Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Texts
Guidelines
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B-
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Expectations
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General Introduction
Whether you knew it or not when you started,
conducting research is the defining feature of
your graduate career. If you plan to stay in
academe, it will be the defining feature of
your academic life.
--Lesli Mitchell
The Ultimate Grad School Survival Guide
The genre of research
What its not:
A loose collection of anecdotal information
What its not only:
Reporting of others knowledge
What it is:
Creation of knowledge
Added security of academic support
Contribution to a larger academic discussion
Problems and solutions
Before you write: Read sources
critically
Read studies similar to what you want to write
Professional journals, masters theses, Google scholar
Abstracts
Literature Reviews
Conclusions/Discussion
Recommendations for Future Study
Take notes (dont highlight!)
Summarize/paraphrase passages
Quoting Sources (in brief)
Introductions should:
Introduce subject and problem
Clearly state purpose
Task
Write the abstract of the paper you are working
on (confidentiality terms!)
Between 250 and 400 words
Use the previous example as a template
Chose a title for the abstract
Include 4 to 6 keywords related to the topic
Abstract will be polished during the course
Strategies for Introductions
Begin with a narrative
Anecdotes that make the topic more real to
reader.
Begin with a question or series of questions.
Shows reader that your subject is provocative and
interesting.
Begin by quoting a key source.
Bold, expert opinion captures readers attention.
Begin by citing key data
Alarming stats emphasize importance
Review of Literature
Examine/analyze what has already been published
on your topic
Find the gaps (Recommendations for future research)
Provide framework for scope of the problem
Explain where your study fits
Review must be thorough
Currency, credibility
Snowball your sources
Review must be accurate
Follow rules for specific documentation style
Report your findings
Audience
Purpose and strategy
Organization
Style
Flow
Presentation
Audience
Know your audience and write for that specific audience.
Scientific and technical writing is never a general porpuse.
Adopt the style and level of writing appropriate for the
audience.
Contrast while, whereas in contrast, however, on the other hand, conversely unlike
Audience
Purpose and strategy
Organization
Style
Flow
Presentation
Writing General-Specific Texts
Move from broad statements to narrower ones, and widen out
again in the final sentence
General-to-specific movement is useful in writing introductions
or producing data commentaries
General statement
Specific detail
Broader statement
Hook your readers Get to the point
Accordingly, writers are under increasing pressure to get to the
point, to grab the prospective reader's attention and deliver the
goods. In many writing contexts, across genres, readers expect
writers to define the purpose, organization, and significance of a
document in a thesis statement that is provided in the
introduction. As a result, most documents follow a deductive
organization in which the authors make a general statement and
then support it with specific examples.
Using definitions or generalisations
For example:
For example:
Not all your texts need to begin with a definition. In some cases,
it may be unnecessary and in other cases, even inappropriate.
You might decide to begin with a generalisation instead.
1(a) English is a language that belongs to the West Germanic subgroup of the Indo-
European language family. It began its history as a distinct tongue in England around 500
AD.
1(b) In comparison to many of the worlds better-known languages, English is relatively
new. Indeed, the English of 600 years ago can be understood only by specialists.
2(a) AIDS is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the immune system.
2(b) AIDS has emerged as a devastating infectious disease for which there is presently no
cure.
Recommendations
1. Avoid circular definitions.
Avoid using any form of the term you want to define in the definition.
Example:
Erosion is a process during which the surface of the earth erodes.
Erosion is a process during which the surface of the earth is degraded by the
effects of the atmosphere, weather, and human activity.
Example:
Pollution is when the environment becomes contaminated as a result of
human activity.
Pollution is a form of environmental contamination resulting from human
activity.
Exercise I
Abstract and Introductions
For example,
IF: 4.601
versus
IF: 13.858
FUEL
JACS
Biocombustibles lquidos Biodiesel Estado del Arte
General-specific:
descriptive and expository
Problem-solution:
argumentative and evaluative
Structure of Problem-Solution Text
This means that when you have formulated the problem statement, you have already
identified the project's key concepts, theories and methods to understand/explain it
as well as potential solutions.
The problem can be accompanied by sub-questions which guide both you and the
reader in a certain (methodological, theoretical or analytical) direction and which
demonstrate the overall argument, logic and progression in your thesis.
4. Constructing a research paper
Methods
Results
perfect progressive
Suggested:
Experimental Results: use past tense
Conclusions: use perfect aspect
Future Work: use future modal
Useful tips
A reasonable approach to writing a scientific manuscript may be the following. First
write the Methods section, largely derived from your initial research protocol, and
perhaps during the experimental phase of the work itself so that all details are
included. Construct all of the figures and tables that contain the data included in the
work, and then write the Results section. Depending upon the type of study, there
may be some iteration in the presentation of the data and writing of the text.
Reconsider the scientific questions the manuscript will address, again referring to
your research protocol, and then write the Introduction. Next, use the Introduction
and Results to guide the writing of the Discussion. Summarize everything in an
Abstract, and then condense and refocus the Abstract into a Conclusions section. In
general, the purpose of a scientific manuscript is to construct a clearly written
document that describes a question and then logically presents an answer to this
question that is based upon theoretical or experimental results.
Structure of a scientific paper
Title
Introduction Abstract
TOC Graphics
Introduction
Methods Experimental Section
(Some papers require this section
to be at the end)
Results Results and Discussion
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Discussion References
Supporting Information
Important: KNOW the focus of your
paper
Do not use acronyms (the meaning might be obvious for the author but some
readersespecially from different disciplinesmight be confused).
Do not use commercial product names (no reason to advertise any commercial
product. As an example, instead of Abaqus one may use commercial finite
element code) as long as they are not your own products.
Do not start with In this research/paper/work .... Is it possible that the abstract
refers to a different research/paper/work?
The keywords are used to categorize your work and search engines rely on them
to filter results. Avoid repetitions of words which are already contained in the
title since search engines use title and keywords. If the selection of keywords is
free, the more specific the better they are. Think of synonyms, abbreviations and
names.
Introduction
The introduction requires a short review of the literature pertaining to the
research topic. The introduction is then best constructed as a descriptive
funnel, starting with broad topics and slowly focusing on the work at hand.
Perhaps three to four paragraphs are needed. One approach may be to start
with one or two paragraphs that introduce the reader to the general field of
study. The subsequent paragraphs then describe how an aspect of this field
could be improved. The final paragraph is critical. It clearly states, most likely in
the first sentence of the paragraph, what experimental question will be
answered by the present study. The hypothesis/solution is then stated. Next,
briefly describe the approach that was taken to test the hypothesis. Finally, a
summary sentence may be added stating how the answer of your question will
contribute to the overall field of study.
Materials and Methods
This section should be a straightforward description of the methods used in your study.
Each method should be described in a separate section. Begin, in a single section, with
a statement of the materials used in the study, indicating the vendor and vendor
contact information for each material. This information is critical so that readers have
the capability to repeat the work in their own institutions. Next describe, in separate
sections, each key procedure and technique used in the study. Keep explanations brief
and concise. If a specific experimental design is utilized, describe this design in the
second section of the Methods, after the materials section. Similarly, if a theoretical or
modeling component is utilized, it should also be incorporated in the initial portion of
the Methods. Finally, remember to describe the statistical analysis methods that were
utilized to analyze the results, most likely in the final section of the Methods section.
The use of the passive voice is probably appropriate in the Methods section.
Full article
Short communication
Full article
Results and discussions
(These two sections can be combined or separated)
Describe the results in detail and include a healthy, detailed
discussion
The order of figures should follow the discussion themes and
not the sequence they were conducted
Discuss how your data compare or contrast with previous
results.
Include schemes, photographs to enhance the scope of
discussion
Avoid
Excessive presentation of data/results without any discussion
Citing every argument with a published work
Conclusions
Again, first introduce the work and then briefly state the major results. Then
state the major points of the discussion. Finally, end with a statement of how
this work contributes to the overall field of study.
Staff ID26
References
Include all references that have been cited in the text. The references should be
well considered, so that they contain all key sources in the field as well as
previous studies that support or motivate the present work. However, do not
include extraneous references in an effort to simply cite particular authors or
journals. It may be appropriate to cite previous publications from your own
laboratory, but this should be done judiciously.
You must use the reference format that is mandated by the journal to which you
are submitting the manuscript. Software packages make citing literature
particularly easy.
Wiley
Elsevier
Supporting information
Include methods, analysis, blank experiments, additional data.
Tables and table captions
Tables should generally be included in a separate section after the References
section. The tables should be headed with a caption and title in bold (i.e., Table 1:
Material Properties), followed by a sentence or two that describes the content and
impact of the data included in the table. The table itself should be formatted so
that the data is clearly presented and easily interpreted by the reviewer, however
the table is likely to be reformatted by journal to conform to its standards. Make
sure that each table is referred to in the manuscript text; this will most likely occur
in the Results section, but may also occur in the Introduction, Methods, or
Discussion sections.
Figures & figure captions
As with the tables, figures can also be placed in a separate section after the References
section. Again, clarity is the key factor, especially with images and graphs. All images
should be as large as possible, and include accurate scale bars. The graphs should be
large, with data points and axis labels in a large font. Legends can be included within the
graph or in the caption. All figures need a caption. The caption should identify the figure
in bold (i.e., Figure 3), state a brief title to the figure, succinctly present the significant
result or interpretation that may be made from the figure (this may be modified from the
Results or Discussion section text), and finally state the number of repetitions within the
experiment (i.e., n=5) as well as what the data point actually represents (i.e., the data are
means and the associated error bars represent standard deviations). As with the tables,
make sure that each figure is referred to in the manuscript text.
Authorship and Originality
Plagiarism is unfortunately a major concern among editors and publishers. Therefore, be
certain of the sources of all data and text. If the article is based upon prior work, be sure
to reference that prior work properly. An original research paper can not contain
previously published data in any form without a proper citation.
Authorship and the order of authorship must be agreed upon by all of the authors and
any other personnel who participated in the work but are not included as an author.
It is not permissible to submit a work that is a translation of a previously published
paper.
Selecting a journal
Read the finalized paper carefully. Check for accuracy of figures and
captions.
Are the figures correctly referred to in the text?
Get feedback from advisor and colleagues.
Make sure the paper is read by at least one or two colleagues who is not
familiar with the specific work.
Provide a cover letter to the editor along with a brief paragraph highlighting
the importance of this work and names of possible reviewers.
Have all coauthors approve the finalized version of the paper.
Submit the paper online along with copyright form.
Cover letter
Each submission of a manuscript should beeven when not explicitly requested-
accompanied by an appropriate cover letter. A good cover letter;
Addresses appropriately the editor-in-chief (The EiC normally holds an academic degree
(e.g. Dr.) and/or academic post (e.g. Professor) and this title/post should be used to correctly
address him or her). Avoid to refer to gender (Sir, Madame), it might be wrong;
Contains the title of the manuscript and the names of all authors;
Gives a brief background of the work and explains the importance of the obtained results;
Includes a statement that the submitted manuscript has not been published elsewhere
and that it has not been submitted simultaneously for publication elsewhere;
Contains the complete contact details (e-mail, postal address, phone and telefax)
of the corresponding author;
Is signed by the corresponding author.
Recommending reviewers
Many journals offer today the possibility that authors may suggest potential reviewers
for their work or even to exclude reviewers (enemies). If an editor-in-chief will
follow such suggestions or select at least one of the provided names can depend on
many factors. Suggested reviewers may look not very trustful under the following
conditions:
The suggested reviewer is a frequent co-author of one of the submitting authors.
The suggested reviewer is completely unknown in the research field of the submission.
The suggested reviewer is from the same cultural (similar name or name from the
same geographical area) or geographical (for example an author from Liechtenstein
suggests three potential reviewers from Liechtenstein) background.
The suggested reviewer is a well-known expert in the area of the manuscript but
is not mentioned in the literature review/literature section.
The contact details are incomplete and no institutional e-mail addresses are provided.
Nevertheless it might be appropriate for an author to suggest reviewers which are
somehow familiar with the work. In this context, conferences may be a good opportunity
to get in contact with scientists (networking) from the same field and discussions
can even follow up after the scientific meeting. Such a contactwhich is not
a co-author of any previous publicationsmay serve well as a possible reviewer.
Revision of a manuscript
A request for revision (minor or major) of a manuscript can be considered as the regular
case in the publishing process. The corresponding author should receive in this case
detailed comments on what is expected to be changed and improved. In any case, it
should be kept in mind that the intention of the comments should be to improve the
manuscript and that the reviewer is someone who is not directly involved in the work.
Many issues might be obvious and clear for the involved authors but a reviewerwho is
naturally not involved in the entire research process of the presented workcan see
things from a different angle and may need further clarifications. It can also occur that
the reviewer is wrong with one of his statements, i.e. he most probably misunderstood
something in the manuscript. The author should take this as an opportunity in order to
clarify and detail the presented work. In the case that the reviewer is not subject to a
misunderstanding, i.e. he is simply wrong, the author should politely explain the issue
and provide evidence of his appeal based on appropriate references.
After having revised the manuscript, the authors must resubmit their work
to the journal office. The resubmission must be accompanied by:
1. Avoid Focus
2. Avoid originality and personality
3. Make the article really really long
4. Do not indicate any potential implications
5. Leave out illustrations (too much effort to draw a sensible
drawing)
6. Omit necessary steps of reasoning
7. Use abbreviations and technical terms that only
specialists in the field can understand
8. Make it sound too serious with no significant discussion
9. Focus only on statistics
10.Support every statement with a reference
Ethical Guidelines for Publishing
Plagiarism: can be defined as taking someones ideas, words or work without giving
proper reference to the original source. If an entire sentence or paragraph is copied
from a source, it should appear in quotation marks ( ) and the source must be
given at the end. However, copying word-by-word entire paragraphs is not advisable in
engineering and the original wording should be all the time rephrased in own words by
the author. However, the source must be still indicated even when something is
changed to own words. A word-by-word quotation may occur, for example, in the case
of key statements or conclusions in the form of a single sentence. Plagiarism comprises
also the case of self-plagiarism where major parts of the own work are reused without
giving reference to the previous work. This may violate copyright issues (legal aspects).
Data Fabrication and Falsification
Data fabrication relates to the invention of data without, for example, ever
having done any simulation of experiment. Data falsification relates to the
case that someone made the required simulation or experiment but
manipulated the data to better fit to the envisaged trend or idea. Both must
be regarded as scientifically wrong conduct and reveal an utmost unscientific
character. A real scientist is looking for the reason why something does not fit
and tries to explain the obtained set of data. Scientists should bear in mind
that a scientific publication must contain all the information so that an
independent group can repeat the experiments/simulations and verify the
resulting data.
Multiple Submission
Authors should never submit the same manuscript to different journals at the
same time (multiple submission). This may look at the first glance as a
shortcut to save time (we will get at least one through). However, journals
with a similar topical orientation may relay on the same reviewers. A
submission of the same or a revised manuscript to another journal should be
only considered after a rejection. Many journals require, for example, in the
cover letterthat the corresponding author confirms that the submitted
manuscript is not submitted or under review with any other journal. Well-
prepared manuscripts are likely to be considered for publication so that a
double submission will probably lead to a double acceptance.
Redundant Publication
Redundant publication refers to the fact that the same finding is used to
produce different publications ( self-plagiarism). Once a result from an
experiment and simulation is published, it should be no more presented as new
in any other publication of the author. If an author repeats the same result in a
different publication (there may be reasons for doing so), he should give proper
reference to the original publication of the results. The best way is to explain
why it is necessary to repeat the results in the actual publication.
Authorship
It should be highlighted here that all authors of a manuscript must agree to the final version
and approve it for submission. Each authornot only the corresponding authorwho is
listed on a manuscript takes responsibility for the submission.
It should be mentioned at the end of this section that there is all the time the possibility to
mention someone and its contribution in the Acknowledgments at the end of the
manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers, editors and authors should disclose any conflict of interest, i.e.
financial, personal, academic or religious, which may affect their ability to judge
or present in an objective manner. Journals may ask to disclose any possible
interest that may appear to influence the work and even publish such
statements at the end of manuscripts. Such published statements increase the
transparency of the reader and may avoid wrong conclusions. Typical misdeeds
in this context are, for example, consultancy fees obtained from pharmaceutical
companies and the tendency to claim higher impacts of medicaments or
editors/reviewers taking ideas from articles under review or even rejecting
manuscripts from competitors.
Consequences
In the context of publications, all the major publishing houses have a clear policy
on how to react on unethical behavior. The ultimate consequence can be that an
article, for example, is retracted from the online platform and the web page
displays a comment on this retraction action.
Further actions that might be taken by a publisher may include to contact the
institution from where the work was submitted (to bring the case to the superiors
of the author), an embargo of further publication at the publishing house
(including books) and co-authorship, or to take appropriate action through their
legal department.
How to write a research proposal
What is a research proposal
What is a research proposal?
A research proposal is a an outline of your proposed project that is
designed to:
Does the proposal make a convincing and coherent case for the
importance of issues to be studied in health, economic and societal
terms?
Does the proposal make a convincing and coherent argument for
the need for the research to fill gaps in current knowledge?
Does the research proposal frame the issues in a way that makes
them amenable to research using the methodologies and design
proposed?
Does the research proposed address the key questions in the field?
Are the aims and objectives
Are the methods sound and appropriate?
Are the design and methods for the proposed study fully described,
explained and justified?
Will the design and methods of the study deliver the aims and
objectives?
Are the design and methods of the proposed study the most efficient
way to deliver the aims and objectives?
Will the results of the study be generalisable or transferable beyond
the immediate research setting?
Does the proposed study design take account of issues of
representativeness?
Does the proposal describe and explain the approach(es) the study
will take to avoid potential sources of bias?
Can the proposed study meet the relevant legislative and regulatory
requirements?
Is the study practical and feasible?
Is the way that the study will be undertaken described in sufficient detail
for an assessment of its feasibility to be made?
Is it possible to complete the study to the timescale described in the
proposal?
Is it possible to complete the study with the resources described in the
proposal?
Is the proposed recruitment rate realistic?
Does the team of investigators incorporate the range of disciplines and
experience needed to carry out the study?
Does the proposal describe the benefits and limitations of the proposed
setting for the study?
Structure of a Research Proposal
On the title page, state your personal data like: name, academic title (if applicable), your
position at your own university, e.g. junior lecturer (if applicable), your date of birth,
nationality, your work and private address including telephone and e-mail address. Then
the title of your planned dissertation (or research report) should follow. Remember that at
this stage, the title can only be a working title. Nevertheless, all words in the title should
be chosen with great care, and their association with one another must be carefully
considered. While the title should be brief, it should be accurate, descriptive and
comprehensive, clearly indicating the subject of the investigation. Note that you will only
be ready to devise a title when you are clear about the focus of your research. You should
also state the area of your research, e.g. Political Science - Theory of International
Relations - or Empirical Social Science etc.
Project details
Possible pitfalls
Make sure that your research idea, question or problem is clearly
stated, persuasive and addresses a demonstrable gap in the existing
literature;
Make sure that you have researched the Discipline(s) to which you
are applying to ensure that you will received a proper evaluation.
Ensure that the proposal demonstrates an understanding of research
methods and research approaches and is it clear that the research
methods identified are appropriate to the research question(s)
identified;
Ensure that the scope of your project is reasonable, reviewers will be
assessing proposals not only for their intellectual ambition and
significance, but also for the likelihood that the candidate can
complete this project;
A few words on innovation and
technology transfer
From academic discovery to industrial
applications
Starting a spin-off : Luck versus planning