156 Pract. Dev. Health Care 7(3) 156–163, 2008 Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd DOI: 10.1002/pdh Ideas and opinions Writing for publication: A case study Jane Hislop—Lecturer, Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, UK Rowena Murray—Associate Dean (Research), Educational & Professional Studies Department, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK Mary Newton—Researcher, Educational & Professional Studies Department, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK ABSTRACT Writing for publication is an important part of professional practice in the health care profes- sions. It is one way of reflecting on and improving practice, and writing skills developed through the publication process may enhance practitioners’ ability to communicate more broadly. This article describes a method of teaching writing for publication skills to a multi- disciplinary group of health care professionals. It outlines a step-by-step process for writing and illustrates three ways for health care professionals to work towards achieving publication: (i) adopting new writing behaviours, (ii) developing support networks for writers and (iii) overcoming external barriers to writing. This article concludes by suggesting that, in what is an increasingly important area for health care professionals, managers should incorporate writing for publication in their planning of staff development and in clinical time allocation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Introduction The context for this article is the growing expectation that health care professionals will disseminate information, experiences and findings in order to improve practice and Practice Development in Health Care Pract. Dev. Health Care 7(3) 156–163, 2008 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI : 10.1002/pdh.262