Group Analytic Contexts

Contexts is the newsletter of the Group Analytic Society, edited by Terry Birchmore. PREVIOUS ISSUES, IN FULL, ARE AVAILABLE ON THIS PAGE BELOW. Contexts publishes short articles, correspondence, and news about society events. Please view our past issues and contact the editor (via the Society Office or his email address provided on this site) if you would like to send articles or other pieces for publication.

Contexts welcomes contributions from GAS members and non-members on a variety of topics: Have you run or attended a group-analytic or group psychotherapy workshop? Are you involved in a group-analytic or group psychotherapy project that others might want to learn about? Would you like to share your ideas or professional concerns with a wide range of colleagues? If so, send us an article for publication by post, e-mail, or fax. Articles submitted for publication should be between 500 and 3,000 words long, or between one and eight A4 pages. Writing for Contexts is an ideal opportunity to begin your professional writing career with something that is informal, even witty or funny, a short piece that is a report of an event, a report about practice, a review of a book or film, or stray thoughts that you have managed to capture on paper. Give it a go!

Please don’t worry about language, grammar and the organisation of your piece. We, as editors, receive many pieces from non-English speaking countries and it is our job to work with you to create a piece of writing that is grammatical and reads well in English. This help also extends to English speakers who may need help and advice about the coherence and organisation of a piece of work. The elements checked by us as editors may include:

Typographical errors
End-of-line word divisions and bad breaks (incorrect line or page breaks)
Spelling errors
Errors in word usage
Errors in grammar and syntax
Errors and inconsistencies in punctuation
Establish and maintain consistent patterns of mechanics (e.g., capitalisation)
Format of document, text, citations and references
Apparent errors in arithmetic and in other facts within the realm of general knowledge
The styling of tables, graphs, and other art, including their labels, captions, and text mentions
Conventions such as the use of italics, boldface, and underlines, of metric or imperial measurements, and of abbreviations and symbols, the treatment of technical terms, and the choice of spelling and punctuation styles.
Ambiguous vocabulary and syntax
Redundancies and verbosity
Jargon that is inappropriate for the intended audience
Connections and transitions, parallels, and paragraphing
Consistent style in headings and in captions for tables, figures, and illustrations
Statements that should be checked for accuracy, and follow up as required. (The flaws the editor watches for under this standard are not those involving the content of a thesis but, rather, incidental references: e.g., “Manchester is east of York”; “Skiddaw is the largest of the Lakes Mountains.”)
Inconsistencies in logic, facts, and details

We strive to make your text as readable, coherent and comprehensible as possible.

“Substitute “damn” every time you’re inclined to write “very”; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be”. Mark Twain

A definition of editing: “The editing process often begins with the author’s idea for the work itself, continuing as a collaboration between the author and the editor as the work is created. As such, editing is a practice that includes creative skills, human relations, and a precise set of methods”.

An editor polishes and refines, (S)he directs the focus of the story or article along a particular course. (S)He cuts out what doesn’t fit, what is unessential to the purpose of the story. (S)He enhances the major points, drawing attention to places where the audience should focus.

“Everyone needs an editor”. Tim Foote

A task common to all editors is to ensure that the product they produce is the best it can be in the time available and with the resources available.

We are responsible for the type of content in the newsletter, the look of the newsletter and the number of articles in a particular issue.

Would you convey my compliments to the purist who reads your proofs and tell him or her that I write in a sort of broken-down patois which is something like the way a Swiss waiter talks, and that when I split an infinitive, God damn it, I split it so it will stay split, and when I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of bar-room vernacular, that is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed but attentive”. Raymond Chandler.

The deadlines for publication in Contexts are give below: