Architecture and design seminar
11 October 2006
Academic writing with the emphasis on
writing abstracts
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of
Languages, Culture and
Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Some principles
 Genre analysis and academic writing
 Scientific Research Genres
 The IMRD-model (Introduction, Methods, Results,
Discussion)
 Moves are characterized by linguistic features (e.g.
personal/ impersonal or the active voice versus the
passive voice).
 The Cars-model for research article introductions
(creating a research space)
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Abstracts
Abstracts have the following purposes:
Screening device
Stand-alone text
Preview
Indexing
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Results-driven abstracts
Typical move-structure:
Background information and/or purpose
Topic and methodology
The main results
Major conclusions
Usually tenses vary from one move to another
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Abstracts
 Example of abstract (Results-driven)
 The importance of keywords (Surgical Casts, Foot
Diseases, Diabetic Neuropathies, Skin Ulcer
Therapy)
 The importance of titles
Titles should indicate the topic of the study
Titles should indicate the scope of the study
Titles should be self-explanatory to readers in the
chosen area
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Abstracts
Abstracts for review-type articles:
Example
Usually written in the present tense
The research paper summary abstract (follows the
IMRD model)
Other examples of abstracts
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU
Academic Writing
Abstracts
References
Huckin, T.N: AND Olsen, L.A. (1991): Technical Writing and
Professional Communication. For Nonnative Speakers of
English. New York. McGraw-Hill
Swales, J.M. and Feak, C.B. (1997): Academic Writing for
Graduate Students. A course for Nonnative Speakers of
English. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J.M. (2005): Research Genres. Exploration and
Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
02/07/2016
Inger Lassen, Department of Languages,
Culture and Aesthetics, AAU