Notes on Process
This section provides background about how this project came together. I wanted to share the steps taken to create this collection and provide a template for how others might employ similar methods in their work and develop no-cost Open Educational Resources. I also want to convey the efforts taken to ensure academic rigor was part of this process.
In the summer of 2023, a “call” was emailed to every faculty member in Alabama’s sociology, criminal justice, history, public administration, and political science departments. I went through each academic program’s website in Alabama and emailed individual faculty. I also emailed the directors of graduate study at various Alabama universities and asked them to encourage their doctoral students to consider participating in the project.
The contributors to this collection submitted their works in early November of 2023. Those works were then sent to peer reviewers. The peer reviewers included Dr. Jim Day, at the University of Montevallo, Drs. Quinn Gordon, Lynne Reiff, Katie Owens-Murphy, Justin Joseph, Christopher Purser, and Tim Collins at the University of North Alabama. Contributors to the collection also served as peer reviewers: historian Brucie Porter, Professor Brandon Blankenship, and Dr. Rebecca Short. Each work had at least two reviews. The peer reviews were sent back to the contributing authors for revision, and the finished drafts were sent back to me in March of 2024. Additionally, Dr. Lynne Reiff, Dr. Matt Schoenbachler, Patrick Tate, ABD, and Dr. Kayla Bohannon read rough drafts and offered constructive feedback.
I copy-edited the manuscripts in the spring and summer of 2024 using Microsoft Word and exported chapter text (via copy-and-paste) into Ketty by Coco. Grammarly editing software and the AI editing tools found in Ketty were used throughout the editing process. The Open Education Network (OEN) helped by allowing this work to be part of the Ketty pilot program for single-source publishing. The Coko Foundation provided technical assistance in the publication process. The book files were added to a Pressbooks site that hosts the files and serves as a permalink that allows others to access the work at: una.pressbooks.pub/nevergonnachange.
