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Journal Review: The Journal of Business and Technical Communication

The Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC) is a quarterly journal

from Sage Publications, in association with Iowa State University, that has been published since
1987. The journal was created “to meet the growing demand for research and analysis in this
expanding field, the Journal of Business and Technical Communication provides you with
information you can use today. The journal covers topics of fundamental interest and key issues
such as: Managerial communication Collaborative writing Ethics of business communication
Technical writing pedagogy Business-communication education Gender differences in writing
International communication Graphic design Ethnography and corporate culture” (Journal). The
journal publishes between three to four articles per quarter as well as book reviews; in the past
two years, the JBTC has published thirty articles and eight book reviews. JBTC is a member of
the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a nonprofit organization that defines and promotes
ethical best practices in scholarly publishing.

Audience

The audience for the JBTC appears to be both practitioners and academics. Specifically,
“educators, researchers, scholars, managers, technicians and practitioners” (Journal). Most, if not
all, of the articles provide key takeaways that can be applied in industry or academia. Examples
of takeaways include the article “Bridging Analysis and Action; How Feminist Scholarship Can
Inform the Social Justice Turn” which provides nine specific recommendations “to build on the
foundations of feminisms in social justice work and recognize ways in which feminisms have,
do, and can inform social justice work in TPC—even social justice work that does not explicitly
identify as feminist” (Petersen and Walton). In “Feminist Digital Research Methodology for
Rhetoricians of Health and Medicine” the author seeks to provide alternative methodological
orientations to researchers practice ethical decision-making while conducting health research
within vulnerable online communities (De Hertogh). In “Mapping Use, Storytelling, and
Experience Design; User-Network Tracking as a Component of Usability and Sustainability” the
author offers a “mixed-method approach” for researchers to use to increase the focus on users in
the development of prototypes for usability testing (Bacha).

Goals

Among the goals of the JBTC are supporting intertextuality, maintaining a

multidisciplinary scope, and facilitating applied learning and further research and/or
investigation. Intertextuality is among the goals because each article includes references to
related scholarly work. Beyond references within its published articles, the journal also offers a
book review section in most of its issues that directs readers to valuable contributions and/or new
perspectives. For instance, “Book Review: Communicating Mobility and Technology: A
Material Rhetoric for Persuasive Transportation” explores the rhetoric of transportation. The
author, Abby Koenig, suggests that the book is beneficial because the concepts “extend recent
writings on material rhetoric, which is finding its way into rhetoric and technical writing
classrooms. Teachers of business and technical communication can use his theoretical
framework in order to highlight practical approaches to materiality and technology” (Koenig). In
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“Book Review: Truly Human Enhancement: A Philosophical Defense of Limits” Andrew Pilsch
is open about the flaws in the book, stating that “the book’s arguments about this topic are not
thorough or clear enough to meet the needs of the book’s general audience” (Pilsch). However,
the topics addressed by the book- human body enhancements, new technology, and the paradigm
shift about the perceived role of technology- offer timely insights and discussion points for
readers. In this way, JBTC offers its readers insights on trends and new perspectives.

JBTC is also overwhelmingly multidisciplinary, touching on various fields and

professions within technical and professional writing- from engineering (“The Use of Passives
and Impersonal Style in Civil Engineering Writing”) and design (“Functional Complexity and
Website Design”) to health care (“Theorizing the Value of English Proficiency in Cross- Cultural
Rhetorics of Health and Medicine”) and entrepreneurship (“Rhetorical Narratives of Black
Entrepreneurs”). The journal offers its readers insights across a range of specialties within the
industry.

Among the most stand-out goals of JBTC is its commitment to bridging academia and
industry. The articles are relevant, and offer takeaways and applied learning for industry
professionals and academics alike. In looking at the most recent issue published in June of 2018,
“Feminist Digital Research Methodology for Rhetoricians of Health and Medicine” speaks
directly to scholars, offering insights on how the findings can be applied to future research.
“Rhetoricians of health and medicine can use this methodology to consider whether, where, and
how to publish their research. Sometimes as researchers, we run across compelling stories or
pieces of information that enhance our research. Despite this, ethical concerns regarding consent,
privacy, and circulation remind us that not all health data should be shared or published” (De
Hertogh). However the themes in this article are likely also very compelling for people working
in the industry. Understanding the community and the dynamics at play among the health care
audience is valuable for any professional or technical writer. “We must be aware of how our
digital presence and interactions with vulnerable online communities can both foster meaningful
relationships and reinforce discursive hierarchies” (De Hertogh).

Authorship

The people being published in the JBTC are primarily professors, but a few articles were
co-authored by students in association with professors. Of the thirty articles published in the past
two years there are 53 authors. 39 authors are professors, 10 authors are either current or former
graduate or PhD students working in conjunction with professors, 3 researchers, and 1 faculty
developer.

Issues of Interest

Issues range in many aspects of professional and academic areas. Some of the major
issues that this journal covers include ethics, methodologies, gender, race, entrepreneurship, case
studies, future research, user experience, genres of technical writing, and international issues.
Over the course of the past two years, the journal appears to publish the best received articles
without necessarily trying to group themed articles together. The articles in single issues are
generally different topics, but there are some recurring themes in individual issues.
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The current issue, Volume 32 Issue 4, is influenced by feminism. One article “Bridging
Analysis and Action: How Feminist Scholarship Can Inform the Social Justice Turn,” is
primarily about how the changes made by social justice influence the field of technical and
professional communication (Petersen and Walton). The article further discusses how feminism
should be a concern for all genders, and the importance of feminism in creating a path for other
activist issues. In another article in this issue, “Feminist Digital Research Methodology for
Rhetoricians of Health and Medicine,” the author discusses an emerging methodology about
feminist digital research and argues how this methodology should be used in the healthcare field
(De Hertogh). The third article and book review this issue contains concern mostly non-gendered
issues.
Volume 31, Issue 3 was a special issue introduced by guest editor Clay Spinuzzi. This
issue’s theme was “The Rhetoric of Entrepreneurship: Theories, Methodologies, and Practices,”
and the articles in this issue revolve around this core idea (Spinuzzi). Spinuzzi’s introductory
article covers the idea of entrepreneurship including the identity of an entrepreneur, culture, and
community. He discusses the persuasion involved in turning an idea into a reality, and this idea
crosses over into the other articles contained in this issue. “When Is a Solution Not a Solution?
Wicked Problems, Hybrid Solutions, and the Rhetoric of Civic Entrepreneurship” provides a
rhetorical analysis of crowdfunding (Gerding). The authors also examine the way a start-up
develops a hybrid solution which is solution that will work for multiple problems, in this case,
removing pollution in the East river as well as providing a swimming pool using the filtered
water. The second article in this issue, “Rhetorical Narratives of Black Entrepreneurs: The
Business of Race, Agency, and Cultural Empowerment” is about the use of cultural
empowerment within the African-American community, and the study that the author conducts
uses this empowerment as a framework for examining rhetorical agency and understanding
empowerment through a more culturally-nuanced lens (Jones). The last article, “Start-Up Nation:
Studying Transnational Entrepreneurial Practices in Israel’s Start-Up Ecosystem” discusses the
start-up culture in Israel and conducts an IRB-approved ethnographic study on the high-tech
industry in Israel (Fraiberg). This issue did not contain a book review.

Methods

Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are applied. This includes interviews, case
studies, surveys, observational studies, sampling, textual analysis and focus groups. The methods
vary within and among articles. For example, “Do Community Members Have an Effective
Voice in the Ethical Deliberation of a Behavioral Institutional Review Board?” employs
observational study (Barton, et al.). “Coordinating Distributed Memory; An Environmental
Engineer’s Proposal-Writing Process Using a Product Calculator” uses multiple methods- case
study, interviews and observation of Beatrice the engineer to understand and analyze her
proposal-writing process (Bivens and Cook). “Assessing Attitudes Toward Content and Design
in Alibaba’s Dry Goods Business Infographics” employs focus groups (Zhang). “Rhetorical
Move Structure in High-Tech Marketing White Papers” contains a sampling of white papers that
are studied. The authors of the article also perform a textual analysis to come to their conclusions
(Campbell and Naidoo). “Measuring Quality, Evaluating Curricular Change” contains a textual
analysis of 3,700 evaluations of over 2,000 documents written by business students (Warnock et
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al. ). “Nonprofit Collections of Digital Personal Experience Narratives” contains a study that
analyzes a sample of 82 personal experience narratives (DPENs) (Dush).

Use of Research

Authors build upon previous research by synthesizing multiple articles and research
projects into one cohesive article. In some cases, authors build upon previously conducted
research; for example, in the aforementioned article “Feminist Digital Research Methodology for
Rhetoricians of Health and Medicine,” the author discusses a 5-year study of an online childbirth
community (De Hertogh). Popularly cited journals include Technical Communication, Technical
Communication Quarterly, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, Journal of
Business Ethics, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, and Rhetoric Review.
Nearly every article published in the JBTC cites at least one article previously published in
Journal of Business and Technical Communication. The average citations per article is
approximately 62; the authors of the articles published in the JBTC cite as few as 40 items and as
many as 110 items.

Book Reviews

The JBTC has reviewed eight books in the past two years although not every issue has a
book review. Four book reviews were published in Volume 31, released in 2017, but Issue 1 had
two book reviews, Issue 2 had three book reviews, and the Issues 3 and 4 did not contain any
book reviews. In Volume 32, released in 2018, the Issue 1 did not have a book review while
Issues 2, 3, and 4 each contained one book review. The eight books the JBTC have reviewed are
Rhetoric of a Global Epidemic: Transcultural Communication about SARS by Huiling
Ding, Scientists as Prophets: A Rhetorical Genealogy by Lynda Walsh, The Culture of
Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media by Josè Van Dijck, All Edge: Inside the New
Workplace Networks by Clay Spinuzzi, Vulnerability in Technological Cultures: New Directions
in Research and Governance edited by Anique Hommels, Jessica Mesman, and Wiebe E. Bijker,
Truly Human Enhancement: A Philosophical Defense of Limitsby Nicholas Agar,
Communicating Mobility and Technology: A Material Rhetoric for Persuasive Transportation by
Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder, and Ohio State University by Christa Teston.
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Works Cited

Bacha, Jeffrey A. “Mapping Use, Storytelling, and Experience Design.” Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 2, 2017, pp. 198–228., doi:10.1177/1050651917746708.
Barton, Ellen, et al. “Do Community Members Have an Effective Voice in the Ethical Deliberation of a
Behavioral Institutional Review Board?” Journal of Business and Technical Communication,
vol. 32, no. 2, July 2018, pp. 154–197., doi:10.1177/1050651917746460.
Bivens, Kristin Marie, and Kelli Cargile Cook. “Coordinating Distributed Memory.” Journal of Business
and Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 3, Apr. 2018, pp. 285–307.,
doi:10.1177/1050651918762028.
Campbell, Kim Sydow, and Jefrey S. Naidoo. “Rhetorical Move Structure in High-Tech Marketing
White Papers.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 1, 2016, pp. 94–
118., doi:10.1177/1050651916667532.
De Hertogh, Lori Beth. “Feminist Digital Research Methodology for Rhetoricians of Health and
Medicine.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 4, June 2018, pp.
480–503., doi:10.1177/1050651918780188.
Dush, Lisa. “Nonprofit Collections of Digital Personal Experience Narratives.” Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 2, Aug. 2016, pp. 188–221.,
doi:10.1177/1050651916682287.
Fraiberg, Steven. “Start-Up Nation.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 3,
July 2017, pp. 350–388., doi:10.1177/1050651917695541.
Gerding, Jeffrey M., and Kyle P. Vealey. “When Is a Solution Not a Solution? Wicked Problems,
Hybrid Solutions, and the Rhetoric of Civic Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 3, 2017, pp. 290–318., doi:10.1177/1050651917695538.
Jones, Natasha N. “Rhetorical Narratives of Black Entrepreneurs.” Journal of Business and Technical
Communication, vol. 31, no. 3, 2017, pp. 319–349., doi:10.1177/1050651917695540.
“Journal of Business and Technical Communication.” SAGE Publications Inc, 5 Oct. 2018,
us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/journal-business-and-technical-communication#description.
Koenig, Abby. “Book Review: Communicating Mobility and Technology: A Material Rhetoric for
Persuasive Transportation” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 3,
2018, pp. 406–409., doi:10.1177/1050651918761883.
Petersen, Emily January, and Rebecca Walton. “Bridging Analysis and Action.” Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 4, July 2018, pp. 416–446.,
doi:10.1177/1050651918780192.
Pilsch, Andrew. “Book Review: Truly Human Enhancement: A Philosophical Defense of
Limits.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 32, no. 2, 2017, pp. 273–277.,
doi:10.1177/1050651917746615.
Spinuzzi, Clay. “Introduction to Special Issue on the Rhetoric of Entrepreneurship.” Journal of Business
and Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 3, Apr. 2017, pp. 275–289.,
doi:10.1177/1050651917695537.
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Warnock, Scott, et al. “Measuring Quality, Evaluating Curricular Change.” Journal of Business and
Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 2, Dec. 2016, pp. 135–167.,
doi:10.1177/1050651916682286.
Zhang, Yuejiao. “Assessing Attitudes Toward Content and Design in Alibaba’s Dry Goods Business
Infographics.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 31, no. 1, 2016, pp. 30–
62., doi:10.1177/1050651916667530.