Publishers of original thinking

What kinds of academic writing are there?

There are many kinds of writing that originates from academia. In my view there are three clear-cut categories:

Research papers (in journals or as monographs)Survey papers (in reference books, readers, directories)Tutorial papers (in textbooks)

Research papers should

assume an audience with a basic knowledge of the area

avoid the use of jargon wherever possible

be written in a style which is disciplined and precise, and avoid the use of convoluted constructions

emphasise original contributions

give full standard citations.

Survey papers should

assume an audience with a basic knowledge of the area

be written in a style which is disciplined and precise, and avoid the use of convoluted constructions

emphasise tools, techniques or products

define the extent of the survey area

give full references for further reading or information.

Tutorial papers should

assume an audience that is inexpert in the topic

define the extent of the topics covered

be written in a style which is disciplined and precise, and avoid the use of convoluted constructions

emphasize basic concepts

Research publications

• Aims and objectives (Why)

• Method (How)

• Results (What)

• Interpretation of the results (Where next)

• Notes and references

Aims and objectives

• To find out ...

• To compare ...

• To test ...

• Context of the problem

• Why this project

• Possible hypotheses

Method (How)

Can it be replicated? Anticipate objections Why experiment/interview/

questionnaire/interview/ whatever Design Choices (eg. time of observations) Criteria used (justify choices) Sample used (size, typical, how obtained) Procedure (equipment used, how observations

made, instructions given etc.)

Results

How can you present results clearly?

Diagrams

Tables

What relationships are obscured

Interpretation of the results

Reservations and limitations

Relate to literature/ theory

Relate to your problem / hypothesis

Factors influencing

Relationships reported and those missing

Ask yourself questions

Conclusions

General statement in terms of your aim

• Now write your Abstract and Preface!

The potential audience

Development of ideas

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Distribution of ideas

Ownership of ideas

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Size of the audience

Questions to ask yourself before submitting to a journal

•Do the title and the abstract reflect the content of the article adequately?

•Have you stated the purpose of the article well?

•Is the significance of this article explained relative to the existing literature? Are there adequate references to other research?

•Is the article clearly written and well organised?

•Have typographical and syntactic errors been corrected? Have you explained well WHAT was done?

•Have you explained well HOW it done?

•Have you explained well WHY it was done?

•Have you explained well the implications of the results?

•Considering its content is the length of the article appropriate?

Recommendation from the Editor

Accept with minor changes as a technical article.

Request a major revision for review as a technical article.

Request minor changes for publication as a short feature article.

Ask the author to submit to another publication!

Regard the article as not publishable.

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