This book shows scientists how to apply their analysis and synthesis skills to overcoming the challenge of how to write, as well as what to write, to maximise their chances of publishing in international scientific journals.

The book uses analysis of the scientific article genre to provide clear processes for writing each section of a manuscript, starting with clear ‘story’ construction and packaging of results. Each learning step uses practical exercises to develop writing and data presentation skills based on reader analysis of well-written example papers. Strategies are presented for responding to referee comments, and for developing discipline-specific English language skills for manuscript writing and polishing.

The book is designed for scientists who use English as a first or an additional language, and for individual scientists or mentors or a class setting. In response to reader requests, the new edition includes review articles and the full range of research article formats, as well as applying the book’s principles to writing funding applications.

Web support for this book is available at www.writeresearch.com.au

"This book is a wonderful addition to a graduate course on professional writing, to a writers' group in need of some structure, or even to the lone writer who needs assistance becoming an academic writer."
—Chronicle of Higher Education

Wendy Laura Belcher’s Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success is a revolutionary approach to enabling academic authors to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields. Each week, readers learn a particular feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. At the end of twelve weeks, they send their article to a journal. This invaluable resource is the only guide that focuses specifically on publishing humanities and social science journal articles.

Key Features

• Has a proven record of helping graduate students and professors get published: This workbook, developed over a decade of teaching scholarly writers in a range of disciplines at UCLA and around the world, has already helped hundreds to publish their articles in peer-reviewed journals.
• Demystifies the academic publishing process: This workbook is based on actual research about faculty productivity and peer review, students’ writing triumphs and failures, as well as the author’s experiences as a journal editor and award-winning author.
• Proceeds step by manageable step: Within the context of clear deadlines, the workbook provides the instruction, exercises, and structure needed to revise a classroom essay, conference paper, dissertation chapter, master’s thesis, or unfinished draft into a journal article and send it to a suitable journal.
• Targets the biggest writing challenges: This workbook focuses squarely on the most difficult tasks facing scholarly writers, such as getting motivated, making an argument, and creating a logical whole.

Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks can be used individually or in groups, and is particularly appropriate for graduate student professional development courses, junior faculty orientation workshops, post-doc groups, and journal article writing courses.

Wendy Laura Belcher is assistant professor of African literature at Princeton University in the Department of Comparative Literature and Center for African American Studies. She has taught journal article writing workshops in North America, Europe, and Africa.

Praise for Wendy Belcher and Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks

"A comprehensive, well-written and beautifully organized book on publishing articles in the humanities and social sciences that will help its readers write forward with a first-rate guide as good company."
—Joan Bolker, author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day

“Humorous, direct, authentic … a seamless weave of experience, anecdote, and research.”
—Kathleen McHugh, professor and director of the UCLA Center for the Study of Women

“A useful text that will be an excellent resource for any writer attempting to publish their work.”
—Larry Chandler, Graduate Student

“Wendy Belcher's book is revolutionizing the way younger scholars perceive academic publishing and radically transforming their level of access to it (and consequently to the profession). It is by far the most readable or practical guide to academic writing on the market.”
—Beth Goodhue, UCLA

“Wendy's guidance has been a tremendous help to me, and the book is great for grad students, junior faculty, or anyone who wants to learn how to write and publish more effectively.”
-Jake Dorman, The University of Kansas

“Your book struck such a nerve because there is a long chain of assumptions in academia that scholars should just know how to do certain things. The relief among faculty is palpable when I explain in groups that few of us -- even those who have been published in journals -- were ever taught properly. And although it helps everyone who cracks it, your book is especially a godsend for faculty from other cultures.” -Carole Sargent, Georgetown University

“Thanks for your wonderful book!”
-Georgina Green, Graduate Student

“Absolutely LOVE the book!”
-Karra Bikson, Graduate Student

Packed with income-generating ideas about creating a variety of saleable written works, this guide includes information for researching and writing effective, instructional materials and calling upon a variety of publishing channels, including magazines, traditional book publishers, self-publishing, and the Internet. The mechanics behind becoming a successful writer and information packager are presented in this resource that explores how to write and sell simple information in multiple formats, allowing writers to turn specialized knowledge into money-making books and products.