What makes one scientist a good communicator and another a poorone? How communicate scientific results through adequate andefficient scientific writing? How does the editorial process of a journalfunction, and why do scientific papers need to be refereed?All these questions, and many more, led the Board of Directors of theleading professional journal Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A) and itspublisher EDP Sciences to organize, under the direction of ChristiaanSterken, the Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers courses forbeginning PhD Students.This book contains a set of seven lectures that were delivered duringtwo schools that took place in 2008 and 2009 in Blankenberge,Belgium. The contributions discuss all aspects of scientific publication,from the history and operations of A&A, its Editors' views of the peerreviewand publishing processes, and the publication process as seenfrom the Publisher's side. Two chapters written by the A&A languageeditors deal with the principles of effective scientific writing. The lasttwo contributions focus on the use of library services and large databasefacilities in the context of astronomical research and publication.