Charlotte Wegener

This book is a collection of personal essays about the unplanned, accidental and even obstructive events that occur in research life and the substantial potential for analytical insights herein. We call them detours—the routes we did not plan, the clutter we made or encountered when carrying out our research and the results of it all—which we may not fully understand. Sharing such stories has the power to make us more adventurous, sensitive and creative researchers. Hopefully, some of these stories will resonate with you as a reader and make you feel like writing. By writing–sharing–reading–writing, we can expand the playground of research and inspire a research culture in which ‘accountable’ research methodologies involve adventurousness and not-being-so-sure.

This chapter is made up of pieces written to my writing friend and the co-editor of this book, Ninna Meier. It spans a detour of three decades and takes off just at the point where our co-authored text, The Secret Book, is ready for publication under a new name: The Open Book. We have a mission. There are too many neat texts out there, and we know that people are suffering, celebrating, laughing and crying as they write. Some of all that life out there is definitely valuable, too. We advocate ‘open’ texts, and we are absorbed in the creation of a new playground for academic writing, which we call Open Writing. Meanwhile, life goes on. Or rather, life strikes back.

This book presents a variety of narratives on key elements of academic work, from data analysis, writing practices and engagement with the field. The authors discuss how elements of academic work and life – usually edited out of traditional research papers – can elicit important analytical insight. The book reveals how the unplanned, accidental and even obstructive events that often occur in research life, the ‘detours’, can potentially glean important results. The authors introduce the process of ‘writing-sharing-reading-writing’ as a way to expand the playground of research and inspire a culture in which ‘accountable’ research methodologies involve adventurousness and an element of uncertainty. Written by scholars from a range of different fields, academic levels and geographic locations, this unique book will offer significant insight to those from a range of academic fields.