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Academic writingAcademic writingAcademic writingAcademic writing
By Irina KoksharovaBy Irina Koksharova
Outline• General comment of different
writing patterns and their peculiarities
• Research process• Parts of a scietific paper• Grammar and Vocabulary
Cultural peculiaritiesAnglo-American• Who – busy reader
who may lack some background knowledge
• How –text is easy to understand with a transparent structure
• Why – text must be marketed
• READER-FRIENDLY
Estonian and Russian• Who – informed
colleagues• How – aims to
impress, text is sophisticated, needs hard work to be understood
• Why – the absence of the necessity to sell
• WRITER-FRIENDLY
MOTO•KISS KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE! KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID!
•MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT!
General remarks• CLARITY• READABILITY• NON-AMBIGUITY
(EASE Bulletin, 1998)
Readers of scientific papers DO NOT read them to ASSESS them, they read them to LEARN from them...What is needed is more SIMPLICITY NOT SOPHISTICATION! Wrtiters should aim to INFORM NOT to IMPRESS!
(Frances Luttikhuizen)
Strategies• Make the strategy of the text CLEAR• NEVER translate!• Accept TOTAL responsibility for
being clear• The worst sin is AMBIGUITY• Trust your ear!• Careful editing shortens your text!
““...If I had more ...If I had more time, I would have time, I would have
written you a written you a shorter letter...”shorter letter...”
Research process and parts of a scientific
paper (1)• Question?
• What is known?• Formulate the
problem• Hypothesis• Project plan
• Title• Abstract
• Introduction
Research process and parts of a scientific paper
(2)• Conduct the
experiment• Collect the data• Decide on methods• Analyse results• Interpertation • Make conclusions• Comment on the
new knowledge
• Materials
• Methods
• Results• Discussions
• Conclusions
TITLE• Informative (SUBJECT not
RESULTS)• Concise (7-10 words)• Initiating• Specific
Abstract is the most highly polished part of
the paper!• Why what was done was done• What was done• What was found• What was concluded• So what -implications
NB! Length - 250 wordsNB! Few if any abbreviations!
Introduction (1)Move I• Establish the field• Assert briefly how significant,
relevant, important the topic isMove II• Summarise previous general research• Omit the facts known to every
scientist
Introduction (2)Move III• Focus on your research project• Indicate a gap in knowledge that
should be filledMove IV• Introduce your own research• State the purpose of your work, your
intention, hypothesis to test• Rarely, some results may be
mentioned(John Swales)
Methods• Observe strict chronology• Stay in the past tense• Passive voice is common here
(passive forms in the middle of the sentences)
• Informative names, not evaluative
• Numbers, statistics
Results• Avoid double documentation• Guide the reader into discovery• The results should show statistical
significance• PastTenses, limited use of Passive
Voice• Do not evaluate• End with a summary
(Hall, 1998)
Discussions
• Answer the questions posed in the introduction
• Critical assessment (shortcomings)
• Comparison with other studies
Conclusions
• Implications• Suggest further research• Avoid promising to publish
References• Malmfors, B., Garnsworthy, P., and M.
Grossman.2005. Writing and Presenting Scientific Papers. Nottingham University Press.
• Norris, C.2006-2007. Academic Writing in English. University of Helsinki.
NB! No numbersNB! Alphabetical orderNB! Recommendations of the
publisher!
Grammar and vocabulary peculiarities of the Formal
Register• Full forms• Impersonal structures• No slang!• Never start sentences with: “but”,
“because”, “and” and others.• Use parallel constructions• Careful choice of words• No extra words!• Refer immediately to all the main
items involved
Problematic issues• Passive vs Active Voice• Verb sv Noun• Latin abbreviations (etc, e.g., i.e.)
Final points• Individualty of a piece of writing• Cultural differences• Editor’s and publisher’s
recommendations• Rules are made to make our life
easier not more complicated
Thank you for your attention!
Write creatively!