WRITING TYPES

Presented by:Agents of change

Nigel Walcott

Sharla White

Trevelee Williams

Introduction

• This power-point introduces different writing types such

as:• 1.Academic Journals• 2.Annotated Bibliography• 3. Book Review • 4. empirical Research • 5. Literature Review• 6. Newspaper • 7. Peer Review Journal/Article • 8. White Paper

Characteristics of Good Writing

• According to Carballo(2010) , “Good writing is:

1. INTERSTING- regardless of the purpose of the discourse.

2. CLEAR- expressing the writers ideas in words that are well chosen

3. CONCISE- Unnecessary words and phrases should be eliminated

4. COHERENT- Internal logic should be apparent within sentences and paragraphs and between sentences and paragraphs.

5. EDITED-The writer is expected to proofread the text carefully and to eliminate weaknesses in organization, errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Academic JournalAcademic Journal as defined by Jerz (2011):

1. publishes scholarly, peer-reviewed articles written by experts.

2. provides the exact source-including the author and the page number, for every important bit of outside information

3. ends with a detailed bibliography. Footnotes or endnotes may be present.

4. Is long, complex and probably difficult for non-experts to understand right away.

Purpose of Academic JournalAcademic Journal Purpose: “The main purpose of a

scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world”(Olin & Uris libraries(n.d)).

As a scholarly work, Academic Journals must:• Provide an abstract – brief summary of the work• Take a sober serious look(few glossy pages or exciting

pictures)• Include sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies

that are lengthy• Be written by a scholar in the field or by someone who

has done research in the field (Olin & Uris Libraries (n.d)).

Annotated Bibliography

• Definition of a Bibliography• A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals,

websites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "references" or "works cited" depending on the style format you are using. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).

• An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation (Purdue University, 2011).

Purpose of Annotated Bibliography

The bibliographic information: For IEC the bibliographic information, which includes: title, author, publisher, date, etc., is generally written in APA format

• The annotations: The annotations for each source are written in paragraph form. The lengths of the annotations can vary significantly from a couple of sentences to a couple of pages. The length will depend on the purpose. If you're just writing summaries of your sources, the annotations may not be very long. However, if you are writing an extensive analysis of each source, you'll need more space (Purdue University, 2011).

Book Review

A Book Review:1. Is a description, critical analysis, and an evaluation on the

quality, meaning, and significance of a book, not a retelling. 2. It should focus on the book’s purpose, content, and authority.

3. It is a reaction paper in which strength and weaknesses of the book are analyzed.

4. It should include a statement of what the author has tried to do, evaluate how well the author has succeeded, and present evidence to support this evaluation (Los Ageles Valley College, 2009).

Book Review Vs. Book Report

A book review should not be confused with a book report.

A Book Review:• Provides readers with a sneak peak at what a book is

like, whether or not the reviewer enjoyed it.• Provides details on purchasing the book.

A Book Report:• Is often a college assignment• May appear in many professional works: magazines,

newspapers, and academic journals• Typically range from 500-750 words (Purdue University,

2011).

Definition of Empirical Research:

• An empirical research is “is any research involving the collection of new data. This type of research relies “primarily on collecting data in some form or another from subjects before summarizing, analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating it” (Woken(n.d)).

• In addition to this, this type of research is also referred to as primary data, because it is information that you must collect on your own. (Woken(n.d))

Empirical Research- “Proven Research”

• Conducting an empirical research is a means of providing the following ,as stated by Kon(2010).

• 1. Firstly “the lay of the land”, which are the current beliefs of the status quo.

• 2. Secondly, “The ideal vs. the reality” must be kept in mind. Even though everyone may believe that what is working is the best, data collected can show that the current system fails to meet the ideal.

• 3.Thirdly, this type of research stands to “change ethical norms” .By analyzing the data carefully, the researcher can recommend a change in the ethical norm.

Format for Empirical Research

Literature Review

Literature Review is:

A summary of information derived from books, journals, newspapers and other print sources.

It involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem (Gray, Mills, Airasian, 2009, p.80).

Purpose of Literature ReviewAccording to Mohammed (2007) the Characteristics of a Literature Review are as follows:

•1. It summarizes important information on the problem

2. It reports on studies done on the same or related topics.

3. It locates the present study in relation to other studies about the same or related topics.

4. It identifies the strengths of the studies read and ‘gaps’ that the study should be able to address

Cont…Purpose of Literature Review

5. It pinpoints any challenges previous researchers experienced in investigating the topic and how the researcher addressed those challenges

6. It emphasizes the methods used by other studies, comments on the, and compares them with the methods of the present study.

7. It criticizes the existing literature by comparing studies and indicating where they agree or contradict each other

8. It reflects on what has already been done and what other have said, and gives personal opinions and insight.

Definition of Newspaper:

According to (Young, 1983, p.153) a newspaper is, “A serial issued at stated, frequent intervals (usually daily, weekly, or semiweekly), containing news, opinions, advertisements, and other items of current, often local, interest”.

N.B. Newspaper is different from a Newsletter which is a, serial consisting of one or a few printed sheets containing news or information of interest chiefly to a special group.

Newspaper

Characteristics of a Newspaper

• Audience – General audience interested in news and current events

• Print Appearance – Inexpensive paper, generally recycled material

• Content/Focus – Current events in: politics, business, sports, leisure, etc.

• Author – Syndicate columnists, local staff, and newswire services

• Documentation – Usually name sources

• Language – generally common words and simple sentence structure

(Valencia College, (n.d.)).

Peer Review Journal/Article• Simply put, a peer review article is one that has been “selected and

approved by a panel of judges”(Jerz 2011)• The definition given for peer review is beautifully summarized in the

following way:• An organized procedure carried out by a select committee of professionals

in evaluating the performance of other professionals in meeting the standards of their specialty. Review by peers is used by editors in the evaluation of articles and other papers submitted for publication( NCBI Resources(n.d))

• Who does Peer Review?• Researchers• Scholars• Professionals• They are all concentrated in a particular area or similar discipline of the

article that is being reviewed(NCBI Resources( (n.d)).

Peer Review Journal/ArticleImportance of Peer Review as stated by University

Libraries(n.d).• It is used to indicate the quality of scholarship and pertinence of

the research article, as compared to other articles that have not been reviewed

• It is used to indicate whether an article should be published, revisited or be rejected

• It is used to indicate that it has met the standards that are expected by a particular discipline.

• It is used by editors in deciding which article deserves to be published, by granting agencies to determine which proposals should be funded

• It is used by academic institutions in tenure decisions.

White PaperA white paper allows its readers to look at that which is factual as opposed to that which is opinion.

According to Sielzner (2007) a white paper is:•A persuasive document that usually describes problems and how to solve them. •It is a crossbreed between a magazine article and a brochure. •It takes the objectives and educational approach of an article and weaves in persuasive corporate messages typically found in brochures•Is fact driven and contain useful information, expert opinions and iron clad logic (Sielzner, 2007).

Cont…White Paper

• According to Kennington(2011) a white paper is also an article that states an organization’s position, philosophy about a social, political ‘or other subject, or a not –too-detailed technical explanation of an architecture, framework, or product technology.

• In other words, a white paper really explains the results, or conclusion based on research methods.

Preferred Writing Sources

• According to Massey University(2011)• “When researching a topic for a university assignment,

‘academic” sources are preferred over other types of writing. They carry more weight and authority, and are likely to be more convincing”

• The most common types are:• 1. Books• 2. Journal articles• 3. Published Reports• Massey University (2011)

Preferred Writing Source: Books

Young writes, that books are monographs. A systematic and complete treatise on a particular subject (Young, 1983).

Books are a preferred source since it is:1. Authoritative: It identifies qualifications and expertise of

writer2. Sourced: It credits the origin of information and ideas by

means of a bibliography3. Peer-reviewed: Other academics have read the book

and checked it for accuracy4. Objective: It examines a topic carefully. It does not

ignore alternative positions on the topic.

Preferred Writing Source: Peer-Review

Peer Review articles are the preferred writing sources because they provides:

1. Professional Review – experts get to review peer(s) work and establish if it needs modification, suitable for publication, or rejected.

2. Maintenance of Standards – professionals ensure that standards are retained in their respective disciplines

3. Currency of Information – Peer Review articles are constant and up-to-date.

Team Members & Their RoleTEAM MEMBERS RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Sharla White ORGANIZER/EDITORa. Academic Journalb. Annotated Bibliographyc. Peer Review journal/article

2. Nigel Walcott TECHNICAL DESIGNERa. White paperb. Empirical Study

3. Trevelee Williams EDITOR/TECHNICAL DESIGNERa. Book Reviewb. Literature Reviewc. Newspaper

ReferencesCarballo, S.S.(2010). Notes and exercises for Cape communication studies. Corozal, Belize C.A.

Gray, R.L., Mills, G.E. & Airasian, P. (9th ed.).(2009). Educational research: competencies for analysis and application. Columbus, Ohio: Pearson.

Hinckley, H. (n.d.). What is peer review? Retrieved August 29, 2011 from: http://www.ehow.com/

Jerz,G.D., (2011). Jerz literacy Weblog-Humanities Cyberculture Journalism Writing: Academic Journals:What are they? Retreived September 13TH,2011 from http://jerz.setonhill_edu/writing/academic1/journals/

Kennington, Alen.U. (2011) Definition of White Paper. Retrieved September 9 th, 2011 from http://www.topology.org/wpda.html/.

Los Angeles Valley College (2009). How to write a book report. Retrieved September 11 th, 2011 from http://www.lavc.edu/Library/bookreview.htm

Massey Univerity(2011). Identifying academic sources. Retrieved September 7 th from http://owll.massey.ac.nz/academic-writing/identifying-academic-sources.php

Mohammed, J. (2007). Cape Caribbean studies: an interdisciplinary approach. Trinidad and Tobago: Macmillan Caribbean.

NCBI Resources(n.d)). Retrieved September 7th,2011 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?term=peer%20review&cmd=search&db=mesh

ReferencesOlin and Uris Libraries(n.d). Distinguishing scholarly journals from other periodicals. Retrieved September

13th,2011 from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill20.html

Purdue University (2011). Annotated bibliographies. Retrieved September 14th, 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/616/1/

Roberts ,A(n.d). ABC of thinking. Words used to think about thinking. Retrieved. September 1st from http://studymore.org.uk/glothi.htm#Empirical

Purdue University (2011). Book review. Retrieved September 14th, 2011 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/704/01/

Stelzner, Michael. A. (2007) Writing white Paper’s: how to capture readers and keep them engaged. Retrieved from http:// w ww.wringwhitepapers.co

University libraries(n.d). What is a Scholarly or Peer Reviewed Journal? Retrieved September 7 th, 2011 from http://knowledgecenter.unr.edu/help/using/peer.asp

University of La verne, (201)1What is an Empirical article. Retrieved from http://www.library.laverne.edu.

Valencia University (n.d.). Newspapers. Retrieved September 14th, 2011 from http://faculty.valenciacollege.edu/infolit/tutorial1/formats/newspapers.htm

Woken, M.D. (2011).Empirical Vs. Library Studies .Retrieved fromhttp://www.uis.edu.

Young, H. (1983). The ALA glossary of library and information science. Chicago: American Library Association.