of bodies like PEN, the Arts Council and the Poetry Society.

  1. What forms of enhancement, such as support of improved performance by colleagues, command respect in your discipline?

These do not differ substantially from College norms. Because the monograph or creative writing output are so central to our research culture attention should be paid to work in advising and promoting publication of junior colleagues, including books in series edited by senior staff.