Call for Participation

Want to make progress on your writing project(s)? Join a weekly Faculty Learning Community to keep your writing on track!

“Wow. No one ever told me this!” Wendy Laura Belcher has heard this countless times throughout her years of teaching and advising academics on how to write journal articles. Scholars know they must publish, but few have been told how to do so. So Belcher made it her mission to demystify the writing process. The result was Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, which takes this overwhelming task and breaks it into small, manageable steps. For the past decade, this guide has been the go-to source for those creating articles for peer-reviewed journals. It has enabled thousands to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields.

Using Wendy Laura Belcher’s Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks Second Edition: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success, members of this faculty learning community (FLC) will support one another in our individual quests to have an article accepted for publication in an academic journal.  The FLC members will meet for one hour each week for twelve weeks (beginning the week of February 27, 2023) to discuss progress and provide assistance to one another. Participants will receive a copy of the book, and each week we will read a chapter and complete the associated writing tasks.  Chapters include advice related to topic and journal selection, strengthening the structure of the article, presenting evidence, providing feedback, editing, and responding to journal decisions.

The goals of the FLC:

To aid you in revising a conference paper, unpublished article, chapter, etc. and sending it to the editor of a suitable academic journal.
To provide the instruction, exercises, structure, and deadlines needed to do an effective revision.
To help develop a regular habit/practice of writing, to enhance confidence that it takes to send out a journal article that you have written.
To help you to overcome anxiety about academic publishing.

You are best prepared to participate in this learning community if:

  • You need a way to make publishable the research you have already conducted, written for other purposes, and/or taught.  The prior work could be dissertation chapters, conference papers, rejected articles, research briefs, lecture notes, etc. that are ready to be turned into an academic journal article.  Those who are starting from scratch will not be likely to complete the project in 12 weeks, though you will be able to make significant progress.
  • You are willing to share and talk about your writing with campus colleagues, and are willing to give and receive feedback.  To be part of this learning community you must commit to attending a one-hour meeting each week for 12 weeks.
  • You are willing to make writing for publication a priority this semester, and to invest some time each week (preferably at least 15 minutes five days a week) to the writing process.

Participants in this FLC should be willing to commit to:

  • Attend at least 80% of the meetings through the duration of the FLC
  • Active work, sharing of progress, and mutual accountability

Application and Meeting Schedule

  • This FLC will meet in Hybrid mode (alternate in-person meetings in FDC 118 and virtual meetings)
  • Meeting day and times will be decided based on when most faculty can meet
  • Please apply by February 17, 2023 for full consideration.

Click Here to Apply

Selection Criteria

  • There are 15 spaces in the FLC.
  • Must be a Stanislaus State faculty member (any rank, FT or PT) from any discipline, contracted to teach at Stan State during Spring 2023
  • Must agree to attend meetings and participate in the scheduled FLC activities (in-person and virtually)
  • Participants must have a project underway (some research and/or writing completed prior to the first meeting) and commit to attending one-hour meetings each week for 12 weeks. 

You’ll receive a copy of the book at the first meeting, but may request a copy earlier if you would like to start reading ahead.


Questions? Please contact Dr. Shradha Tibrewal, stibrewal@csustan.edu

Updated: March 08, 2023