Undoubtedly your semester has either ended or is very rapidly coming to an end. Will you take a small break from your writing? Time to unwind and focus on something else like family or vacation? This week I came to a revelation about writing and how much writing is like this favorite quote of mine, “Fitness is a journey, not a destination.” Now replace the word ‘fitness’ with ‘writing’. I often relate writing to fitness because like writing, fitness is a large part of my life and a major passion of mine. My revelation was that writing is a journey too. Sure there may be small destinations that you reach along the way—a published journal article, a finished manuscript, or a completed textbook—but there is always room for improvement. You may take small breaks from your writing to become re-inspired or recharged, but just as a fitness fanatic can’t stay away from the gym for very long, a writer cannot stay away from their pen or keyboard very long. There will always be another article or another book that you must write. So as someone once said, “Maybe it’s not about the happy ending. Maybe it’s about the story.” Happy writing!

How to apply for research funding: 10 tips for academics
Reviewers and researchers share their advice on applying for funding in this super useful article. Hopefully the suggestions will help you find the process a little less stressful and receive the funding you are seeking.

iOS 8.4 to bring textbooks and iPad-only iBooks to iPhone
It appears that textbooks will finally be available on iPhone, three years after iBooks was introduced to the market. For the full scoop, read this article.

How to write a blogpost from your journal article
This is an excellent piece on how you can turn your journal article into a blog post, even without having your own blog, and reasons for doing so, such as expanding your reach and boosting your citations. The author gives a thorough, step-by-step process that you can easily follow to turn any journal article into a blog post.

From the Archives: At the End of the Academic Year, Looking Back and Looking Forward
It’s that time of year, time to wrap up the semester, reflect and focus forward. This article highlights a few other articles to help you do those things.

Article Throwbacks

My Top Productivity Tips | Updated: January 29, 2015
Although the author of this piece, Amy Lynn Andrews, is speaking to bloggers in her post, I think many of these tips can be applied to academic writing and which you’ll find quite useful. Andrews’ list is extensive, comprised of 29 useful tips and reminders. I personally love her “run at the right pace” analogy. Which tip do you find to be the most useful?

5 Tips for Publishing Your First Academic Article | September 10, 2014
For five excellent tips on publishing your first academic article, I recommend reading this piece. Number one is so very important in increasing your chances of publishing your article.

Want to publish more? Then train like an athlete. | September 4, 2012
This is a must read. I not only love this piece because comparing writing to training like an athlete makes perfect since to me (see my introductory paragraph above), but the advice given is spot on. Brian Martin draws upon advice from Tara Gray and Robert Boice and includes additional advice of his own.