efforts in producing a research paper will educate you in ways to acquire information and give you practice in drawing intelligent conclusions from what you discover.

is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.”
Gene Fowler (1890 - 1960)
Tip: Avoid over over-planning
“Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.” Samuel Johnson
Your
Drafting
Give yourself ample time to work on your project. Find a comfortable place to do your writing. Avoid distractions. Take breaks.

Writing the first draft

Organize the elements according to a logical approach of some kind -◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Inductive (specific to general) Deductive (general to specific) Chronological (time sequence) Overview (assess all parts of a problem) Problem statement, assessment and recommendation
2
Organizing: putting information in an outline
Overview of the structure of your paper and relevant questions you need to answer in each part
Why am I doing it? What do I want to discover? Introduction Motivation Purpose Literature review Identifying research gaps Methodology Results Discussion Conclusion Significance
Research paper writing
Writing Process of Graduation Thesis
As
WANG Yan UIBE
college students, you might as well regard writing a research paper as learning how to learn on your own. Research involves observation, data collection, critical evaluation of information – making judgments with accuracy validity objectivity
Research paper writing
Doing research
is learning in its most fundamental form:
◦ acquisition and interpretation of information
THOUGHT for the day: What we should AVOID
1
A Work Schedule

Writing process
Invention Collection Organization Drafting Revising Proofreading
How much time will it take?
◦ Figure half the time for doing the research ◦ The other half is for writing, and rewriting
I. Introduction II. Literature Review III. Methodology IV. Results and Discussion V. Conclusion
What is known? What is unknown? How am I going to investigate the problem? What have I found? What does it mean? So what? What are the possible applications or recommendations? What contribution does it make to knowledge? What next?

Writing

Disadvantages of over-planning:
• It doesn’t leave you enough time to write and revise. • It leads you to produce papers that try to cover too much ground at the expense of analytic depth. • It can result in a writing style that lacks spontaneity and ease. • It does not provide enough opportunity to discover new ideas in the process of writing
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱ
3
Revising: reviewing ideas

Proofreading and finalizing the draft

Review higher-order concerns:
◦ Make sure that your paper has unity, coherence, and clarity ◦ Clear communication of ideas ◦ Organization of paper ◦ Paragraph structure ◦ Strong introduction and conclusion ◦ Comprehensive but concise abstract
Using your own words Using the proper tenses Uniting facts and views Pay attention to the coherence Paying attention to logic and the organization 6. Making your tone objective rather than personal 7. Choosing the right style
It doesn’t matter which part you start writing but start! It can be the beginning, the middle or the end (but they have to fit) Make yourself write some each day, if only a paragraph on some section of the paper Make sure you are following your outline of the topic Let it sit—read aloud—correct and rewrite

How much time can you devote to it?
◦ Over what period? ◦ Arrangement, energy, distractions?

Exert control over the material
◦ Set a time frame for research and writing ◦ Avoid searching and reading endlessly
Proofreading tips
Slowly read your paper aloud. Use a pen to mark the problematic parts while reading. Consult the dictionary if you are not sure about the usage of the words. Exchange papers with a friend.
Limitations and suggestions
Impose logic on chaos

Impose logic on chaos
Clarity and transparency work best Leave enough blank spaces around clusters or outline for later comments Be flexible ◦ You have a direction, but you may not know what you will find along the way Write down everything you come up with about the topic along the process