1. Academic writing for researchers
Rochelle Sibley
Academic Writing Programme
28th February 2013

2. Outline of the workshop day
9:00-12:15 Session 1 – Writing journal articles
(coffee break 10:30-10:45)
12:15-1:30 Lunch
1:30-4:50 Session 2 – Training yourself to be a prolific writer
(Coffee break 3:00-3:15)
4:50-5:00 Feedback and close
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3. Writing Journal articles
Session 1
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Writing Journal articles

4. Session aims
To discuss your individual strengths and challenges with regard to the process of article writing.
To develop a publication strategy that focuses your writing on your target audiences and journals.
To create a take-away a plan of action for your next journal publication(s).
To generate feedback on an abstract for your next article.
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5. Concerns about article-writing
What are your fears or worries about writing journal articles?
What positive experiences have you had?
What prevents you from writing articles?
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6. Writing targeted journal articles
Key starting questions:
Who is your target audience?
What is your target journal?
How do you identify target journals?
What can you do to target your article?
Analyse your target journal
Contact the journal editor
Look for gaps in the current debate on your topic that fit your target journal
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7. How to analyse your target journal
Skim through the last two or three issues
What are the key topics?
How could you adapt your material to fit within these?
Examine the structure of two or three articles
How are they divided up?
How is the argument or analysis presented?
Read the author instructions
What guidelines are there on presentation, scope, approach?
Are there any recurring or key methodologies or theories in use?
Discuss this analysis with a colleague in your field – preferably one who has been published in your target journal.
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8. Murray’s ten prompts This work needed to be done because… (25 words)
Those who will benefit from this include… (25 words)
What I did was… (25 words)
How I did that was by… (25 words)
When I did that what happened was… (50 words)
I worked out what that meant by… (50 words)
I did what I set out to do to the extent that… (25 words)
The implications for the research are… (25 words)
The implications for practice are… (25 words)
What still needs to be done is… (25 words)
From Rowena Murray, Writing for Academic Journals, p.114.
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

9. Peer reviewing abstracts
Swap abstracts with a partner and read with a critical eye:
Is it clear what the aims of the research were?
Is it clear what the article would add to the field?
What were the key outcomes from this work?
Each person gets five minutes feedback on their abstract – make notes as you will need to incorporate this later.
Remember :
Be constructive in your feedback
Questions can be just as useful as comments
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10. Building a publications strategy
What do you need to consider when creating a publications strategy?
Important tips and questions:
Create a timetable for each article – have another one ready to begin when you send the previous one off to be read.
Don’t start a new project before you’ve planned how to publish from your current one.
Is your current article really two articles in disguise?
Does your current article lead you into a second article?
Revise conference papers into articles sooner rather than later while feedback is still fresh.
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11. Turning a conference paper into an article
Give yourself one hour of clear writing time.
Reread your conference paper:
Note any areas to expand upon
Consider what extra context or background you might need to include for an article
Look at the questions and feedback you received:
Which of these do you need to address in the article?
How can you address them (additional references, further detail, etc)?
Where in the current structure could these additions fit?
Write down what you would need to do in your next writing session to move this forward.
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12. Outlining a publications strategy
What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months regarding publications?
How many articles do you want to finish?
How many of those will be based on existing writing (conference papers, data reports, drafts)?
How many will be based on new research you are still undertaking?
What order could these be put into – which would be quicker to turn around?
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13. Training yourself to be a prolific writer
Session 2
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Training yourself to be a prolific writer

14. Session aims
To help you understand their individual approach to the writing process and how to challenge yourself as a writer.
To show you how to manage your research in order to maximise your publication output.
To give you take-away strategies for increasing the efficiency of your writing time.
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15. Key questions What does it mean to be a ‘prolific writer’?
How do you balance quantity with quality in publications?
What are your own aims for your publication output?
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16. Identifying writing practices
Think about your current writing practices:
When (what time of day/week/year)?
Where (office/home/anywhere)?
How (in short bursts/full days)?
When did you last write for research?
How could you fit more writing time into your schedule?
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17. Free-writing Free writing means to: Some free-writing prompts:
Write for five minutes
Without stopping
In full sentences
For no reader
Without structure
Some free-writing prompts:
I don’t feel like writing now because…
What I really want to say is…
Publications are all a big game because…
Instead of writing I’d rather be…
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18. Using free-writing To clarify your thoughts
As a warm-up for ‘real’ writing
To develop confidence and fluency
To get a project or publication started
To train yourself to write in ‘bite-sized’ sessions
To prove that you can write
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19. Becoming a practiced writer
What tips and strategies do you have for becoming a practiced writer?
Some to consider:
Keeping a reading journal organised by research keywords
Writing sandwiches (10min writing/10min talking with writing colleague about that writing/10min writing in response to discussion)
Blocking out writing time in your diary
Writing meetings (5min discussing recent writing/10min private writing time/10min discussion of that writing with partner/5min writing instructions for next session.
Brown’s 8 questions/Murray’s 10 prompts
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20. Brown’s 8 questions Who are the intended readers? (3-5 by name)
What did you do? (50 words)
Why did you do it? (50 words)
What happened when you did that? (50 words)
What do the results mean in theory? (50 words)
What do the results mean in practice? (50 words)
What is the key benefit for the readers? (25 words)
What remains unresolved? (no word limit)
From R. Brown, ‘Write right first time’, Literati Newsline, Special Edition, pp.1-8 (
Copyright 2013 Academic Writing Programme, University of Warwick

21. Reviewing as writing practice
Keeping a reading journal encourages you to evaluate and review your research reading.
Try this template for the 100-word review:
‘Gut reaction’ to the text (25 words)
Synopsis of the text (25 words)
Critical evaluation to justify your gut reaction (50 words)
Put the text into a wider context in the field (25 words)
Write a 100 word review of a recent piece of research reading in 15 minutes and swap with a writing partner to discuss:
How are you going to use this in your own research?
How are you going to respond to this in your own writing?
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22. Adapting the 100-word review
Could this technique (or any of the others discussed) be adapted for your own research field?
Are there particular issues or challenges in using this writing strategy for your discipline?
How could you make this strategy faculty-specific?
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23. 100-word review of your article
Reread the abstract and feedback developed in this morning’s session.
Now write a 100-word review of that article following the template:
‘Gut reaction’ to the text (25 words)
Synopsis of the text (25 words)
Critical evaluation to justify your gut reaction (50 words)
Put the text into a wider context in the field (25 words)
Remember – this is to encourage you and clarify your own writing aims so be ambitious but realistic.
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24. Feedback and questions
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Feedback and questions