Disciplining writing: the case for multi‐disciplinary writing groups to support writing for publication by higher degree by research candidates in the humanities, arts and social sciences

Abstract

This article addresses multi‐disciplinary writing groups in supporting writing for publication for higher degree by research candidates in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Drawing on focus group discussions with postgraduate research students from the Faculty of Arts at Monash University in Australia who participated in the writing groups, it investigates the participants’ perceptions of the multi‐disciplinary nature of the groups and some of the benefits of sharing writing with fellow postgraduate research students from different fields of study. Discussing both the strengths and weaknesses of the multi‐disciplinarity of the groups as identified by participants, the authors suggest that such groups can provide a forum for postgraduates to develop their ‘professional’ academic identity and develop their writing beyond the context of their theses and can have some unexpected benefits to participants’ sense of themselves as disciplinary proponents. The multi‐disciplinary context is thus considered as providing a level playing field in which postgraduates may approach the writing process as a shared methodology, encompassing a suite of specialised but generic skills that cross‐disciplinary boundaries.

Keywords:

• doctoral education
• generic skills
• multi‐disciplinarity
• research publications
• writing groups

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to staff in the Arts Research Graduate School, Monash University, for their assistance in the conduct of this research.