1. Helen Fallon, Deputy Librarian,
National University of Ireland Maynooth
Helen.b.fallon@nuim.ie

3. Goals of this workshop
 Increased energy and confidence in writing
 Greater understanding of the mechanics of
writing
 Greater understanding of the different
requirements of peer-reviewed and
professional journals
 Increased knowledge on finding out about
publishing opportunities and publicising your
publications

4. Task 1– Writing to Prompt
 Write for five minutes, in sentences, without
stopping, using one of the following prompts
 I am interested in writing about…
 An area of my research which I would like to write
about is…
 I feel at my most creative when I’m writing about…

5. Task 2- Finding Topics
Work with a colleague and list as many
topics as you can that you feel you could
write about. These topics could relate to
work you have been involved in, subjects
that interest you or topics you have done
research on
Next list the sources you might use in
your article

6. Task 3 – Making a case for writing
Write for five minutes in sentences,
in no more than fifty words,
explaining to your department head
why is it important that you publish

7. Task 4– Defining audience and Purpose
Describe in one sentence the purpose of
the piece you are writing
What is the audience for your article?
What’s your angle?
What data do you have?
Is this topic most suited for a research
article/a practice-based article or some
other format e.g poster?

8. Practice-based article
 Based primarily on experience
 Give some background
 Describe what happened
 What was the impact
 Reflection – what worked, what didn’t work
so well, what could be done to improve it
 Conclusion
 (who, what, when, where, how)

9. Research-based article
• Must draw on research
• Generally longer than practice-based article
e.g. 5,000 words
• Double blind peer review
• Has an abstract (informative or structured)
• Literature Review
• Gives methodology and results
• References

10. Outlining/Structuring
 There are different ways to structure articles
 Study the format of articles in the journal you
hope to target
 Read first for story then for structure
 Model articles on other articles that work well
(template)
 Different structures can achieve the same end
in different ways
 Be aware of your audience

11. Outlining
Murray, R. (2005) Writing for Academic Journals. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open
University Press, p. 9
Context/Background
Literature review
Method/approach
Results/Analysis
Discussion
Conclusion
Topic 1 – 250 words
Topic 2 – 250 words
Topic 3- 250 words
Introduction

12. Task 5 - Outlining
Draw up an outline for an article you wish
to write
Give approximate number of words in
each section
Write a description of each section
beginning with the words This section will
cover…

13. Elements of a peer-reviewed article
 Title
 Abstract & Keywords
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Methodology
 Results/Analysis
 Discussion
 Conclusion
 References

14. Task 6 - Drafting a query e-mail
 Before writing/submitting
 Identify journal
 Identify editor
 Single sentences
 I am writing an article on…
 My experience is this area…
 I think that readers of your journal would be
interested in… because…

15. Writing
To begin writing you have to begin
writing
Writing generates ideas
Don’t look for perfection, just write
Give yourself permission to write
badly
All writing is rewriting

16. Writing
 Can start at any point, but generally not
introduction or conclusion
 Scientists often write the results section up
first
 Write in sentences
 No more than one idea in each sentence
 Logical movement from sentence to sentence
and from paragraph to paragraph

17. Style
 House style (journal style)
 First, second or third person
 Active or passive voice
 Tense
 Transitions
 Signposts
 Headings & subheadings (official)
Endings of sections that hark back to what went before,
announce what comes next (unofficial)
 Movement/Coherence/clarity

18. Writing as Storytelling
 Writing as storytelling
 Beginning, middle and end (not necessarily in
that order)
 What makes a story interesting?
 A story has a theme
 A story has movement
 A story has a flow
 Something happens/changes

19. Drafting and Revising
Draft and redraft
Number and date drafts
Refer back to your audience & purpose
statement
Ask a critical colleague to read
Revise title, abstract & article

20. Drafting and Revising
When finished put aside for at least a
week
Reread
Spell check
Recheck submission guidelines
File preprint
Let go

21. Submission
 Professional Journal – editor
 Academic Journal – double blind peer-reviewers
 Accept as is
 Accept with revisions
 Revise and resubmit
 Reject
 Make changes as quickly as possible
 Reread
 Resubmit
 Keep postprint

22. Publicising Your Work
Deposit in Institutional Repository
Policy available at www.sherpa.ac.uk
Create a profile using google scholar
http://scholar.google.co.uk/intl/en/schol
ar/citations.html
Create a profile on Academia.edu

23. Academic Writing Librarians Blog
 To encourage/promote academic writing
among library staff
 Calls for papers/posters/book chapters etc.
 Links to my articles on academic writing
 Tips from published authors
 Tips from journal editors
 Other
http://www.academicwritinglibrarian.blogspot.ie/

26. Academic Writing Toolkit
 Section 1. Beginning to write
 Section 2. Ideas generation
 Section 3. Outlining
 Section 4. Abstract and title
 Section 5. Finding a journal
 Section 6. Writing the article
 Section 7. Submission
 Section 8. Peer-review and resubmission
 Section 9. Publication and celebration

29. Follow Academic Writing Librarians
 Follow Helen Fallon on Twitter for updates
 Access the blog at
 http://academicwritinglibrarian.blogspot.ie/
 Sign up as a follower
 Follow by e-mail from the box on the homepage

30. Moving on with your writing
Write
Describe, reflect
and evaluate
Talk
Notebook
Data
Collaborate
Be strategic
Cite key people
Set realistic goals
Give and look for
peer support
Celebrate

31. Bibliography on Academic Writing
Academic Writing Librarians
http://anltc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/BIBLIOGRAPHY-ON-ACADEMIC-WRITING.pdf

32. Online Academic Writing Group
 E-mail helen.b.fallon@nuim.ie by Friday 4 April
Put online Writing Group in title of Message