Write here, right now

Tips on composing everything from academic journal articles and book pitches to exam questions

Young female academic writing on laptop illustrating spotlight on academic writing

For academics, faculty and staff at any level, writing skills can be the difference between being published, funded or employed, or your hard work going unrecognised. From producing journal articles and peer-review reports to writing grant proposals and exam questions, the hard graft of crafting meaningful prose reaches every aspect of university life. This collection of resources looks at how to write for different contexts and audiences in research and teaching, as well as how to manage a routine and tap into creativity for better results

Three ways to refresh your academic writing

To answer the common question posed by researchers, ‘how can I improve my academic writing?’, Anne Wilson outlines three simple steps that can help

Anne Wilson

Royal Literary Fund

Writing for academic journals

Academic research and publishing can be difficult to navigate for early career researchers

Are you ready to publish? Top tips on how to prepare your manuscript

From explaining the publishing cycle to outlining what makes a strong manuscript, Jing Tang walks ECRs through key steps when preparing to publish for the first time

Jing Tang

Elsevier

Man reading rejection letter

What to do when an academic journal rejects your article

Nobody likes negative feedback but rejection is not all bad. Here is how to see rejection of your article by a peer-reviewed journal as an opportunity

Catherine Léglu

University of Luxembourg

Woman holds magnifying glass over paper

Don’t be cruel: how to write a fair peer review report

Not every comment in a peer review report will be positive, but it is possible to highlight weaknesses and errors in a journal article while being constructive. After all, behind every manuscript are authors who have ploughed time and effort into the submission

Sin Wang Chong, Shannon Mason

The University of Edinburgh, Nagasaki University

Asian woman working at laptop computer

Making the abstract concrete

Strategies for writing effective abstracts for conference and research papers

Steven Bateman, Yingchun Li

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Read this before you write your abstract

The abstract is arguably the most important element of a scholarly article, so it should be informative, meaningful and impactful. Michael Willis gives two objectives, and practical tips, to keep in mind

Michael Willis

Wiley

Improvement strategies

Image depicting a story emerging from the pages of a book

The transformative potential of narrative writing explained

Narrative writing is one way academics can meaningfully communicate their work to the public but it can be hard to master. Steven Beschloss shares a guide to improve narrative writing skills

Steven Beschloss

Arizona State University

Podcast discussing building resilience and protecting well-being among university staff and students

THE podcast: pointers on writing and publishing for academics

Academics, authors, publishers and postdocs share their advice on how to improve your academic writing and chances of getting published

Campus contributors

Campus

Developing students academic writing skills

Developing academic writing skills to boost student confidence and resilience

Academic writing skills are fundamental to most university courses. Andrew Struan explains how Glasgow has taken a whole-university approach to ensure all students are well equipped to succeed

Andrew Struan

University of Glasgow

Pencil pointing to light bulb

Creative writing to hone critical thinking

Parag Dandgey shares creative-writing activities designed to improve students’ critical-thinking skills by developing their understanding of multiple perspectives

Parag Dandgey

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Using poetry to solve problems

Grappling with a problem? Try writing a poem about it to aid your subconscious in finding a solution. Sam Illingworth explains how

Sam Illingworth

Edinburgh Napier University

How to craft better research and grant proposals

Image showing two academics working together on a grant proposal

A guide to writing grant proposals

To write a successful grant proposal, academics need to focus on the relevant details that will help sell their research idea to the reviewer and this requires a shift of mindset, as Kaycie Butler explains

Kaycie Butler

Butler Science Communications

Advice on drafting effective proposals for interdisciplinary research projects

All together now: how to write an interdisciplinary research proposal

Advice on drafting successful research proposals to secure support and funding for interdisciplinary projects, from three academics with experience developing research partnerships and collaborations

Catherine Healy, Catherine Lyall, Isabel Fletcher

Trinity College Dublin, The University of Edinburgh

Rubber ducks in a row illustrating reproducible research

How to publish responsible reproducible research

Scientific publishing includes not just the manuscript but also data, computer code and lab protocols. Here, Laurent Heirendt shares practical advice that your research institute can follow to publish research results that are reproducible

Laurent Heirendt

University of Luxembourg

Illustration of man reading story from book

Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’

Rewriting your research to serve different purposes and to reach different audiences can lead to new opportunities. And it’s fun, says Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

University of Sheffield

What’s the story? Creative ways to communicate your research

Early in your academic research, you should ask how you can creatively communicate it to a wide audience. The results may surprise you, says Steven Beschloss

Steven Beschloss

Arizona State University

How to pitch a book and get published

A reading through a book manuscript

How to pitch a book to an academic publisher

Key considerations for researchers when choosing an academic publisher and preparing their pitch

Victoria Pittman

University of Bristol

Man at laptop with symbols of academia, how to write a successful book proposal

Six tips for writing a successful book proposal

An interesting concept is not enough to guarantee your book will get published. In crafting a pitch, it helps to be succinct and targeted and to show an ability to deliver

Simon Clark

Independent academic

Image of a book to illustrate ways to get published beyond academia

How to get a book published outside academia

Lexi Stadlen shares advice on how to turn your academic research into a commercially published book and reach audiences beyond academia

Lexi Stadlen

Independent academic

girl with binoculars

How to write better awards entries

From conducting in-depth interviews to telling the whole story, Sam Russell provides top tips for crafting a compelling narrative that will appeal to awards panels

Sam Russell

Arden University

Writing and presenting reports for government: five dos and five don’ts

A guide for academics on the dos and don’ts of writing and presenting research reports designed to inform policymakers

Naresh Pandit

University of East Anglia, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)

Writing for mainstream audiences

magazines, tablet and reading glasses

You’re a content producer now, part one: how to write articles for a mainstream audience

How does a scholar, trained thoroughly in academic style for academic journals, enter the wider world of general publishing?

John Weldon

Victoria University

Film slate for a television documentary written by an academic

Don’t touch that dial: how to pitch and write for broadcast

Don’t be afraid to rework your scholarship for a mass audience. Find the narrative in your research and build relationships with commissioning editors, says Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

University of Sheffield

Man speaking jargon to confused man and woman

Being elitist about sci-comms damages science

Scientists, if you communicate only with people at your own level of expertise, how will you recruit the best and brightest, engage the public and change the world? Kylie Ahern takes ‘dumbing down’ to task

Kylie Ahern

STEM Matters

Man writing on diary holding cell phone

Virtually writing together: creating community while supporting individual endeavour

Lessons in setting up and running a virtual writing group that facilitates individual and collaborative work through a supportive community of practice

Karen Kenny

University of Exeter

The ‘25 method’ for forming a writing routine when you have limited time

Olivia Burgess shares her abbreviated form of the pomodoro method for being productive in only 25 minutes a day

Olivia Burgess

Colorado State University Global

Writing assessment and feedback

A young woman working in a library

Five common misconceptions on writing feedback

Misapprehensions about responding to and grading writing can prevent educators using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Rolf Norgaard and Stephanie Foster set out to dispel them

Rolf Norgaard, Stephanie Foster

University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

Working back to front, by writing feedback before students have submitted, can help when teaching large cohorts

Why you should write feedback to your students before they’ve submitted

Starting at the end seems counterintuitive, but anticipating student strengths and weaknesses and automating your responses comes into its own for large cohorts

Andy Grayson

Nottingham Trent University

Illustration of man in suit hurdling ahead of robots

Effective assessment practices for a ChatGPT-enabled world

Assessment methods that require students to produce authentic, novel and personalised responses can help educators stay ahead of the uncertainty and workload that AI writers create

Jonna Lee

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

multiple choice exam answer sheet with pencil and eraser

Writing exam questions in a six-step process

Writing exam questions is a meticulous, complex and creative part of teaching. The habit of using a standardised process will make this frequent task more manageable, writes Fiona Lifen Liu

Fiona Lifen Liu

Macau University of Science and Technology

Hear this: a guide to writing an academic English listening test

Listening scripts need to replicate authentic lectures – but you also need to factor in subject matter, tone and question types as you go test

Anna Ziomek

University of Reading