• Description

This course is aimed at developing writing skills for academic publishing purposes. It focuses on the structure and the register of texts as well as task organization and peer assessment aspects. The course is structured around a main activity in which each student must write an original article, book chapter or working paper intended for actual publication in an academic context. This course is for students in the 2nd year of the PhD or later.

• The subject within the syllabus as a whole

This course is one amongst the "Research, transfer and entrepreneurship courses" organized by the UOC Doctoral School, which consist of skills-oriented on-line training. It is not a mandatory course in any of the UOC doctoral programs unless it has been included in the student's personalized training plan. For non-UOC students, it can be recognized as free elective credits for bachelor's degree courses. If you are a doctoral student at any university and have been awarded a competitive grant, it can also count towards your training and must simply ask the doctoral school to get your certificate of completion.

• Professional fields to which it applies

This course provides professional skills for doctoral students and university faculty who are engaged with research.

• Prior knowledge

This course is for students in the 2nd year of the PhD or later. Beyond the knowledge and skills specific to each area of academic expertise, students should have a good command of English equivalent to C1 or C2 of the Council of Europe's Reference Frame. 

Students of B2 level will follow the course with significant difficulties and will need additional support from colleagues or English language teachers or professional editors (Tutors in this course cannot provide this type of support on grammar, spelling or vocabulary). 

Prior knowledge of academic publishing in any language is also recommended.

• Information prior to enrolment

• Learning objectives and results

Objectives

• Acquire a general view of the process of publishing an article in an indexed journal.
• Submit an article to an indexed journal at the end of the consultation period

Competencies

• Structure content according to the conventions of academic publishing.
• Learn about tools to aid writing in English.
• Have organization strategies for writing and peer assessment tasks.
• Identify the appropriate academic journals for each publication.

• Content

• View the UOC learning resources used in the subject

• Additional information on support tools and learning resources

This published article will also be used in some classroom activities (also available to the "Materials and Sources" tab:

Frekko, S.E., 2012. Legitimation and social class in the teaching of the Catalan language for adults. 

International Journal of Bilingual and Bilingual Education, 50, pages 1-13.

• Additional information on bibliography and information sources

Vankerkam, Laura. 168 hours: you have more time than you think. New York: Penguin, 2010.

Belcher, Wendy Laura. Writing your journal article in twelve weeks: A guide to academic publishing success. Sage, 2009.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The craft of research. University of Chicago press, 2003.

Cargill, Margaret, and Patrick O'Connor. Writing scientific research articles: Strategy and steps. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Greene, Anne E. Writing science in plain English. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013.

Hayot, Eric. The elements of academic style: writing for the humanities. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014.

Hofmann, Angelika H. Scientific writing and communication: Papers, proposals, and presentations. 2nd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Murray, Rowena. Writing for academic journals. McGraw-Hill Education (UK), 2013.

Swales, John M., and Christine B. Feak. Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. 3rd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2012.

• Methodology

• Guidelines on assessment at the UOC

The assessment process is based on the student's personal work and presupposes authenticity of authorship and originality of the exercises completed.

Lack of authenticity of authorship or originality of assessment tests, copying or plagiarism, the fraudulent attempt to obtain a better academic result, collusion to copy or concealing or abetting copying, use of unauthorized material or devices during assessment, inter alia, are offences that may lead to serious academic or other sanctions.

Firstly, you will fail the course (D/0) if you commit any of these offences when completing activities defined as assessable in the course plan, including the final tests. Offences considered to be misconduct include, among others, the use of unauthorized material or devices during the tests, such as social media or internet search engines, or the copying of text from external sources (internet, class notes, books, articles, other students' essays or tests, etc.) without including the corresponding reference.

And secondly, the UOC's academic regulations state that any misconduct during assessment, in addition to leading to the student failing the course, may also lead to disciplinary procedures and sanctions.

The UOC reserves the right to request that students identify themselves and/or provide evidence of the authorship of their work, throughout the assessment process, and by the means the UOC specifies (synchronous or asynchronous). For this purpose, the UOC may require students to use a microphone, webcam or other devices during the assessment process, and to make sure that they are working correctly.

The checking of students' knowledge to verify authorship of their work will under no circumstances constitute a second assessment.

• View assessment model

• Continuous assessment

• Final assessment

- A: all students who fulfill all requested activities.

- B: to all those who carry out all the activities essential to the proper conduct of collective tasks.

- C: exceptional cases where an appropriate final draft is presented and less intensive classroom participation has been agreed in advance.

- By default D will not be assigned (a no-show will be assigned) unless explicitly requested by students.

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