Press Inquiries
Robyn Wagoner, Publicist
Crawford’s Attractions, LLC
press@readerexpectation.com
(212) 202-5619
Forthcoming Books
George Gopen signed a three-book contract with Anthem Press, London, in February of 2026. The first book of that series is an update and expansion of the 1990 American Scientist article and will be titled “The New Science of Scientific Writing.” It is set for release in June of 2026 with 17 translations forthcoming.
George David Gopen Author Bio
George David Gopen, JD, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University. He taught there for 30 years in the English Department, part-time at the Law School (16 years), and as a lecturer to faculty on his Reader Expectation Approach (REA) to Writing in the English Language.
Dr. Gopen simultaneously earned a PhD and a JD from Harvard. He is known worldwide for his writing seminars and for his semenovular article, “The Science of Scientific Writing,” (1990 American Scientist.) The article leads that journal’s citation index and was selected as one of 36 “Classic Articles” from the first century of the publication. The article has been credited with reshaping scientific writing. Dr. Gopen has published five books and 80 articles. Forty-two of these articles were published in the American Bar Association’s Litigation journal.
In 2011, Dr. Gopen received a lifetime achievement award from the Legal Writing Institute for his lifelong efforts to improve legal writing.
George Gopen’s Reader Expectation Approach (description)
Dr. George Gopen is Professor Emeritus of the Practice of Rhetoric at Duke University. Over four decades, he has developed the Reader Expectation Approach (REA) to professional writing from the reader’s perspective. Consistent with observations in cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics, REA is based on how readers of English look for critical information in specific structural locations within sentences and paragraphs. Misalignment between writer placement and reader expectation is a primary cause of miscommunication. REA explains to writers how readers read.
George Gopen Head Shots by Paul D’Andrea
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George Gopen Media Appearances
Listen: Pundemonium: The Great Durham Pun Contest. Host Frank Stasio talks to the judge of the contest, George Gopen, about how it works and what makes puns great.
