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Research paper structure

� Title

� Abstract

� Introduction

� Methods

� Results

� Discussion

� Acknowledgements

� References

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Overview of a Research Paper (RP)

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Introduction (I)

Methods and

Materials (M)

Results (R)

Discussion (D)

General

Specific

Specific

General

List of references

Many different styles. Popular one: Chicago Manual of Style:

Author. Year. Title of work. Source.

Swales, J.M. and C.B. Feak 2000. English in today’s research

world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Cass, S. 2001 MEMS in space. IEEE Spectrum, July, 56-61.

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Language issues

� American or British English?

� Be consistent. Synonyms not often a good idea …

� Passive or active voice?

� Tense usage?

� Learn “connectives” that can make your text cohesive.

� Use proofing tools and other people for reviewing your text.

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Proofing tools

� Spell checkers

� Grammar tools

� Hyphenation

� Many false alarms

� Improved considerably the last ten years! Use them!

� An automatically grammar checked text is far from being a good

text.

� But … best “proofing tool” is probably a colleague.

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Reports as examination

� Scientific writing – building your work on the writings of somebody else.

� Examination – convincing your assessor that you understand what you're writing about.

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Reports as examination

Potential problems

� Collaboration when not permitted

� Plagiarism

Charges of cheating are brought before the Disciplinary Board

and may result in suspension.

Reports as examination

How? Give credit where credit is due!

� Be clear about sources, use citations when quoting, paraphrasing or borrowing ideas.

� Collaborative writing or not?

Managing your sources

� Using citations (Ragnemalm, 2007), (Ragnemalm 2007) or [1]

� and references:

Ragnemalm, Eva L. Talk given at Linköping University on the 15th of October 2007.

[1] Ragnemalm, Eva L. Talk given at Linköping University on the 15th of October 2007.

Quotations

When you use another's exact words.

� Quotation marks ”indicate exactly what words were written or said”.

� The citation (Ragnemalm, 2005) or [12] indicates from where.

To use another’s exact words without indicating it is plagiarism.

Use quotations sparingly.

Paraphrases

� When you rewrite a piece of text using your own words but retaining the general message.

� Paraphrasing is plagiarism if the citation is left out OR if the wording is too close to the original.

Paraphrasing examples

Original text (from Lu, 1997):

Descartes introduces the possibility that the world is controlled by a malicious demon who has employed all his

energies to deceive him.

Paraphrase:

Descartes suggests that the world is controlled by an evil

demon who may be using his energies to deceive (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Plagiarism: even though the citation is provided, the

sentence still has exact wording (italicized).

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Paraphrasing examples, cont'd

Original text (from Lu, 1997):

Descartes introduces the possibility that the world is controlled by a malicious demon who has employed all his

energies to deceive him.

Paraphrase:

Descartes suggests that the evil power who rules the world

may be attempting to mislead him (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Not plagiarism: the language is fully rewritten, and a

citation is provided.

Paraphrasing examples, cont'd

Original text (from Lu, 1997):

Descartes introduces the possibility that the world is controlled by a malicious demon who has employed all his

energies to deceive him.

Combination of paraphrase and quotation:

Descartes suggests that the evil power who rules the world

may be using “all his energies to deceive him” (Lu, 1997).

Comment: Not plagiarism: the paraphrased portion is fully

rewritten, the exact language is quoted, and a citation is provided.

Borrowed ideas

� Somebody else’s new concept

� Somebody else’s observations

� Somebody else’s general idea

� Somebody else’s chain of reasoning

� Somebody else’s diagram

� Somebody else’s table

� Somebody else’s figure

�

� etc.

When not to cite?

� Your own ideas

� Your own conclusions

� Your own reflections

� Your own analysis

� Your own experience

� Your own observations

� etc.

� When using “common knowledge”

Choosing when to cite, exercises

Do you have to give credit? If so, how? If not, why?

Situations:➢ You are reporting new insights about your own experiences.➢ You are using an editorial from your school's newspaper with which you disagree.➢ You use some information from a source without ever quoting it directly. ➢ You have no other way of expressing the exact meaning of a

text without using the original source verbatim.

Choosing when to cite, exercises cont'd

Do you have to give credit? If so, how? If not, why?

Situations:➢ You mention that many people in your discipline belong to a certain organization.➢ You want to begin your paper with a story that one of your

classmates told about her experiences in Bosnia.➢ The quote you want to use is too long, so you leave out a

couple of phrases.

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Urkund – discovering plagiarism

Urkund is a service provided for Swedish universities.

• Reports are submitted to Urkund

• Comparisons with database and the web

• Teacher is informed of similar documents

Bibliography

� Björk & Räisänen (2003), Academic writing: A university writing course. Third edition. Studentlitteratur.

� Zobel, Justin (2004), Writing for computer science. Second edition. Springer.

� The trustees of Hamilton college, 2005. Hamilton College Writing center; Using Sources. http://www.hamilton.edu/academics/resource/wc/usingsources.html (visited 2008-10-31)

� OWL at Purdue, 2005. Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, Avoiding

Plagiarism. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_plagiar.html

(visited 2008-10-31)

� Swales, John M. & Feak, Christine B. (2004), Academic Writing for Graduate

Students - Essential Tasks and Skills, .University of Michigan Press .

� Berndtsson, M. & Hansson, J & Olsson, B & Lundell, B. (2002), Planning and Implementing Your Final Year Project with Success! - A Guide for Students

in Computer Science and Information Systems. Springer-Verlag London Ltd.

– Also available in a Second edition now.