Crafting a well-written academic paper is often a challenge for college and university students. With this updated edition of Designs for Disciplines, students will learn the ins and outs of academic writing and develop the skills necessary for producing sophisticated research papers across a wide range of subject areas. The second edition of Designs for Disciplines takes an innovative approach to scholarly writing through its grounding in genre theory, which establishes the importance of context to effective communication. The authors introduce students to the many rhetorical features of academic writing and cover an array of topics including research, documentation, the articulation of a topic, and the drafting of a proposal, while also providing an in-depth examination of how to write strong introductions, core paragraphs, and conclusions. New to this edition is an expanded discussion on plagiarism, suggestions for compiling a research notebook, and many new examples drawn from both student papers and published articles. The text also follows the progress of a first-year student as she drafts and completes her research paper while receiving feedback from instructors. These rich pedagogical features and clear step-by-step instructions make this book an ideal resource for students to strengthen their academic writing skills.