Revision Paper Glossary

The following definitions are key terms used in the coauthoring revision paper. These definitions
should clarify how the terms are intended and used within the context of this paper.
Author- An author is a person who creates a written text. The Author with a capital A
implies a historical understanding of the author and what constitutes authorship. Traditionally,
the Author is white and male. He creates original ideas alone. He owns the text that he creates.
Therefore, this genius figure has extreme agency and authority over his texts. More nuanced
conceptions of authorship acknowledge the social construction of all texts, written or in other
modes, and displaces the capital A Author from the central role of authority in the text.
Coauthoring/ship- A multi-writer, alphabetical, and single-voiced practice of creating a single
document. All writers take equal responsibility for the entirety of the document. There are no
property lines as each writer owns all of the text equally, giving them agency to edit and revise
freely over each others work. Every writer participates at least in the writing of the document.
However, each member has equal opportunity and responsibility to intervene at any point during
the writing process. In this model, the writers do not need to write every word together; however,
they must be able to edit freely and openly across the document in order to maintain and achieve
a single voice.
Collaboration- Two or more people working together for a single goal. In writing, collaboration
operates as an umbrella term that can take many forms, including coauthoring and workshopping
(see definitions Coauthoring/ship and Workshopping). Collaboration takes places at any or
every stage of the writing process including brainstorming, writing, revision, editing, etc.
Group work- Assignments in which two or more students work together to create a single textual
product with distinct pieces and voices. However, textual ownership and control remains entirely
with the student who wrote an individual section within that overall product, and individual
sections are stand alone pieces in and of themselves. This definition derives from Anthony
Atkins use of group work within Collaborating Online: Digital Strategies for Group Work.
Single voice- One dominant tone and style, such as the official writing from a corporation. Each
writers voice is indistinguishable from the next.
Workshopping- A collaborative practice (see Collaboration) that asks students to review one
another's work and make suggestions on their writing. There is only person who has the ability to
make final decisions about the writing, and that person is the Author.