English for postgraduate students. Учебное пособие

Unit 3. Writing a research paper

• communicating your work and ideas opens you up to potential

________.

2 b. Which of the points do you agree/disagree with? Compare your ideas with your partner.

Listening

1. You are going to hear journal editor Professor David Simon giving advice on what to think about before you start to write an article. Decide which six out of the ten pieces of advice are given in the recording.

1.When you plan to write an article you should bear in mind the four A’s:Aims,Audience,Awareness of existing work,Articulation of your ideas clearly.

2.One more very important decision is defining a target audience.

3.Choosing the right journal for your paper will influence the chance of getting published easily and quickly.

4.When writing an article, you don’t just cover your own research, you consider it in relation to the existing literatures.

5.If time to publication is important to you, you should check journal websites or recent issues to see whether they report the average time to publication.

6.Plagiarising or self-plagiarising can lead to damage not only your own reputation, but also the reputation of the journal.

7.Good tip would be to leave both the introduction and the conclusion to the end after you have written the main part of the article.

8.You can optimize your publication success by understanding and meeting the selection criteria of the journal.

9.Youshouldcarefullyselectthejournalyouwillsubmittoandprepare the manuscript content and style to maximize your chances of acceptance.

10.Whilewritingyourpaper,itishelpfultogetasecondopinionfrom your fellow students or a more senior colleague.

2.Listen again and complete the statements.

1.Publication of articles is crucial in terms of __________ for career purposes as well as __________.

31

English for postgraduate students

2.There are numerous journals which are specialized in ________, either within a particular discipline, or perhaps ________ on a particular geographical region.

3.________ the work of others when you cite them, or quote them directly is very important.

4.Specific journals have clear ________ and obviously you need to follow those if provided.

5.Youcanfindhelpfromavarietyofsourceswhilewritingyourpaper: through________amongyour________studentsorearlycareerresearchers or perhaps get a second opinion from a more senior colleague or mentor.

Reading 1

Research article structure

(1) Publication in a reputable, peer reviewed journal should be the goal of every researcher, as this provides the most effective and permanent means of disseminating information to a large audience. Having selected a journal, it is essential to carefully read and follow the guidelines for authors published within the journal or obtained directly from the editor or publisher. These guidelines are usually very specific and include rules about word limit, organization of the manuscript, margins, line spacing, preparation of tables and figures and the method used to cite references.

(2) There are four major sections to a scientific article, sometimes known as AIMRaD: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. There are additional minor sections that precede or follow the major sections including the title, abstract, acknowledgements, references, appendices.

(3) Title of the article conveys the essential point of the paper.Agood titleisbriefandinformative.Titlesshouldnotexceed10or12words,andthey should reveal the content of the study. If the report is of a very problematic issue its title may be in the form of a question.

(4) An abstract is a brief summary (of specified word limit) of the content of the paper. It should provide the highlights from the introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusions. It must make sense when read in isolation for those who read only the abstract.

32

Unit 3. Writing a research paper

(5) Introductionshouldcontainabriefhistoryoftheresearchproblem with appropriate references to the relevant literature and the purpose of the study.The introduction should also explain whether the study is an extension of a previous one, or whether a completely new hypothesis is to be tested. The results of the current study are not to be referred to in the introduction.

(6) Methodsexplainhowyoustudiedtheproblem,whichshouldfollow logically from the aims. Depending on the kind of data, this section may contain subsections on experimental details, materials used, data collection/ sources, analytical or statistical techniques employed, study area, etc.

(7) Resultsexplainyouractualfindings,usingsubheadingstodividethe section into logical parts, with the text addressing the study aims. Tables are an easy and neat way of summarizing the results. An alternative or additional way of presenting data is in the form of line graphs, bar-charts, pie-charts, etc.

(8) Discussion is the most difficult section of a report to write and requires considerable thought and care. Essentially it is a consideration of the results obtained in the study, guided by any statistical tests used, indicating whether the hypotheses tested are considered true or are to be rejected.

(9) Conclusions should comprise a brief statement of the major findings and implications of the study. It is not the function of this section to summarize the study; this is the purpose of the abstract. New information must not be included in the conclusions.

(10) Acknowledgments is an optional section. You can thank people who directly contributed to the paper, by providing data, assisting with some part of the analysis, proofreading, typing, etc.

(11) References include cite references by author and year unless instructed.

1.Read the text and answer the questions.

1.Why should researchers publish their papers in reputable journals?

2.What do guidelines in the journal specify?

3.What does the abbreviation IMRAD mean?

4.What are additional minor sections of the article?

5.What should an abstract provide?

6.What are the aims of the Introduction?

7.What information should the section Methods comprise?

33

English for postgraduate students

8.What are easy ways of presenting the results in the manuscript?

9.What is the most difficult part of writing the scientific paper? Why?

10.What is the function of the Conclusions?

2.Find words or phrases in the text which mean.

1.considered by experts in the same field of research (paragraph 1).

2.spreading or giving out something, especially information, ideas, etc., to a lot of people (paragraph 1).

3.to make known, to show (paragraph 3).

4.to be clear and easy to understand (paragraph 4).

5.related to a subject being discussed (paragraph 5).

6.an amount by which something is increased, or something added to something else (paragraph 5).

7.providing a clear statement of the important points (paragraph 7).

8.continuous and careful thought (paragraph 8).

9.to refuse to accept, consider, submit to, take for some purpose (paragraph 8).

10.the effect that an action or decision will have on something else in the future (paragraph 9).

11.finding and correcting mistakes in text before it is printed or put online (paragraph 10).

3. Identifywhichpartofaresearchpaperthefollowingstepscomesfrom. Write one of the following letters at the end of each line: I = Introduction, M = Methods, R = Results, or D = Discussion.

1.Include specialized chemicals, biological materials, and any equipment or supplies that are not commonly found in laboratories.

2.Describe the importance (significance) of the study – why was this worth doing in the first place? Provide a broad context.

3.Analyzeyourdata,thenpreparetheanalyzed(converted)datainthe form of a figure (graph), table, or in text form.

4.Decide if the experimental design adequately addressed the hypothesis, and whether or not it was properly controlled.

5.Do not include commonly found supplies such as test tubes, pipet tips, beakers, etc., or standard lab equipment such as centrifuges, spectrophotometers, pipettors, etc.

34

Unit 3. Writing a research paper

6.Comment on its suitability from a theoretical point of view as well as indicate practical reasons for using it.

7.Try to offer alternative explanations if reasonable alternatives exist.

8.Never include raw data or intermediate calculations in a research

paper.

9.Describe the mehodology completely, including such specifics as temperatures, incubation times, etc.

10.Decide if the experimental design adequately addressed the hypothesis, and whether or not it was properly controlled.

11.Summarizeyourfindingsintextandillustratethem,ifappropriate, with figures and tables.

12.To be concise, present methods under headings devoted to specific procedures or groups of procedures.

4. Select an article in your own field of research from your target journal included in Web of Science or Scopus databases, written by a native speaker of English (check authors’names and the location of their work sites to help identify an author’s language background). Analyse the structure of the selected paper, using the text “Research article structure” and the questions below as a guide to your talk.

1.How is the paper organized? Does it match theAIMRaD structure?

2.What are the main headings and subheadings?

3.Are there any additional sections? Which ones?

4.Does the title of the article convey the essential point of the paper? Is the title a noun phrase, a sentence, or a question? How many words are used in the title?

5.Whatinformationelementsarepresentedintheabstract(background information, the purpose of the study, the methods used, the results of the study, a statement of conclusion, etc.)?

6.What information does the Introduction contain?

7.How are examining data displayed in the article (tables, etc.)?

8.Can you identify any strategies the authors have used to clarify the key messages of their Discussion section (subheadings, topic sentences)?

9.Do you think the Discussion could have been improved by using a different arrangement?

10.What information is given in the Conclusion?

35

English for postgraduate students

Language Focus: Grammar

1 a. Articles have been removed from the followingAbstract of the paper. Write it again including 15 missing articles. Consult the Grammar tip before doing the task.

Grammar Tip: using the articles appropriately in science writing

The article can be a/an, the or zero article. Compare:

(a)Research is an important activity in the world.

(b)The researches of this professor were continued by his colleagues.

(c)An interesting piece of research was conducted in our university.

(a)an uncountable noun is used in a general sense;

(b)a specific piece of research is identified;

(c)a countable noun is being mentioned for the first time.

Are firms in clusters really more innovative?

Paper examines empirically whether fiirms located in strong industrial clusters are more innovative than fiirms located outside these regions. study performs fiirm-level analysis for two countries: Italy and the United Kingdom. European patent data for period 2008–2018 are used as indicator of fiirms’innovative activity, and are related to employment in region where fiirms are located, and other cluster-specifiic and fiirm-specifiic variables. Main result of paper is that clustering alone is not conducive to higher innovative performance. Whereas location in cluster densely populated by other innovative fiirms positively affects likelihood of innovating, quite strong disadvantages seem to arise from presence of non-innovative fiirms in fiirm’s own industrial sector. Regarding impact of other industrial sectors, preliminary results seem to indicate, in case of Italy, that strong presence of fiirms in other related industries spurs innovative performance.

1 b. Analyze the use of articles in the abstract of your selected paper in your own field of research.

2 a. Decide which tenses are used in the following text (verbs in bold) and think of a reason for the use of different tenses. Consult the Grammar tip before doing the task.

36

Unit 3. Writing a research paper

Grammar Tip: using tenses

In scientific writing the choice of verb tenses is quite limited. The most commonly used tenses are: the simple present, the simple past, the present perfect.

Present tense is used to state facts that are generally valid from the point of view of the writer (general facts).

Pasttenseisusedwhenthesentencefocusesonthecompletedstudy:what was done and found.

Present Perfect tense is used to show what work has been done and is still in progress.

Manyauthors,however,havepointedoutthelimitationsofsuchtools. First, participants in mediation (parties and mediators) are often reluctant to use those tools.

Moreover, there is no way to assess whether a particular mediation will benefiit from these systems or not. The authors remark that the major limitation of those tools is that they all focus on decision support rather than process support. In other words, they only help the users in making decisions and do not allow for enhancingthe mediation process.The authorscreated a web-basednegotiationsupportsystem,enablingpartiestousetext,audioand video. Three groups of students were asked to negotiate a mock case using differentfeatures:textonly,textandaudio,andtext,audioandvideo.Thegoal of the study was to verify if audio and video features made the negotiation easier, more effiicient and more effective. Unsurprisingly, it appeared that text combined with audio gave better results; but the participants reported that the video brought nothing to the process; it even made it worse.

2 b. Complete the following sentences by using the most suitable tense for the verb in brackets.

1.Recent years ________ (to witness) increased recognition of the crosscutting nature of food (in)security among academics, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

2.This section ________ (to demonstrate) the types of insights that can be acquired by applying the three diagnostic steps.

3.In 2010, the Government of Canada ________ (to launch) the Food Security Strategy that doubled aid spending on food and agriculture development.

37

English for postgraduate students

4.Since 2010, the Government of Canada ______ (to contribute) over CAD$450 million to the United Nation’s International Fund forAgricultural Development and the World Bank’s Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

5.In the second section, the author further ______ (to show) the close interrelationship between appropriation of mathematical tools and development of school identities within the dominant culture.

6.Initsconventionalusage,thetermfoodsecurity______(todescribe) a situation in which all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to suffiicient, safe, and nutritious food and healthy life.

7.Inordertobegintodevelopsupportformediation,theDirector______

(to encourage) one of the managers to be trained as a mediator.

8.The number of hungry people ______ (to increase) in every region in the world except LatinAmerica and the Caribbean since 1995.

9. Only a few previous studies ______ (to investigate) the effect of resource supply on the relationship between propagule pressure and recruitment of an introduced species.

10. The second element of the research strategy ______ (to involve) a programme of nineteen semi-structured interviews with key organizational actors.

Grammar Tip: the choice of tenses in scientific papers

Abstract:generally,usethesimplepast(orforaconciseintroductoryphrase the present perfect); for general statements and facts use the present tense. Introduction: use a mixture of present and past tense; the present tense is applied when you are talking about something that is always true; the past tense is used for earlier research efforts, either by your own or by another group. If the time of demonstration is unknown or not important, use the present perfect. For the concluding statements of your introduction use the simple past; you may use the past perfect, when you talk about something that was true in the past but is no longer so.

Methods: here you generally use the passive voice in the simple past. Results: simple past and present tense should be employed here, but when yourefertofiguresandtablesyouusethepresenttense,sincetheycontinue to exist in your paper; you can mix active and passive voice.

38

Unit 3. Writing a research paper

Discussion: use the simple past for your own findings and the perfect tense for cited information; the present tense is also acceptable, if you prefer that one (in such statements as ‘We can conclude that …’.

Conclusions and Further work: use present perfect to make clear that your statements still hold at the time of reading; for further work the future tense (or the present) is acceptable.

(Moore, Tsuda:APractical Guide to the Use of Scientific English)

3. Analyze the use of tenses in your selected paper in your own field of research. Does it match the information given the table Grammar Tip: the choice of tenses in scientific papers?

Grammar Tip: active and passive verb forms

When we use an active verb, the grammatical subject of the verb actually does the action indicated by the verb. For example:

subject + active verb + object.

The scientist + discusses + important issues.

With a passive verb, the grammatical subject does not do the action of the verb (the biting, in this case). For example:

subject + passive verb + agent.

Important issues + are discussed + by the scientist.

3 a. Change the following sentences from active to passive.

1.Manyresearchershavepointedoutthatthepassivevoiceisamarked stylistic feature of scientific writing.

2.She researched the life cycle of over 15 types of mice.

3.In this study, we present our design of an electric hot water tank.

4.PreviousstudieshaveusedcomparativeanalysisofORF2sequences to elucidate phylogenetic relationships among different FCV isolates.

5.We found a strong correlation between above-ground and belowground biomass accumulation in Platanus occidentalis.

6.This study develops an efficient methodology to examine a space– time continuous dataset for urban irrigation water use.

7.We dissolve the sodium hydroxide in water.

8.We determined the presence of larvae by dip netting.

39

English for postgraduate students

9.The researchers have examined the possibility of cold fusion for many years.

10.DNAencodes genetic information.

3 b. Find 5 passive sentences from your selected article in your own field of research, and rewrite them in the active voice. Then find 5 sentences in the active voice that use a transitive verb, and rewrite them in the passive voice.

Reading 2

1.Discuss the questions.

1.Why do journals reject the articles?

2.Can the article be rejected, without even being peer-reviewed?

2.Read the article about the reasons why research papers are rejected. How similar are the reasons to your answer in Exercise 1?

Editorial reasons for research paper rejection

When a manuscript is submitted to a high-quality scholarly journal, it goes through intense scrutiny — even before it's seen by the editor-in-chief and selected for peer review.

1. It fails the technical screening.

Before they even go to the editor-in-chief, articles are checked for technical elements. The main reasons they are rejected are:

•The article contains elements that are suspected to be plagiarized, or it is currently under review at another journal. (Republishing articles or parts of articles, submitting to one or more journals at the same time or using text or images without permission is not allowed).

•The manuscript is not complete; it may be lacking key elements such as the title, authors, affiliations, keywords, main text, references and all tables and figures.

•References are incomplete or very old.

2. It does not fall within theAims and Scope.

Eachjournalhasawell-definedaimandscope,detailsofwhichareeasily available on their website. If the subject matter of the journal does not match the scope of the article, it will be rejected, without even being peer-reviewed.

40