'Writing for Whiting & Birch publications' below contains information on the submission of book proposals and journal articles, and some notes on manuscript preparation which have been updated to clarify referencing style.

'Writing English for an international audience'. We have been struck by the paucity of guidance for academic writers on the issue of writing for an audience whose first language is not English. We will be adding material to the website to provide help and guidance to those who wish to improve the accessibility of their material to an international scholarly audience. 'Writing English for an international audience' below is an extract from the Editorial to Social Policy and Social Work in Transition 3(2). It covers the main issues involved, and offers some guidance to:

• Authors whose first language is not English;
• Authors, whether first-language users of English or not, who wish to ensure that their work is readily understandable to an international audience.

Resources for academic writing in an international context lists some materials (books, journal articles, professional associations, and websites) which offer guidance on writing for international audiences, and intercultural communication.

Making it easier for readers to find your work it was once said that 'if you build a better mousetrap people will tread a path to your door' - yes, but only if they know where your door is. Below is a link to a very useful article from the UK Serials group discussing how you can help people find your work. It includes some obvious, but so often ignored, advise. Give as much attention to the title, abstract and keywords as you do to the rest of the article. Don't use a catchy title and bury the important words in the sub-title.You'll find the article here: https://insights.uksg.org/articles/10.1629/uksg.534

If you are interested in knowing more, or feel you have a contribution to share on this important issue, please email jm4whitingbirch@aol.co.uk.

For further guidance on house style etc, contact either the publishers on enquiries@whitingbirch.net or the Editors of the relevant journal.

Book reviews. All our journals welcome reviews of books and other materials, or suggestions of titles suitable for review. Shirley Simon, the Reviews Editor of Groupwork has prepared some notes on composing a book review for Groupwork which can be downloaded from a link below. Moira Dunsworth, the Reviews Editor of Journal of Practice Teaching has also prepared a brief guide which can also be downloaded from the link below. Some useful notes on reviewing books can be found on Wendy Belcher's helpful site here.

Reviewing papers for Groupwork. Amended notes on reviewing papers for Groupwork have also been added below. These now cover expectations of articles for the Groupwork in Practice section.

Writing for Journal of Practice Teaching and Learning. Below is Dr Jo Finch's presentation on writing for the Journal given at the 11th International Conference on Practice Teaching and Field Education in Belfast in April 2016.

Preparing a conference presentation A useful article on preparing conference presentations can be found in our journal Groupwork, namely 'Beyond Groupwork Camp: A bridge to symposia and conference participation via professional presentation' by Shirley Simon. Anyone contemplating making a submission for a conference will find it useful whether or not they are a groupwork specialist. The article is on open access for the moment, and can be downloaded for free here.

The hegemony of English as an academic lingua franca. The role of English as the “lingua franca” of academic publication raises important issues for scholars whose first language is not English. Insistence on precise adherence to one or other model of English can act as a barrier to authors using English as a second language. Authors from some language communities have tended to publish only in English. Others continue to support publication in their own languages as well as English. These issues are considered in a thoughtful article by Elena Iannidou in Professional and Academic English. We are grateful to the author and publishers for their permission to reproduce the article here. (see below). Professional and Academic English: The Journal of the IATEFL English for Specific Purposes Special Interest Group 55, pp. 48-55.