General Writitng

Topic sentences: Have I clearly indicated the major idea(s) of each paragraph?

Transitions: Does my writing flow?

Conclusion: Do I provide sufficient closure

 Arrange the sentences and phrases into a single paragraph in the following sequence:
Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
 Make sure that this paragraph is self-contained 1,2,7,12 and does not include the following:1-
3,7,12

o Information not present in the paper

o Figures and tables
o Abbreviations
o Literature review or reference citations
 Now, link your sentences.
 Ensure that the paragraph is written in the past tense 1,7,17 and check that the information
flows well, preferably in the following order: purpose, basic study design/techniques used,
major findings, conclusions, and implications.
 Check that the final abstract
o Contains information that is consistent with that presented in the paper.
o Meets the guidelines of the targeted journal (word limit, type of abstract, etc.)
o Does not contain typographical errors as these may lead referees and editors to
“conclude that the paper is bad and should be rejected.”10
 If your research is being driven by gaps in the existing empirical literature, which of these gaps
will you attempt to address?
 If your research is being driven by the application of a particular theoretical (either within a
specific industry or in a national context) or current policy debates, which specific points of these
debates are you going to focus on?
According to Petre & Rugg (2010), ‘Making a significant contribution means adding to knowledge or
contributing to the discourse – that is, providing evidence to substantiate a conclusion that’s worth
making.’[6] As such, characterising your contribution means answering the question ‘so what?’ This
requires answering the following:[7]

 The importance of the question à Why is it worth asking?

 The significance of the findings à Why should anyone care? Why do they matter?
 Their implications for theory
 The limitations to generalization

Consider the following questions to help you decide what your research investigation's is:

 Why is this work important?

 What are the implications of doing it?
 How does it link to other knowledge?
 How does it stand to inform policy making?  Save money? Improve or reduce something?
  Why is it important to our understanding of the world?
 What new perspective will you bring to the topic?
 What use might your final research paper have for others in this field or in the general public? 
 Who might you decide to share your findings with once the project is complete?

Think about how your research:

 may resolve lingering questions  or gaps in knowledge in your field of study

 may develop better theoretical models in your area
 may influence public policy
 may change the way people do their jobs in a particular field, or may change the way people live.  

Are there other contributions your research will make? If so, describe them in detail.

Read the following examples to see the variety of ways in which the significance of a study can be expressed, and to
use as models for your own proposal.  As you read, you may also notice how the researcher has incorporated other
elements of a research proposal introduction with an explanation of significance in order to synthesize his or her
ideas into one cohesive paragraph.

Example 1

Many problems in human society are often related to the interaction of environment and behavior or genetics and
behavior. The fields of sociobiology and animal behavior deal with the issue of environment behavioral interactions
both at an evolutionary level and a proximate level. Increasingly social scientists are turning to animal behavior as a
framework in which to interpret human society and to understand possible causes of societal problems. (e.g. Daly
and Wilson's book on human homicide is based on an evolutionary analysis from animal research. Many studies on
child abuse utilize theory and data from studies on infanticide in animals.)   My research on chimpanzees and
monkeys will illustrate the importance of cooperation and reconciliation in social groups. This work will provide new
perspectives by which to view and ameliorate aggressive behavior among human beings.

Example 2

The results from this project will allow a reappraisal of the competing theories of hominid development in the Middle
Pleistocene. This issue is one of the most important topics, not only in the Paleolithic archaeology of the Near East,
but globally, as testified by the number papers, books and international conferences on this subject that have taken
place over the last few years. Also the issue has a high profile in public awareness because of a series of magazine
articles and television programs. The question of the role of Neanderthals in the development of our own species is
fundamental to our understanding of human evolution, especially the relationship of 'cultural' evolution to biological
evolution. Therefore it is anticipated that this project would generate a great deal of interest, not only among
archaeologists, but also among the general public.

Paraphrasing
a more detailed restatement than a summary\

Note the following. The writer never uses the exact words of the author therefore there is no need to use quotation
marks. The writer summarizes, uses his or her own words and then cites the source at the end. Sometimes a
paraphrase will be large and must be broken up. A good rule of thumb is to break up a paragraph that is completely
paraphrased into two or three citations. The writer has given credit to the author and thus has avoided plagiarism.
Now the author would just continue writing after double spacing.

Abstract
explaining why the research was conducted,
to assess and enumerate the technological
“What problem are you trying to solve?”
“What motivated you to do so?
the major objectives/hypotheses and conclusions from Introduction and Conclusion sections.
what the aims were,
how these were met, and
objective of your paper clear in the first paragraph, 
"How did you go about achieving your objective?
 from your Methods section.
 what the main findings were
 reveal your findings by listing the major results from your Results section
"What are the implications of your findings?"
the major points of your paper, and your objectives and results in a scientific
paper, in the order they will appear
100 and 300 words

Introduction

Begin the opening paragraph with a few sentences containing important

information about your topic
Interesting ones, narrative
Make these sentences as interesting as you can

 introducing the topic of the paper and setting it into a broad context,

Background
giving your paper a context and seeing how it fits in with previous research in the field

can be based around a historical narrative. Say Freeman, Nelson, Lal and Perez.

Importance
This leads into the rationale behind the research, revealing whether it is building upon previous research,
looking at something that everybody else has overlooked, or improving upon a previous research project that
delivered unclear results.

the rationale behind the work, justifying why your work is an essential component of research in the field.
 an overall review of the paper, but does address a few slightly different issues from the abstract gradually
narrowing down to a research problem,
thesis and hypothesis.
A good introduction explains how you mean to solve the research problem, and creates ‘leads’ to make the
reader want to delve further into your work.
I. Motivation – Overall motivation to study a particular set of problems – It can include a few
citations of a survey, a book, or some authoritative general reference – It includes also a research
question or a thesis statement
This section can then flow into how you are going to fill the gap, laying out your objectives and methodology.
You are trying to predict what impact your research will have if everything works as it should, and you ultimately
reject the null hypothesis.
A thesis statement is a strong statement that you can prove with evidence. It is not a simple
statement of fact. A thesis statement should be the product of your own critical
thinking after  you have done some research. Your thesis statement will be the main idea of your
entire project. It can also be thought of as the angle or point of view from which you present
your material. 

Decide what kind of statement you have enough evidence to prove.

Research gap is in terms of classifying the nations

 Define a problem and state your opinion about it

 Discuss the current state of an issue or problem and predict how it might resolve
 Put forth a possible solution to a problem
 Look at an issue/topic from a new, interesting perspective
 Put out your ideas about how something was influenced to be the way it is or
was (music, art, political leadership, genocide)

Limitations
The introduction is the place to highlight any weaknesses in the experiment from the start.

Assumptions
parts of an introduction:

GAP:

Literature review, Concepts and Features

The following should be answered by a literature review:

1. What do we already know in the immediate area concerned?

2. What are the characteristics of the key concepts or the main factors or variables?

3. What are the relationships between these key concepts, factors or variables?

4. What are the complementary existing theories/approaches?

Where are the inconsistencies or other shortcomings in our knowledge which these works have
not solved?
6. What views need to be (further) tested?

7. What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradictory or too limited?

8. Why study (further) the research problem?

9. What contribution can the present study be expected to make?

10. What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

Don’ts

It is not critical

It does not relate to the writer’s research

In order to write a good LR, remember that: Write with a purpose, a research problem in mind
Select references that are only relevant to your work Establish relationships with different works
and your own

The literature review is a critical look at the existing research that is significant to the work that
you are carrying out.

 To provide background information

 To establish importance

 To demonstrate familiarity

 To “carve out a space” for further research

 Outlining important research trends

 Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of existing research

 Identifying potential gaps in knowledge

 Establishing a need for current and/or future research projects

 Summarize sources.

 Who is the author?

 What is the author's main purpose?

 What is the author’s theoretical perspective? Research methodology?

 Who is the intended audience?

  What is the principal point, conclusion, thesis, contention, or question?

 How is the author’s position supported?

 How does this study relate to other studies of the problem or topic?

 What does this study add to your project?

 Select only relevant books and articles.

it always offers an argument about a body of research

In your own words, summarize and/or synthesize the key findings relevant to your study.

 What do we know about the immediate area?

 What are the key arguments, key characteristics, key concepts or key figures?

 What are the existing debates/theories?

What common methodologies are used?

 Normadin has demonstrated…

 Early work by Hausman, Schwarz, and Graves was concerned with…

 Elsayed and Stern compared algorithms for handling…

 Additional work by Karasawa et. al, Azadivar, and Parry et. al deals with…

Evaluates the strength and weaknesses of the work:

 How do the different studies relate? What is new, different, or controversial?

 What views need further testing?

 What evidence is lacking, inconclusive, contradicting, or too limited?

 What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

 What do researchers KNOW about this field?

 What do researchers NOT KNOW?

 Why should we (further) study this topic?

 What will my study contribute?

  Three important areas of this field have received attention: A, B, C.

 A has been approached from two perspectives F and G.

Distant to close

 A type of topical organization, with studies grouped by their relevance to current

research.

 Starts by describing studies with general similarities to current research and ends with
studies most relevant to the specific topic.

 Most useful for studies of methods or models.

Seminal study

 Begins with detailed description of extremely important study.

 Later work is organized using another pattern.

 Most useful when one study is clearly most important or central in laying the groundwork
for future research.

 The most important research on this topic was the study by X in (date).

 Following X’s study, research fell into two camps (extended X’s work, etc.)

Introductions of literature review

 Indicate scope of the literature review.

 Provide some background to the topic.

 Demonstrate the importance or need for research.

 Make a claim.

 Offer an overview/map of the ensuing discussion.

Closure

 Summarize the main findings of your review.

 Provide closure.

 Explain “so what?”

 Implications for future research.

 OR

Connections to the current study

Example

In summary, although there is some suggestive evidence that chimpanzees may understand
others’ intentions, there are also negative findings (e.g., Povinelli et al., 1998) and a host of
alternative explanations. As a consequence, currently it is not clear whether chimpanzees (or
other nonhuman primates) distinguish between intentional and accidental actions performed by
others. In contrast, there are several studies indicating that children as young as 14 months of age
have some understanding of others’ intentions, but the lack of comparative studies makes it
difficult to know how children compare to apes. This study is the first to directly compare
children, chimpanzees, and orangutans with the use of a nonverbal task in which the subjects
were to discriminate between the experimenter’s intentional and accidental actions

 Include only those source materials that help you shape your argument. Resist the
temptation to include everything you’ve read!

provide justification/background for the research undertaken: – The LR guides the reader to
understanding the contribution of the work by pointing out the shortcomings/gaps of the state of
the art

Citing a Direct Quote

Citing a direct quote uses the same form as citing a paraphrase. The differences is that you are using someone else's
words directly. In order to avoid plagiarism you MUST USE QUOTATION MARKS unless the direct quote is over four
lines.

Here is a sample direct quote:

Original Text: (From "Captain Cousteau," Audubon (May 1990):17.

"The Antarctic is the vast source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts
tremendous control on our climate," [Jacques] Cousteau told the camera. "The cold ocean water around Antarctica
flows north to mix with warmer water from the tropics, and its upwellings help to cool both the surface water and our
atmosphere. Yet the fragility of this regulating system is now threatened by human activity."

Direct Quote:

The importance of the sea to the environment of the earth cannot be underestimated. "The Antarctic is the vast
source of cold on our planet, just as the sun is the source of our heat, and it exerts tremendous control on our climate
(Cousteau 17)."

Note the following. The first sentence is neither a paraphrase or a quote. It is the writers own words. The writer is
introducing and placing the Cousteau quote into context.

About literature review

 the main published work concerning a particular topic or question in your field

should take the form of a critical discussion, showing insight and an awareness of
differing arguments, theories and approaches. It should be a synthesis and analysis of
the relevant published work, linked at all times to your own purpose and rationale.

the literature review should:

• compare and contrast different authors' views on an issue

• group authors who draw similar conclusions
• criticise aspects of methodology
• note areas in which authors are in disagreement
• highlight exemplary studies
• highlight gaps in research
• show how your study relates to previous studies
• show how your study relates to the literature in general
• conclude by summarising what the literature says

 structure should be dictated instead by topic areas, controversial issues or by questions to which there
are varying approaches and theories. Within each of these sections, you would then discuss what the
different literature argues, remembering to link this to your own purpose.

Linking words are important. If you are grouping together writers with similar opinions, you would use
words or phrases such as:

similarly, in addition, also, again

More importantly, if there is disagreement, you need to indicate clearly that you are aware of this by
the use of linkers such as:

however, on the other hand, conversely, nevertheless

At the end of the review you should include a summary of what the literature implies, which again links
to your hypothesis or main question.

In your review, are you looking at issues of theory, methodology, policy, quantitive
research, or what?

"argues", "claims" or "states". Use the present tense for general opinions and theories,
or the past when referring to specific research or experiments:

address important issues and fully explain your points in the body of your
paper. The point of a conclusion to a research paper is to summarize your
argument for the reader and, perhaps, to call the reader to action if needed.

Make a call to action when appropriate:

Further studies should be made into the factors impeding technological

capacity building in the marginalized states, why leading nations are prone
to financial and economic crisis, how potential leaders can build a more
environmentally sustainable development base.

 rephrase your thesis and supporting points in a way that ties them all
together

Use the same concepts and images introduced in your introduction in your
conclusion

 a single sentence is all you need to restate your topic

Restate your thesis

 start your paper with an introduction that states your main argument, and
to end the paper with a conclusion that re-states your thesis for re-iteration.

Leave out new information

Point to broader implications.