Though it's not common practice and sometimes seen as bad form, using the first person perspective -- and thus the word "I" -- makes professors and other academics more likely to have their op-eds published, according to an account (a first person account) by David Jarmul in Inside Higher Ed.
Jarmul would know. While at the National Academy of Sciences, he ran an op-ed service, which operated (sorry, couldn't resist) exactly as it sounds: helping professors around the country to get their opinion pieces published in newspapers (who knew such a service existed?). Now the Associate Vice President for News and Communication at Duke University, he does the same thing for the Blue Devils staff.
More than simply using the word "I," sharing one's story is most important, according to Jamul.
"We've learned that, all things being equal, articles fare better when authors share their own experience along with their professional analysis," he wrote in Inside Higher Ed.
Too many highly respected academics around the country pitch op-eds without willing to share their unique viewpoint at the risk of losing the format favored in scholarly articles, Jamul said.
"You shouldn't violate anyone's confidentiality and you don't want to sound like a reality TV star," he wrote. "When you share your own humanity, however, your words ring truer. Readers care more about what you are saying."
Perhaps the reluctance to use the word "I" within the academic community is the reason why professors are sometimes criticized for blogging and why the medium is criticized as unworthy by some.
Perhaps even students could learn (and benefit) from writing in the first person, and that there is even more to be gained, from a publishing standpoint, than just op-eds. During my days at Hamilton College, our only chance at using the "I" was in extra credit reflection assignments or performance reviews (at least in my set of classes). Typically, those were easy "A's" and not met with the same fierce red pen as more analytical assignments. Definitely, as Jarmul's livelihood can attest to, there is skill and art in using more of yourself in the story.
For one publication unafraid of the alphabet's third vowel, see Brooklyn Mag.
