I don't have the RITE literacy practices

I’ve been trying to upload the final version of my HERD article for the past 3 hours. I know, that sounds absolutely ridiculous. Why would it possibly take so long?

My simple answer – I just don’t have the necessary literacy practices needed to engage successfully with the database-driven online submission platform that regulates the manuscript and article submission process. Additionally, my unfamiliarity with the interface prompts and drop down menus further signal my novice status in the publication game. Asking for HELP (from who?) is therefore not an option, especially if I don’t want self-identify with this novice and therefore, I believe, subordinate status. I’ve had to use this interface thrice over a six month period and each time I visit the online submission platform it feels like my first visit. I feel completely stupid and start the whole downward spiral of self-doubt. Surely if you can’t figure out how to upload your article, the most mundane aspect of getting published, you can’t be that intelligent? I’m sure this must’ve been the thoughts of the platform developers, because the explanations and instructions provided when things go wrong are riddle with so many assumptions about the user’s prerequisite knowledge about the publication process – a key assumption being that you are an expert – well, because publication isn’t a place for novices anyway!

I don’t think the interface is particular problematic from a usability perspective; I don’t even think it has to do with the technology, because, again, I’d like to think I’m fairly technologically adept. I just don’t understand how it’s suppose to be done, I don’t understand the nuances of what a ‘not for review’ vs ‘main document’ label means, how they fit together to enable the creation of a ‘preview’ version of the article, how to navigate the contextualise meaning of a ‘Title page’, and how to interpret the obvious contradictions between the instructions provided by the editor in his e-mail and the processes and procedures regulated by the online submission platform.

The article has just been accepted – I breathe a sigh of relief, while reflecting on how this apparent innocuous process signals so much about my position and status in the academic publication game.