Purpose: This paper seeks to consider whether the notion of authenticity is useful or meaningful in the context of developing academics as writers. Design/methodology/approach: The approach taken is that of a reflective essay. Recent texts on authenticity in higher education are examined whilst a transactional theory of writing is also considered as a potentially valuable way of helping develop academic writers. Findings: The tentative conclusions reached include the desirability of moving away from the concept of authenticity as an ideal in academic writing and towards the notion of developing academics as mature or even expert writers. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this paper is that it is merely an essay. It is one researcher's attempt to analyse a difficult conceptual issue and, as such, only provides a provisional analysis, not a final analysis. Other scholars using different sources may well come to different conclusions. But, at least, this essay is a contribution to the conversation about how academics might be helped to develop as writers. Practical implications: There are at least two: a move away from a somewhat metaphysical conception of academic writing towards a more practical approach; and the potential usefulness of adopting a transactional theory which directly links reading and writing. Originality/value: The main value of the paper is that it offers a critique of some current views of authenticity in higher education and it suggests and outlines the usefulness of a Deweyan or transactional theory of writing for higher education.