academic writing 2 - ida › ~tgtu39 › timetable › tgtu39-le... · references, appendices....

2009-10-26

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Academic Writing 2Academic Writing 2Academic Writing 2Academic Writing 2

Juha Takkinen, [email protected] Takkinen, [email protected] Takkinen, [email protected] Takkinen, [email protected]

Department of Computer and Information ScienceDepartment of Computer and Information ScienceDepartment of Computer and Information ScienceDepartment of Computer and Information Science

Linköping UniversityLinköping UniversityLinköping UniversityLinköping University

Thanks to Magnus Merkel for the slidesThanks to Magnus Merkel for the slidesThanks to Magnus Merkel for the slidesThanks to Magnus Merkel for the slides

Outline

2009-10-26 Linköpings universitetSid 2

� Last time

� Writing process

� Objective & structure

� Text types: general-to-specific, summaries, critiques � Research paper

� Research paper: title page, abstract, acknowledgments, references, appendices.

� Language issues

� Proofing and revision

� Citations and references

� Plagiarism and how to avoid it

TGTU39: Academic writing I

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Research paper – different types

� Theoretical papers using logical argumentation with GS structure (e.g. theoretical physics, mathematics)

� Review articles (or meta-analysis papers in medical research), structure:

� History, current work, theory/model, issue.

� Responses and reactions to earlier work (rare in most fields)

� Short communications (brief reports or notes)

� Standard empirical research papers

� IMRD structure

� Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion

Research paper structure

� Title

� Abstract

� Introduction

� Methods

� Results

� Discussion

� Acknowledgements

� References


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Overview of a Research Paper (RP)


Introduction (I)

Methods and Materials (M)

Results (R)

Discussion (D)

General

Specific

Specific

General

Title of paper

� Often written last

� Titles are important

� Indicate the topic of the study

� Indicate the scope of the study

� Understandable to readers in the area

� Implications?

� On the Use of the Passive in Journal Articles

� The Use of the Passive in Journal Articles

� A Study of Research Article Results Sections

� A Preliminary Study of Research Article Results Sections

� An Analysis of Errors in Period Placement

� Towards an Analysis of Errors in Period Placement


Abstracts

� Usually a single paragraph, 4-10 sentences

� Either a) results-driven abstract which focus on the results of the study; or b) summary abstract, which tries to condense the whole research paper into a short summary.

� Structured abstracts are common in medicine and follow a structure such as:

� 1) Background

� 2) Aim

� 3) Method

� 4) Results

� 5) Conclusions


Introduction section

Create a research space in the introduction:

1. Establish a research territory

a) By showing that the general research area is important, central, interesting, problematic, or relevant in some way (optional)

b) By introducing and reviewing items of previous research in the area (obligatory)

2. Establish a niche

a) By indicating a gap in the previous research or by extending previous knowledge (obligatory)

3. Occupy the niche

a) By outlining purposes or stating the nature of the present research (obligatory)

b) By listing research questions or hypotheses

c) By announcing principal findings

d) By stating the value of the present research

e) By indicating the structure of research paper.


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Introductory section (example Swales & Feak, p. 244-5)


Thomas Eakins and the “Marsh” Pictures

Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) is now recognized as one of the greatest American painters, alongside Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper and Jackson Pollock. Over the last thirty years, there have been many studies of his life and work and in 2002 there was a major exhibition devoted entirely to his art in his home city of Philadelphia. His best-known pictures include a number rowing and sailing scenes, several domestic interiors, the two large canvasses showing the surgeons Gross and Agnew at work in the operating theater, and a long series of portraits… The non-portraits are distinguished by compositional brilliance and attention to detail, while the portraits – most of which come from his later period – are thought to show deep insight into character or “psychological realism”. In many ways, Eakins was a modern late nineteenth century figure since he was interested in science, in anatomy and in the fast-growing “manly sports” of rowing and boxing. In his best work, he painted what he knew and whom he knew, rather than being an artist-outsider to the scene in front of him.

Among Eakins pictures, there is a small series of scenes painted between 1873 and 1876 showing hunters preparing to shoot at the secretive marsh birds in the coastal marshes near Philadelphia. Apart from a chapter in Foster (1997), this series has been little discussed by critics or art historians. For example, these pictures were ignored by Johns in her pioneering 1883 monograph, perhaps because their overall smallness (physically, socially and psychologically) did not fit well with her book’s title, Thomas Eakins: The Heroism of Modern Life. These pictures are usually thought to have come about simply because Thomas Eakins used to accompany his father on these hunting/shooting trips to the marshes.

Move 1

Move 2

However, in this paper I will argue that Eakins focused his attention on these featureless landscapes for a much more complex set of motives. These included his wish to get inside the marsh landscape, to stress the hand-eye coordination between the shooter and “the pusher,” and to capture the …

Move 3

Method section (example Swales & Feak, p. 225-6)


Data Collection

Data used in this research consists of two parts: Survey data and data on coauthorship. Survey data were collected from 1193 to 1996. In the summer of 1993, a baseline survey was administered to a group of scientists who were likely users of UARC/SPARC. Prior to the commencement of data collection for the baseline survey, a letter was sent to every member of the group, notifying them of the forthcoming survey and informing them of its length, that their participation was confidential and anonymous, and that upon completion of the survey, they would be entered into a $100 cash incentive lottery.

The sample size of the UARC/SPARC target group was 94 and the response rate was 65%. A questionnaire consisting of 32 items was sent to all of the participants. The items asked specifically about the scientists’ communication behavior and social networks within the space science community. The questionnaire was designed to allow the participants to complete it within thirty minutes to an hour.

After administration of the baseline surveys in 1993, the UNARC/SPARC target group was surveyed annually from 1994 through 1996. The 1994 survey was also a mail survey. In 1995, the survey was administered via telephone, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes. In 1996, an email/web based survey was used in conjunction with a telephone interview. In all years, the incentive scheme used was similar to that used in 1993. In all years, scientists were asked questions about their research behavior, the use of the UARC/SPARC, and social networks within the space science community.

Coauthorship data were based on the examination of the publications of UARC/SPARC users from 1993 to 1996. Data were collected from the Science Citation Index. Data on whom the scientists were coauthoring with were examined.

Method section (example Swales & Peak, p. 225-6)


Data Collection

Data used in this research consists of two parts: Survey data and data on coauthorship. Survey data were collected from 1993 to 1996. In the summer of 1993, a baseline survey was administered to a group of scientists who were likely users of UARC/SPARC. Prior to the commencement of data collection for the baseline survey, a letter was sent to every member of the group, notifying them of the forthcoming survey and informing them of its length, that their participation was confidential and anonymous, and that upon completion of the survey, they would be entered into a $100 cash incentive lottery.

Data typesWhen?How?

The sample size of the UARC/SPARC target group was 94 and the response rate was 65%. A questionnaire consisting of 32 items was sent to all of the participants. The items asked specifically about the scientists’ communication behavior and social networks within the space science community. The questionnaire was designed to allow the participants to complete it within thirty minutes to an hour.

Details on materials & subjects

After administration of the baseline surveys in 1993, the UNARC/SPARC target group was surveyed annually from 1994 through 1996. The 1994 survey was also a mail survey. In 1995, the survey was administered via telephone, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes. In 1996, an email/web based survey was used in conjunction with a telephone interview. In all years, the incentive scheme used was similar to that used in 1993. In all years, scientists were asked questions about their research behavior, the use of the UARC/SPARC, and social networks within the space science community.

Procedu-res. How and when.

Coauthorship data were based on the examination of the publications of UARC/SPARC users from 1993 to 1996. Data were collected from the Science Citation Index. Data on whom the scientists were coauthoring with were examined.

Data sources.

The results section

�Finding the right strength in your claim

�Highlighting key results present in the data

�Totally objective presentation

�Simply report the data (discussions later)


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Discussion section

� Commentary on the results section

� Highlighting the strengths of the study

� Discussing (intelligently) possible weaknesses of the study

� Commentary on the objectives with the research paper

� Widening the scope of the research territory

� Comparisons with other results from other scientists

� Outlook on future research


Acknowledgements

� More and more common.

� Common elements in acknowledgments:

� Financial support (“Support for this work was provided by…”)

� Thanks (“We would like to thank…”)

� Disclaimers (“Any mistakes are my own…”)


Standardizing the list of references

Many different styles. Popular one: Chicago Manual of Style:

Author. Year. Title of work. Source.

Swales, J.M. and C.B. Feak 2000. English in today’s research world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Cass, S. 2001 MEMS in space. IEEE Spectrum, July, 56-61.

The Harvard system or Author-Year system (and an example of paper reference):

Lee, Yong-Ju, Min, Ok-Gee & Kim- Haq-Young (2005), “Performance Evaluation Technique of the RTSP Based Streaming Server”, in Proceedings of Fourth Annual ACIS International Conference on Computer and Information Science (ICIS'05), July 14-16, 2005, Jeju Island, South Korea. IEEE. Available from http://doi.ieeecomputersociety.org/10.1109/ICIS.2005.101(Accessed 2009-10-26)


Language issues

� American or British English?

� Be consistent. Synonyms not often a good idea …

� Passive or active voice?

� Tense usage?

� Learn “connectives” that can make your text cohesive.

� Use proofing tools and other people for reviewing your text.


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Proofing tools

� Spell checkers

� Grammar tools

� Hyphenation

� Many false alarms

� Improved considerably the last ten years! Use them!

� An automatically grammar checked text is far from being a good text.

� But … best “proofing tool” is probably a colleague.


Academic writing traditionfull of contradictions:

� Show that you know your field

� Appeal to experts and authorities

� Improve your English by mimicking what you hear and read

� Give credit where credit is due

• Make your own significant contribution

• Improve, analyse or disagree with experts and authorities

• Use your own words, your own voice

• Present your own ideas and thoughts clearly

Reports as examination

� Scientific writing – building your work on the writings of somebody else.

� Examination – convincing your assessor that you understand what you're writing about.

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Potential problems

� Collaboration when not permitted

� Plagiarism

Charges of cheating are brought before the Disciplinary Board and may result in suspension.


How? Give credit where credit is due!

� Be clear about sources, use citations when quoting, paraphrasing or borrowing ideas.

� Collaborative writing or not?

Managing your sources

� Using citations (Ragnemalm, 2007), (Ragnemalm 2007) or [1]

� and references:

Ragnemalm, Eva L. Talk given at Linköping University on the 15th of October 2007.

[1] Ragnemalm, Eva L. Talk given at Linköping University on the 15th of October 2007.

Quotations

When you use another's exact words.

� Quotation marks ”indicate exactly what words were written or said”.

� The citation (Ragnemalm, 2005) or [12] indicates from where.

To use another’s exact words without indicating it is plagiarism.

Use quotations sparingly.

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Paraphrases

� When you rewrite a piece of text using your own words but retaining the general message.

� Paraphrasing is plagiarism if the citation is left out OR if the wording is too close to the original.

Paraphrasing examples

Original text (from Lu, 1997):

Descartes introduces the possibility that the world is controlled by a malicious demon who has employed all his energies to deceive him.

Paraphrase:

Descartes suggests that the world is controlled by an evil demon who may be using his energies to deceive (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Plagiarism: even though the citation is provided, the sentence still has exact wording (italicized).

Paraphrasing examples, cont'd



Paraphrase:

Descartes suggests that the evil power who rules the world may be attempting to mislead him (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Not plagiarism: the language is fully rewritten, and a citation is provided.

Paraphrasing examples, cont'd



Combination of paraphrase and quotation:

Descartes suggests that the evil power who rules the world may be using “all his energies to deceive him” (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Not plagiarism: the paraphrased portion is fully rewritten, the exact language is quoted, and a citation is provided.

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Borrowed ideas

� Somebody else’s new concept

� Somebody else’s observations

� Somebody else’s general idea

� Somebody else’s chain of reasoning

� Somebody else’s diagram

� Somebody else’s table

� Somebody else’s figure

�

� etc.

When not to cite?

� Your own ideas

� Your own conclusions

� Your own reflections

� Your own analysis

� Your own experience

� Your own observations

� etc.

� When using “common knowledge”

Choosing when to cite, exercises

Do you have to give credit? If so, how? If not, why?

Situations:➢ You are reporting new insights about your own experiences.➢ You are using an editorial from your school's newspaper with which you disagree.➢ You use some information from a source without ever quoting it directly. ➢ You have no other way of expressing the exact meaning of a

text without using the original source verbatim.

Choosing when to cite, exercises cont'd

Do you have to give credit? If so, how? If not, why?

Situations:➢ You mention that many people in your discipline belong to a certain organization.➢ You want to begin your paper with a story that one of your classmates told about her experiences in Bosnia.➢ The quote you want to use is too long, so you leave out a couple of phrases.

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Urkund – discovering plagiarism

Urkund is a service provided for Swedish universities.

• Reports are submitted to Urkund

• Comparisons with database and the web

• Teacher is informed of similar documents

Academic writing

Give credit where credit is due.

Bibliography

� Björk & Räisänen (2003), Academic writing: A university writing course. Third edition. Studentlitteratur.

� Zobel, Justin (2004), Writing for computer science. Second edition. Springer.

� The trustees of Hamilton college, 2005. Hamilton College Writing center: Using Sources. http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/usingsources.html (visited 2008-10-31)

� OWL at Purdue, 2005. Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, Avoiding Plagiarism. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html (visited 2008-10-31)

� Swales, John M. & Feak, Christine B. (2004), Academic Writing for Graduate Students - Essential Tasks and Skills, .University of Michigan Press .

� Berndtsson, M. & Hansson, J & Olsson, B & Lundell, B. (2002), Planning and

Implementing Your Final Year Project with Success! - A Guide for Students in Computer Science and Information Systems. Springer-Verlag London Ltd. – Also available in a Second edition now.

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