Office for Professional Writing, Publishing & Communication

We provide support to Center City and East Falls faculty and other members of the Jefferson community who are writing for publication or developing conference presentations. Consult the office for free assistance at any stage of the writing, publishing, or presentation development process.

We can support you in three main ways:

• Individual Consultations
• Group Consultations
• Workshops

The goal of the Office for Professional Writing, Publishing, and Communication (formerly, The CTL Writing Center) is to help you become an effective writer and communicator in your academic or professional field. We are staffed by experienced writing and communication consultants who will provide feedback and guidance on your work, whether you need motivation getting started on a manuscript or presentation, guidance on structure and flow, or feedback on a finished draft. A consultation can provide insight that improves not only your current writing project, but also future writing projects, as well. 

We offer researchers at Jefferson tailored, on-demand support related to writing, publishing, and presenting. To schedule an individual consultation, please provide a short description of your current specific writing, publishing, or presentation needs, goals, or concerns. In short, tell us what you hope to achieve from the consultation.

Feedback will be based on a close reading of your work, with the focus on addressing your specific writing needs and on presenting your research in the best way possible. We offer help with organization, grammar, and style, and we provide guidance on publishing standards; please keep in mind that the consultations are not specifically for proofreading. When appropriate, we’ll provide comments and edits on your draft using the “track changes” function in Microsoft Word. This will allow you to see the consultant's feedback directly on your draft.

We also offer a service to help research teams improve their group writing efforts. As writing consultants, we’ll look at how your team produces research writing and then advise you on ways to streamline your process for completing drafts and revising them for publication. We’ll offer customized guidance and writing training, based on your team’s needs, to help them get their writing done.

We can help teams to improve any part of their process or coach individuals in a team to improve their writing products. For example, we can attend a kickoff meeting and help scope out the writing plan. We can also provide editing training for the whole team, or coaching to those who are polishing the drafts.

To Schedule an Individual or Group Consultation

Contact Pam Walter at 215-503-2828 to schedule a consultation. 

Prior to your appointment, email a draft of what you’re writing. This gives the consultant time to review your work in advance of meeting.

Ideally, appointments take place in person. If you work on the Center City campus, we can meet at our office, which is centrally located on the third floor of Scott Memorial Library. If you work on the East Falls campus, we can meet in the Gutman Library or at a quiet location convenient for you. We recognize that many of you cannot visit in person due to your location or schedule. We can make other arrangements to help you as needed. 

We offer workshops in Center City and East Falls throughout the academic year on various aspects of the writing process, including abstract writing, peer reviewing, time management, and tips for writing and publishing your manuscript.

Visit this web page to read full workshop descriptions and register.

• Writing Retreats: We organize writing retreats for researchers who are seeking designated and concentrated time to achieve their writing and publishing goals.    
• Writing Resources: The OPWPC has a small collection of books on writing in the health care and science professions. You are welcome to visit us to consult these books. The Scott Memorial Library has a larger collection of books on the topic, and we are happy to help you find the ones that suit your needs.
• Online Resources: The Scott Memorial Library collection includes electronic style guides and manuals with advice about organizing and writing your paper, as well as formatting citations and endnotes.

NOTE: Students looking for help with class writing assignments:

• Book an appointment at the Center City Student Writing Center
  
• Book an appointment at the East Falls Student Writing Center