1. Academic writing for researchers
Rochelle Sibley
Academic Writing Programme
26th March 2013

2. Outline of the workshop day
9:00-12:15 Session 1 – Increasing impact via
online engagement
(coffee break 10:30-10:45)
12:15-1:30 Lunch
1:30-4:50 Session 2 – Dissemination and public
engagement
(Coffee break 3:00-3:15)
4:50-5:00 Feedback and close
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

3. Increasing impact via online engagement
Session 1
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick
Increasing impact via online engagement

4. Session aims
To discuss your individual experiences with and concerns about online engagement.
To identify key issues associated with presenting your project online (to both specialist and non-specialist audiences).
To define and address important stylistic issues associated with writing for online material.
To identify sources and approaches to help develop and refine your own online engagement strategy.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

5. Initial questions
What are the benefits of online engagement for impact?
What are the challenges associated with online engagement?
What different online approaches/formats could you use?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

6. Forms of online engagement
Online engagement can be aimed at specialist or non-specialist audiences but might include:
Recorded lectures or podcasts
Academic resources
Presentations
Interviews
Blogs
Social media (Twitter and Facebook)
Forums
Publications and bibliographies
Research profiles
Which formats might work best for your research project or discipline?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

7. Identifying your online audience
Who is the target audience for your research project?
Who else might be interested/benefit from your work?
What online formats and approaches would work best for these audiences?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

8. Successful online strategies
There are many different examples of online strategy for different projects, including these:
The Zooniverse
Whale FM at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
The Romani Project at Manchester University
Beckett and Brain Science collaboration between University of Warwick, University of Reading and Birkbeck University.
In groups, explore your sample site and discuss:
Who is the target audience?
How does this online strategy engage with that audience?
What could you take from this example and apply?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

9. Key resources
How can you create more online engagement with your project – what resources are out there?
University’s website design and review consultancy
IT Services courses on multimedia training
IT Services training for Moodle
Prezi – sample presentation
ESRC impact toolkit
Key tips for maximising impact through online engagement:
Build website design support into your funding bid
Look for models in successful projects
Tailor your online approach to fit your target audience
What other ideas do people have?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

10. Stylistic issues for online engagement
What are the common stylistic concerns when writing for online engagement?
Checklist of stylistic questions for online content:
Have you made your research relevant for your target audience?
Have you thought about scope (better to give a taster of the topic than overwhelm)?
Is the balance of technical detail right in terms of accessibility?
How can visual and audio material help clarify your work?
Have you thought about the visual layout of the pages?
Can an interested layman understand what you are discussing on the ‘opening’ page?
Is your writing concise enough to allow for engagement from a wider audience (if this is what you are aiming for)?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

11. Peer feedback exercise
In pairs, share and discuss your own online engagement strategy (discuss or share blogs, project pages, etc). Remember to think about:
Who your target audience is
Approaches and media used
Style and language
Each person gets ten minutes feedback on their draft – take notes so you can respond to suggestions later.
Remember :
Be constructive in your feedback
Questions can be just as useful as comments
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

12. Free-writing exercise
Free writing means to:
Write for five minutes
Without stopping
In full sentences
For no reader
Without structure
Some free-writing prompts:
What online engagement means to me is…
My project could generate online engagement by…
Online engagement would help me…
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

13. Dissemination and public engagement
Session 2
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick
Dissemination and public engagement

14. Session aims
To identify the different ways in which you can disseminate your research.
To share best practice tips and ideas about how to fits a dissemination strategy to own project.
To address stylistic issues associated with writing for a wider, non-specialist audience.
To create checklists for writing press releases, case studies and fact sheets.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

15. Initial questions
What are the benefits of public engagement with your research?
What experiences have you had with public engagement on previous projects?
What different types of wider audience might you want to engage with?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

16. Audience expectations
Key questions to begin with:
What are the needs of the audience you are targeting?
How can you meet those needs?
What factors do you need to take into account when you are writing?
Different audiences have different expectations about what they read. These expectations are governed by several factors, such as:
What function they are expecting the work to fulfil.
The context in which they are reading it, ie. for work, for research, for fun.
What level of knowledge they have about the topic.
How they are going to use your work, ie. in own argument, in literature review, to give them insight into a new topic.
Copyright 2012 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

17. Media and public engagement
Read through the sample press release and discuss:
Who is the target audience?
How clearly does this material convey the research aims and outcomes?
How does it engage a non-specialist audience?
What could be improved about this material?
There is plenty of help and advice on using the media for public engagement on the Warwick’s Press and Media Centre site and the Warwick Knowledge Centre.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

18. Group activity
In teams of three, write a press release about one of your current research projects. Think about how to include the following crucial elements:
A ‘hook’ to get the reader’s attention.
Details that make the research relevant to the public.
An overview of the key aims of your project.
A clear example that illustrates the underlying principle, problem or concept you are investigating.
Links to extra resources or events.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

19. Dissemination via teaching
How might you want to increase dissemination of your research via teaching?
What strategies could you try to engage students in your research?
Open-space learning
Case studies based on your research
Workshops
School visits
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

20. Dissemination via events
What experience do you already have of using events to disseminate your research and create impact?
Types of event to consider:
Conferences (practitioner and academic)
Open lectures or talks
Workshops
Book launches
Educational sessions in schools
Site-specific sessions
What others can you think of?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

21. Dissemination via resources
What resources have you experienced as part of existing research projects?
Databases
Archives
Recorded lectures or conferences
Interactive media
Examples of resources for public engagement:
The Mass Observation Project at Sussex University
The Writers at Warwick archive
The Romani Project at Manchester University
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

22. Individual exercise
Using everything we’ve done today, write an action plan for yourself about how to improve your research dissemination strategy and public engagement. What are your short-term, medium-term and long-term aims for your current project or your next project?
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

23. Feedback and questions
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick
Feedback and questions