Chapter Summary

Our primary purpose in this chapter is to help you recognize the basic forums for communication in the research sciences and your field in particular, and to help you understand that these forums are governed by conventions that differ to varying degrees across fields. This chapter is designed to help you discover how knowledge is developed and exchanged in specialized research domains. The assumption is that understanding these processes and the conventions that govern them will help you adapt more easily to the communication demands and expectations in your respective fields.

Part of this task is simply learning what questions to ask and where to find answers in a particular community. This chapter guides your exploration. It gives you a concrete idea of the kinds of reading and writing you will be doing during the course. And it will help you get started right away on identifying the major research journals, conferences, professional associations, and funding agencies—information you also will need for later projects.