Experience of Virtual Writing Groups: Going Beyond Geographic Boundaries
Abstract: There are greater expectations on academics, including career professors, to publish. How and where within their graduate programs did they develop the knowledge and capacity to be competent scholarly writers? Using a self-study research approach, we investigated strategies as part of a pilot designed to assess the impact of virtual writing groups on early career researchers’ publication output and the transition process from doctoral student to full-time academic. This pilot study informed the launch of a larger virtual writing group. The virtual writing group, includes early career academic, along with former doctoral supervisor supporting their transition as academics around their scholarly writing. The study explores the following research questions: 1) To what extent does a virtual writing group assist publication output through the transition of PhD student to early career researcher; and 2) What factors are integral for the effectiveness of a virtual writing group for early career researchers? Directions for future research are shared.