How to Write an Academic Paper
#1. Titles
#2. Abstracts
#3. Introduction
#4. Literature Review
#5. Methods
#6. Results
#7. Discussion
#8. Conclusions
Ibham Veza
Ibham Veza
Chapter One
Writing an Excellent Title
- short, representative & stand out -
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❶ Make your title more dynamic
Every word should add significance. Remove redundant
words such as analysis, evaluatoin, investigation, etc.
A study of some psychological aspects
of English pronunciation.
Some psychological aspects of English
pronunciation.
Ibham Veza - Titles
❷ Shorten your title
Titles are often constricted by the number of characters.
Replace the non-key words with shorter synonyms.
demonstrate show
guarantee ensure
require need
support aid
utilize use
improvement advance
fundamental basic
advantage benefit
accurate exact
primary main
Ibham Veza - Titles
❸ Replace the word ‘novel’
Words such as novel and innovative give no indication as to
how something is novel. Use more explicit adjectives.
A novel method for learning English.
A low-cost method for learning English.
Ibham Veza - Titles
❹ Use –ing form
Avoid abstract nouns and use –ing form. It can make
your title more readable and shorter.
The Specification and the Evaluation of
Educational Software in Primary
Schools.
Specifying and Evaluating Educational
Software in Primary School.
Ibham Veza - Titles
❺ Break string of nouns
A long string of nouns is confusing. Consider using some
prepositions (by, for, from, in, of) to break it.
New archaeological research and
teaching technologies.
New technologies for research and
teaching in archaeology.
Ibham Veza - Titles
❻ Use question to attract attention
Although it sounds informal, question-type title can be
used for abstracts submitted to conferences.
Does the ocean-atmosphere system have more
stable mode of operation?
Ibham Veza - Titles
❼ Use ‘A’ for appropriate noun
Singular countable noun must be preceeded by an article.
An ‘A’ is needed when the noun is singular and countable.
Survey of improving design of
internal systems.
A survey of improving design of
internal systems..
Ibham Veza - Titles
❽ Avoid declarative title
The article ‘the’ is used to describe a definite thing that we are
100% sure. Make your title less arrogant by avoiding
conclusive and definitive ‘the’.
The factors that determine customer
satisfaction.
Factors that determine customer
satisfaction.
Ibham Veza - Titles
❾ Remove ‘the’ before uncount. N
‘The’ is not needed to precede uncountable nouns such as
lack, feedback, equipment, temperature etc. Generally, ‘the’ is used
to describe a definite countable noun.
The lack of protective immunity
against hepatitis C virus.
Lack of protective immunity against
hepatitis C virus.
Ibham Veza - Titles
Ibham Veza
Chapter Two
Writing an Abstract That Attracts
Readers’ Attention
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❶ It is like an advertisement
Editors, readers, and librarians have to decide quickly, whether
your paper is relevant or not. Make your Abstract stand out.
First impressions are important. ‘Sell’ your paper by:
• Attracting curiosity and stimulating the readers to
read the whole paper.
• Writing very clear and short sentences (max 25
words/sentence).
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❷ Write the Abstract last
Always write the Abtract when you have finished writing
the whole paper. This reflects the research process itself.
The first thing you write about is:
• what you found
• how this can be interpreted
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❸ What to write in your Abstract
Use the answers to these questions to structure your
abstract. The order can make a different impression.
• Why did I carry out this project? How important?
• What did I do, and how? What were my results?
• What was new compared to previous research?
• What are the implications/contributions of my findings?
• What are my conclusions and recommendations?
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❹ How to structure your Abstract
Here are some typical sections in a structured abstract.
• Background and Purpose - The gap to fill
• Design/Methodology/Approach
• Findings & Originality
• Implications & Contribution
• Conclusions & Recommendation
• Keywords
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❺ Go straight to the point
Abstract is like advertisements for your paper.
Don’t delay ‘the big thing’ in your findings
In this paper, a highly innovative
software application was developed to
help…
A highly innovative software
application was developed to help…
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❻ Give enough context setting
Help the reader by giving enough background
information (max 25% of the whole abstract).
But remember! :
• Your readers want new information, not old information
• The reader may be a referee who has to read hundreds of
abstracts to decide which journal to include.
• You can add more details in the Introduction.
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❼ Style: personal or impersonal?
It depends on your dicipline and journal requirements.
Style 1 & 2 focus on the author’s opinion. Style 3 is the
most common, while Style 4 is the least popular.
STYLE 1
I found that x = y
STYLE 2
We found that x = y
STYLE 3
It was found that x = y
STYLE 4
The authors found that x = y
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❽ Use present simple for…
Use present simple (active or passive) to talk about a fact,
general truth or a well-known situation that is widely
accepted in the literature.
Example
• The mixture between the air and the fuel
plays an important role in determining
the combustion performance.
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❾ Use present perfect for…
Use present perfect (active or passive) to talk about a
solution that started in the past and still have an impact
until today (past to present solution).
Example
• Diesel spray mechanism has
often been studied using laser
diagnostics methods. (on going
situation)
Ibham Veza - Abstract
❿ Use past simple for…
Only use past simple (active or passive) to describe what
you did/achieved and what conclusions you reached.
e.g. : A new approach was designed and its effectiveness
was demonstrated….
But remember, some authors also use the present perfect!
e.g. : A new approach has been designed and its
effectiveness has been demonstrated….
Ibham Veza - Abstract
⓫ How to select your keywords?
Choose your keywords carefully. Google will index your
paper based on your keywords. This will help the readers
find your journal in their initial search.
Remember!
• Never repeat the key words more than three times in
the abstract.
• If your paper appears on the first page of Google
search engine, your citation numbers will increase.
Ibham Veza - Abstract
⓬ How about your limitations?
Again! An Abstract is designed to ‘sell’ your research. But,
at the same time, you have to be honest to the readers.
Solution
Mention the limitations of your research
in the Discussion section.
Ibham Veza - Abstract
⓭ Aim to have maximum impact
Three ways to do this:
1. Highlight the importance
2. Be as concise as possible
3. Put the best information in the
best possible order
Ibham Veza - Abstract
Ibham Veza
Chapter Three
Writing an Introduction That Helps the
Readers Understand Your Contribution
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❶ Introduction = Roadmap
You have to chose carefully what important information
should be included in the Introduction. This will allow the
readers to appreciate your findings.
!
• Don’t just copy and paste what is in Abstract.
• Avoid general statements that are already known.
• Provide enough background information so that the
readers understand what problem you are trying to solve.
Ibham Veza - Introduction
❷ What to write in your Intro
Use the answers to these questions to structure your Intro.
• What is the problem?
• Are there any existing solutions?
• Which solution is the best?
• What gap am I hoping to fill?
• What do I hope to achieve
• Have I achieved my target?
Ibham Veza - Introduction
❸ How to begin your Intro
Remember! Make your research question clear.
You could begin your Intro with the following styles.
1. Topic definition + background
2. General consensus + problem to be solved
3. Authors’ objectives
4. Introduction to the literature
Ibham Veza - Introduction
❹ What’s next?
You could continue by explaining:
5. Survey of related literature
6. Author’s contribution
7. Aim of the present work
8. Main results / conclusions
9. Future implications
10. Outline of structure
Ibham Veza - Introduction
❺ Never use stock phrases
Stock phrases are typical phrases that everyone uses.
Avoid using these phrases at he beginning of your
Introduction. Begin in a more direct way.
Example of stock phrases to avoid:
• Recent advances in…
• The last few years have seen…
• In the last decade…
Ibham Veza - Introduction
❻ Introduction ≠ Abstract
Your Introduction is an extension of your Abstract. Don’t
just cut and paste your Abstract, expand it. Typical
Introduction consist twice more words than the Abstract.
Solution
• Paraphrase your Abstract
• Give more enough background information so that
the readers will understand the gap you wish to fill
Ibham Veza - Introduction
Ibham Veza
Chapter Four
Writing Literature Review
Like A Story in A Novel
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❶ Literature Review (LR)…
Provide readers with just amount of literature – not too
little and not too much. Give enough sequence of events
leading up to the current situation.
• Systematically elaborate the achievements and
limitations of other studies.
• Relate your new facts and data to these studies.
• Remember! Don’t delay giving the new
information for too long.
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❷ What to avoid?
Mention some references just to make the paper longer.
Only cite other papers to support your approach.
Information is not up to date and many references are
cited from one particular country.
Widen your literature search and make your paper looks
international enough.
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❸ How to structure your LR?
A Literature Review generally answer the following
questions, and normally in the following order.
1. The most important works on my topic?
2. Progress related to my important works?
3. Relevant recent studies – achievements,
limitations, and knowledge gap?
4. Plan to fill the gap?
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❹ Remove redundancy
Long sentences are known to be characteristic of…
Long sentences are characteristic of…
The concept of author-centeredness plays an important role in ..
Author-centeredness plays an important role in ..
In the literature long sentences are not exclusive to English.
Long sentences are not exclusive to English.
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❺ How to structure your LR?
A Literature Review generally answer the following
questions, and normally in the following order.
1. The most important works on my topic?
2. Progress related to my important works?
3. Relevant recent studies – achievements,
limitations, and knowledge gap?
4. Plan to fill the gap?
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❻ Tenses review
Pay attention to the tenses that you are using. Although this
is relatively flexible, consider the general rules* below:
• Simple present → fact / accepted theory
• Present perfect → on going situation
• Past simple → past event
* This applies to other sections throughout your paper, not only to the literature review.
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❼ Be diplomatic
When you want your readers to note the strong features and
the novelty of your work, do it in a constructive ways.
• As far as we know, there are no studies on …
• To [the best of] our knowledge, the literature has not
discussed …
• We believe that this is the first time that principal agent
theory has been applied to …
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
❽ Use template phrases
If you want to mention the limitations of previous works
by other authors you could adapt one of the following.
•
•
•
•
Generally speaking patients’ perceptions are seldom considered.
Results often appear to conflict with each other …
So far X has never been applied to Y.
Moreover, no attention has been paid to …
Ibham Veza – Literature Review
Ibham Veza
Chapter Five
Writing Methods that Are
Easy to Follow
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❶ How to write good Methods
Describe your materials and methods sufficiently so that
others can easily follow them or even replicate your work.
Write long procedures illogically with
more than two steps in one sentences.
Write clear and logical procedures with
generally not more than two steps in
one sentence.
Ibham Veza - Methods
❷ Start writing from your Methods
Your Methods are generally the easiest section to write. This is
because they are likely to be the clearest section in your part.
• Start writing your manuscript from your Methods
• Provide enough quantitative information (duration, time, size etc.)
• Use subheadings to explain the various stages of the procedure in
a logical order so that your readers can follow them easily.
• Cover every important step. An important step you think is simple
to understand may not be that simple for your readers.
Ibham Veza - Methods
❸ Typical complaints from referees
Your Methods have to be comprehensive and as concise
as possible, for example by referring to other works in the
literature, including your own, that use the same methods.
Below are some of typical complaints from the referees
• Methods are not adequately described and are incomplete
(How many samples? Which method was used and why?)
• No data treatment and statistical analysis is shown
• The authors repeat lots od well known published data, when they
should have been used as a reference.
Ibham Veza - Methods
❹ How to structure Methods
•
•
•
•
•
•
What / Who did I study? What hypotheses was I testing?
Where did I carry out this study and what characteristics did this
location have?
How did I design my experiment / sampling and what
assumptions did I make?
What variable was I measuring and why?
How did I handle / house / treat my materials / subjects? What
kind of care / precautions were taken?
What equipment did I use (plus modifications) and where did this
equipment come from (vendor source)?
Ibham Veza - Methods
❺ Methods structure (cont’d)
• What protocol did I use for collecting my data?
• How did I analyze the data? Statistical
procedures? Mathematical equations? Software?
• What probability did I use to decide significance?
• What references to the literature could I give to
save me having to describe something in detail?
• What difficulties did I encounter?
• How does my methodology compare with
previously reported methods, and what
significant advances does it make?
Ibham Veza - Methods
❻ Various ways to begin Methods
(a) Making a general statement about your method
The method described here is simple, rapid, sensitive and ...
(b) Referring to another paper
The materials used for isolation and culture are described elsewhere [2]
(c) Stating where you obtained your materials from
Bacterial strains ... were isolated and kindly supplied by ...
(d) Explaining how you found your subjects, i.e. begin with the setting
Subjects were chosen from a randomly selected sample of ...
Ibham Veza - Methods
❼ Ways to begin the Methods
(e) Indicating where your investigation was focused
The study was carried out in four boulevards in Athens (Greece).
(f) Referring the reader to a figure which shows the experimental set up
To highlight the advantages of the system, Fig. 1 shows the ...
(g) Starting directly with the first step in your procedure
Frontal cerebral cortices were dissected from ...
Ibham Veza - Methods
❽ Use past and passive voice
Most Methods section are written in the past simple as the
actions took place and finished before you started to write.
• The use of past simple also helps to distinguish what you did from
what others have done (present simple).
• The use of passive allows the focus to be on what was done rather
than who did it
• You may use the active voice to a certain extent but always avoid
using the first person in this section.
Ibham Veza - Methods
❾ Have two actions in one sentence
Don’t write your Methods like a manual, where each
individual action is described in a single sentence.
A first postal invitation to participate in
the survey was sent to 26 practices in
Yorkshire. A total of five practices
indicated their willingness to participate.
Following a first postal invitation to
participate sent to 26 practices in
Yorkshire, five responded positively.
Ibham Veza - Methods
❿ Put the verb directly after subject
Readability is generally increased when the subject and verb
are close together. Never separate the subject from the verb
The four practices, which had been
previously identified as having list sizes
between 4750 and 8200, comprised…
The four practices had a list size
ranging between 4750 and 8200. They
comprised:
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓫ Use bullets
The four practices had a list size
ranging between 4750 and 8200.
They comprised firstly an inner city
practice with an ethnically diverse
population…(Type 1), secondly two
urban practices with average levels
of socio deprivation (Type 2), and
thirdly, a mixed urban /rural practice
(Type 3).
The four practices had a list size
ranging between 4750 and 8200.
They comprised:
• an inner city practice with an
ethnically diverse population…
• two urban practices with average
levels of socio deprivation
• a mixed urban /rural practice
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓬ Describe the process naturally
Avoid a series of lists as it does not sound natural
Factors that affect the chemistry
of these materials include: heat
(anthropogenic transformations),
humidity, pH, and microbial
attacks.
The chemistry of these materials
can be affected, for example, by heat
(anthropogenic
transformations),
humidity, pH, and microbial attacks.
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓭ Reduce the word count
• Assume your readers have basic knowledge of
the techniques used in your field, you can thus
delete any superfluous information.
• Cite a reference rather than detailing the
procedure again if any of your methods are
fully described elsewhere (in one of your
papers or someone else’s)
• Use tables and figures to summarize
information
• Be concise
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓮Save your readers’ time
It affects the reading flow when the readers have to go back
to previous section in order to check some terms /
definitions. Help them to save time by:
•
Avoid designating a numerical concept such as Type 1, Type 2, or
Type 3. This will save your time, but not the readers’. As an
alternative, replace those terms in a concise definition such as
‘inner city practice’ instead of ‘Type 1’.
• Inventing an acronym. For instance, you could have written ICP
for ‘inner city practice’. Be aware, this could force the reader to
remember what ICP refers to.
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓯ Have to be in chronological?
You have to present your Methods in a logical manner. The
fact you did something before or after something else may
not be relevant. So, chronology is not important.
Note that within a sentence or paragraph, readers should feel they are
moving forward chronologically. See the following perfect example:
The sample was filtered and acidified at pH 2. It was then
mixed with X, which enabled the resulting solution to
stabilize at ...
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓰ Shorten your aim
You often need to explain why you made certain choices.
To do this effectively, avoid any unnecessary phrases.
• In order to validate the results, we first had to ...
• In an attempt to identify the components, it was decided to ...
• Our aim was to get a general picture of ...
Or you could use the verb ‘choose’ in its passive form
• This equipment was chosen for its low cost.
• This equipment was chosen (in order) to save money.
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓱ Use allow, enable and permit
These three words are very useful when you want to explain
why A give the capability to B to do C.
• The equipment allowed us to identify X.
• The software enabled X to be identified.
• The model permits the analysis of X.
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓲ Use thus, therefore, thereby
To indicate the consequences of your choices, you could
use connector to make the sentence more cohesive.
Example 1. An evaluation of this initial data demonstrated that X = Y,
thus giving an insight into the function of Z.
thereby providing a basis for investigating the function of Z.
Example 2. An evaluation of this initial data demonstrated that X = Y.
Consequently the next step was to investigate the function of Z.
The next step was thus / therefore / consequently to investigate ...
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓳ Digits or words?
Digits → 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Words → one, two, three, four, five
This varies from journal to journal and paper to paper..
1.
Some journals recommend all the numbers are
written as digits (2 pulses not two pulses)
2.
Others prefer using words for numbers from one
to ten, and then digits. Exception for a
measurement (5 mm, not ten millimeters). Note
that ten millimeters has an s ending when they are
plural, while 5 mm doesn’t.
Ibham Veza - Methods
⓴ Never begin with a digit
You are not allowed to begin a sentence with a number in
digits. This is to help readers see the numbers more clearly.
•
•
2000 respondents have participated.
2879 respondents have participated.
• Two thousand respondents have
participated.
• A total of 2879 respondents have
participated.
Ibham Veza - Methods
#21. Avoid ambiguity
Ambiguity forces the reader to stop and interpret the
meaning Help them by adding some words & improving
the punctuation to clarify things (comma, connector, etc.)
Having completed the study, the bacteria
were of no further interest.
Once the study had been completed,
the bacteria were of no further
interest.
Ibham Veza - Methods
#22. Other points to consider
• Use subheadings to help the reader to understand the
various stages or components in your Methods
• Point out any precautions taken (this will give you more
credibility as a researcher who conduct his work
accurately and thoroughly)
• Discuss any limitations in your method or problems
• Highlight the benefits of your methods(perhaps in
comparison to other author’s approaches)
Ibham Veza - Methods
Ibham Veza
Chapter Six
Writing An Honest Results
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❶ Results vs Discussions
Results = Reporting → Objective
Discussions = Interpreting → Subjective
•
Reporting, e.g.:
Seeds exposed to the 2-day treatment had the
highest cumulative germination (84%).
•
Interpreting, e.g.:
The results suggest that the optimal time for
running-water treatment is 2 days.
Ibham Veza - Results
❷ First thing to remember!
Some journals have a separate Results section, while some
integrate it with Discussion (Result + Discussion)
• If you have a separate Results section, present them with little or
no interpretation. Give the interpretation in the Discussions.
• Decide what results are representative. Organize them in a
sequence to answer your research questions.
• Be prepare to provide a number of figures and tables along with
comments related to those data. Don’t forget to mention any
important negative results in this section.
Ibham Veza - Results
❸ Typical poor results writing
You don’t have to include all your results. Decide which
findings are significant and which are not.
• Never hide some contradictory findings, they might be helpful.
• Give the readers the tools to understand the significance of
your findings by providing relevant figures and tables.
• But don’t just repeat what can be clearly seen and understood
from the figures and tables (avoid reiterating each value).
Ibham Veza - Results
❹ How to structure the Results
A typical results structure is to follow the order you used
for the procedures in your Methods. The results should
answer the following questions:
• What did I find?
• What did I not find?
• What did I find that I was not expecting
to find? (contradicts my hypotheses)
Ibham Veza - Results
❺ Advice from an Expert
Maeve O’Connor in her book Witing Successfully in
Science, recommends the following structure.
•
Highlight those results that answer your research
question (arrange relevant figures, tables, etc. in the
most logical order for the readers)
• Outline secondary results
• Give supporting information in the text
• Mention any results that contradict your hypothesis and
explain why they are anomalous.
Ibham Veza - Results
❻ The first way to begin the Results
st
Giving a general description of your
simulations, experiments, surveys, etc.
(without repeating the details mentioned in
the Methods).
• Overall, the results presented below show that …
•
•
The three key results of this empirical study are: …
The emergent themes were identified from the
analysis: …
Ibham Veza - Results
❼ The second way…
Going directly to your results, often by inviting
readers to look at one of your figures or tables,
either in the first sentence or very shortly after.
nd
• Figure 1 shows the mass spectra obtained from an
analysis of the two residues. The first residue reveals a ..
(Fig. 1a)
• A total of 34 wheat genotypes (Table 1) were screened
for… Responses to increased sunlight varied
significantly (Figure 1) …
• An analysis was made to look for … To do this, the
average times of x and y were compared … Figures 1–3
show the differences between …
Ibham Veza - Results
❽ Use style flexibly
Either personal (we found) or impersonal style (it was
found) is acceptable. Yet, always follow your journal’s style
•
Impersonal style tend to add the objectivity in your
writing, making you as the author remain in the
background and let your results speak for themselves.
•
Note that when referring to figures and tables, using
active form can make your sentence more dynamic
(Figure 5 shows… instead of …is shown in Figure 5)
Ibham Veza - Results
❿ Note for personal style
You can refer to yourself as ‘we’ although you are the sole
author and conduct the research entirely by yourself.
•
The use of personal style tend to make your writing
less formal but it will help the reader to become more
involved in the research process.
• The result is a paper that reads a little like a story and
will be much more enjoyable to follow and thus
easier to digest. But remember, always follow your
journal’s requirement.
Ibham Veza - Results
❿ Never hide your negative results
A negative result is not a waste of time. In fact, you
discovered a very useful piece of information: the thing
that you were testing doesn’t work.
!
•
•
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that ‘bad data’ are
not valuable at all. Those are your results and they
need interpretation.
They may be of importance to others too and
remember that many important discoveries can be
traced to ‘bad data’.
Ibham Veza - Results
⓫ Use tenses correctly
Results were found before you started writing the paper.
Use past simple and mix between active and passive forms
•
When the subject is the most essential factor, use active.
E.g: Workers described…
• When the object is the most important element, use passive.
E.g: The model was seen….
Ibham Veza - Results
⓬ Who did what?
Make 100% sure that readers will understand whose
findings you are talking about. You could do this by:
• Referring to a figure or table that is clearly
your results / findings and not someone else’s.
• Using past simple as it is a convention to
talk about the authors’ findings, whereas
the present simple is used to indicate an
established scientific fact.
Ibham Veza - Results
⓭ Show the significance
Don’t just tell the reader that a result is significant, show
them how it is significant. Give them what they need to
know (sufficient info) to come to their own conclusion.
The large difference in mean
size between population C and
population D is particularly
interesting.
While the mean size generally varies
among populations by only a few cm,
the mean size in populations C and D
differed by 25 cm. Two hypotheses
could account for this, … Ibham Veza - Results
⓮ Figures: Help the readers
• Make your writing worth reading.
The readers may only look at
your figures and tables without
even reading the paper itself.
• Avoid telling something that can
be seen directly in the figures or
tables. Help them interpret it.
• Also, remove any redundancy!
Ibham Veza - Results
⓯ Let them follow you…
Avoid long and unnecessary abstract concept by
eliminating redundancy and by guiding the readers
towards the intrepretaion that you want them to have.
As can be seen in Figure 5
shows the relationship between
the numbers of species A and
species B
The abundances of species A and B
were inversely related (Figure 5)
Ibham Veza - Results
Ibham Veza
Chapter Seven
Writing Discussions
- Objective, Balanced & Unbiased -
❶❷❸❹❺❻❼❽
❶ Polish your Discussion
When referees reject a paper, it is very often due to a
poorly written Discussion. Therefore, you have to be
both convincing and credible at the same time.
Repeat your results using the same
words and phrases and accept your
limitation in a negative manner.
Interpret your results without repeating
them (paraphrase) and be positive about
your own limitations
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❷ How to structure Discussion?
1. Do my data support what I set out to demonstrate at the
beginning of the paper?
2. How do my findings compare with what others have found?
How consistent are they?
3. What is my personal interpretation of my findings?
4. What other possible interpretations are there?
5. What are the limitations of my study? What other factors
could have influenced my findings? Have I reported everything
that could make my findings invalid?
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❸ structure the Discussion (cont’d)
6. Do any of the interpretations reveal a possible flaw (i.e. defect,
error) in my experiment?
7. Do my interpretations contribute some new understanding of
the problem? Suggest a shortcoming, or an advance on, in the
work of others?
8. What external validity do my findings have? How could my
findings be generalized to other areas?
9. What possible implications and applications? Any support?
10. What further research? Will I do it myself ?
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❹ Note from the previous slide
Question 8-10 should be answered in Conclusions section
if you have separate Discussion and Conclusions sections.
•
•
•
If your result was that A = B, give in-depth explanations
and try to relate your findings to other relevant studies.
If you claim better efficiency of a new system, show
your results explaining how fast this would work
compared to the traditional method.
Be constructive when discussing what you believe to be
the limitations of others.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❺ Various ways to begin Discussion
1. Remind readers of your goals in a single sentence
e.g.: One of the main goals of this experiment was to attempt
to find a way to predict who shows more task persistence.
2. Refer back to the questions in Intro (hypotheses, predictions)
e.g.: These results both negate and support some of the
hypotheses. It was predicted that greater perfectionism
scores would result in greater task persistence.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❻ Ways to begin Discussion
3.
Refer back paper you cited in Literature Review
e.g.: Previous studies conflict with the data presented in the
Results: it was more common for … (Shanab et al., 1981)
4. Briefly restate the most important points from your Results
e.g.: While not all of the results were significant, the overall
direction of results showed trends that could be helpful to
learning about who is more likely to persist.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❼ Tell a story!
To build up your theory, tell a story by making your
variables, data or findings are like characters in a novel.
Isolate these ‘characters’ (variables,
data, findings) and explain them as a
separate individuals.
Describe how your ‘characters’ relate to
each other and explain them logically.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❽ Compare with others
Comparative discussions tend to create bettersubstantiated understanding of the problem
• Make a general statement regarding your findings
• Mention another author’s work that relate directly
to your findings
• Make a link between his work and your work
• Clearly state how your work differs from his work
• State the conclusions that can be drawn from your
results in light of these considerations
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❾ If there is no Conclusion section
In this case, your Discussion section should end with a
summary of the main points for the readers to remember
• Explain how your findings could be extended to other areas. If
done in different context, would you get the same result?
• Suggest ways that your hypothesis (model, device, etc.)
could be improved on. Say if you ignored some specific areas.
• Admit what you have not been able to do and as a consequence
cannot provide conclusions on.
• Give your recommendations and explain how your research
could be continued.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
❿ Clarify who the author is
You will constantly be comparing your work with others.
You know what you did, but the reader doesn’t.
Comment
Readers cannot know who made the
suggestion until they find Ref. 25. So,
to avoid ambiguity, where possible
In 2010, it was suggested that complex use active sentence. But, always check
sentences could also lead to high levels with the journal’s style guide.
of stress for the reader [25].
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓫ Prepare for objections
Anticipate possible interpretaion by:
• Admitting that you might be wrong
• Putting forward an alternative
interpretation
• Explaining that your data could be used
to confirm alternative interpretation
• Giving reasons for not agreeing with this
alternative interpretation
• Proposing your own conclusion
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓬ Bring a little excitement
Use emotive adjectives (convincing, exciting, massive) and
powerful nouns (advance, breakthrough, proposition) to
make your Discussion quite animated
E.g.: The possibility of contributing to change the way we
communicate with machines is a very exciting proposition.
Note : Use this emotive language wisely and very infrequently.
Otherwise, it will lose its effect. Also, check whether such
language is appropriate in your chosen journal.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓭ When you are not 100% sure
There may be some cases that you have not checked. In
such cases, you can use ‘it appears’ and ‘it seems’ You
expect it to be true, but you don’t claim it.
• It appears that stochastic processes for which x = y can
produce finite dimension values.
• This completes the proof of Theorem 1. Note how this
enables us to determine all the Xs and Ys at the same time.
Thus it seems that some natural hypotheses can be
formulated as ..
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓮ Criticizing others’ works
The important thing when questioning other’s work is not
to undermine their credibility. Treat others with respect,
they will treat you with respect.
1.
2.
3.
Other works are very general in one specific field.
You want to apply this research to a new area
Limitations were found.
You are trying to overcome these limitations.
Hypotheses that have never really been tested.
You want to test them.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓯ Lessen your negative impact
When you discuss any limitations and failures, try to do so
in a positive way. You could say that other authors have
experienced similar problems, too. Here are the strategies:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explain the pitfall (the limitation)
Give reasons (e.g. insufficient theories
to solve your problem, complex
geometry, not enough data, etc.)
Outline consequence of the pitfall
Refer to a similar pitfall experienced by
another author
Ibham Veza - Discussion
⓰ Chose the right words
The limitation of this paper is that the Although the two surveys were not
two surveys were not conducted in the conducted in the same period, this will
same period. This will affect our results only affect our results in terms of …
in terms of…
The revision is better as it (1) removes the word limitation (2)
introduces ‘although’ and ‘only’ (3) combines 2 sentences into just 1
sentence, giving the reader less time to ponder on the negative.
Ibham Veza - Discussion
Ibham Veza
Chapter Eight
Writing Conclusions that Are Clear and
Answer Your Reseacrh Question Logically
❶❷❸❹❺❻❼❽
❶ Polish your conclusions
Most authors find conclusions difficult to write. However,
it’s not this section is difficult, it’s just that authors don’t
know how to write a good conclusion.
• Remember! conclusion section are probably
the last thing that a referee and reader read.
• Make it clear and concise and leave them
with a good impression.
• Check your spelling and grammar.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❷ Meet referees expectations
You have to know what referees and readers expect to find
in your conclusions. Avoid repeating the same phrases and
information from Abstract and Introduction.
• Don’t just give summary of what you have
done, conclude the impact of your findings.
• Provide a clear and high-impact take-home
message for your readers and referees.
• Answer your research question!.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❸Conclusions ≠ Absract
Unlike your Abstract, the conclusion is not just a summary.
• You don’t need to provide background details
in the conclusion section.
• Rather, you have to give more emphasis to
your contribution and findings (impact,
implication, limitations, etc.)
• Provide suggestions for improvements and
recommendations for future work.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❹ Absract vs Conclusions (1/3)
ABSTRACT
An increase in storm frequency
and intensity is expected for the
Mediterranean area. This study
aim to assess the risk of soil
erosion in sub-basin croplands in
Tuscany, Italy.
CONCLUSION
We assessed the risk of soil erosion in the
Trasubbie (Tuscany, Italy) sub-basin
croplands by using a scenario analysis.
Note:
• No background information
• More Precise location (Trasubbie)
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❺ Absract vs Conclusions (2/3)
ABSTRACT
We explored the potential
response…..(1) Most soil erosion
is associated with….(2) Assessing
the spatially-distributed soil loss
….(3) An analysis on a sub-hourly
basis…..(4)
CONCLUSION
Various combinations for climate change
…were evaluated using the SWAT model.
Note:
Four points from the abstract are
concluded in just one sentence in
conclusion. If readers want more detail
explanation, they can see your results and
discussions sections
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❻ Absract vs Conclusions (3/3)
ABSTRACT
Our analysis highlighted …We
predict that these strategies could
reduce erosion by up to 25% in
the studied area over the next ten
years.
CONCLUSION
The result showed a dramatic finding of
a possible erosion rate increase of up to
25%. We believe that our analysis…. We
hope that…. Future work will entail
refining our model by…
The conclusion describes results with much
stronger impact and make recommendation
for future work.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❼ Remind the readers
Remember! The Abstract is like an advertisement for your
paper – it has to attract the reader’s attention. Conclusion,
on the other hand, aims to remind the readers.
• Tell the readers again of your most
important points in the paper.
• Add value by explaining the implications
and improvement for future works.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❽ Increase your impact
Make it memorable & more direct. Remove redundancy!
• In this study
• It is concluded that
• This work has demonstrated that
In this study it is concluded that
the crystal structure of X reveals
that…
•
•
We have shown that
It has been suggested in this paper
The crystal structure of X reveals
that…
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❾ Benefits of using passive
A passive style allow you to put your main topic at the
beginning of the sentence thus making it more direct and
avoiding delay of your important findings.
e.g.: A simple method of extracting gold
from plastic has been described.
Note that in the passive sentence above
the subject who did the action is not clear.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
❿ Drawbacks of using passive
The readers cannot be 100% sure if the author
is referring to his own work or someone else’s.
This can lead to the ambiguity if passive style is
used in the Abstract and Introduction.
However, this problem doesn’t appear in the
conclusion as the subject who did the action is
obviously the author himself.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
⓫ Vary your tenses
Many tenses and constructions are used in the Conclusions
– the future, conditionals, modal verbs etc.
Present perfect (what the authors have done in the
paper). E.g.: We have described a method to…
Past simple (what they did in the laboratory or
finished action). E.g.: We used this method to
extract 5 kg of gold from 50 kg of plastic.
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
⓬ Present tense in conclusions
The use of present simple would be correct in the Abstract
and Introduction. In Conclusions, you could change the
present simple form into the present perfect.
•
•
Abstract & Intro → e.g. We consider the robust design of
an extractor for removing gold from plastic. (conclusions:
we have considered)
Abstract & Intro → e.g. It is demonstrated that by using an
ad hoc extractor gold can be... (conclusions: it has been
demonstrated)
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
⓭ How to end your Conclusions
1. Show how your work could be applied in another area
e.g.: Our findings could be applied in other engineering fields…
2. Suggest future work
e.g.: Future work will involve this proposed algorithm.
3. Make a recommendation
e.g.: We recommend that ……
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
⓮ In case of no conclusions…
If you don’t have any clear Conclusions, make them not
sound too negative by:
1.
Admitting that you did not achieve all that you had hoped for
e.g.: Regrettably, we did not have the means to…
2.
Adding some hope
e.g.: Despite this, our work provides support for…
3.
Using some conditional sentences
e.g.: If we manage to …. Then we might be able to …
Ibham Veza – Conclusions
Ibham Veza
Thank you
Source: English for Writing Research
Papers by Adrian Wallwork