In Political English: Language and the Decay of Politics, Thomas Docherty offers a new examination of the historical and contemporary linkages between power, politics and the English language, arguing that the impoverishment of language is intimately connected with the impoverishment of political debate today. The book demonstrates the concomitant decline of discourse and democracy and brings a new slant to … Continued
Category: #AcWri
The Grammar of Impact – What can we learn from REF 2014 about writing impact case studies?
Impact case studies will form an important part of all universities’ eventual submissions to the next round of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). Drawing on a linguistic and thematic analysis of 175 impact case studies from REF 2014, Bella Reichard, Mark Reed, Jenn Chubb, Ged Hall, Lucy Jowett, Alisha Peart and Andrea Whittle set out … Continued
Twelve Top Tips for Writing an Academic Book Blurb
One key part of the process of writing and publishing an academic book is the blurb – the text on the back of a book’s cover that tells you what the book is about. While this may seem difficult to craft, in this feature – originally published on her website – Dr Helen Kara shares twelve top tips for writing an … Continued
5 Strategies for writing in turbulent times
For many academics currently working from home, writing will be a secondary consideration, or even impossible. However, for others writing can be an essential way to maintain a sense of stability and to meaningfully respond to the current situation. For certain kinds of research academic writing may now even be more vital than ever. For … Continued
Writing advice – How to tell the good from the bad
A simple search for academic writing advice, or a trawl through social media hashtags, such as #AcWri, will produce a huge amount of information about how to undertake academic writing. In this repost, Pat Thomson, presents a simple rubric to help researchers pick out the advice that is most relevant to their research. Advice. Loads … Continued
As academic writing becomes increasingly standardised what counts as an interesting paper?
Academic writing is often criticised for its tendency to be arid and unengaging, but what makes a paper interesting? Whilst there is always an intangible element to the quality of being interesting, Manuel Goyanes draws on a study of journal editors in the field of communication studies to outline five dimensions that contribute to a … Continued
Book Review: Writing a Watertight Thesis: A Guide to Successful Structure and Defence by Mike Bottery and Nigel Wright
In Writing a Watertight Thesis: A Guide to Successful Structure and Defence, Mike Bottery and Nigel Wright provide a framework by which research students will be able to structure both their thesis project and the journey required to carry a candidate to a successful endpoint. While the book offers useful and valuable advice to researchers at any stage in their PhD studies, Courteney O’Connor particularly recommends it […]
Teaching to the blog – How assessed blogging can enhance engaged learning
The way in which students in higher education engage with their courses of study is implicitly shaped by the way in which they are assessed. For most students this means the tried and tested methods of written exams. However, as digital communication becomes a more prevalent part of scholarly communication, should we see traditional assessment as the only and inevitable […]
10 Counter-intuitive insights from an academic writing coach
Academic writing is a difficult and creative undertaking and advice to authors can often be to follow a single method or to copy the approaches of other academics. In this post Chris Smith draws on his years of experience working as an academic writing coach, to provide 10 counter-intuitive insights to help you understand and improve your own writing practice. […]
Planning on writing over the holidays? Here is how to do it
Many academics use the summer holidays as a time to relax, unwind and finally get that writing project done. However, is setting aside large chunks of time over the holidays the best way to approach academic writing? Chris Smith argues that writing over the holidays can be effective, but should be approached thoughtfully. Whereas, the holidays may seem to present […]