Finish the paper you've been meaning to write.
Nothing in your week protects your writing time, and nobody is waiting to see a draft. A WAG changes both. You meet for an hour each month with 2-3 AAPP colleagues who are working on manuscripts of their own, and you say out loud what you will finish before the next meeting. A month later you tell them whether you did. That is the whole mechanism, and it works because a commitment made to people who will ask you about it is a different kind of commitment than one made to yourself.
For new writers, there is a New Writers WAG. Those WAGS have a mentor: an experienced AAPP author who is in the room every session, has taken manuscripts through submission and past reviewers, and can answer the questions you did not know to ask. Their job is to keep the group moving, not to edit your paper.
What you get
Joining a WAG gets you five things that are hard to arrange on your own.
- Momentum. The deadline is real because other people show up for it, and a month is short enough that you can't quietly let a goal slide into next quarter.
- Mentorship. New Writers groups are led by an experienced AAPP author who is there every session — someone who has taken manuscripts through submission and past reviewers, and who can answer the questions you didn't know to ask.
- Peer support. Bring the thing that is blocking you — a section that will not come together, a journal decision, a co-author who has gone quiet — and the group works on it with you.
- Progress you can see. Goals set, goals met, and milestones logged, so by October 2027 you know what a year of protected writing time produced instead of guessing at it.
- Recognition. A $100 discount on AAPP products when you complete the program, recognition at AAPP 2027 and again at AAPP 2028, and your submissions and acceptances celebrated in the Research Community.
How a WAG works
A small group of 3-4 members meets on a fixed schedule to do four things:
- Set a specific, measurable writing goal with a date attached.
- Report back on whether you met it, and what got in the way if you didn't.
- Work through whatever got in the way with people who have been there.
- Keep going until the manuscript is submitted.
The program runs 12 months, beginning October 2026. Spots are limited in both tracks, and applications are reviewed.
Pick your track
There are two tracks, built for different problems. Pick the one that matches where you are.
New Writers WAG
The New Writers WAG is for members who have a project ready to write and little or no publication history. Original research, a case report or series, a review, a quality-improvement report — whatever you have counts. Your goal is a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed, indexed journal within 12 months.
- Led by an experienced AAPP author who attends every session — 60 minutes, once a month.
- One member each month gets extended time for a deep dive on a barrier or a section of draft, scheduled far enough ahead that you can circulate material first.
- Goals set and progress tracked every session, so nothing depends on anyone's memory.
- You will be grouped with authors at a similar career stage. Being new to publishing at year 1 and at year 15 are different experiences, and the groups reflect that.
- Open at any career stage, with priority to early-career members — including your first year after a PGY2.
Experienced Writers WAG
The Experienced Writers WAG is for members who already know how to write and want the deadline pressure. Your goals are yours to define: 3 manuscripts submitted, a revision returned by a date you'll actually meet, or the project that has been sitting on your desk for 2 years finally finished.
- 60 minutes together, monthly or every other month — your group decides.
- Peer-facilitated, with one member running the agenda.
- Open to any AAPP member with a publication record and an active or planned writing project.
The time commitment
The meeting itself is the small part.
- New Writers: 60 minutes together, plus the writing you commit to. Most groups set a target of 500 to 1,000 new words between meetings. Budget 3 to 4 hours a month all in.
- Experienced Writers: 60 minutes together each month, plus whatever your own goals require.
- Either track: plan to make 10 of the 12 meetings. Groups this small do not survive chronic absence, and accountability only works when the same faces keep showing up.
Straight talk about what this is not
A WAG is not a silver bullet and does not solve every problem.
- It is not a co-author matching service. Collaborations do grow out of groups — that is a happy accident, not the design.
- It is not a manuscript editing service. Your group will give you real feedback; nobody will copy-edit your paper.
- It is not content-expert mentorship. Your New Writers mentor is an experienced writer and facilitator, not necessarily an expert in your therapeutic area.
- It is not a guarantee of publication. It is a structure that makes publication a great deal more likely.
Your work stays yours
You will share unpublished data and drafts with your group. Everyone in a WAG — participants and mentors alike — agrees that what is shared in the group stays in the group, and that WAG participation gives no one an authorship claim on anyone's project.
Getting in
Applying takes less than 10 minutes, and the schedule from there is fixed.
- The form asks about your experience, your project, and when you can meet.
- Applications are reviewed and groups built around experience, career stage, project type, and when you can actually meet.
- Your group meets for the first time in October and sets its own ground rules.
- From there: set a goal, report back, keep going.
Want to mentor?
Experienced authors make the New Writers track work, and mentoring one group is a contained ask: 60 minutes a month, with training beforehand and a one-page agenda card so you are never improvising. You will not be editing anyone's manuscript or advising on anyone's methods — you are there to keep the group moving and to answer the questions a first-time author does not know to ask. Mentors earn AAPP volunteer credit that counts toward Fellowship, the $100 discount on AAPP products, and acknowledgment by name at the Annual Meeting. Indicate your interest on the application.
Ready to apply?
Applications close September 21, 2026. Groups begin meeting in October 2026.