Graduate Research School Advanced Academic Writing Workshop · Academic Writing Style Academic...
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Advanced Academic Writing Workshop Science/ Applied Science Dr Jo Edmondston Graduate Education Officer Graduate Research School
Transcript of Graduate Research School Advanced Academic Writing Workshop · Academic Writing Style Academic...
Advanced Academic Writing WorkshopScience/ Applied Science
Dr Jo Edmondston Graduate Education Officer
Graduate Research School
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ObjectivesofWorkshop
1) Explore academic writing style 2) Understand and address common editing and proofing concerns 3) Develop an editing strategy and style sheet
Resources
Explorations of Style http://explorationsofstyle.com/ Doctoral Writing Special Interest Group (SIG) https://doctoralwriting.wordpress.com/home/ Online Writing Lab (OWL) https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/1/ Expert Editor Blog ‐ 100 Editing and Proofreading Tips for Writers
https://experteditor.com.au/blog/100‐editing‐and‐proofreading‐tips‐for‐writers/ University of Leicester ‐ The Art of Editing
https://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/writing/writing‐resources/editing Institute of Professional Editors‐ Editing with Style http://www.iped‐
editors.org/Resources_for_editors/Articles_about_editing/Editing_with_style Eisenberg, A. 1992. Guide to technical editing. Oxford University Press, New York. Academic Wordlist https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist Academic Phrasebank http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
Contents
Academic Writing Style ........................................................................................................................... 3
Editing ..................................................................................................................................................... 4
Sample Editing Checklist ..................................................................................................................... 5
Voice ....................................................................................................................................................... 6
First Person ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Differentiation ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Concision ................................................................................................................................................. 8
Parallel Construction, Patterning and Repetition ................................................................................. 11
Tense ..................................................................................................................................................... 12
Hedging ................................................................................................................................................. 13
Lower order concerns ........................................................................................................................... 14
Sample Style Sheet ............................................................................................................................ 15
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GraduateEducationOfficers
The Graduate Education Officers provide a range of academic writing support to Higher Degree by Research students at UWA, including workshops, writing spaces and writing retreats.
Read more here: http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/students/resources Find GEO workshop dates here: http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/students/resources/events
Dr Michael Azariadis 6488 1726 [email protected] Dr Krys Haq 6488 2095 [email protected]
Dr Jo Edmondston 6488 7010 [email protected]
StudySmarter
StudySmarter are a team of learning skills advisors. They offer a range of online support, workshops and drop‐in sessions that aim to help UWA students develop study skills. A number of their team are trained to provide English language skills development.
Read more here: http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/learning/studysmarter
StudySmarter Editing and Grammar Survival Guides http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/learning/studysmarter/getsmart/survivalguides/grammarandediting
StudySmarter Drop‐in Sessions http://www.student.uwa.edu.au/learning/studysmarter/writesmart_drop‐in
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AcademicWritingStyle
Academic Writing style is often described as being clear, concise, coherent, formal and cautious.
Which of the above descriptions of academic writing do you find difficult to understand and/or apply?
Depending on your experience with academic writing, the style you have applied to other writing purposes may not apply here. Fiction and essay genres are different from theses and journal paper genres.
Aim for simplest delivery of a complex message. You will need to balance the complexity of your ideas and terminology, and the complexity of academic style (expected forms, phrases and word choices) against simplicity elsewhere.
In recent years, a large number of interesting studies have shown that the human
microbiota provides a physical barrier, protecting hosts against foreign pathogens
through competitive exclusion and the production of antimicrobial substances. Only a
small number of research articles delve intensively into the central role of microbial
symbiosis in the development diseases such as gastrointestinal malignancy and
infection etc.
[Adapted from Wang et al. 2019. The Human Microbiota in Health and Disease. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809917301492]
Academic Writing Style www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study‐support/academic‐skills/academic‐style
JCU Choosing the Right Word – Formal alternatives https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/218629/Choosing_the_right_word.pdf Checklist of language to avoid in academic writing https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/2e.html
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Editing
Shifting from drafting to editing is a difficult transition because you know more than you have written on the page and cannot see the ‘holes’ in your text or your mistakes (‘the curse of knowledge’ ‐ forgetting what it’s like not to know what you know) AND you will engage with the content rather than editing concerns.
When editing, put yourself in the position of the reader. You want to edit your text as it is written to enable your reader to read your text once and share your understanding of the text. You don’t want them to reread text OR misinterpret your message.
Consider:
• ensuring you have revised your work sufficiently prior to editing to ensure you are clear about what you want to say and where you want to say it
taking a break between revising the text and editing to enable you to see your text as the reader does – moving to a different environment may also help
reading your work aloud and reading it slowly ‐ you will ‘hear’ problems with grammar, sentence length, connectivity and you will ‘see’ problems with spelling and punctuation
working on a printed copy – the traditional on screen appearance of text (single column
layout, single paragraph visible) is not easy to edit
• timing how long it takes to edit a section of work to give you an estimate of the time required for you to edit & how long you can sustain focus
• develop, and regularly update, an editing checklist & style sheet • edit & proof by addressing editing and style concerns one‐by‐one and correcting all
instances in the text– easier then simultaneously editing sentence‐by‐sentence for all concerns and ensures consistency throughout text
Limited editing by professional editors is allowable according to the UWA Use of Editorial Assistance by Students Policy: http://www.governance.uwa.edu.au/procedures/policies/policies‐and‐procedures?method=document&id=UP09%2F9
You should obtain permission from your supervisor before you seek a professional editor. The name of your editor and a brief description of the service they provided should be included in your thesis acknowledgements.
A list of professional editors who have contacted the GRS offering their services to students is available here: http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/students/thesis/editorial‐assistance
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SampleEditingChecklist
Headings are representative of underlying text and articles (a, an, the) are removed
Paragraph length is appropriate
Sentence order in paragraph is logical
Structural signposting is consistent with actual order of text
Connections between paragraphs are explicit where required
Amount text is proportional to importance of topic unless indicated otherwise
Topic sentence is appropriate for paragraph
Sentence length is appropriate
Mid‐sentence interruptions are removed where possible
Each sentences focusses on one topic, preferably early in sentence
Sentences within a paragraph are connected
Redundant words and phrases are removed
Technical terms are used consistently – key terms are repeated not replaced with synonyms
Tense is correct
First person singular or plural (I or we) is used consistently
Transition words are used sparingly and appropriately
Pronoun references are unambiguous
Lists are grammatically consistent
Abbreviations and acronyms are applied consistently and appropriately
Stacked noun modifiers (also known as noun strings) are simplified
Sentences are positive constructed ‐ double negative constructions are reworded
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Voice
It is important to ensure the reader knows what you want to say in your writing ‐ your position, your point of view, your stance. Without an authoritative voice, your writing describes an existing body of knowledge but adds no new knowledge. You need an ‘authoritative’ voice that clearly expresses your contribution. Common reasons for authoritative or stylistic voice problems: Under‐familiarity – you don’t know what you want to say yet Lack of confidence – clear representation of other’s work but little text reflecting your own ideas Over‐familiarity – you know what you are saying – the reader may not Inexperience – not knowing how to differentiate your own ideas from others Desire for unique style – be careful of adopting too many ‘quirky’ writing features Tensions in collaborative writing – feeling your style is being edited out of your writing
Coleman et al (2004) described soils as a vast pore system with extensive
surfaces, enabling a great variety of microbes to colonize water films. Poll and
coworkers (2013) found that global climate change has increased soil
temperatures and reduced soil water content. Coleman and coworkers (2008)
later suggested that the integument of many soil organisms is permeable to
water. The abundance and diversity of many taxa are known to decrease with
global warming (Blankinship et al., 2011; Geisen et al., 2014).
[Adapted from Siebert et al. 2019. Earthworms modulate the effects of climate warming on the taxon richness of soil meso‐ and macrofauna in an agricultural system": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880919300544]
Cayley. 2013. Contribution and voice in academic writing. Explorations of Style https://explorationsofstyle.com/2013/05/16/contribution‐and‐voice‐in‐academic‐writing/ University of Melbourne Voice in Academic Writing http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/471298/Voice_in_Acade
mic_Writing_Update_051112.pdf
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FirstPerson
Whether or not to use first person to describe your study or your perspective will come down to your disciplinary norm and your choice of style.
Sciences tend to avoid using first person in favour of the seemingly anonymous third person which implies objectivity
Humanities, where agency is valued, first person is often encouraged as it positions the researcher ‘inside’ the research.
The first person pronouns include the singular forms ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘my’, and the plural forms ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’. Irrespective of disciplinary norm, it is always acceptable to use first person when providing your perspective or describing your study.
Traditionally, when first person was used in a thesis, it was first person singular. However, with the inclusion of multi‐authored publications within theses, there are now more theses written in first person plural.
The second person, ‘you’, is often considered too conversational to be used in any discipline. Alternatives include ‘people’, ‘individual’ or ‘community’.
Consider:
Style choice ‐ first person sentences are often more direct, shorter and clearer.
Strength of assertion – first person can also add strength to an opinion statement as third
person can give the impression of lack of ‘ownership’ of ideas.
Differentiation ‐ first person can be used to differentiate your work from the work of others.
In studying the growth of canola in various soil types, the degree to which soil acidification was a major factor impacting on ammonium fixation from fertiliser application was explored.
UNC Writing Centre Should I Use "I"? https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips‐and‐tools/should‐i‐use‐i/
Webb (1992) The use of the first person in academic writing: objectivity, language and gatekeeping. Journal Advanced Nursing. 17:747‐752 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365‐2648.1992.tb01974.x?sid=nlm%3Apubmed&
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Differentiation
It may be difficult for your reader to understand when you shift from writing about the work of others to writing about your work (or the work of your group). This is a critical transition and differentiation of your contribution is important.
Use first person to describe your study ‐ My/our data shows…….I/we found that… Refer to own research ‐ This study……the present study……. the findings of this research…. Refer to your own research in the present tense and other research in past tense ‐ This study
shows a 26% increase which is greater than the 12% increase observed by X&Y…..
In order to develop context‐aware applications, a context awareness loop is
proposed by Dobson et al. [3]. In the analysis phase of this loop, it is useful to
evaluate, detect the context changes and trigger notifications to assess the
application state. Context‐aware applications that use the analysis phase to enhance
their context awareness property are developed, to detect correctly context changes
and to predict context.
[Adapted from Khabou. 2019. An overview of a novel analysis approach for enhancing context awareness in smart environments": https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950584918301113 ]
Concision
Academic writing should aim to be clear and concise – in that order. You should aim to use the minimum number of words required to make your writing easy to understand, but not so brief that you lose clarity or meaning. Text that is too wordy can be unfocussed but text that is too brief may be impossible to understand or easily misinterpreted.
Consider your audience and their understanding of the topic. An understanding of the presumed knowledge of your readers can help you eliminate unnecessary background descriptions.
Let go of unnecessary sections. Deleting highly‐edited sections can be very difficult but may improve the text overall.
Remove unnecessary details. Ask yourself if the facts ‘build or blur’ your message. Restructure repetitive text. Generally you only need to tell your reader something once. If
text is repeated in two places, consider consolidating the text in one place. Edit word by word, removing any that are unnecessary.
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Microscopy was undertaken to differentiate urinary tract cells, crystals, bacteria and parasites from tumour cells. This microscopic analysis of urine is often used to confirm the findings of other tests or add information to a diagnosis.
A computer network is a network of computers that are connected together for the purpose of sharing resources.
The focus of this reef project was to study the effects of increased global temperatures on the growth rates of reefs.
It is really important to note that…….
Nausea and vomiting were symptoms not uncommonly reported after alcohol consumption level increased.
For a short period of time,
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After performing an analysis of the data, we conclude that epigenetic problems can cause diabetes.
After reviewing the results of this research and in light of other relevant research, there is ample evidence for making important, significant changes to operating procedures for the capture of terrestrial vertebrates using box traps.
We estimated that as much as 36‐50% (depending on the sample) of penguin species diversity might be explained, at least in part, by changes in habitat and food supply resulting from melting ice caps and sea ice.
Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University Conciseness https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/572/01/ Writing concise sentences – good list of clichés, euphemisms, redundant phrases http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm
200 Common Redundancies in English https://www.thoughtco.com/common‐redundancies‐in‐english‐1692776 50 Adverbs to avoid in academic writing https://drsaraheaton.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/50‐adverbs‐to‐avoid‐in‐academic‐writing/
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ParallelConstruction,PatterningandRepetition
Parallel construction involves using the same pattern of words for two or more ideas to improve readability. Often discussion of parallelism is limited to grammatical issues; however you can apply this principle more broadly to considering how you can pattern your text to improve reader comprehension.
Parallel construction of lists ‐ One way to check for problems with the grammatical construction of lists is to read the stem with each item. You will hear parallelism problems more easily when reading text aloud than you will when proofing the text.
You can improve your thesis writing today by committing to writing regularly,
efficiently, and separating the creative phases of your writing from the editing and
proofing stages of your writing.
Parallelism for easier comparison ‐ While we have often been taught to make our writing ‘interesting’, the interest in academic writing lies in the content. When making comparisons, to allow the reader to compare items easily, keep the position of items in the sentence in the same place and try to repeat as many words as possible.
In winter, the lakes are often at maximum capacity. The lakes, during the drought
in summer, hold much lower levels of water.
Patterning for structural improvements – there are times when ABABAB structures are useful, but keeping together like concepts in AAABBB structures is usually easier to read and comprehend.
Repetition of key terms is a useful way of linking concepts together. Use of synonyms in these cases may be misleading for the reader as they will attempt to determine the relationship between the term and the synonym replacing the term. Rarely will repetition of key terms sound ‘boring’.
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Tense
Verb tense simplification (not applied universally across disciplines)
Aims are quite variable – check some journal articles in your discipline
Methods
Your methods ‐ what you did = PAST TENSE
Other researcher’s methods ‐ what someone else did = PAST TENSE
Results
Your results ‐ what you found = PAST TENSE
Other researcher’s results ‐ what someone else found = PAST TENSE
[Exceptions – tables and figures –as there for reader to see ‐ PRESENT TENSE]
Conclusions
Your conclusions ‐ what you think now = PRESENT TENSE
Other researcher’s conclusions = PAST OR PRESENT TENSE. PRESENT TENSE if thinking is still
current. PAST TENSE if thinking has changed – useful set‐up for explaining what is current.
Future research– want you suggest should be done/ will do in the future = FUTURE TENSE
Figure 1 showed more than 70% of the insects collected are non‐phytophagous.
Although tillage and irrigation is observed within the study area, it is not possible
to determine if the effects of agriculture upstream caused higher levels of total
nitrogen downstream. Future studies examine the effects of agriculture on the
health of the wetland.
University of Melbourne Using Tenses in Scientific Writing https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/471294/Using_tenses_in
_scientific_writing_Update_051112.pdf
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Hedging
Very strong claims are rare in academic writing. Instead, ‘hedging’ is used to reduce the strength of claims and indicate to the reader the probability that the writer gives to the claim being ‘the truth’. A range of words (including modal and reporting verbs) and phrases can be used in hedging. It is important to communicate this uncertainty with confidence and authority – otherwise the reader may interpret your ‘hedging’ as a lack of confidence in your results and/or conclusions.
Smith (2018) argues that fever is present in about one third of individuals who
contract this disease.
Leaf carbon and phenolic content did not differ across sites, indicating that the response of secondary plant chemicals to water is complex.
It seems that camel breeds show low levels of genetic differences that reflect the evolutionary history of the Saudi dromedary camel.
Academic Phrasebank – Being Cautious http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/using‐cautious‐language/
University of Wollongong. UniLearning. Modal Verbs and adverbs. https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/4aiii_2.html
James Cook University – Reporting Verbs https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/104215/jcu_131158.pdf
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Lowerorderconcerns
While examiners try not to be influenced by first impressions, they often decide the quality of a thesis very early in examination. Lack of attention to detail and inconsistencies can contribute to a negative first impression.
Mullins and Kiley. 2002. ‘It’s a PhD, not a Nobel; Prize’: How experienced examiners assess research theses. Studies in Higher Education. 27(4): 369 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0307507022000011507
Make your text legible and appealing by giving some consideration to font, hierarchy, white space and justification. Apply formatting consistently.
UWA Postgrad Writing Group – Typography http://www.postgraduate.uwa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/3359599/GRSWG_Typography_060718.pdf
Remove contractions clichés, metaphors, similes, colloquialisms, texting abbreviations
Checklist of language to avoid in academic writing https://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/2e.html
Taboo words in Academic Writing https://www.scribbr.com/academic‐writing/taboo‐words/
Understand how to use colons, semi‐colons, commas and dashes.
Punctuation Made Simple http://punctuationmadesimple.org/
How insert an en dash or em dash in Word https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001084.htm
Restrict use of transition words – do not use transition words at the beginning of a paragraph.
Explorations of Style Transitions
https://explorationsofstyle.com/2011/02/23/transitions/
Remove Double spaces ‐ click on pilcrow (¶) for formatting marks then Find & Replace.
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Use abbreviations & acronyms consistently.
When presenting numbers consider the number of significant figures.
Avoid pronouns if they are ambiguous for the reader.
Avoiding Vague and Ambiguous Pronoun References https://www.cedarville.edu/‐/media/Files/PDF/Writing‐Center/Student/avoiding‐vague‐and‐ambiguous‐pronoun‐references.pdf
SampleStyleSheet
Headings – hierarchical, consistent formatting
Spelling and grammar check – language setting
Formatting of figures, tables, quotes, , lists of tables and figures
Written numbers, numerals, scientific nomenclature, units, statistics
Capitalisation, colons, semi‐colons, hyphens, parentheses, other punctuation
Spacing – including two spaces after full stop
Cross‐references ‐ to tables, figures, footnotes, pages, sections, chapters
Formatting (including horizontal and vertical lists)
Peak Proposals Style Guide https://www.peakproposals.com/tools‐templates
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