Abstract:
Writing remains significantly under-theorized within research degree programs in universities. Yet
there is clearly more at stake than the application of generic structural rules or guidelines for writing
research. Whatever the discipline, these mechanics are inadequate to account for the complexities
of writing faced by doctoral students. This article takes up the challenge of research writing as a
social, situated practice and calls for it to be embraced as such within research education. The
article identifies problems of policy, theory and pedagogy in relation to research writing. It then
examines recent initiatives, undertaken by the authors and others, in the formation of research
writing groups, in an attempt to address some of these problems. Despite wide variation, these
groups have in common a strong reliance on the pedagogical principles of identification and peer
review, community, and writing as 'normal business' in the doing of research. These are advanced
as key principles for a broader conceptualization of the requirements for research writing.
