Writing

Writing Consultations

We offer free, individual consultation types for anything you would like to work on. Learn more about our different consultation types here or click on the below to make your appointment today.

Non-Disclosure

To ensure the confidentiality of all graduate students and postdoc writers, all CCE consultants sign a non-disclosure agreement agreeing to keep private all information and results they view in a consultation.

Writing Groups

Writing groups offer graduate students space to present academic writing, receive feedback, and maintain accountability. Graduate students from any department or program can participate. Trained writing facilitators will lead the sessions.

  • Peer Review Groups (PRGs)

    Peer Review Groups or PRGs are offered in the summer, fall, and spring semesters. These groups focus on academic writing skills and peer-feedback. Groups of 5 to 10 students meet once a week for 90 minutes to review the same paper or presentation and share feedback with each other. 

  • Writing Accountability Groups (WAGs)

    Writing Accountability Groups or WAGs are offered in the fall and spring semesters. These groups focus on accountability and progress toward writing goals. Groups of 5 to 8 meet once a week for 90 - 120 minutes to work on their own academic writing projects

Writing Tools and Resources

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Research Writing Tutor

The RWT is a writing platform that provides individualized automated feedback on scientific writing in a wide range of disciplines. 

Request access to the RWT
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Preparing to Publish

Preparing to Publish is an open-access e-book that guides graduate students and novice research writers through helpful strategies to apply in composing their research write-ups.

Access the e-book
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Grammarly

Grammarly is a digital writing-support tool that provides grammar, spelling, and plagiarism checking. All ISU students and faculty have free access to the premium version of Grammarly!

Create an account today

Writing Courses

Interested in our graduate level courses? We help graduate students across disciplines address a range of needs throughout their graduate careers! Register for a writing course today.

Section 1: (Fall. Spring.) Reporting original research results within the norms for writing of a student's discipline. Emphasis on preparing thesis/dissertation chapters that will be both acceptable to the Graduate College and ready for submission to a refereed journal in the student's discipline. Focus on reporting student-generated data, norms for discourse within disciplines, and how thesis chapters differ from journal manuscripts. Particularly helpful for students preparing a research article. Prerequisite requirements:

  • Data collected and analyzed for at least one manuscript of thesis/dissertation
  • Completed course work in the research methodologies of the discipline
  • Advanced stage in the degree program (preferably in the penultimate semester).

Register for GR ST 536

(Fall.) Focus on enhancing professional communication skills to convey scientific knowledge and discoveries to broader audiences. Emphasis on developing best practices for communicating science to a wide range of specialist and non-specialist audiences including disciplinary researchers, interdisciplinary scholars, industry professionals, governmental bodies, media representatives, and the general public. Prerequisite requirement: graduate student classification.

Register for GR ST 566

Section 1: (Spring) Focus on funding opportunities at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Students gain ‘hands-on’ experience in proposal writing via six activities. Each activity involves guidance by the instructor via class discussions, use of rubrics tailored for this course, and peer review in class. Students will also meet with writing consultants from the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE). Students revise their assignment at each stage, before submitting the final product to the instructor for detailed feedback. Students are encouraged to work with their adviser in developing an NSF proposal during this course. The six activities comprise the major components of an NSF proposal. Ideally, students finish the course with a polished draft of an NSF proposal. To provide a model for success, the instructor works with students to secure a copy of an awarded proposal in their field.The topics include: 1) an overview of the NSF funding process; 2) finding funding; 3) developing a fundable idea; 4) generating specific aims for the proposal, with emphasis on hypothesis-driven research; 5) grantmanship concerning specific components of the proposal, e.g., the overview, significance, innovation, team context, and the approach. Students will also develop a budget, Budget Justification, Project Timeline, and Project Summary. They will consider use of graphics and develop a Broader Impacts section for their proposals. Students also meet with writing consultants from the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) and are encouraged to work with their adviser in developing a proposal during this course.

Section 2: (Spring) Focus on funding opportunities for the disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences, including the Fulbright U.S. Student program. Students are encouraged to write their own proposal drafts if an opportunity is deemed to be a good fit for their current research and degree program. Students read and review grant proposals in mock panel review sessions to learn the review process firsthand and participate in in-class discussion and review of peer work. Comparable to Section 1, the course topics include: 1) an overview of the funding process; 2) finding funding; 3) developing a fundable idea; 4) generating research questions and specific aims for the proposal; 5) grantmanship concerning specific components of the proposal. Students develop a Budget, Budget Justification, Project Timeline, Logic Model, Dissemination Plan, and Project Summary and consider whether the use of graphics would be appropriate within the proposal. Students gain ‘hands-on’ experience in proposal writing via eight activities. Each activity involves guidance by the instructor via class discussions, use of rubrics, and peer review in class. Students revise their assignment at each stage, before submitting the final product to the instructor for detailed feedback. Students also meet with writing consultants from the Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) and are encouraged to work with their adviser in developing a proposal during this course.

Register for GR ST 569