Paper Writing Academy

DIGITAL PROGRAMME TO GET YOUR JOURNAL PAPER WRITTEN & PUBLISHED

WHAT IS PAPER WRITING ACADEMY

It is an online course that academic authors follow over a period of 8 weeks. You receive weekly instructions and material that you study and follow to produce a journal paper. Your end result is a completed paper draft that can be submitted to an international peer-reviewed journal.

 

Why join Paper Writing Academy

Do you want to learn how to write a journal paper that gets published without the struggles of endless rounds of revision?
Do you only have a limited amount of time and need to be efficient in your writing, all while avoiding the mistakes causing rejection of your paper?

Paper roadmap
If you are looking for a programme that supports you in your writing process from start to finish, join Paper Writing Academy! It provides a roadmap to prepare, write, submit, and publish a paper successfully in an international peer-reviewed journal.

You’ll start from scratch writing your research paper, and will be guided through the entire writing process. You’ll make weekly progress on your paper, and can complete it by the end, ready for journal submission. The roadmap that you’ll acquire will guide you in future publications throughout your academic life.

Productive writing system
You’ll start by adopting productive writing strategies to get ready for a smooth and pleasant writing experience. You’ll develop a realistic plan for writing the paper as a part of your daily work routine and learn how to decide on a paper topic, co-authors, and journals for submission.

Write your paper
Next, you’ll write all the needed sections for your research paper step-by-step until your paper draft is finished. You’ll learn about paper editing, and how to transform your draft into a publishable text. You’ll wipe out all the mistakes and weak parts of your paper to be prepared for the submission and peer-review process. Here, you’ll also adopt strategies for smoothly passing peer-review and revision so that your paper will get published.

What you’ll learn

  • How to plan and prepare effective paper-writing
  • How to define the paper topic, audience, journal,  co-authors, and structure
  • How to write all relevant sections of the paper
  • How to conduct an effective editing and revision process
  • How to submit the paper to the journal
  • How to respond to the peer-review process
  • How to avoid common mistakes
  • How to promote the paper after publication

WHO BENEFITS MOST

It’s a perfect fit if you want to start writing a paper from scratch, you’re currently writing on a paper but are stuck, you have had a paper rejected, or you want to optimise your writing process and produce papers more efficiently. If you look for a detailed plan that tells you how to write each paper section and aim to finish and submit a paper, it is your course! 

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT PAPER WRITING ACADEMY? 

You are supported by our instructor over a couple of weeks while writing the paper to make sure that learning, implementation and feedback go hand in hand. You will work on your paper during the programme and all the questions and problems that occur in this process can be dealt with immediately. You’ll make weekly progress with your paper till submission. Although being instructor-led, this online course offers you the flexibility to work on the paper at your pace.

Next start: 13 May 2024!

 

HOW IS IT TAUGHT

Paper Writing Academy is delivered fully digitally to your desk. You’ll learn in small weekly units that follow your writing progress. You can directly implement the new knowledge to your writing. You’ll work at your own time and at your own pace as you have 24/7 access to all course material including videos, audio files and PDF worksheets. You have life-long access to the course material. 

You will not experience the anonymous training atmosphere of other online classes, and you will not be left alone in your paper writing. Instead, you’ll appreciate our supportive environment and teamwork opportunities which will enhance your learning experience.

To enhance your learning experience, you’ll be part of an interactive discussion group to address your questions and problems, and to discuss paper progress. 

Finally, our experienced instructor will be available for individual questions through live support sessions throughout the programme.

More questions?

More questions?

 

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR 

Gunther Tress (PhD) is an enthusiastic Research Career and Science Communication Expert. As a former Journal Editor with Elsevier, and a former book series editor with Springer, he is now co-directing TRESS ACADEMIC since 2007. For 15+ years he helped thousands of researchers successfully communicate their research by publishing excellent journal papers. He is a graduate of Heidelberg University (D), obtained a PhD in Landscape Ecology from Roskilde University (DK), and worked for a decade as a researcher and lecturer at universities in Roskilde (DK), Wageningen (NL), and Aberdeen (UK).

FEEDBACK

Read the feedback of previous participants of Paper Writing Academy below.

Want to Know More?

Features

8 modules
35 lessons
4 live-support sessions
1 implementation week

ECTS

3

Participants

Join alone or with your colleagues, any group size can enrol!

Duration

8 weeks with short weekly units
life-long access to the course material

Instructor

Dr. Gunther Tress

Level

Beginners to experienced authors

Get Started Yourself

HOW TO ENROL

Paper Writing Academy is offered three times per year to make sure you can participate when it best suits you. You can either book a single seat for yourself or ask for a campus licence if you want to register several people from the same institute.

For Individuals

You can directly book your seat for the next round of the programme. You can pay online and will receive a receipt for your payment. We also offer complete payment at once or a 3-month payment plan.

   

If you want your institute to make the booking for you, please let us know. Then, get in touch with your supervisor or graduate coordinator and ask them to be in contact with us. We’ll send an invoice to your institute then.

 For institutes:

We offer campus licenses for your team. You can book any team size, we offer group discounts for booking 5, 10, 20 or more seats. Click on CAMPUS LICENCE below to receive further information.

 

Need help?

How We Helped Others With
Their Papers

The Paper Writing Academy has greatly assisted me in making progress with my current paper. Gunther provided excellent tips that alleviate fears and help save time during the writing process. I learned things I didn’t know before, such as how the peer-review process works exactly. I also learned how to structure the paper correctly and gained a great boost of motivation. Before participating in the course, I believed that, after writing my master’s thesis, I would already know a lot. However, each module introduced new insights that significantly helped me improve my writing skills. I highly recommend this course to all early-career scientists!

Marlene Meister, PhD Candidate

ALFRED WEGENER INSTITUTE, HELMHOLTZ CENTRE FOR POLAR AND MARINE RESEARCH, GERMANY

The Paper Writing Academy has been super useful to me. When I wrote my paper sections during the course, I always checked the PWA guides and used them to clean up and improve my writing and this is how I have greatly benefited from the course. I have to say your course is super well-structured, very good job.

Flávio Norberto de Almeida Junior, PhD Candidate

Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway

I just published the paper that I have been working on during Paper Writing Academy! You can find it on Researchgate. Thank you so much again for your helpful course!

Antonia Ahme, PhD Candidate

Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany

Linn Vassvik

The paper I chose to write for Paper Writing Academy (PWA) is my first scientific paper as a first author, and the weekly PWA videos have been tremendously beneficial in guiding me through this process. Developing a publishing plan and following the weekly tasks have enabled me to stay on track with my writing, and the biweekly meetings have served as effective ‘deadlines’ to advance my writing progress. Overall, I am super happy with the course.

Linn Vassvik, PhD candidate

NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

I found the PWA digital course to be incredibly convenient for learning all the essential steps of academic writing, from scratch to publication, without having to leave the comfort of home or worry about specific time constraints. The detailed and straightforward instructions provided by Gunther were very helpful in understanding the entire process. Thank you!

Faiza Darkhani, Researcher

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF),, Germany

Thank you, Gunther, for all your help and support! Paper Writing Academy is a very useful and well-structured course. Before PWA, I was stuck on the paper I was working on and had no clear idea where I was in the paper writing process. PWA has helped me move forward and significantly restructure the paper I am working on. I still have several steps to take to complete my paper, but it is a relief to know where I am and have a clear methodology to follow. I am now confident that I can go through the process to complete the paper.

Marilena Teri, PhD candidate

University of Vienna, Austria

Well before joining Paper Writing Academy, I thought I had a good idea of how to write a scientific article. By following this course, it seems to me that it was only one eighth of what I had. This course has changed me and I now see differently how to write a scientific article and submit it to ensure it has a chance of being published. Thank you for everything and especially for the richness of the teaching you gave us. I’m very lucky to have taken this course. I now have all the tips I need to get my articles published. 

Kossi Hounkpati, Research Fellow

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany

Nabir Mamnun

The Paper Writing Academy (PWA) was very helpful for me. The paper I was working on during PWA was accepted for publication in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science within 10 weeks of submission. My paper went through only one round of review and the revisions were really minor. It was surely due to PWA that I had prepared a good manuscript that got accepted easily. (Access the paper)

Nabir Mamnun, Doctoral Student

Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Germany

Wenli Ni, PhD Candidate

Paper Writing Academy has been the best paper writing course I have ever taken. The explanation of academic paper writing is very comprehensive. Every part is explained and very detailed. I really learned how to draft academic papers systematically.

Wenli Ni, PhD Candidate

Helmholtz Munich and LMU Munich, Germany

Karen A.E. Hall

Paper Writing Academy (PWA) was a life-saver course for me. I deeply desired to learn how to write a professional academic article. I took out a loan to do this course and have not regretted doing so. The worksheets are perfect for me because they help me to identify the must-have parts of the paper sections. I was able to complete a previously problematic manuscript, and I feel confident that I am on the path to making it a professional paper. I owe that confidence to PWA, where the presentations and materials were easy to follow and understand. This class has given me an in-depth insight into journal-article writing. Thank you so much for offering this course, it is so beneficial to me now, and will continue to be in the future.

Karen A.E. Hall, PhD Candidate

University of Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain

The PWA course was very helpful for learning how to write and publish journal articles efficiently. What I learned in the course was helpful with my current article and will continue to be so for articles to come. Thank you for the great course.

Aaron Smith, Research scientist

NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Ferdaous

I have been struggling with finishing my first article for almost two years. There were always new things to do or modify, but I never knew exactly how to do it, nor had I been told how to do it. Now, after taking Paper Writing Academy, I have made all the necessary modifications knowing exactly what I am doing. My article is now finished and will be submitted soon.

Ferdaous Rezgui, PhD Candidate

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany

Rok Ciglic

Thank you, Gunther, for a really well-organised course! It provided a clear overview of the entire process of paper-writing. I listened with great interest, not only as an author but also as someone who works as a reviewer and member of editorial boards. The lessons are well structured and the material provides a solid foundation to begin each exercise. It is also great that real-life examples of abstracts, review responses, etc. were discussed in the group. This made it clear that the whole process of writing, reviewing, editing, and publishing articles is not an easy task with quick solutions for everyone involved. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Rok Ciglič, PhD

Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute

Marie Chedru

Before joining Paper Writing Academy (PWA), I wasn’t sure whether the programme would be a good fit. I was looking for an online programme to improve my paper-writing, but also to become better at supporting my students and colleagues in writing papers. When I first saw PWA, I thought it might be like a MOOC, so I was unsure about joining. I tried a MOOC on the same topic but was not satisfied. MOOCs are free but are often rather general. PWA is so different from a MOOC and I’m so glad I finally joined. PWA is a high-quality programme and the material you get is very clear and so helpful. Gunther puts a lot of energy into the programme and I felt he really meant it when he offered to help us—that again is different from an academic MOOC. Before joining PWA, writing papers was an unclear task, and I had no structured approach to it. Now, I have a framework and a roadmap that I can use to write my papers so much easier. I wish I had the chance to join such a programme a few years earlier. (Connect on ResearchGate)

Dr. Marie Chédru, Assoc. Professor

UniLaSalle, Beauvais, France

I really enjoyed participating in the Paper Writing Academy, it was fun even if it was hard work at the same time. Thanks to this course, I have established a regular writing session during my work days, and with all the material provided in this course, I know how to structure my writing process from the first ideas to the final draft. The opportunity to share experiences and problems with colleagues is very helpful at every stage of the course. Having some checklists and vocabulary lists also helps me overcome my writer’s block, which I often struggled with in the past. To wrap this up, I can only recommend this course to everyone who would like to improve their writing skills, being more efficient in paper writing or just need some motivation boost to start with writing!

Fiona Niedermayer, Doctoral Researcher

IBE, Ludwig-Maximilian-University (LMU), Munich

Paper Writing Academy (PWA) has been a great training for me, and a real eye-opener on how to approach writing. It gave me a better understanding of how to write the content of the paper sections. I am happy that I took part in PWA. My paper is progressing: I have a better title and clear objectives. I managed to outline the structure and improve the Introduction, and I’m much more motivated to continue on the paper now than before. So I’m confident I will achieve my goal: to get a paper published this year! (Connect with Tatjana)

Tatjana Veljanovski, PhD

Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Anthropological and Spatial Studies, Department of Remote Sensing

Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco

Paper Writing Academy (PWA) was very useful for me because it helped me improve my first paper which was rejected some time ago;I was very disappointed about it. Now, PWA has motivated me to start again, and I sent it to another journal one week ago. PWA also supported me in the general organisation of my ideas for academic writing and helped me already get started on my second paper. So, joining PWA was definitely a success for me. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Carla Rene Baldivieso Soruco, PhD Candidate

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Germany

I enjoyed Paper Writing Academy a lot and succeeded in my writing during the course. PWA helped to figure out what I should express and how to express my ideas precisely in each section, through the course modules and lessons. The live sessions are quite supportive because while discussing with other participants I learned what the shortcomings in my writing are, and I learned from others’ writing with good examples and also mistakes that I should avoid. In general, it’s very helpful for me since I was a total beginner in paper writing.

Yunyi Wang, PhD student

Norce, Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway

Thiemo Karwinkel, PhD Candidate

Before joining Paper Writing Academy (PWA), I had taken a really bad paper-writing course with lacking didactics and old-fashioned recommendations. Then, I heard from colleagues about PWA—they were all very enthusiastic when talking about it and I could hardly believe their positive statements. So I joined and noticed that they were right, it is really a very valuable course! The best thing about PWA is that you can study the material and watch the videos when it suits you, when you’ve got the time, and when you need it. The bi-weekly live sessions then keep you on track and motivate you to self-studying. The video format provides a great learning experience: you see the instructor face-to-face and it feels as if he’s talking to you right now, which makes learning much easier. I watched the videos even on my train journeys. The life-long access to those gives you the certainty to always re-watch them, whenever needed in the future. A great thing I learned in the course was how to edit your manuscript, specifically how to do paragraph-editing. If you follow the guidelines, your paper is so much easier to read and understand, very valuable! All in all, PWA provides a lot of practical information that you otherwise never would get, except if you choose to go the hard way through submissions and rejections yourself, like I did the 3 years before—so joining PWA in an earlier stage would have saved me a lot of headaches with my papers. I can fully recommend visiting PWA before starting to draft your first paper, but it is worth anytime! (Connect on LinkedIn)
A few months later: PS: Thanks to PWA, the paper that I worked on during the course, went very smoothly through the review process and even got published in the intended journal (doi.org/10.1242/jeb.244473). Next paper to come!

Thiemo Karwinkel, PhD Candidate

Institute of Avian Research "Vogelwarte Helgoland", Germany

Kocjančič Anja

I am so glad that I attended Paper Writing Academy (PWA)! I found all activities and worksheets very useful! I think even people who are not in the process of writing a journal at the moment (like I was) are the perfect candidates to attend PWA. It gives you so much useful information about how to write a journal, and it also gives you a lot of working material that you can reuse after the course when you really start writing. It’s also a great experience to interact with other participants, not only by writing to them but also by interacting with them live.

Anja Kocjančič, PhD Candidate

Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ivan Rakovec Institute of Palaeontology

Peter Rowland

Paper Writing Academy is a must-attend for PhD candidates and early career researchers. Previously, the thought of writing academic articles frightend me. However, PWA has helped to demystify the voyage by providing a stepwise approach to achieving the same. I’m super excited to have participated in this online programme. The lifetime membership offered participants with unlimited access to resources is excellent. Special thanks to our amiable instructor and the entire team at PWA. (Connect on LinkedIn or Twitter)

Peter Rowland Ukotije-Ikwut, PhD candidate

Kiel University/, GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

Bishnu Maya Adhikari

In my PhD study I focussed so far on my monograph and wasn’t able to write journal papers, which I always wanted to do, but did not know how to do it. Paper Writing Academy answered this question by providing the roadmap and helping me develop all the skills needed to write papers. Honestly, I found PWA so helpful and enjoyed every part of it. Now, I am reviewing journal articles of my field with solid confidence and preparing to submit my paper for publishing. I recommend PWA to all early-career researchers for their joyful (and successful) academic journey.I am grateful to Gunther and the entire team at TRESS ACADEMIC! (Connect on LinkedIn)

Bishnu Maya Adhikari, PhD candidate

Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Norway

Thanks for the good and very well structured course. Even having some experience in writing manuscripts, I learned a lot from this course. I am already implementing the tips I learned on the draft I am currently working on. I can already say I reached my personal goal with Paper Writing Academy.

Ritter Guimapi, Postdoc

NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Charlotte Kunze

I wanted to finish this manuscript and when my graduate school sent around the advert for Paper Writing Academy, I knew I wanted to join. PWA sounded so motivating and that’s exactly what I needed. Like everybody else, I’m also struggling with time issues and motivation when writing a paper. So, I wanted to give myself just these 8 weeks and try to finish as much as I can from the paper. I planned writing time as Gunther suggested in one of the tutorials and finished the first draft within the programme! 

Charlotte Kunze, PhD candidate

University of Oldenburg, Germany

Tore Ingvald Bjørnarå, NGI @tressacademic

Thanks for a great Paper Writing Academy. It was very useful and I highly recommend taking the course to my colleagues. I’m working on two papers right now, but if it wasn’t for the structured methodology you showed me, I assume the progress would have been much slower. Thanks and I will update you when I published the papers. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Tore Ingvald Bjørnarå, Senior Engineer

Norwegian Geotechnical Institute

Areti Balkoni @tressacademic

I am so glad that I joined Paper Writing Academy! This digital course is a great opportunity for both new or more experienced scientists. It was the first time that I tried to write a paper and, yes, I managed to finish my first manuscript during the course. This was a great success, and I couldn’t have done it without Gunther’s guidance, the videos, and the support sheets. I learned not only how to write a scientific paper, but also how to organise my time for more effective writing. The live sections were very helpful with great interactions with other scientists and Gunther’s support and encouragement was exceptional! Thank you so much!

Areti Balkoni, PhD student

Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research, Germany

Akhila Bairy

I had tried to write a paper before for my Bachelor but I never knew how to approach it and it was very overwhelming to do it. I didn’t had proper guidance then and I was all on my own. I joined Paper Writing Academy during the first year of my PhD and thanks to the programme, now I know how to do write papers and it’s not overwhelming more at all. I know from where to start and you gave me a lot of small tricks that made it easier for me, by breaking the writing down into small pieces it wasn’t so hard at all. Before the course I was a little be worried, will it all be online? Will I have the chance to talk to you at all? How will we communicate? Will it be totally anonymous? But it turned out it wasn’t difficult at all and it went very well and was fun. I also used all of the channels you offered, the videos, the PDF sheets, and the PWA Insiders discussion group. PWA is totally helpful and all the goals in the programme are achievable. Even if you have already experience with writing papers this course is still helpful for you. Most of the people I know they have tried to learn paper-writing by trial and error, so this course is helpful for them as well. You learn exactly how to do it. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Akhila Bairy, PhD Candidate

University of Oldenburg, Germany

Yu Ren, PhD candidate

Dear Gunther, I’ve learned a lot from your Paper Writing Academy and my first PhD paper was published last month! The programme was insightful and followed a systematic approach which made it easy for researchers to learn how to write an academic paper. Great that I had the chance to join the PWA community. Thanks! (Connect on LinkedIn)

Yu Ren, PhD Candidate

GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany

What I learned during the PWA will definitely last longer than the 8 weeks of training. I try to integrate the material and information into each of my paper writings from now on. The PWA provides an important foundation for good scientific practice.

Johanna Nold, PhD candidate

Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Dortmund, Germany

A writing program like the Paper Writing Academy (PWA), which takes place over several weeks, met my learning needs exactly and was a better fit than a three-day course at my institution. The big difference between a short course and the PWA is that in the PWA, you don’t just hear how you should do each step in your paper, you put it into practice right away in your paper. I’m not that familiar with writing papers, and the step-by-step approach was very helpful for my progress. I really started from scratch with my paper and then was able to take it one step at a time, whereas in a short course I would have to do everything on my own. It was even fun to develop the paper in parallel with participating in the online programme. Every week, I knew I was making some progress with my work, and I noticed that even small—but weekly—steps moved me forward with my paper, that was really good. 

Ines Hoeschel, PhD Candidate

Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research, Potsdam, Germany

Paper Writing Academy answered many questions for me. I’ve published 7 papers before, but I used to write the manuscript sections a bit randomly. I wrote the paper when the lab work permitted, but it always interrupted my concentration, and I used to get bored while writing the sections. But the PWA sessions and your words of encouragement helped me a lot. After watching your videos and following your step-by-step guide to writing, I completed my current manuscript much earlier this time around. I learned to manage the time for writing the manuscript, and found it so easy to complete on time. Also, your way of replying to all the questions during the live sessions was really fabulous. I loved all your suggestions and support sessions. Guess what? I started my paper about comparative transcriptomics of a catfish at the beginning of PWA (1 March) and submitted it on April 22 (7th week of PWA). It is under review now in the journal Genomics. A lot to learn from you, Gunther! (Connect on LinkedIn)

Partha Sarathi Tripathy, PhD Candidate

Faculty of Biosciences and Aquaculture, 
Nord University, Norway

More than 8 weeks ago, I said Paper Writing Academy will be a success to me if I can submit a manuscript by the end of the course. Guess what: I managed to submit the paper 4 days ago in the last week of the programme. So, I think I’ve reached my personal goal for Paper Writing Academy. (Connect on LinkedIn) 

Eva Brod, Postdoc

NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Qinqin Tang, PhD Candidate
Joining Paper Writing Academy helped me to recognise the mistakes I usually make. The worksheets provided gave me very useful and practical tips for scientific writing. And the programme covers the whole process of writing, publishing and getting published. I strongly recommend it to others. I’ve been busy with submitting my first paper in the last two months and got minor revisions—so PWA really helped me a lot.

Qinqin Tang, PhD Candidate

Univ. of Kiel, Germany

This has been an incredible journey. I am so glad I joined Paper Writing Academy (PWA). It taught me how much I lacked in writing a good paper, and how to shape myself into a better researcher. Thank you so much.

Update a few months later: Now, I can happily report that the paper I worked on in the PWA programme is successfully published! It was truly a rewarding experience. I am glad I get to be part of the programme because it has helped me tremendously. (Access the published paper)

Wuddasie Dereje Bekele, PhD Candidate

Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Business School

The paper I was working on through Paper Writing Academy was not my first, but this was definitely my best paper-writing experience. The course offered a very structured approach to paper writing and time management. This made my writing process much easier, and I gained the confidence to do it right. This course will save a lot of time in my future paper writing, and I can highly recommend it to both beginners and experienced writers.

Maria Dietrich, Researcher

NIBIO, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

PWA is an easy to understand guidebook for professional paper writing. It provides you with the theoretical and practical tools needed to compose your own paper the way you want it. It feels like PWA is a writing buddy that’s got your back when the publishing process feels overwhelming.

John Björn Sällebrant

Nord University,  Bodø, Norway

Paper Writing Academy was a really cool course and I learned a lot! I will definitely use the structure for my next papers as well. I have a draft of my paper now, and I’m confident that I’ll be able to apply the learnt structure to my next papers. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Anna Kilanowski, PhD student

German Research Center for Environmental Health, Munich

I found Paper Writing Academy really helpful! It provides small and applicable tips to plan a good strategy for writing, submitting and promoting a paper—this was the most important win I took away from the course. Although paper writing is partly a creative process, I think all these small tips and suggestions help to create a good structure for a paper writing strategy. I will definitely implement them in the present and future. Thank you, Gunther, for all your tips, help, feedback, and enthusiasm—which is also important!

Ignacio Sevillano (PhD)

NIBIO – Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

The course was held in a challenging time for researchers all around the globe, with great uncertainties, and a need for innovative thinking. This is where I think the Tress Academic team has succeeded. The course has taught me how to focus on paper writing, which is the hallmark of my work as a researcher. Academic writing requires a positive and motivated state of mind, which is what the course leader emphasised at his best. There’s one thing I wish was different: I should have taken this course earlier in my PhD. It would have saved me a lot of time.

Fredrik Ribsskog Staven, PhD student

Aquatic Biosciences, Nord University, Norway

Paper Writing Academy provides a systematic approach and a step-by-step guide to the process of paper writing. Gunther presents this with engagement and enthusiasm. And made us feel like a group of students cooperating and communicating in these times of isolated ‘home-working’ researchers. (Connect on LinkedIn)

Karin Juul Hesselsøe, Researcher

NIBIO, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research

Paper Writing Academy has helped me by putting me in touch with people at different stages of their paper writing. It motivated me to put in a daily effort to overcome my main issue: reading and writing papers after a long lab day! By changing my routine through reading and writing in the mornings, I found that I felt much more accomplished at the end of a long day at work, and moved closer to my goals! (Connect on LinkedIn)

Alex Wardale, PhD student

Nord University, Norway

I really recommend Paper Writing Academy to new PhD students like me who are about to write and publish their first manuscript in an international journal. Everyone might struggle at some point during their PhD journey. However, following the PWA guidelines really serves as a ladder to lift you up on a level of proper dialog with your supervisors. If a PhD journey is like sailing a boat towards the coast, PWA is like the rudder which aids you to go in the right direction. I used the material from PWA and created my first manuscript. It is ready for submission in the near future. Thank you very much, Gunther and your team, for your great efforts and positive energy in encouraging the students in their scientific academic career.

Nadanasabesan Nimalan, PhD student

Nord University, Bodø, Norway

I thank the team from Paper Writing Academy for such a well-thought-out course for early-career researchers. It’s hard to uncover every process in paper-writing, particularly if it’s your first paper. But I kept skimming through the course materials and followed all the worksheets. I was slow to do that, but it was good for me, and I can go back to the course materials and worksheets anytime. It was good that I could do it at my own pace. The course was perfectly designed to take me through a journey of scientific writing by breaking down every bit of it. And now I have a better understanding of the entire process. For instance, I selected the journal I want to submit to, I drafted a structure for the paper, prepared figures and tables in a more publishable manner, and most importantly, all that has been done without much mental stress, simply by following PWA. I didn’t have to spend a hell lot of time and energy to constantly check‘’if I am doing this right’’. I feel far more confident that, now, it should not be a difficult task for me, to write a paper in future.

Soumitra Chowdhury, Early-career researcher

Nord University, Bodø, Norway

“I attended the publishing course you held in 2020. I then had one month to write my first paper at all and I was just about to start when I joined the course. The paper is now published and this course was of tremendous help for me.”

PhD student

BIOCEV, Czech Republic

“The best, and I would say a unique feature of this course, is that you are working on your own manuscript … this is so helpful that it can’t be compared with any other course.”

PhD student

Univ. of Bergen, Norway

“It was a fantastic experience! I have written a couple of papers and my scientific life would have been much easier if I had taken such a course much earlier in my career. I will strongly encourage my students in the future not to make the same mistake. The course was well-prepared and Gunther was so enthusiastic that it is hard to believe he does this almost every week.”

Postdoc

Technical Univ. of Delft, The Netherlands

“After your last online course I started to write daily, I have to say that I never imagined I have almost completed the first draft of my introduction, which was always a problem for me. If I wouldn’t have taken the course, my paper would be still untouched as it was before.”

PhD student

Univ. of Bremen, Germany

“This course is so helpful, you do not only get amazing tips and “how to do” instructions, but you get even motivated to write. Now I know writing papers and getting them published in top journals is possible for me. I know exactly how to do it! ”

PhD student

Univ. of Konstanz, Germany

“The whole course was an incredible learning experience. Great quality-content sessions and excellent implementation guidelines. I had the opportunity to reshape a paper from my master dissertation and now is under review by one of the co-authors. I feel confident that we will manage to submit it soon. It is hard to pick just one favorite lesson. I think all of them were complementary and each one contributed towards reaching an important step for publication. I really enjoyed the course and I would definitely recommend it to everyone out there.”

PhD student

University of Oldenburg, Germany

Frequently Asked Questions

 What if I have not started a paper yet? Does it still make sense to participate?

Absolutely, we will take you by the hand and give you an introduction to the whole process. If you’re planning to write a paper now or are in the early phase of drafting one, you are at the right spot. The programme will give your paper writing plan a tremendous boost, and you will surprise yourself with the progress you have made by the end of the 8 weeks: your paper will be written.

 I don’t know where to start with a paper, I am confused, I am lost, I am stuck, etc. Can Paper Writing Academy help me?

Yes, this is exactly the great benefit of this programme. We will look at every aspect of writing a paper step-by-step, and you will get a roadmap for your writing process. You will have absolute clarity about where to start and how to move on with your paper following this programme.

 Will the programme also provide some practical guidelines and exercises to write a paper?

The aim of the programme is not to overwhelm you with a lot of theoretical details on writing papers, but to instead give you relevant and hands-on guidelines for how to write your paper. You will work on your own paper draft in 35 lessons during the eight weeks. All lessons can continue to be used after the programme so that you know how to complete your next papers as well.

 Can I use a paper that I have already started to write for the programme?

Of course! This is the perfect situation–you’ve already started writing the paper, and now you can make a major leap in completing it. You can use the paper for all the exercises that we run during the programme.

 How can I ensure that I get the most out of the programme?

There are no specific preparations to make before starting this programme, apart from being committed to writing a paper. We advise only that you have a paper idea or topic if you are not in the writing process yet. To facilitate this thinking, we will send you some information prior to the start of the programme to guide you.

 Do I need to know which journal I want to submit my paper to prior to the course?

Selecting the appropriate journal for your paper is part of the programme content. Whether your paper gets published or not really depends on whether you submit it to journal A or B. It’s great if you already have some idea of where you could submit a paper, but we will look at this question in detail during the programme.

 My field of research is very specific–will anything I learn in the programme be applicable to my field?

The world of academia is huge, and many different disciplines have their own traditions and practices. There is, of course, not one size that fits all, but when we deal with paper writing, we deal with communication, and the same rules of communication apply to many fields. We’ve had students from fields like medicine, physics, chemistry, biology, environmental sciences, geosciences, psychology, history, archaeology, economics, sociology and many, many more … and they all were able to translate the steps and guidelines they learned to their fields and get published.

 I have already published a paper! Will the programme still be relevant for me?

You don’t have to be a beginner in the paper-writing business to benefit from this programme. We’ve had senior scientists join after they have published 20 or more papers, and they still benefited a lot from it. You will learn how to make your established writing process more efficient, and how to write better papers with less effort.

 I have already taken part in an academic writing course at my university. Does it still make sense for me to participate?

Every course is different. What makes our programme unique is that we guide you step-by-step to write your own paper during the 8 weeks. Thus, instead of hearing about what you might potentially encounter when you write papers, you will actually apply your knowledge directly to your own work. If this was not covered in your previous course, you will definitely benefit from joining ours.

 My supervisor said that they can teach me everything about publishing papers, so why should I attend?

We have been supervisors ourselves, and we know there are many great people who advise students, and yet, it is often a single perspective that you’ll hear–even if the person is well-informed. What we do differently from your supervisor: We survey many publishers, editors, reviewers, and authors across academic fields to hear about the problems and challenges authors have with their papers. Based on this information, we develop our guidelines, which clearly go beyond the perspective of a single supervisor.

 How much time do I need to set aside for this programme?

The more important question is how much time you can set aside for writing your next paper. Before the programme days, it is useful to think about a paper idea you want to develop in the programme. Otherwise, it would be great to spend an hour per day working on the assignments from one week to the next. Don’t forget:that the goal of this program is to write a paper in 8 weeks!. We give you great tips on how to make this process as time-efficient as possible.

 Will I get a certificate?

Everybody in the programme will get a digital certificate. It states the number of hours you spent on the programme, and states the ECTS credit points that you have acquired. You can submit our certificate to your graduate programme.

 I am writing a literature review paper at the moment. Will the programme still be relevant for me?

Many elements of writing papers are very similar, independent of the paper type that you are focussing on. The programme subject matter centres around writing scientific research papers, but if you are writing a review paper, a methods paper, a short communication, or a discussion paper, you will also benefit from it.

 What equipment do I need to join this programme?

This is a live-online programme where we all will connect using video conferencing tools. You would need to have a desktop or a laptop computer with webcam and speakers or headphones as well as a good Internet connection. This is all you need and for many of us at our (home-) offices, this is what we have.

 What if I cannot make the full programme fee in one payment?

No problem. For this reason, we offer you a payment plan so you can pay the programme fee over 3 months. Choose this option at the check-out.

 Does Paper Writing Academy include fixed-scheduled sessions?

The vast amount of the learning material will be made available to you digitally, but we have 5 live sessions where we meet via video conferencing. These sessions are the only fixed dates that are scheduled. They come up approx. every second week on a Thursday at 3 pm (CET). The exact dates will be released in the programme calendar at the programme start. The first session is in the first week of the programme.

Paper Writing Academy is perfect for you if …

… you really want to get your paper written now, and are looking for support during the entire writing process.

… you are just getting started with paper writing and want to do it right from the beginning.

… you are already struggling with getting papers published, and want to fix it once and for all.

… you are looking for a virtual writing programme where you benefit from other fellow authors writing their papers parallel to yours.

… you are an ambitious academic who wants to see their work published and recognised by peers.

… you are willing to spend some time producing a great paper about your research to get published.

… you are already investing quite a bit of time in preparing papers without big publication success.

… you fear that your paper will get rejected.

… you already had papers rejected.

… you know that getting papers published will bring you closer to completing your degree or project, or will boost your academic career.

… you want to write a great research paper that you can submit later to an international peer-reviewed journal.

… you are willing to try hard to get the paper started and written during the Corona pandemic period.

… you feel that you are always spending too much time and thought on paper writing for what actually gets written and published.

Programme Schedule

Programme start: 13 May 2024
Introduction to Paper Writing Academy: Get to know how we work together in Paper Writing Academy

Kick-off: 16 May 2024, 3 pm CEST, / 9 am ET / 9 pm AWST   

MODULE 1: Adopt productive writing strategies
Learn how to become an efficient writer and plan your writing process

MODULE 2: Complete pre-writing tasks
Define your paper topic, audience, co-authors and the journal

Session: 29 May 2024, 3 pm CEST, / 9 am ET / 9 pm AWST

MODULE 3: Start the paper writing
You work on the paper objectives, the structure, the introduction, the literature review and your paper title.

MODULE 4: Write the core paper sections
You work on the main body of your paper (Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion).

Session: 13 Jun 2024, 3 pm CEST, / 9 am ET / 9 pm AWST

MODULE 5: Write the support sections
Work on all the support sections that help you to promote your paper and increase its credibility

MODULE 6: Edit the paper
Change and polish up your paper so that it becomes a clear and enjoyable text for your readers

Session: 4 Jul 2024, 3 pm CEST, / 9 am ET / 9 pm AWST

MODULE 7: Succeed in peer-review
Understand what is needed to submit your paper and get it successfully through the peer-review process

MODULE 8: Get published!
Learn the steps that help you speed up time to publication and promote your paper once published.

Session: 18 Jul 2024, 3 pm CEST, / 9 am ET / 9 pm AWST

What would you like to do?