Analytical autoethnography is a methodology that synthesises autobiography and social critique in order to resist, and also change, dominant authoritative discourse. Evidence from the author's autobiographical experiences and data from interviews with a variety of academics have been thematically analysed to inform a short autoethnodrama set in a university on the UK. The autoethnodrama considers the 'impact' of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) and current such exercises, and the possible and real effects of the pressure to 'publish or perish' on institutional culture and individual lives. The author uses the autoethnodrama to identify staff development strategies that offer the potential for a less stressful academic writing process and democratic university environment including mentoring and other explicit institutional support. The process of producing this work is part of an emerging trend in academic research that seeks to further democratise conventional academic writing processes and progress the case for a more inclusive and expansive approach to academic writing and academic life.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Who Am I?; Chapter Summary; Critical, Creative and Personal Context; Personal and Institutional Background and the Research Excellence Framework (REF); Chapter Summary; Needing Permission: Identifying Frameworks for Evolving Academic Writing; Shifts in Qualitative Research; In the Beginning - Chapter 1; Barthes: A Challenge to Forms of Conventional Writing; Writing Qualitative Research; Viewpoint of the Researcher in the Research Process; Chapter Summary; Autoethnography: Scaffolding for Other Ways of Being in Academic Writing and Life; Introduction; Qualitative Research; Autoethnography; Issues of Validity; Autoethnodrama; Chapter Summary; The Writing Processes; Starting Out; Data Collection and Presentation; Interviews; Interview Process - Case Study; My Creative Writing Process; Ethics; Chapter Summary; Impact; Framing the Text: Impact; Criteria for Assessment?; Thematic Analysis: Analysing the Unpindownable?; Introduction; Thematic Analysis; Themes of Analysis; Does the Institution Support Academic Writing Development?; Change in Academic Culture: Time as a Barrier; Confidence in Diverse Roles; How is Academic Writing Development Supported by the Institution?; Mentoring; Timetable Issues; What do Journal Editors/Professors Consider 'Good' Academic Writing to be?; What do Newer Researchers and Academics Consider 'Good' Academic Writing to be?; Reflections on the Analysis; Identifying Problems with Analysis; Chapter Summary; Conclusion; Summary of Findings; Implications; Analytical Autoethnodrama; A Democratic and Inclusive Future?; Interview Questions for Less Experienced Academics; Interview Questions for Experienced Academics; Transcript of Interview with Jess Moriarty and Phil Porter (feedback on the autoethnodrama 'Impact'); Transcript of Interview with Jess Moriarty and Isabel; Transcript of Interview with Jess Moriarty and Isla; Transcript of Interview with Jess Moriarty and Mason; Bibliography.