Writing and Communication

Enhance your ability to write and speak with expertise, integrity, and purpose, in ways typical of your discipline, field, or program.

 Events

 Services

Title Description Provider
Writing Consultations

The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication supports a diverse community of writers at UBC, at various levels of proficiency, across many types of graduate student writing situations: academic, creative, professional, and technical. Consider booking a one-on-one appointment (in-person or written feedback) with a peer writing consultant to support your writing projects.  

Visit their website to learn more about hours, how to prepare for, and to book, a writing consultation.

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
The Monday Motivator

This weekly email provides positive energy and a productivity tip, with concrete and actionable steps to help with your week or semester.  Sign up when registering!

Register through UBC's subscription.

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
14-Day Writing Challenge

The 14-Day Challenge is an opportunity for you to experiment with daily writing, online community, and supportive accountability. Register for the site through UBC's subscription.  Upcoming sessions include:

Feb 26 - Mar 10, 2024.  Register by Feb 16.

It's very simple...

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity

 Resources

Title Description Provider
Writing with Integrity

A short video in which Drs Susan Porter and Beth Haverkamp discuss the importance of writing with integrity (the importance of writing and contributing new knowledge and scholarship with integrity; avoiding plagiarism)

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication, Graduate Pathways to Success
WriteNow, online supportive writing community

This program ($245US), exclusively for graduate students and postdocs, offers 12 weeks (next session, May 15 - Aug 6, 2023) of access to the WriteNow platform and timer for increased writing productivity, goal setting, and community support.

Register through UBC's subscription.  Registration closes Apr 28 (save $50 before Apr 18)

What to expect:

Every Day (Monday - Friday):

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
Video Guides to Writing and Research

A series of videos to introduce students to the fundamentals of academic writing and research: “Writing in Situations”, An interview with Dr. Anthony Paré plus
5 videos (“The Writing Process”, “The Prewriting Stage”, “The Writing Stage”, “The Revision Stage”, and “Managing Time to Write”) featuring conversations with 4 graduate students from Chemistry, Civil Engineering, English Literature, and Linguistics.  (Playlist)

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication, Graduate Pathways to Success
Science Writing Resources

Study guides, videos, and quizzes to help with Communicating Science, Finding, Integrating, and Citing Sources, Grammar and Style, Developing an Effective Writing Process, and more.  There are also resources, including podcasts, that provide strategies for teaching writing, grading assignments, using peer review, giving feedback, and more.

Science Writing Resources for Learning (ScWRL)
Open Education Resources, Workshop Materials

Check out this page for handouts and materials from sessions on citation management, Data Analysis and Management, Literature Reviews, NVivo, R, GitHub, GIS, Dissertation/Thesis Formatting, Copyright, and more.

Library Research Commons
Media training for UBC researchers

UBC Media Relations makes basic media training available to UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan researchers online.

The course is designed specifically to help scholars develop the confidence to engage with media about newsworthy research.

Trainees will learn:

UBC Media Relations
LinkedIn Learning

All degree-seeking UBC Vancouver students have full access to LinkedIn Learning, a platform for online learning focused on technical skills and professional development, until July 2023. Develop employable skills and test out career options by accessing 16,000 short videos, audio segments and courses.

Course topics include: 

UBC Career Centre
Guides to Writing and Research

The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication developed these resources to assist students across the disciplines and professions. These evidence-based resources describe some of the typical practices that occur in high-stakes writing situations, with a focus on academic genres: abstracts, lay summaries, literature reviews, research article introductions, and so on.

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Dissertation Success Curriculum

The 12-week Dissertation Success online, on-demand Program is designed for doctoral candidates who are focused on finishing their dissertation. Each module includes a recorded training video and resources.

Register with the University of British Columbia's subscription to the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity.

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
Book List: Succeeding in Grad School and your Career

Below is a list of recommended reading to help you navigate grad school and strategize for your career.  These are some examples and there are many more!  Many have very similar topics.  Pick one or two depending on where you are in your program.  You do not need to read them all! They range from helping you choose your research project, to navigating each stage of your program, to helping you select opportunities for career planning. (Note: many of these are available through the UBC library)

Graduate Pathways to Success
Annotated Research Articles

A series of 8 annotated research articles from across the disciplines (listed under "Academic Writing Resources" here) . The annotations point out standard features of research articles, while accounting for disciplinary difference. Technical vocabulary appears in blue italicized text with relevant definitions in floating text.

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Annotated Abstracts

The Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication developed this series of annotated abstracts from across the disciplines as a student resource. The annotations point out standard features of abstracts, while accounting for disciplinary difference. Technical vocabulary appears in blue italicized text with relevant definitions in floating text.

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Academic Integrity, Introduction to

The “Introduction to Academic Integrity” Canvas module discusses academic integrity in the context of why it matters — as a core element of how we as scholars and professionals do our work (and live our professional lives) at UBC and beyond. The module features 4 videos with UBC faculty, librarians, and students (see 1 example below), as well as pre- and post-reflection questions for students, and takes no more than 30 minutes to complete. Once they submit their responses, students can download a certificate of completion.

Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication