An Analysis of Writing for Publication Research on Novice Anglophone (L1) Academics: A Scientometric Perspective

Given the paramount importance of scholarly publication in academia, a significant body of research in Applied Linguistics and TESL, and their strands (e.g., EAP, ERPP) has emerged in recent decades focusing on writing for publication practices of novice and junior academics, including graduate and doctoral students, who are new to the complexities of academic publication. Empirical research in this area has predominantly focused on those speaking English as a second or an additional language. Comparatively, less research has explored the writing-for-publication practices of Anglophone doctoral students and early career academics. In this chapter, in response to this void in the relevant scholarly literature, we present a bibliometric review of the extant research literature on writing for publication practices of Anglophone novice and emerging scholars, including graduate students as well as early career academics across various disciplinary and geographical settings. The relevant research was identified and extracted, drawing on major databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and ERIC. The 50 studies comprising the corpus were then subject to analysis with regard to their (1) publication trends, (2) contexts and participants, (3) research foci, and (4) research design and data sources. In addition to providing a global trend analysis of the extant research and scholarship, we provide suggestions and recommendations for future research and practice in this area.