Writing CommonsAbout Us

About Us

Writing Commons is a peer-reviewed, research-based, award-winning encyclopedia on writing. We publish original articles related to writing pedagogy, theory, and research (see Contribute). Initially, we aimed to help U.S. students and teachers in English Studies (e.g., rhetoric, composition, technical and professional communication, and creative writing) avoid purchasing expensive textbooks. Over time, after 12.7 million unique users consulted our commons, we've come to think of our audience as an international group of teachers, students, and knowledge workers who compose in a variety of home, school and workplace contexts. Major topics include academic writing, collaboration, design, editing, genre, grammar, information literacy, mindset, organization, professional writing, research, revision, rhetoric, style, and the writing process.

A visualization of users of Writing Commons accessing it from around the globe.

Source: (Moxley, J. 2012)

What is Writing Commons?

Writing Commons is

  1. a free, peer-reviewed, research-based, award-winning encyclopedia on writing
  2. an experiment on the part of the founder, Joseph M. Moxley, regarding
    • authorship, agency, self publication (Moxley 2013, June 17; Vieregge et al. 2012)
    • commons-based peer production (Benkler 2006)
    • applied scholarship (Boyer 1990)
    • open education, copyright, and intellectual property (Moxley 2013).

Mission

Writing Commons aims to

  1. democratize access to research, theory, and scholarship in writing studies
  2. help writers communicate more effectively in home, school and work contexts
  3. help writers improve their cognitive, intrapersonal competencies, and interpersonal competencies
  4. help writers master 21st century literacies, including critical literacy, digital literacy, visual literacy, and Information Literacy
  5. create a forum for teachers and writers to publish peer reviewed work on pedagogical matters.

Readership

Writing Commons serves a global audience. According to Google Analytics, between 2012 and 2023, 12,287,788 users consulted 216,683,374 pages.

The table below illustrates monthly readership: during January of 2022, our readers came chiefly from the U.S., Philippines, India, Canada, and United Kingdom:

Google Analytics by Country 122

Peer Review

The peer-review process at Writing Commons is managed by the Editors-in-Chief.

Please see Contribute – Write for us for details on copyright and peer review processes.

Masthead

Editors-in-Chief:

Assistant Editor

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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://writingcommons.org. 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.