1. Writing.. materialises ideas and results academic writing: –exams –reports –assignments –dissertation/thesis “ good ideas and works can only be materialised via good writing skills”

2. MSc Research Skills Module Faculty of Engineering and Computing Lecture Week 5: Writing and publishing research content Boon Kee Low

3. Writing beyond academy... convince management about business ideas survey, investment appraisal, technical reports and user manuals advertising and marketing messages curriculum vitae

4. The objectives of this lecture: learning outcomes: –Understand the practical aspects of writing; –Write and present technical reports –Understand the importance of publishing research works sections: –Writing the outline and the first draft –Focusing –Writing the common bits: abstract, introduction and conclusion –Publishing your research work

5. 1. Writing the outline enable relevant elements of the document to be identified expect to refine the outline throughout the project typical sections for an outline: –Title, content page, glossary and acknowledgement; –Introduction, literature review and concept; –Research design and implementation; –Results and analysis; –Conclusion, recommendations and further works; –Appendix and references

6. 1. Writing the outline

7. 1. Writing the first draft go for the sections you feel most at ease with: literature review /background design/implementation analysis/results abstract conclusion/recommendations introduction Typical order of writing cycle aim to get a quick flow of ideas on to the paper/word processor

8. 1. Writing the first draft start writing early and frequently 3 steps techniques for writing generate organise construct

9. 2. Focusing focus on your readers –what knowledge do they have? –what can they understand the technical terminology? –put yourself in your readers shoe focus on document quality –no spelling errors and grammatical sound –concise (short and ‘crisp’ sentences) –well structured (subheadings) –avoid ‘chatty’ expressions

10. 2. Focusing focus on specification – quantitative: words/pages limits, presentation requirements – qualitative: scope - is the specific topic adequately covered? – REMEMBER: quantity is no substitute for quality.

11. 3. Writing the abstract abstract –is the essence or the core of the document –enable the relevance of document (to the readers) to be determined –writing it means ‘REVEALING THE CORE’ –should contain 3 elements: statement of the research scope and objective ; research method/algorithm used major findings –use collective terms: ‘empirical studies’, ‘OPPS’ etc. –use the 3-step writing technique

12. 3. Writing the introduction introduction –engage the reader for the rest of the text –give the ‘big picture’ –expanding the abstract (the core) and incorporating broader issues relevant to the work –avoid diving into theoretical and technical details

13. 3. Writing the introduction introduction should contain: –background information: definitions, brief review of past research, application –objectives and hypothesis –proposed method –description of document content: e.g. ‘chapter X describes…, the next two chapters then focuses on….’ reuse research proposal for writing introduction and abstract

14. 3. Writing the conclusion conclusion –bring your main achievement into focus –a response to introduction with an emphasis (‘punchlines’) of your key results –should contain: statements of accomplishment of research objectives: e.g. ‘The project has undertaken ‘Objective A, B, and then C etc..’ a summary of key results: ‘How they fulfilled the objectives stated?’ statements of limitations and further works

15. 4. Publishing your research why publish? –easy to re-use and adapt existing work 3 scope of interest: –research and developments: peer recognition, avoid ‘re- inventing the wheels’. –commercial interests: business plans/new software developments, relevant to technology transfer schemes –self interests: strengthen your employment potentials, extra income

16. 4. Publishing your research academic means: –conference: 3/4 pages with some research originalities –refereed journal: normally 4000-7000 words, strictly reviewed by experts commercial means: –trade magazines –competition, e.g: £300 for 1000 words research case studies (CIOB) –commission reports and £2000 for up to 7000 words review of a research topic (RICS)

17. 4. Publishing your research electronic (WWW) publishing –the use of WWW is becoming widespread –hyperlinks and discussions group –the use of multimedia: software demonstration –online CV for ‘roaming’ employers a special handout and online tutorials can be found on the Module website

18. Research Skills Module Website additional information, links, examples, handouts, references http://www.sbe.napier.ac.uk/staff/bkeelow/student.htm