Lecture Academic Writing

7/25/2019 Lecture Academic Writing

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Academic Writing:

The Basics


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During this course,

you will master

the following

Academic Genres:

Research report an oral presentation to the

audience

Research abstract a printed outline of your

report


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We will also work with:

Literature reviews you will learn how to

generate a comprehensive collection of sourcesrelevant to your research

Argumentative essay you will learn to

investigate a topic; collect, generate, and

evaluate evidence; and establish a position onthe topic in a concise manner.

Contrast and comparative essay you will

learn to investigate differences and similaritiesbetween certain aspects of your research

Academic Power Point presentation you will

learn how to organize the information of your

research and thus impress the audience


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Research is not:

A loose collection of information

A paper with patched together summaries andparaphrases, even if theyre in your own words,will not succeed.

!ou must have a strong objective of your

research. !ou must contribute something new

Research is not only:

"eporting of others #nowledge

!ou should always rely on the e$isting sources ofinformation.

%owever, your research must either deve!op the#nowledge of other scientists, or identi"y a gap intheir wor#.


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Research is:

&reation of #nowledge 'e.g., introduction ofnew methods of treatment, diagnostics, etc.(

Defining problems and suggesting theirsolutions

&ontribution to a larger academic discussion &ollecting the e$isting information andclarifying some point

)uggesting a new perspective on a problem


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Goa!s o" Academic Writing

)ee# truth

Argue a point

*ropose solutions

Deepen insights

&larify a theory &hallenge conventional wisdom


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#ou are the author

*aper should be predominantly your ideas andopinions.

)how your critical thin#ing s#ills:

+eneralization 'forming a general idea(

valuation 'finding merits and gaps(

Analysis 'separating a comple$ topic into smaller

parts in order to gain a better understanding of

it(

)ynthesis 'combining two or more different

elements that together form something new(


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Genera! Advice

- egin arly

/ 01m too busy now, and 1ll start later when 1

have more time . . . 0

- )elect an Appropriate 2opic

&ontribution to the field 'find your niche(

&onsider the relevance

&onsider the resources available


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Consider the structure o" your

research:

What to write$

%ow to write$Where to submit$


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&'RA(:

the structure o" academic writing

adopted by American )ationa!*tandards &nstitute in +,-,

&ntroduction: why as# this research 3uestion4

'ethods: what did 1 do4

Resu!ts: what did 1 find4

and(iscussion: what might it mean4


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&ntroduction

The re!evance o" the prob!em

The scienti"ic nove!ty o" your wor.

The aim o" the research

'ateria! and methods

Research "indings

Conc!usions

The structure o" your research /both

ora! and printed0 at the *tudents1

Con"erence:


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Be"ore you start writing:

Gather Resource 'ateria!s

Read *ources Critica!!y"ead studies similar to what you want towrite:

Books and professional journals: articles, theses,

abstracts, literature reviews

Pub'ed and 'ed!ine are the .ey databases "or

medicine and hea!th research:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed2a#e notes

)ummarize and paraphrase passages

"emember to record the sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed


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5ailure to use 3uotation mar#s when 3uoting

directly from another source, whether it be a

paragraph, sentence or part thereof

&opying ideas from a boo#, magazine, or othersources without giving credit to the author

All these incidents of academic misconduct can be

easily revealed by p!agiarism detection so"tware


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%ow Can *tudents Avoid

P!agiarism$ 2o avoid plagiarism, you must identi"y the

source whenever you use:

another person6s idea, opinion, or theory;

any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings any

pieces of information that are not common

#nowledge;

3uotations of another person6s actual spo#enor written words; or

paraphrase of another person6s spo#en orwritten words.


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*e!"2p!agiarism

2he use of one6s own previous wor# in

another conte$t without citing that it was

used previously.

)elf/plagiarism can infringe upon apublishers copyright.


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The Writing ProcessThe Writing Process


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- %elps you organize your ideas

- *resents your material in a logical form- )hows the relationships among ideas in your

writing

- Defines boundaries and groups- *revents you from 0straying7 from the topic

When writing an out!ine3 ma.e sure that you:

"ecord author, title, page number and notewhere you found the source

&learly indicate when ideas in your notes are

your own

4ut!ine4ut!ine


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The 5irst (ra"t

8rite one idea per paragraph +o for 3uantity, not 3uality

8rite for revision, not delivery

8rite freely

Develop a habit that encourages you to write on

a regular basis with or without inspiration


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Allow 9 of your time for planning,

research, and writing the first draft

Allow the other 9 for revising your

paper

Write in %aste3

Revise at Leisure


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Last *tep: 6diting

*ut your writing away for a period of time and

then read it with fresh eyes. )chedule at least

one day between revisions, or three or four days

if possible"ead it aloud to yourself

As# colleagues to read and give feedbac#.


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Assignment "or the ne7t

meeting:

- )urf 1nternet for academic papers on your topic

'use http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed or

other reliable databases(. 1f you have relevant

boo#s or articles in nglish at home, use themas well.

- 'a.e a !ist o" your sources /at !east 8 items0

- !ou can either send your list to my e/mail, or

show it to me during our ne$t meeting.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Lecture Academic Writing

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