Writing..
• materialises ideas and results
• academic writing:
– exams
– reports
– assignments
– dissertation/thesis
“ good ideas and works can
only be materialised via good
writing skills”
MSc Research Skills Module
Faculty of Engineering and Computing
Lecture Week 5:
Writing and publishing research content
Boon Kee Low
Writing beyond academy...
• convince management about business
ideas
• survey, investment appraisal, technical
reports and user manuals
• advertising and marketing messages
• curriculum vitae
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
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
1. Writing the outline
Example 1
Broad topic:
Scope
Multimedia
Focused topic:
The Development of Multimedia Kiosk
Research title:
The Development of Multimedia Kiosk for Campus Information using
Authorware™
Example 2
Broad topic:
Property Valuation
Focused topic:
Property Market in Holyrood
Research title:
The Implications of the Scottish Parliament on the Property Value in Holyrood
Example 3
Broad topic:
E-Commerce
Focused topic:
The Impacts of E-Commerce
Research title:
E-Commerce and the Retailing Industry: Threats or Opportunities?
Table 2: Examples of good research title
1. Writing the first draft
• go for the sections you feel most at ease
with:
literature review /background
abstract
design/implementation
conclusion/recommendations
Typical order of writing cycle
analysis/results
introduction
• aim to get a quick flow of ideas on to the
paper/word processor
1. Writing the first draft
• start writing early and frequently
• 3 steps techniques for writing
generate
organise
construct
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
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.
School
Length
Paper
Built Environment
20-25,000
words
A4, 90g/m
Computing,
Margin/Justification
Font/Spacing
40mm (binging edge),
20mm other sides
10pt, 1½ or
double spacing
100 pages,(up A4, Between
Left margin 3.81cm
2
to half as
70-100g/m
(1.5”), right margin
appendix)
2.54cm (1”), top margin
2.54 (1”), Right-left
margin justified
Times Roman
12pt text, 10pt
code extract,
single spaced
2
For MSc Dissertation
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
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
Project
Related broad issues
face recognition technology
video compression, security/ surveillance
WWW technology (XML)
e-commerce application
multimedia applications
education, tourist information
transportation modelling
environment issues, congestion
self-built markets
new economy in property and construction
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
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
4. Publishing your research
• why publish?
– easy to re-use and adapt existing work
• 3 scope of interest:
– research and developments: peer recognition, avoid ‘reinventing the wheels’.
– commercial interests: business plans/new software
developments, relevant to technology transfer schemes
– self interests: strengthen your employment potentials, extra
income
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)
4. Publishing your research
• electronic (WWW) publishing
–
–
–
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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
Research Skills Module Website
• additional information, links,
examples, handouts, references
http://www.sbe.napier.ac.uk/staff/bkeelow/student.htm