Open-access writing: An investigation into the online drafting and revision of a research article in pure mathematics

• The online co-authorship of a research article in pure mathematics is investigated.
• ‘Behind-the-scenes’ aspects of writing a research article are made visible via the blog comments.
• Methodological and pedagogical applications for collaborative research blogs are proposed.

ESP research has provided an account of research articles (RAs) across disciplines using both text-analytical methods and ethnographically-oriented approaches. This study explores what additional insights are gained into the genre from the study of a collaboratively produced RA in pure mathematics, negotiated via an open-access research blog. The data consists of 659 thread comments posted by blog participants as they engage with the research and writing up process. Facets of research-based writing that preoccupy the blog participants are revealed, as well as how decisions pertaining to genre and dissemination outlets are made. In addition, blog posts point to how the RA is adjusted to cater for the more diverse readership that open-access knowledge dissemination may entail. The findings provide support for results of existing genre analyses of RAs in pure mathematics, and offer new insights into writing for publication practices in the discipline. Potential pedagogical applications of the findings are proposed.