ENGLISH FOR RESEARCH PUBLICATION PURPOSES AS A NEW FIELD OF EDUCATIONAL STUDIES
The global competition for international scholarly publications urges Russian scholars to publish in English. However, mastering written English does not only take years of individual practice, but also implies learning the rhetorical and publishing conventions accepted by the global academic community. These conventions are inherent in academic and research writing taught at Western universities, but are hardly known in Russia due to the lack of academic writing programmes. The comparative study demonstrates that similar problems are encountered in other geolinguistic regions, and multilingual scholars need assistance in writing for publishing. Support is typically provided by anglophone brokers who polish and rearrange their texts to meet journal requirements. However, a much more effective alternative is teaching writing. Recent developments in English for academic purposes have resulted in the emergence of English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP), which encompasses both rhetorical and publishing conventions and supports scholars with communicative skills and strategic competences essential in the publication process. The paper provides an insight into the further development of this approach by Russian university writing centers, whose concern is to assist academics rather than students. As most competences developed in ERPP are metalinguistic, writers can be educated in their native tongue. The bilingual approach can foster the establishing of academic writing as a discipline and influence the quality of national publications. The paper concludes that these practices can only be successful if supported by proper educational research.