Writing Groups

Our groups are inclusive spaces and we welcome writers from any discipline, graduate program, and language background. We believe that everyone has the ability to provide a meaningful reader’s perspective. To this end, in our PRGs, we review any academic genre, both written and oral, including, but not limited to:

• Research articles
• Review papers
• Theses, dissertations, and creative components
• Conference presentations and posters
• Job application materials
• Grant proposals

We offer Peer Review Groups (PRGs) every semester (summer, fall, and spring) to provide a space for graduate students to present academic writing and receive feedback in a supportive peer-led environment. Graduate students from any department or program can participate. To be considered for participation in a group, please submit the application below. 

Submit an application to join a PRG
Check out current and past PRGs

The spring application period is now closed. If you are interested in joining an existing group or creating your own group of 5-10 graduates to form a PRG, please email your request to the PRG coordinator Christine Cain at cmcain1@iastate.edu.

Overview and Expectations
Demo of a Peer Review Session

This is a clip from one of our graduate peer review groups. Before this point, the writer has introduced her work, asked for specific feedback, and then read a section of the paper aloud to the group. In this clip, you can see the interdisciplinary group negotiating the meaning of her writing and options for revision. The group discusses potential revision ideas, explains them and the writer can choose to make revisions to her work in real-time or add comments to look at a section later. You can see there are no printed copies, only to projected copy so that everyone stays on the same page, quite literally.

WAGs are a means for advanced academic writers to foster productive writing habits and to make substantial progress towards their writing goals in a supportive peer environment. The weekly sessions help students hold themselves (and their peers) accountable to the goals they have set for their own writing. Because the groups are populated with other graduate students, participants are able to share their concerns about their work, deadlines, or progress with peers who can sympathize with and provide support to other members.

We offer Writing Accountability Groups (WAGS) every fall and spring semester to provide a space for graduate students to make progress towards their writing goals in a supportive, peer-led environment. Graduate students from any department or program can participate. To be considered for participation in a group, please submit the application below. 

Submit an application to join a WAG
Check out past WAG groups

The spring application period is now closed. If you are interested in joining an existing group or creating your own group of 5-10 graduates to form a WAG, please email your request to the WAG coordinator Chris Nuttall at cnutt@iastate.edu.