Writing Experiences in Research: Genres, Practices, Scaffolds

Abstract

This article is situated within reflections on the discourse genres characteristic of academic and scientific contexts, with a focus on the typical forms of textual production involved in research practices. It explores how researchers write across different genres –such as project proposals, reports, conference presentations, and scientific or popular articles– as well as across generic chains connected to teaching, outreach, and administrative work, depending on their roles and contexts of activity. Belonging to a scientific community requires an understanding of the properties of these discursive formations and of the modes through which knowledge is produced, circulated, and received. Developing such understanding calls for sustained guidance and the identification of operations that function as scaffolding and mentorship throughout the writing process: reading sources, planning texts, revising drafts, engaging in peer review, delivering oral presentations, and adapting styles and formats. Writing practices in research are constructed both individually and collectively, consolidating the core mission of knowledge production within the public university.