50 Tips On Writing Great Research Papers

Writing Tip #2 :
Hang on to your first draft!

 

Most people's first drafts are terrible. "Good writing is rewriting," and you should make a serious effort at editing, rewriting, and fine-tuning before you give the manuscript to anyone else to read. If you need to put a piece of writing away for a few days before you can approach it dispassionately enough to rework it, do so. But the important thing is not to be demotivated by your lack of skill in writing or lack of ideas to write. Just jot down that first word then you are on your way to get a great article. Of course the first draft is not good maybe unreadable altogether but what the heck. This is what I want to do and I am going to do it. Be clear. Be firm. Be consistent.

The flow of process in the previous posting has given some hints on what the general framework is. The framework of a great research paper. It is important to develop your own unique style of writing. In the coming posting I will talk about the mood and the ambience that will trigger the flood of great ideas for your paper. But this is not a novel we are talking about; it is an academic work which is very straight forward and factual based writing. A remedy of a boring piece of work. Any one in academia would agree that reading a research paper is very hard to understand, and why is that? Is it because of the complex use of language and scientific terms? No, because the author sucks, that’s all. So it is vital to equip yourself with good writing skills—which anyone can acquire, be an English native or non-English. For us as English is the third or fourth language, learning to get the right skill is quite difficult but not impossible. Just keep at it and enjoy the process. You will get there eventually.

It is a common practice for some to think in Malay and translate that into English sentences. Thta is not going to go down very well with the editors or reviewers of your paper. During the translation process the words and the sentences tend to be twisted around to convey the message but at the same will intimidate the semantic as well as the syntactic value of the sentences. Think English and write English; there is no other way around it.Aahhh!! another obstacle, I can’t do it... it’s very hard. The secret of writing is in reading. So in order to write good you must also love reading. And in this case let it be English. Pick up a novel in English and let yourself be taken away by the stories and characters in that novel. Along the way you will learn how to say things in English as well as to keep your grammar fresh.

The first draft is always difficult but the many that follow will a piece of your mind, maybe your opinion or your suggestions. Isn’t it awesome to know that people will benefit from what you say and think? The experience is priceless and the next thing you wonder why you did not do  this much much earlier? The time is right here and right now. Enjoy your writing experience.

50 Tips On Writing Great Research Papers

Writing Tip #1 : Which section  to write first ?

Writing is a matter of personal taste ; each and every one of us has own unique style of writing. But it will take some time before you develop your own writing style. Generally, the steps  in writing a research paper are as follows:

The Flow of Writing Process

General style

Specific editorial requirements for submission of a manuscript will always supercede instructions in these general guidelines.

To make a paper readable

• Print or type using a 12 point standard font, such as Times, Geneva, Bookman, Helvetica, etc.
• Text should be double spaced on 8 1/2" x 11" paper with 1 inch margins, single sided
• Number pages consecutively
• Start each new section on a new page
• Adhere to recommended page limits

Mistakes to avoid

• Dividing a table or figure - confine each figure/table to a single page
• Submitting a paper with pages out of order

In all sections of your paper

• Use normal prose including articles ("a", "the," etc.)
• Stay focused on the research topic of the paper
• Use paragraphs to separate each important point (except for the abstract)
• Indent the first line of each paragraph
• Present your points in logical order
• Avoid informal wording, don't address the reader directly, and don't use jargon, slang terms, or superlatives
• Avoid use of superfluous pictures - include only those figures necessary to presenting results

References : abacus.bates.edu;www.ruf.rice.edu;Hall,GM(1994);Samson,D.(2010)

Next : Writing Tip #2 :  Hang on to your first draft!

Welcoming A Delegation from IITU, Kazakhstan

Mr Iskandar, Anastashia and Dr Dimar

A briefing from the Dean

Final Exam ! Good Luck Everyone ...

People do play tricks

After a week-long Gawai break, we were back in the meeting room. The LAF (Lembaga Akademik Fakulti) meeting was held this morning. This is one important meeting not to be missed. I have been planning for months to present our newly-reviewed diploma curriculum—Diploma in Computer Science. It is one of the oldest programs in UiTM. I am honored to be part of the evolution process of DCS.As I studied the curriculum, I saw many flaws and shortcomings. It’s like mending an old house—you renovate the kitchen at one point, and then the living room for the coming Raya, or extending the bedroom for more space etc. The house does not look better but it serves the ever-growing needs of the family. That what happened to our DCS. Over the years we changed this and that to meet certain purposes or solved problems but had never been successfully reviewed the curriculum thoroughly. I am not gonna try to do it either because it is a never-ending task. Anyway, my presentation at the meeting was okay—so I thought. I could have never imagined that today I would learn another lesson in board room meeting—people do play shit. I brought into the meeting a proposal of a new curriculum that we have put a lot of man hours into it. Workshops , meetings, debates and discussions have been initiated to come up with this proposal. I have put a lot of time putting together the bits and pieces to support our arguments. Today I learned that those are shits that people like to play around in a board meeting.  I was speechless to see my words were twisted around, my arguments were not seen and understood and my justifications were irrelevant most of the time. I learnt today that you don’t go into a meeting with a big pile of working papers or properly aligned documents. It’s like a kid going to the football field in the kampung wearing soccer boots, knee pads and guards where as the other kids are playing with kaki ayam—they will create a whole new game to make you look like an ass. The same thing happened in the board meeting today, I was stunned as the others were playing a whole new ball game. I just did not understand at all. I was cornered last time in the same board meeting and now again in this meeting. I feel so stupid as I could never learn my way around this game in a board meeting. How do you feel when your own buddy  had turned  against you…hey wait a minute you said something else last time….nothing can help you now…as if you were alone in a crowded room, gasping for air to nurture your disbelief of the circumstances.

I went on trying to get a new footing in this mad and noisy situation but nothing helped as if I went deeper and deeper into a shit hole. What went wrong? I don’t have the answer but I know I don’t have something that I should have—and I don’t know what that is. I thought democracy plays well in a board meeting—nope, that’s how they will officially kill you or make you suffer by sending you away with a big question mark and ask you to come back and ask the same question again and again. I thought having friends would save my ass, nope people see that as an opportunity to gang up that would include everyone else but you. I thought a good paper work will strengthen your argument ; nope, they will play around with your words and plans until the whole thing collapsed. I am really confused. Now I have to go back and explain the whole thing to my department and get another round of kick-ass thingy.  How positive can I be at this point and time ? am I being punished or something?

So far I am still at it trying to get through. Deep down I know there are answers to all those questions. And I know I will get to them eventually….in my own way. Maybe I need that X-factor the next time I walk into the meeting room.—whatever that is. Or maybe I just keep talking until someone listens ……

By the way, good luck in your next meeting.

Meeting ! meeting !

I guess I just could not get away from this daily ritual. Meeting. There is no fun whatsoever in doing this but we have to do it anyway. I have never come across someone who can make meeting fun and enjoyable because the very nature of it , it is no fun. I just wish to come across such a person; he /she must be really something. Anyway, since my admin appointment and a regular at the faculty’s meeting , I have picked up a few soft skills:

1. Don’t lose your temper over an issue; it’s not worth it. If it is so important to you than stick to it but if the meeting is not going your way, let it be. There are other ways to resolve your issue. For some , meeting seems the only way but believe me there are other ways as well. Find them.

2. Drowning an issue. When the meeting is facing an issue deems sensitive to the upper board; the issue will eventually get dismissed. If you raised an issue that you think important but others don’t, they will start picking up your issue bit by bit until a completely new issue emerges. Your issue has been drowned and if no effort from you to save it then it will be gone.

3. If you have something to say then say it at the beginning of the meeting. Mr Chairman, Sir, before we start let me say……if Mr Chairman is a happy chap that day you will be lucky but otherwise you might get a smackdown. But always try your luck because if you say it at the eleventh hour of the meeting nothing will get through; we would either be too hungry to stay on or too tired to contemplate your statements.

4. Get an early start. Sometime you can try putting your issue ahead through an email. This can also be a good tool to lobby a decision.

5. Better late than never. Being late to a meeting is more acceptable than being absent altogether. Cook up a good excuse and you are as good as the others. You can catch up with the agenda later on with the secretary that you must always be nice to.

6. Keep your honorable manner with the chairperson and respect your colleagues. Address people properly.Always begin with “ Tuan Pengerusi, izinkan saya …..”. Talking big as if you are the most intelligent person there is a strategy from yesterday; no one will respect you for that.

7. If there is one meeting that you can avoid then skip this one …..meeting with bendahari (bursar). It will drag on and on .

8. Never keep your wife or kids waiting until you finish the meeting. It will never finish. Make arrangements way beforehand.

9. Always take notes. Sometime minutes of the meeting are not exactly the same as what has been agreed upon. You will find your scribbles more important than ever.

10. Don’t serve double standards with your staff; inside or outside the meeting. Be truthful. If you promise to support your staff then by all means support him/her; even if that means sticking your neck out. Some people promise something outside the meeting but once inside he’s a sucker only good to save own ass. Be honest to yourself and your people.

OK that’s it. Good luck in your next meeting.