1. Writing and Getting Published:
An Arts Perspective
Dr. Fiona J. Doloughan
Dept. of English
Faculty of Arts

2. Overview of session
1. What we can learn from the research
literature on academic writing and publishing
2. What we can learn from the experience of
others
3. Questions for discussion/activities

3. Learning from the Research Literature
on Academic Writing
• Writing as social practice (Lillis, 2001)
“words construct rather than simply convey
meaning” (41).
important to recognize “the struggles and
tensions involved in individual meaning
making” (42)
• Disciplinary variation in writing requirements (Lea and
Street, 1998)
knowledge-making and discourse practices
within particular disciplines (e.g. use of
sources and type of evidence adduced; rhetorical
structure; construction of argument)

4. Implications for PGR students
• Writing requires a sense of audience as well as
a sense of authorship
• Meaning is negotiated and constructed rather
than given: importance of drafting and
reversioning in response to feedback
• Importance of academic and disciplinary
socialization (e.g. learning to write and think
as a historian or as a philosopher)

5. Learning from others
1. The mid-career academic
2. The post-probationary PGR student
3. The recently graduated doctoral
student/early career researcher

6. The mid-career academic: a cautionary
tale
• Features and challenges of writing and
publishing career to date (e.g.
interdisciplinarity)
• Changing academic and publishing landscapes
• Pitching your work and finding or creating an
audience

7. The post-probationary PGR student
Please read the comments and advice given on a
separate sheet by a post-probationary student in
English and discuss her recommendations. List
any that you might not have thought of; and any
that you found surprising.
How might you adapt these suggestions to your
own situation?

8. The recently graduated doctoral
student/early career researcher
Tips for getting published
• Thesis chapters: turn a thesis chapter into an article.
• Thesis: turn your thesis into a monograph.
• Reviews: book reviews are great exercises in writing clear and
concise pieces, and they allow you to become ‘experts’ in a field. They
do not count in the REF, though.
• Conference papers: turn a conference paper into a full-length
article, or contribute a chapter to conference proceedings.
• Co-edited books or journal special issues: if you’ve organised a
conference, consider publishing the best papers from the conference
in a book or journal.

9. The recently graduated doctoral
student/early career researcher
Networking
• Join professional/learned societies: there are societies for
almost any field, and consider taking up a post in that society.
It is great exposure to your peers;
• Attend conferences: in addition to trying out arguments
and new research, conferences are great for networking and
getting a sense of who is working on what in your field;
• Attend seminars: many universities, including the OU,
have seminars in your or a related field. They are usually less
formal than conferences and give you a greater chance of
meeting the right people.
Dr. Ole Birk Laursen

10. Questions for discussion/activities
1. In non subject-specific groups, tell your
neighbour about your PhD project in 3-4
sentences. How easy or how difficult do you find
this? Why might this be?
2. Bearing in mind our previous discussions, think
about what you are in a position to write and
possibly submit for publication in the next 6
months to a year. What challenges do you
foresee and how might you tackle them?

11. Questions for discussion/activities
3. Think about the literature you may have been
reviewing or any writing you have been doing in
the past 6 months. What issues have arisen in
the course of writing and how have you set
about resolving them?
4. Consider what changes you might have to make
to a piece of writing that is not directed at your
supervisor/s and/or experts in the field. Think
about some or all of the following: use of
terminology or terms of art; tone/register; genre

12. References
Lea, M and B. Street (1998), “Student Writing in
Higher Education: an academic literacies
approach”. Studies in Higher Education, vol. 23,
no. 2, 1998: 157-172.
Lillis, T. (2001), Student Writing: Access,
Regulation, Desire. London and New York:
Routledge