This book combines a social constructionist view of academic writing with a pedagogical orientation seeking to explore the dialogic relationship between the culture of academic discourse communities and their rhetoric, and provide a comprehensive analysis of variation across disciplines, genres and national intellectual cultures. The analysis focuses on the rhetorical organisation of research genres and the resources that convey authors' epistemic and attitudinal stance. The findings form the basis for the design of socio- culturally oriented learning materials for the teaching of writing in the disciplines and the development of academic literacies.