Research Writing: Elements and Steps

Research writing is distinct in approach and technique. The information here describes the

various stages of research writing and offers suggestions for approaching it.

Elements of a research paper

Review of the literature in a field Analysis

Argument Essay

Steps in writing a research paper

1. One Big Mess

2. Developing a research question 3. Developing a research thesis

o Thesis characteristics

4. Finding sources 5. Evaluating sources

6. Taking notes 7. Working with quotations 8. Summaries and paraphrases

9. Building the essay draft 10. Documenting sources

o Documentation formats 11. Revising and proofreading the draft

http://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/

What is a Research Paper?

"Research paper." What image comes into mind as you hear those words: working with stacks of articles and books, hunting the "treasure" of others' thoughts? Whatever image you create, it's a sure bet that you're envisioning sources of information--articles, books, people, artworks. Yet a

research paper is more than the sum of your sources, more than a collection of different pieces of information about a topic, and more than a review of the literature in a field. A research

paper analyzes a perspective or argues a point. Regardless of the type of research paper you are writing, your finished research paper should present your own thinking backed up by others' ideas and information.

To draw a parallel, a lawyer researches and reads about many cases and uses them to support

their own case. A scientist reads many case studies to support an idea about a scientific principle. In the same way, a history student writing about the Vietnam War might read newspaper articles and books and interview veterans to develop and/or confirm a viewpoint and support it with

evidence.

A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation or

argument. When you write an essay, you use everything that you personally know and have thought about a subject. When you write a research paper you build upon what you know about

the subject and make a deliberate attempt to find out what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge in order to find the best possible information in that field. And that survey can be orderly and focused, if you know how to approach it. Don't worry--

you won't get lost in a sea of sources.

In fact, this guide is designed to help you navigate the research voyage, through developing a research question and thesis, doing the research, writing the paper, and correctly documenting your sources.

Introduction

Why Write Research Projects? • Writing With and For Academic Research: What is It?

• Research Writing With Computers and the Internet

• Approaching The Process of Research Writing: A Guide to

Using this Book

* Writing as a Process: A Brief Explanation and Map

* Using this book The title of this book is The Process of Research Writing, and in the nutshell, that is what the

book is about. A lot of times, instructors and students tend to separate “thinking,” “researching,” and “writing” into different categories that aren’t necessarily very well connected. First you

think, then you research, and then you write.

The reality is though that the possibilities and process of research writing are more complicated

and much richer than that. We think about what it is we want to research and write about, but at the same time, we learn what to think based on our research and our writing. The goal of this

book is to guide you through this process of research writing by emphasizing a series of

exercises that touch on different and related parts of the research process.

But before going any further, you need to be aware of two important points about this book:

• This book is an introduction to academic writing and research, and chances are you will

keep learning about academic writing and research after this class is over. You may have to

take other writing classes where you will learn different approaches to the writing process, perhaps one where you will learn more about research writing in your discipline. However, even

if this is your one and only “writing class” in your college career, you will have to learn more

about academic writing for every class and every new academic writing project. Learning how to write well is not something that ends when the class ends. Learning how to write is an on-

going, life- long process.

• Academic writing is not the only kind of writing worth learning about, and it is not the

only potential use for this book or this class. The focus of The Process of Research Writing is the important, common, and challenging sort of writing students in a variety of disciplines tend

to do, projects that use research to inform an audience and make some sort of point; specifically,

academic research writing projects. But clearly, this is not the only kind of writing writers do.

Sometimes, students think introductory college writing courses are merely an extension of the

writing courses they took in high school. This is true for some, but for the majority of new

college students, the sort of writing required in college is different from the sort of writing

required in high school. College writing tends to be based more on research than high school

writing. Further, college-level instructors generally expect a more sophisticated and thoughtful

interpretation of research from student writers. It is not enough to merely use more research in

your writing; you also have to be able to think and write about the research you’ve done.

Besides helping you write different kinds of projects where you use research to support a point,

the concepts about research you will learn from this course and The Process of Research Writing

will help you become better consumers of information and research. And make no mistake about it: information that is (supposedly) backed up by research is everywhere in our day-to-day

lives. News stories we see on television or read in magazines or newspapers are based on

research. Legislators use research to argue for or against the passage of the laws that govern our society. Scientists use research to make progress in their work.

Even the most trivial information we all encounter is likely to be based on something that at least

looks like research. Consider advertising: we are all familiar with “research-based” claims in

advertising like “four out of five dentists agree” that a particular brand of toothpaste is the best,

or that “studies show” that a specific type of deodorant keeps its wearers “fresh”

longer. Advertisers use research like this in their advertisements for the same reason that

scientists, news broadcasters, magazine writers, and just about anyone else trying to make a point

uses research: it’s persuasive and convinces consumers to buy a particular brand of toothpaste.

This is not to say that every time we buy toothpaste we carefully mull over the research we’ve

heard mentioned in advertisements. However, using research to persuade an audience must work

on some level because it is one of the most commonly employed devices in advertising.

One of the best ways to better understand how we are effected by the research we encounter in

our lives is to learn more about the process of research by becoming better and more careful

critical readers, writers, and researchers. Part of that process will include the research-based

writing you do in this course. In other words, this book will be useful in helping you deal with

the practical and immediate concern of how to write essays and other writing projects for college

classes, particularly ones that use research to support a point. But perhaps more significantly,

these same skills can help you write and read research-based texts well beyond college.

Academic Research Writing: What Is It?

Writing That Isn’t “Research Writing”

Not all useful and valuable writing automatically involves research or can be called “academic

research writing.”

• While poets, playwrights, and novelists frequently do research and base their writings

on that research, what they produce doesn’t constitute academic research writing. The film Shakespeare in Love incorporated facts about Shakespeare’s life and work to tell a touching,

entertaining, and interesting story, but it was nonetheless a work of fiction since the writers,

director, and actors clearly took liberties with the facts in order to tell their story. If you were writing a research project for a literature class which focuses on Shakespeare, you would not

want to use Shakespeare in Love as evidence about how Shakespeare wrote his plays.

• Essay exams are usually not a form of research writing. When an instructor gives an

essay exam, she usually is asking students to write about what they learned from the class readings, discussions, and lecturers. While writing essay exams demand an understanding of the

material, this isn’t research writing because instructors aren’t expecting students to do additional

research on the topic.

• All sorts of other kinds of writing we read and write all the time—letters, emails,

journal entries, instructions, etc.—are not research writing. Some writers include research in

these and other forms of personal writing, and practicing some of these types of writing—

particularly when you are trying to come up with an idea to write and research about in the first place—can be helpful in thinking through a research project. But when we set about to write a

research project, most of us don’t have these sorts of personal writing genres in mind.

So, what is “research writing”?

Research writing is writing that uses evidence (from journals, books,

magazines, the Internet, experts, etc.) to persuade or inform an audience

about a particular point.

Research writing exists in a variety of different forms. For example, academics, journalists, or

other researchers write articles for journals or magazines; academics, professional writers and

almost anyone create web pages that both use research to make some sort of point and that show

readers how to find more research on a particular topic. All of these types of writing projects can

be done by a single writer who seeks advice from others, or by a number of writers who

collaborate on the project.

Academic research writing—the specific focus of The Process of Research Writing and the sort of writing project you will probably need to write in this class—is a form of research

writing. How is academic research writing different from other kinds of writing that involve

research? The goal of this textbook is to answer that question, and academic research projects come in a variety of shapes and forms. (In fact, you may have noticed that The Process of

Research Writing purposefully avoids the term “research paper” since this is only one of the

many ways in which it is possible to present academic research). But in brief, academic research

writing projects are a bit different from other kinds of research writing projects in three significant ways:

• Thesis: Academic research projects are organized around a point or a “thesis” that

members of the intended audience would not accept as “common sense .” What an audience

accepts as “common sense” depends a great deal on the audience, which is one of the many reasons why what “counts” as academic research varies from field to field. But audiences want

to learn something new either by being informed about something they knew nothing about

before or by reading a unique interpretation on the issue or the evidence.

• Evidence: Academic research projects rely almost exclusively on evidence in order to

support this point. Academic research writers use evidence in order to convince their audiences

that the point they are making is right. Of course, all writing uses other means of persuasion—

appeals to emotion, to logic, to the credibility of the author, and so forth. But the readers of academic research writing projects are likely to be more persuaded by good evidence than by

anything else.

“Evidence,” the information you use to support your point, includes readings you find in the library (journal and magazine articles, books, newspapers, and many other kinds of documents);

materials from the Internet (web pages, information from databases, other Internet-based

forums); and information you might be able to gather in other ways (interviews, field research, experiments, and so forth).

• Citation: Academic research projects use a detailed citation process in order to

demonstrate to their readers where the evidence that supports the writer’s point came

from. Unlike most types of “non-academic” research writing, academic research writers provide their readers with a great deal of detail about where they found the evidence they are using to

support their point. This processes is called citation, or “citing” of evidence. It can sometimes

seem intimidating and confusing to writers new to the process of academic research writing, but it is really nothing more than explaining to your reader where your evidence came from.

Research Writing with Computers and the Internet

There are good reasons for writing with computers. To name just a few, computers help writers:

• Revise more easily, since you don’t need to retype an entire draft; • Share their writing with others, either electronically (on disk or via email) or in “hard copy” since

the writer only needs to print additional copies;

• Store and organize files, since papers that might get lost or take up a lot of room can all fit onto a computer hard drive or a floppy diskette; and

• Make correct and “nice looking” drafts with the use of features like spelling and grammar

checkers, and with design features that allow you to select different fonts and layouts.

Chances are, you already know these things.

If you are not using computers or the Internet in your academic research writing process, you

need to try and learn more about the possibilities. It can be intimidating and time consuming to

begin effectively using a computer, but there are few things that will be as rewarding for your

academic writing career.

The Process of Research Writing: A Guide to Understanding this Book Writing as a Process: A Brief Explanation and Map

No essay, story, or book (including this one) simply “appeared” one day from the writer’s brain;

rather, all writings are made after the writer, with the help of others, works through the process

of writing.

Generally speaking, the process of writing involves:

• Coming up with an idea (sometimes called brainstorming, invention or “pre-writing”); • Writing a rough draft of that idea;

• Showing that rough draft to others to get feedback (peers, instructors, colleagues, etc.);

• Revising the draft (sometimes many times); and • Proof-reading and editing to correct minor mistakes and errors.

An added component in the writing process of research projects is, obviously, research. Rarely

does research begin before at least some initial writing (even if it is nothing more than

brainstorming or pre-writing exercises), and research is usually not completed until after the

entire writing project is completed. Rather, research comes in to play at all parts of the process

and can have a dramatic effect on the other parts of the process. Chances are you will need to do

at least some simple research to develop an idea to write about in the first place. You might do

the bulk of your research as you write your rough draft, though you will almost certainly have to

do more research based on the revisions that you decide to make to your project.

There are two other things to think about within this simplified version of the process of

writing. First, the process of writing always takes place for some reason or purpose and

within some context that potentially change the way you do these steps. The process that you will go through in writing for this class will be different from the process you go through in

responding to an essay question on a Sociology midterm or from sending an email to a

friend. This is true in part because your purposes for writing these different kinds of texts are simply different.

Second, the process of writing isn’t quite as linear and straight-forward as my list might

suggest. Writers generally have to start by coming up with an idea, but writers often go back to

their original idea and make changes in it after they write several drafts, do research, talk with others, and so on. The writing process might be more accurately represented like this:

Seem complicated? It is, or at least it can be.

So, instead of thinking of the writing process as an ordered list, you should think of it more as a

“web” where different points can and do connect with each other in many different ways, and a process that changes according to the demands of each writing project. While you might write

an essay where you follow the steps in the writing process in order (from coming up with an idea

all the way to proofreading), writers also find themselves following the writing process out of order all the time. That’s okay. The key thing to remember about the writing process is that it is

a process made up of many different steps, and writers are rarely successful if they “just write.”

Using this book

The Process of Research Writing is organized in a “step-by-step” fashion. Part I of the book, “The Elements of Research,” offers advice on getting started with research in the library, about

quoting, paraphrasing, and not plagiarizing your research, and about working with others in the

research process. Part II, “Exercises in the Process of Research,” presents five different writing exercises that will help you explore a research topic. Part III, “The Research Project,” offers

guidelines for writing a traditional research essay, suggestions for alternative ways to present

your research, and guidelines for using Modern Language Association and American Psychological Association citation.

But you should think of The Process of Research Writing as being similar to a cookbook or an

encyclopedia: you and don’t have to read or use this book in this particular order, and you and

your teacher don’t need to use all of this book in order to write successful research projects. On the other hand, like a cookbook or an encyclopedia, you should feel free to go back to passages

you’ve read before. Remember: thinking through your research process should be systematic,

but it isn’t necessarily a linear one.

Blog Post

blog (bl g) A weblog. To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

1. (Computer Science) a journal written on-line and accessible to users of the internet. Full name: weblog

A weblog is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed in an HTML browser.’ Source

‘A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links.’ Source

‘From “Web log.” A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.”‘ Source

‘A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there’s also comraderie and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other, in all kinds of structures, graphs,

loops, etc.’ Source

‘A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is “blogging” and someone who keeps a blog is a “blogger.” Blogs are typically updated daily

using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Postings on a blog are almost always arranged in cronological order with the most recent additions featured most prominantly.’ Source

‘A blog is a website in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse

chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Individual

articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries”. A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”. A blog comprises text, hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a conversational style of documentation. Often

blogs focus on a particular “area of interest”, such as Washington, D.C.’s political goings-on. Some blogs discuss personal experiences.’ Source.

A blog (a truncation of the expression weblog)[1] is a discussion or informational site published

on the World Wide Web and consisting of discrete entries ("posts") typically displayed in reverse chronological order (the most recent post appears first). Until 2009 blogs were usually the work

of a single individual[citation needed], occasionally of a small group, and often covered a single subject. More recently "multi-author blogs" (MABs) have developed, with posts written by large numbers of authors and professionally edited. MABs from newspapers, other media outlets,

universities, think tanks, advocacy groups and similar institutions account for an increasing quantity of blog traffic. The rise of Twitter and other "microblogging" systems helps integrate

MABs and single-author blogs into societal newstreams. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

The emergence and growth of blogs in the late 1990s coincided with the advent of web publishing tools that facilitated the posting of content by non-technical users. (Previously, a

knowledge of such technologies as HTML and FTP had been required to publish content on the Web.)

A majority are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via

GUI widgets on the blogs, and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2] In that sense, blogging can be seen as a form of social networking service. Indeed, bloggers do not only produce content to post on their blogs, but also build social relations with

their readers and other bloggers.[3] There are high-readership blogs which do not allow comments, such as Daring Fireball.

Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject; others function as more personal online

diaries; others function more as online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related

to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important contribution to the popularity of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blogs), photographs (photoblogs), videos (video blogs or "vlogs"), music (MP3

blogs), and audio (podcasts). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts. In education, blogs can be used as instructional resources. These blogs are referred to as

edublogs.

On 16 February 2011, there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[4] On 20 February 2014, there were around 172 million Tumblr[5] and 75.8 million WordPress[6] blogs in existence worldwide. According to critics and other bloggers, Blogger is the most popular blogging service

used today, however Blogger does not offer public statistics.[7][8] Technorati has 1.3 million blogs as of February 22, 2014[9]

Types

There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written.

Personal blogs

The personal blog is an ongoing diary or commentary written by an individual.

Microblogging

Microblogging is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content—which could be text,

pictures, links, short videos, or other media—on the Internet. Microblogging offers a portable

communication mode that feels organic and spontaneous to many and has captured the public

imagination. Friends use it to keep in touch, business associates use it to coordinate meetings or

share useful resources, and celebrities and politicians (or their publicists) microblog about

concert dates, lectures, book releases, or tour schedules. A wide and growing range of add-on

tools enables sophisticated updates and interaction with other applications, and the resulting

profusion of functionality is helping to define new possibilities for this type of

communication.[32] Examples of these include Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and by far the largest

WeiBo.

Corporate and organizational blogs

A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs used internally

to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing,

branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs. Similar blogs for clubs and

societies are called club blogs, group blogs, or by similar names; typical use is to inform

members and other interested parties of club and member activities.

By genre

Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, health blogs, travel blogs (also

known as travelogs), gardening blogs, house blogs,[33][34] fashion blogs, project blogs, education

blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs and legal blogs (often referred to as a

blawgs) or dreamlogs. How To/Tutorial blogs are becoming increasing popular. [35] Two common

types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussions especially about

home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog and one made popular is by Erica

Diamond who created Womenonthefence.com which is syndicated to over two million readers

monthly.[36][37][38][39][40][41] While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of

spamming is known as a Splog.

By media type

A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing

a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.

Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. Blogs that are written on

typewriters and then scanned are called typecast or typecast blogs; see typecasting (blogging).

A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog.

By device

Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a

mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog.[42] One early blog was

Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text,

video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site.

This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as

sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.[citation needed]

Reverse blog

A Reverse Blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. This system has the

characteristics of a blog, and the writing of several authors. These can be written by several

contributing authors on a topic, or opened up for anyone to write. There is typically some limit

to the number of entries to keep it from operating like a Web Forum.[citatio

So What is a Blog???

Confused yet? Don’t be – its really quite simple. To put it as simply as possible – a blog is a

type of website that is usually arranged in chronological order from the most recent ‘post’

(or entry) at the top of the main page to the older entries towards the bottom.

Have a look at the main page of my blog at here for an example. for a different example you

might like to look at this one (another of mine).

Ok – now you are a seasoned blog reader – you’ve seen two already at least.

Blogs are usually (but not always) written by one person and are updated pretty regularly. Blogs are often (but not always) written on a particular topic – there are blogs on virtually any topic

you can think of. From photography, to spirituality, to recipes, to personal diaries to hobbies – blogging has as many applications and varieties as you can imagine. Whole blog communities

have sprung up around some of these topics putting people into contact with each other in relationships where they can learn, share ideas, make friends with and even do business with people with similar interests from around the world.

Blogs usually have a few features that are useful to know about if you want to get the most out of

them as a reader. Lets examine a couple briefly.

Archives – You might look at the front page of a blog and think that there is not much to them. A few recent entries, some links to other sites and not much else. However its worth knowing

that there is a lot more going on under the surface that might initially meet the eye. For example in addition to the main page of this blog – at the time of writing this post there are over 520 other pages or posts below the surface that I’ve written over the past few months.

When I write a post like this one it goes to the top of the front page. As it gets older and as I add more current posts it begins its journey down the page until it disappears from it. This is not the end of its life however, because it goes into the ‘Archives’ of my blog. It sounds like a dusty

dark place but its really just like a filing cabinet that is easily accessible in a couple of ways. You can read my ‘archives’ simply by looking on the ‘sidebar’ (over on the left of this blog) at the

‘archives’ or ‘categories’ section. There you will see links to all my old posts which you can access either by category. You’ll see a category for ‘Advertising’ – click that link and you’ll see all my old posts on the topic of Advertising with the most recent at the top and the oldest at the

bottom.

Comments – Not all blogs use comments – but most do. This blog is not a monologue but a conversation. You can give me feedback on almost everything I write simply by clicking the

‘comments’ link at the bottom of each one of my posts. This will take you to a little form where you leave your name, email and a link to your own blog if you have one as well as your feedback, comment, critique, question, essay on why you love my blog, promise of money….

etc). Try it now. Scroll to the bottom of this page, click ‘comments’ and fill in the blanks with a little introduction to yourself.

A great way to learn about blogs is to read a few. Leave some comments, ask questions and

bookmark your favourites. An even better way to learn about blogs is to start your own. Ok –

you might be laughing at me now – you think you are not web savy enough to have your own site? You wouldn’t know where to start? You don’t know how?

My Secret

Let me share a secret with you – three years ago I knew nothing about blogs, I had never used the internet for anything more than email, surfing and chatting to friends and I could only barely

do any of that! But one day I discovered a blog and after surfing from one to another (blogs tend to link up to other blogs a lot) for a few hours I was hooked and wanted to start my own. I found that there are free blog services that almost anyone could set up in a matter of minutes. Really it

is that simple. Literally millions of people blog from around the world. Its not just something for young people, or geeks, or cool folk, or Westerners, or even for people with their own computers

– instead its something virtually anyone with access to a computer and the internet once or twice a week can start up.

Are you still confused? Would you like more information? Below are a few helpful articles on

the topic – there are many more on the web – just do a search on your favourite search engine. Otherwise shoot me an email using my ‘contact’ button with your question and I’ll do my best to get back to you.

Update: If you’d like to start a blog I’ve written a book – ProBlogger the Book – which is

specifically written for new bloggers. I hope you find it helpful.

Rebecca Blood has written a helpful history of blogging for those who are interested in learning more about the blogging evolution over the past few years.

Harvard Law has a helpful article titled What makes a Weblog a Weblog Trudy Schuett writes a good article title What is a blog and why do we need one? WordPress: Introduction to Blogging

If you are new to blogging and want some hints on how to get started – keep an eye on my Blogging for Beginners Page for more ways to explore blogging.

One more post you might be interested in – What Is RSS?

Lastly – let me finish with a video that explores the question of what is a blog in a visual form that I’m sure many of you will find helpful.

Computer Science

1. A Computer Scientist in a Business School: Take a trip into Web information retrieval, economic-aware text and Web mining, text databases and more at this blog.

2. A+ Computer Science Blog: News and tips for individuals who are computer science novices. 3. Blown to Bits Blog: Building on their pioneering joint MIT/Harvard course, the authors reveal

how the digital revolution is changing everything. 4. Computer Science Department Blog: This blog, maintained by Virginia Tech, broaches many

topics for novices and intermediate CS students.

Computational Complexity and Theory

24. Adventures in Computation: A PhD student at Carnegie Mellon focuses on theoretical computation.

25. Algorithmic Game-Theory/Economics: Noam Nisan is a CS Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Research Scientist in Google, Tel-Aviv.

26. Andy’s Math/CS page: Sporadic notes on mathematical and non-mathematical topics, from a student of computational complexity.

27. bit-player: This blogger is no amateur, as he’s the senior writer for American Scientist, and writes that magazine’s Computing Science column. This blog focuses on computing and mathematics.

The Juncture of Physics and Computer Science

44. dotphysics: Rhett Allain is an Associate Professor of Physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. He writes about “physics you would take home to your mom.”

45. Michael Nielsen: Michael Nielsen is one of the pioneers of quantum computation. 46. Not Even Wrong: Are applications applicable if they are elegant? Or, does a lack of reference to

anything physical make those applications so far from right that they live beyond wrong?

http://www.jasonernst.com/

The Top 10 research papers in computer science by Mendeley readership.

http://blog.mendeley.com/highlighting-research/the-top-10-research-papers-in-computer-

science-by-mendeley-readership/

Computing: The Science of Nearly Everything

http://drtomcrick.com/2013/11/17/a-set-of-top-computer-science-education-blogs/

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6063/Glossary-39-Blogging-

Terms-to-Know.aspx

F

Favicon - This is the small graphic, typically your logo or other representation your website that appears in a browser's address bar, favorites or bookmark lists. In HTML it is referenced as the following rel="shortcut icon", and should be saved or uploaded as favicon.ico. The final product

looks something like this:

Feed - This is a news feed used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it in RSS reader or via e-

mail.

WRITING A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ARTICLE

| Format for the paper | Edit your paper! | Useful books |

FORMAT FOR THE PAPER

Scientific research articles provide a method for scientists to communicate with other scientists about the results of

their research. A standard format is used for these articles, in which the author presents the research in an orderly,

logical manner. This doesn't necessarily reflect the order in which you did or thought about the work. This format is:

| Title | Authors | Introduction | Materials and Methods | Results (with Tables and Figures) | Discussion | Acknowledgments | Literature Cited |

TITLE

1. Make your title specific enough to describe the contents of the paper, but not so technical that only

specialists will understand. The title should be appropriate for the intended audience. 2. The title usually describes the subject matter of the article: Effect of Smoking on Academic

Performance" 3. Sometimes a title that summarizes the results is more effective: Students Who Smoke Get Lower

Grades"

AUTHORS

1. The person who did the work and wrote the paper is generally listed as the first author of a research paper.

2. For published articles, other people who made substantial contributions to the work are also listed as authors. Ask

your mentor's permission before including his/her name as co-author.

ABSTRACT

1. An abstract, or summary, is published together with a research article, giving the reader a "preview" of what's to

come. Such abstracts may also be published separately in bibliographical sources, such as Biologic al Abstracts.

They allow other scientists to quickly scan the large scientific literature, and decide which articles they want to read

in depth. The abstract should be a little less technical than the article itself; you don't want to dissuade your potent ial audience from reading your paper.

2. Your abstract should be one paragraph, of 100-250 words, which summarizes the purpose, methods, results and conclusions of the paper.

3. It is not easy to include all this information in just a few words. Start by writing a summary that includes whatever

you think is important, and then gradually prune it down to size by removing unnecessary words, while still retaini ng the necessary concepts.

3. Don't use abbreviations or citations in the abstract. It should be able to stand alone without any footnotes.

INTRODUCTION

What question did you ask in your experiment? Why is it interesting? The introduction summarizes the relevant

literature so that the reader will understand why you were interested in the question you asked. One to fo ur

paragraphs should be enough. End with a sentence explaining the specific question you asked in this experiment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

1. How did you answer this ques tion? There should be enough information here to allow another scientist to repeat

your experiment. Look at other papers that have been published in your field to get some idea of what is included in

this section.

2. If you had a complicated protocol, it may helpful to include a diagram, table or flowchart to explain the methods you used.

3. Do not put results in this section. You may, however, include preliminary results that were used to design the

main experiment that you are reporting on. ("In a preliminary study, I observed the owls for one week, and found

that 73 % of their locomotor activity occurred during the night, and so I conducted all subsequent experiments between 11 pm and 6 am.")

4. Mention relevant ethical considerations. If you used human subjects, did they consent to participate. If you used animals, what measures did you take to minimize pain?

RESULTS

1. This is where you present the results you've gotten. Use graphs and tables if appropriate, but also summarize your

main findings in the text. Do NOT discuss the results or speculate as to why something happened; t hat goes in th e Discussion.

2. You don't necessarily have to include all the data you've gotten during the semester. This isn't a diary.

3. Use appropriate methods of showing data. Don't try to manipulate the data to make it look like you did more than you actually did.

"The drug cured 1/3 of the infected mice, another 1/3 were not affected, and the third mouse got away."

TABLES AND GRAPHS

1. If you present your data in a table or graph, include a title describing what's in the table ("Enzyme activity at

various temperatures", not "My results".) For graphs, you should also label the x and y axes.

2. Don't use a table or graph just to be "fancy". If you can summarize the informat ion in one sentence, then a table or graph is not necessary.

DISCUSSION

1. Highlight the most significant results, but don't just repeat what you've written in the Results section. How do

these results relate to the original question? Do the data support your hypothesis? Are your results consistent with

what other investigators have reported? If your results were unexpected, try to explain why. Is there another way to

interpret your results? What further research would be necessary to answer the questions raised by your results? How do y our results fit into the big picture?

2. End with a one-sentence summary of your conclusion, emphasizing why it is relevant.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This section is optional. You can thank those who either helped with the experiment s, or made other important

contributions, such as discussing the protocol, commenting on the manuscript, or buying you pizza.

REFERENCES (LITERATURE CITED)

There are several possible ways to organize this section. Here is one commonly used way:

1. In the text, cite the literature in the appropriate places:

Scarlet (1990) thought that the gene was present only in yeast, but it has since been identified in the platypus (Indigo and Mauve, 1994) and wombat (Magenta, et al., 1995).

2. In the References section list citations in alphabetical order.

Indigo, A. C., and Mauve, B. E. 1994. Queer place for qwerty: gene isolation from the platypus. Science 275, 1213-

1214.

Magenta, S. T., Sepia, X., and Turquoise, U. 1995. Wombat genetics. In: Widiculous Wombats, Violet, Q., ed. New York: Columbia University Press. p 123-145.

Scarlet, S.L. 1990. Isolation of qwerty gene from S. cerevisae. Journal of Unusual Results 36, 26-31.

EDIT YOUR PAPER!!!

"In my writing, I average about ten pages a day. Unfortunately, they're all the same page."

Michael Alley, The Craft of Scientific Writing

A major part of any writing assignment consists of re-writing.

Write accurately

1. Scientific writing must be accurate. Although writing instructors may tell you not to use the same

word twice in a sentence, it's okay for scientific writing, which must be accurate. (A student who

tried not to repeat the word "hamster" produced this confusing sentence: "When I put the hamster

in a cage with the other animals, the little mammals began to play.")

2. Make sure you say what you mean.

Instead of: The rats were injected with the drug. (sounds like a syringe was filled with

drug and ground-up rats and both were injected together) Write: I injected the drug into the rat.

3. Be careful with commonly confused words:

Temperature has an effect on the reaction.

Temperature affects the reaction.

I used solutions in various concentrations. (The solutions were 5 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml, and 15 mg/ml)

I used solutions in varying concentrations. (The concentrations I used changed; sometimes they were 5 mg/ml, other times they were 15 mg/ml.)

Less food (can't count numbers of food)

Fewer animals (can count numbers of animals)

A large amount of food (can't count them) A large number of animals (can count them)

The erythrocytes, which are in the blood, contain hemoglobin.

The erythrocytes that are in the blood contain hemoglobin. (Wrong. This sentence implies that there are erythrocytes

elsewhere that don't contain hemoglobin.)

Write clearly

1. Write at a level that's appropriate for your audience.

"Like a pigeon, something to admire as long as it isn't over your head." Anonymous

2. Use the active voice. It's clearer and more concise than the passive voice.

Instead of: An increased appetite was manifested by the rats and an increase in body weight was measured. Write: The rats ate more and gained weight.

3. Use the first person.

Instead of: It is thought

Write: I think

Instead of: The samples were analyzed Write: I analyzed the samples

4. Avoid dangling participles.

"After incubating at 30 degrees C, we examined the petri plates." (You must've been pretty warm in there.)

Write succinctly

1. Use verbs instead of abstract nouns

Instead of: take into consideration Write: consider

2. Use strong verbs instead of "to be"

Instead of: The enzyme was found to be the active agent in catalyzing...

Write: The enzyme catalyzed...

3. Use short words.

"I would never use a long word where a short one would answer the purpose. I know there are

professors in this country who 'ligate' arteries. Other surgeons tie them, and it stops the bleeding just as

well."

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr .

Instead of: Write:

possess have sufficient enough utilize use demonstrate show assistance help terminate end

4. Use concise terms.

Instead of: Write: prior to before due to the fact that because in a considerable number of cases often the vast majority of most during the time that when

in close proximity to near it has long been known that I'm too lazy to look up the

reference

5. Use short sentences. A sentence made of more than 40 words should probably be rewritten as two sentences.

"The conjunction 'and' commonly serves to indicate that the writer's mind still functions even when no signs of the phenomenon are noticeable." Rudolf Virchow, 1928

Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation

1. Use a spellchecker, but be aware that they don't catch all mistakes.

"When we consider the animal as a hole,..." Student's paper

2. Your spellchecker may not recognize scientific terms. For the correct spelling, try Biotech's Life Science Dictionary or one of the technical dictionaries on the reference shelf in the Biology or Health Sciences libraries.

3. Don't, use, unnecessary, commas.

4. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.

USEFUL BOOKS

Victoria E. McMillan, Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences , Bedford Books, Boston, 1997

The best. On sale for about $18 at Labyrinth Books, 112th Street. On reserve in Biology Library

Jan A. Pechenik, A Short Guide to Writing About Biology, Boston: Little, Brown, 1987

Harrison W. Ambrose, III & Katharine Peckham Ambrose, A Handbook of Biological Investigation, 4th edition,

Hunter Textbooks Inc, Winston-Salem, 1987 Particularly useful if you need to use statistics to analyze your data. Copy on Reference shelf in Biology Library.

Robert S. Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, 4th edition, Oryx Press, Phoenix, 1994.

Earlier editions also good. A bit more advanced, intended for those writing papers for publication. Fun to read. Several copies available in Columbia libraries.

William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, The Elements of Style, 3rd ed. Macmillan, New York, 1987. Several copies available in Columbia libraries. Strunk's first edition is available on-line.