Rowena Murray graduated with MA (Hons) from Glasgow University and PhD (with Distinction) from the Pennsylvania State University. She is Professor in the School of Education and Social Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland and, formerly, was Visiting Professor at Swinburne University, Melbourne, and has held international appointments in Ireland, Japan and South Africa. Her research focuses on academic writing, the subject of her books – How to Write a Thesis, Writing for Academic Journals, The Handbook of Academic Writing (co-authored with Sarah Moore) and Writing in Social Spaces – and articles in Higher Education journals. Her research was funded by the British Academy, Carnegie Trust, Nuffield Foundation and Strathclyde University. She is a Principal Fellow of Advance Higher Education.