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As is the worldwide trend, scientists in China face strong and increasing pressure to publish their research in international peer-reviewed journals written in English. There is an acute need for graduate students to develop the required language skills alongside their scientific expertise, in spite of the distinct division currently existing between English teaching and the other disciplines. Researchers in the workplace also need ongoing training, presenting a complex challenge for the sector. We present an analysis of data gathered as we have introduced, in Chinese science- and English teaching-based contexts, an approach to the development of international publishing capacity entitled CIPSE--Collaborative Interdisciplinary Publication Skills Education. This approach involves scientists and English language specialists working together on education programs adapted to fit local contextual constraints, and builds on collaborative approaches used extensively in ESP contexts elsewhere. Our analysis suggests some possible components of the multi-faceted strategy set that will clearly be required to address the challenges. We argue for changes to the teaching of English to research students in the sciences, including the development of a strong research base incorporating corpus linguistics, English for Specific Purposes pedagogy and interdisciplinary collaborative practice. (Contains 4 tables.)

This is a sociopolitically-oriented qualitative case study [Casanave, C. P. (2003). Looking ahead to more sociopolitically-oriented case study research in L2 writing scholarship (But should it be called "post-process"?). "Journal of Second Language Writing," 12, 85-102.] of the writing-for-publication experience of an NNSE (nonnative speaker of English) doctoral student of physics. Situated broadly within the argument that written texts are sociopolitical artifacts, and drawing upon the notion of "legitimate peripheral participation" [Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). "Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.] and a social constructionist perspective on research writing, the study describes how the novice scholar's writing-for-publication process is influenced by the power-infused relationships between him and the institutional context where publication is a graduation requirement for the doctoral students, the supervisors who possess greater expertise and authority, as well as the gatekeepers of his target journals in the Centre. I conclude by supporting an incorporation in English for Academic/Research Purposes (EAP/ERP) classrooms discussions of the sociopolitical issues as revealed in the present study.