Learning from multiple voices : feedback and authority in doctoral writing groups

Feedback has long been recognized as a powerful tool for learning to write, and expert peer review is an established feature of research scholarship. These two practices come together in writing groups in ways that are not well understood. What happens when novice researchers in writing groups receive feedback from multiple sources? How do they interpret, prioritize and respond to different critiques given by their peers? And how do they position peer feedback vis-a-vis that from writing group facilitato rs, supervisors and external readers? These questions are especially weighty for doctoral scholars learning to prepare research texts, such as the examinable dissertation and related publications, for the gaze of the examiner and for scholarly reviewers who will be making judgements about the quality of their research and their contribution to knowledge.