The biggest surprise to me—and a major strength of the book—is the attention Murray pays to the cultures of academe and how they may affect writers on social, psychological, and behavioural levels. Writing from a comparatively privileged position at a research university in the United States, I can fathom only with effort an academic culture in which published faculty members are "marginalized or even bullied" (203) over their publishing activities. But I am certain that such unfortunate situations exist, and Murray does a laudable job of justifying writing activities and advising how to negotiate and navigate such situations in order to create physical and psychological spaces for productive writing. Most readers, I hope, will not face such challenges and will be able to develop their own integrated writing processes less stressfully, growing as writers throughout their careers and enjoying successful—and positive—publishing experiences. [This snippet review pertains to the second edition (2009) of this book.]

Writing for Academic Journals is a delight, comprehensively addressing the needs and concerns of the new academic author. . . . Academic authorship isn't about reading this book, unless the reader truthfully wants to write. This book provides a basis for a new academic author to learn winning methodologies that will evolve with time. Some will find it too long, too detailed, or too daunting. Writing for Academic Journals is a fine tool, but, in this instance, it is a tool that will only be as good as the reader/author who uses it. The "how to" books that I read almost thirty years ago were good, but they would have been even better if they had been supplemented by Murray. [This snippet review pertains to the second edition (2009) of this book.]