Writing for publication: Interventions to support i) academic writing and ii) staff writing for a PhD by Published Work

Title: Writing for publication: Interventions to support i) academic writing and ii) staff writing for a PhD by Published Work This workshop links to Theme 4: What forms of engagement recognise and contribute to high quality scholarship? This workshop explores engagement methods that the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Leeds Beckett University uses to foster collaboration for our academic writers and to support those academic staff doing a PhD by published work. Increasing numbers of staff are registering for a PhD by published work in the UK and internationally and writing for publication can be stressful, isolating and demanding (Smith and Deane, 2014). Supporting their needs to reach an appropriate standard for publication in the public domain and for the PhD threshold standard is important (O’Sullivan and Cleary, 2014) and can be achieved through writing groups where mutual engagement and a sense of joint identity are fostered through a community of practice. (Wenger, 1998). In addition, staff undertaking a PhD by published work award or, indeed, just writing up their scholarship for peer reviewed journals need to show the “triple whammy”: coherence, contribution to the field and originality in their work and final synthesis/reflective summary. This workshop is structured in two parts and is suitable for all academic writers, but particularly those looking to submit for a PhD by published work. Part 1 involves the sharing of key methods used in Leeds such as a) writing groups, b) draft sharing to elicit real strength in originality, coherence and contribution c) supervisor networks and d) the production of a themed edition journal will be outlined. Participants will then share practice in small groups about i) whether these strategies have been useful for them ii) the value of their own different institutional interventions to support scholarly writing and outputs. Part 2 will encourage staff to look at “the triple whammy” of their work and discuss these using some key questions (Smith, 2015) in pairs using the non- threatening, supportive feedback model for writing support (Ryan and Zimerelli, 2006). The learning goals: Participants will be encouraged to review their own practice to explore i) if any of these methods (a)-(d) have helped them ii) if they have any other collaborative interventions in their own institutions to enhance high quality scholarship iii) their own publications and consider, how they can strengthen their PhD by published work synthesis/reflective summary to elucidate its unique “triple whammy”. Outcomes: By the end of the workshop participants will have i) a greater awareness of practical support strategies to improve local academic engagement in writing support ii) used a series of tools generated from surveys, interviews and focus groups, (Smith, 2015),to strengthen the “triple whammy” of their own scholarly outputs. iii) the opportunity to contribute to a paper for the ISSOTL journal about supporting scholarly writing. I am a National Teaching Fellow (UK), Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, researcher and author experienced in delivering conference workshops. I have recently written a book on PhD by Published Work based on qualitative research with writers, supervisors and researchers. *Participants should bring a list (or full text) of their current and emergent peer reviewed publications to the workshop. References O’Sullivan, I. and Cleary, L. (2014) ‘Peer-tutoring in academic writing: The infectious nature of engagement’, Journal of Academic Writing, 4(1): 52–65. Ryan, L. and Zimmerelli, L. (2006) The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors (4th edn) (Boston, Bedford: St Martin’s Press). Smith, M. and Deane, M. (2014) ‘Supporting the neophyte writer: The importance of scaffolding the process’, Journal of Academic Writing, 4(1): 40–51. Smith, S (2015) How to do a PhD by Published Work. Palgrave Macmillan. In press. To be published April 2015. Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

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