2 Writing Research Articles RAs in English

1
2 Writing Research Articles (RAs) in English

• Allan Lauder
• Pelatihan Sehari Penulisan Artikel Ilmiah untuk
  Jurnal Internasional
• DRPM-UI
• July 2008

2
Content

• Overview and the writing process
• Writing the sections of a research article
• Introduction
• Method
• Results
• Discussion
• Titles and Abstracts
• References and citations

3
Overview

• You as a NNS writer and the writing process

4
Considerations in writing RAs in English for the
NNS

• Contextual influences or considerations
• The academic community of scholars, shared goals,
  rules
• The journal function, scope, editorial policies
• You as a NNS writer
• measures of your performance
• learning strategies and work habits
• individual aspects aptitude, affect
• topic of investigation (placement in field)

5
Writing Process versus Product

• Process
• Article writing as construction in stages, series
  of processes
• Skill building language skills, technical
  skills, social skills
• Product
• The research article itself as text, analyzed
  into its components Grammar / Discourse Genre /
  Rhetoric
• Published articles as a model ability to
  analyze

6
Stages Writing follows parallel to the research
processes

• Stages and sections
• Get an idea, refine it ? Title, Abstract,
  Introduction Section
• Search the literature ? Review of the literature,
  Theory in Methods Section
• Collect the data ? Results Section
• Draw conclusions ? Discussion Section
• Actually a bit of a fiction because not actually
  done in linear order best order?

7
Genre Analysis The thematic structure of a RA

• IMRD Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion
• Used for empirical research, usually
  quantitative, presents evidence, search for
  truth
• Non-IMRD Thematic, Temporal, Spatial,
  Problem-solution, etc.
• Used in review articles, argumentative articles,
  construction of truth based on theory,
  frequently qualitative

8
Writing the sections of a Research Article
9
Writing effective RA Introductions
10
An appropriate structure for Introductions

• The introduction sections of research articles
  have a recognizable structure.
• The most influential model of the structure of RA
  introductions is known after its acronym CARS
  (Create A Research Space)
• Research has shown that non-native writers do not
  conform to the CARS model in their RA
  introductions, and this is a cause of articles
  being rejected by editors of international
  journals.

11
Validity of the CARS model

• The CARS model is not the only possible way to
  describe RA introductions and neither does it
  explain everything, but
• its validity has been confirmed by research,
• it is applicable to RAs in many fields, and
• it provides enough detail to guide the non-native
  writer.

12
The CARS structure for RA introductions

• Stage 1 Establish a territory
• (menetapkan wilayah atau bidang kajian)
• Stage 2 Establish a niche
• (menetapkan daerah khusus atau topik kajian)
• Stage 3 Occupy the niche
• (menggambarkan kajian sendiri)

niche Ecology a position or role taken by a kind
of organism within its community. e.g. antelopes
in Africa and kangaroos in Australia occupy
similar niches. Here, the RA is the organism
and the academic community/journal is the
community.
13
Stage 1 Establish a territory (menetapkan wilayah
atau bidang kajian)

• Step 1 Claim centrality (membuat klaim sentral,
  menunjukkan bahwa bidang kajian Anda penting)
• state why your findings are important to the
  readers of the particular journal you are
  targeting.
• (and/or)
• Step 2 Make topic generalization (membuat
  generalisasi tentang bidang kajian)
• describe the current state of knowledge in the
  discipline. Support your claim with a number of
  recent references.
• (and/or)
• Step 3 Review previous research (meninjau hasil
  studi sebelumnya)
• review important and most recent research. In
  each case, you should provide suitable
  information about the study. Include sufficient
  relevant, internationally published articles.

14
Stage 2 Establish a niche (menetapkan daerah
khusus atau topik kajian)

• Step 1A Counter claim (membuat sanggahan)
• state how the existing research suffers from
  weaknesses or limitations which your study can
  remedy. Use hedging (limiting, qualifying)
  statements to protect the others face
  (diperlembut).
• (or)
• Step 1B Indicate a gap (celah, kekosongan)
• claim that there is a gap or inadequate study in
  part of an area or specific topic. Back up with
  reference to a survey of existing studies. Show
  how your work will fill that gap or remedy the
  lack (sedikit kajian, tidak ada penelitian,
  dll.).
• (or)
• Step 1C Raise a question (membuat pertanyaan
  baru)
• state that after surveying existing studies, you
  feel that a (number of) question(s) still need
  answered. The question(s) can become a topic of
  your research, and justify it because it shows
  how the research contributes to the literature in
  that subject.
• (or)
• Step 1D Continue a tradition (meneruskan tradisi)
  
• describe how your research expands on an existing
  line of research or continues into a related, but
  as yet unexplored area.

15
Stage 3 Occupy the niche (menggambarkan kajian
sendiri)

• Step 1A Outline purposes (menyebutkan garis
  besar tujuan)
• state what the research was intended to achieve.
• (or)
• Step 1B Announce present research (menyatakan
  studi yang sedang dilakukan)
• state what was studied/investigated/done in the
  research. (1 A or B is obligatory)
• Step 2 Announce principle findings (menyebutkan
  temuan-temuan utama)
• state what the research found (optional).
• Step 3 Indicate RA structure (menjelaskan
  struktur artikel ilmiah)
• describe what the article deals with and its
  organization (optional)

16
Use of tenses in the RA introduction Overview

• Stage 1 Establish a territory
• present perfect or past throughout
• Stage 2 Establish a niche
• present tense throughout
• Stage 3 Occupy the niche
• present tense in general, however...
• Step 1A Outline purposes past tense (The aim of
  the study was to ... In the study, I intended
  to ...) or future (This study will examine ...
  In this paper, I will discuss ... )
• Step 1B Announce present research
• Step 2 Announce principle findings
• Step 3 Indicate RA structure

17
Approaches unsuitable for the start of
introduction sections - Overview

• Make statements which are common knowledge
• Bahasa adalah alat krusial untuk berkomunikasi.
• Islam adalah agama universal.
• Begin with a narrative, a story or event
• Penelitian tentang pemerolehan bahasa dimulai
  pada awal tahun enam puluhan. Tradisi ini
  berkembang terus. Pada tahun 1968 seorang
  peneliti terkenal melahirkan sebuah teori baru.
• Begin with a definition
• Demokrasi artinya semua orang mempunyai hak yang
  sama dan mereka bebas menggunakan haknya tanpa
  tekanan dari pemerintah.
• Refer to a particular document or the statement
  of some authority
• Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 menjamin hak semua warga
  negara untuk memeluk agama dan kepercayaan dan
  beribadah sesuai dengan agama dan kepercayaannya
  itu.
• Make a statement which is too specific or too
  general
• Menurut Undang-undang tahun ... tentang otonomi
  daerah, pemerintah daerah bisa mengembangkan
  kegiatan yang baik untuk pembangunan di daerahnya
  sendiri.
• PBB sudah menjatuhkan sanksi kepada Korea Utara
  karena negara itu memproduksi senjata nuklir.

18
Approaches unsuitable for stating the importance
of the study - Overview

• The importance of the study is related only to
  some local or national problem
• Penelitian ini penting karena mutu pengajaran
  sastra di sekolah-sekolah menengah di Padang
  disinyalir kurang baik.
• Pelaksanaan Kurikulum 1984 masih belum sempurna,
  tetapi sekarang sudah akan ada lagi kurikulum
  baru.
• The importance is not related to the literature
• Studi tentang motivasi pelajar masih sangat
  kurang. Karena itu studi ini penting untuk
  mengisi kekosongan ini.
• The importance is stated only in practical terms
• Penelitian ini penting karena hasilnya akan bisa
  memberikan masukan kepada para guru sejarah.
• Studi ini diperlukan karena menghasilkan sejumlah
  rekomendasi yang bisa dimanfaatkan oleh
  pemerintah.

19
Writing Effective RA Method Sections
20
Overview

• Your methodology (section) should be
• relevant to your research question
• valid
• reliable
• Describe the method in enough detail for someone
  to be able to replicate the research exactly as
  you did it.
• Describe the procedure chronologically.

21
Structure of the Methods section in an IMRD RA

• Stage One Create a Research Space
• Step 1 Define the research field
• Step 2 Lay the ground for the research
• Step 3 Introduce the research
• Stage Two Describe the Research Procedure
• Step 1 Present the data
• Step 2 Present the method
• Stage Three Present the Basic Research Findings
• Stage Four Evaluate the Research Results
• Step 1 Draw conclusions
• Step 2 Compare the results
• Step 3 Discuss the implications

22
Important things to explain in the Methods
section of IMRD RAs

• Data
• What kind of data was used? Where was it
  obtained? How was it obtained? How large is the
  data set and how was it sampled?
• Concepts/Terms/Constructs/Units of Analysis
• What concepts, constructs or ideational units
  were used? What phenomena were studied? How are
  they defined? How were they recognized?
• Theoretical model
• What theoretical model or hypothesis was used and
  why? How was it operationalized (put into
  practice)?

23
Structure of the Methods section in a non-IMRD RA

• The structure of non-IMRD RAs is freer.
• The description of methods may be described
  separately or integrated into the Introduction
  section.
• The methods section should
• Explain how the data was obtained (i.e. sources
  such as documents, interviews, observation etc.)
• Explain how the data was analyzed (what steps
  were taken to identify units within the data
  etc.)
• Explain how conclusions were reached (i.e. what
  line of reasoning was used)

24
Use of tenses in the Methods section

• In general, use the past tense throughout. (You
  are describing something that happened in the
  past or something that you did).
• The data for this research was collected in
  Jakarta and Bandung.
• The data was analysed using ...
• During the investigation, I found ..

25
RA Result Sections
26
Effective Results sections in IMRD RAs

• This section may be called Results (Hasil
  Penelitian), or (Research) Findings (Temuan
  Penelitian).
• There are two kinds of material in the Results
  section
• the findings in the form of raw data produced by
  the research and
• your comments on or explanation of the
  significance of these data in answering the
  research question.

27

• It is essential that you present the material in
  a way that helps the reader make sense of the
  data.
• The data rarely speak for themselves.
• You can either present the findings alone in the
  Results section leaving your comments till the
  Discussion section, or you can combine both in
  the Results section.

28
Separate Results and Discussion approach

• If you are going to present the results on their
  own, and leave discussion and interpretation of
  the results to the Discussion section, then you
  still have to present the results/findings in a
  way that will help the reader make sense of them.
• Begin by drawing the readers attention back to
  the research question.
• Present only those data which are relevant to
  answering the research question or hypothesis.
• Start with the key findings then move on to
  other aspects or a more detailed treatment.

29
Combined Results and Discussion approach

• Two main approaches for combining (a) the Results
  and (b) Discussion in the same section
• a-b, a-b structure present the results for one
  aspect of the research, then comment on them
  repeat this for other aspects
• a-a-a-b structure present all of the results
  first keep all comment to the end. In some
  cases, some comment will be desirable immediately
  following in that case, the discussion can refer
  back to it but present it in the larger context
  of other findings or the main question.

30
Structure of non-IMRD RA Results sections

• Non-IMRD RAs normally do not use the title
  Results or Findings, but use a topic related
  to the thematic nature of the study.
• They may use reasoning rather than experimental
  procedure to arrive at their findings, but they
  should still have a method, and a theoretical
  framework. This approach is often found in
  Historical research. You might find this section
  is called, e.g. The cold war.

31
Use of tenses in the Results section

• The two main tenses found in the Results section
  are the present tense and past tense.
• Use the present tense when
• explaining or describing the contents of tables,
  illustrations, diagrams or statistical analyses,
  e.g.
• Table 5 presents the result of the analysis of
  the people holding part time jobs.
• Table 7 shows that Step IA is more common than
  Step 1B.
• commenting on the results or findings, e.g.
• This result is similar to the result in Table 4.
  The only difference is that this figure is
  slightly smaller.
• Use the past tense in the following contexts
• describing what you did during the research
• The data was collected in several companies in
  Jakarta. One hundred workers were interviewed for
  thirty minutes each.
• explaining what you found as a result of your
  analysis
• The number of part time workers who worked in
  smaller companies was higher than those who
  worked in large companies.

32
RA Discussion Sections
33
Overview of Discussion sections in RAs

• The Discussion section is the next most important
  after the Introduction.
• The Discussion section should show how your
  findings contribute to your field of study.

34
Discussion sections in IMRD RAs

• Assumption Comments and discussion are all in
  the Discussion section and not in the Results
  section.
• The structure of information in the Discussion
  section is generally the opposite of the
  structure in the Introduction.

35
The structure of information in the Discussion
section

• Generally is first a movement
• from specific, detailed information (rincian
  hasil/temuan penelitian) towards more general
  statements about the subject, or
• from inner research topic (topik penelitian)
  to outer reference to the literature or other
  studies (ke dunia literatur dengan
  menghubungkannya dengan studi-studi lain)
• followed by
• statements about the significance of the study
  for the discipline.

36
Structure of the Discussion section in IMRD type
RAs

• Provide essential background information
• Present a summary of the research findings
• Explain whether the findings are consistent with
  the research hypothesis
• Relate the findings to those in previous
  research
• Explain the findings, especially if they were
  not up to expectations
• Draw generalizations from the results
  (implications)
• Give recommendations for further research.

37
Structure of the Discussion section in non-IMRD
type RAs

• A variety of types and information structure
  patterns are found
• argumentative (position paper) describes
  competing views and takes a position with
  reasoning (argument). Structure Overview Case
  for Case against Conclusion
• narrative-analysis (review article) works
  through a single issue leading to a conclusion.
  Structure Overview Body Conclusion.
• descriptive-analysis (discussion paper)
  describes an issue and comes to a conclusion.
  Usually includes steps 4 relate findings to
  previous research, 6 draw generalizations, and
  7 give recommendations in IMRD articles.
• mixed structure/format i.e. the use of
  narrative in argument, argumentation to support a
  narrative etc.

38
Tenses in the Discussion section

• Generally, the present tense is used to draw
  conclusions about the research.
• This finding supports the finding of the study I
  conducted in 2003.
• My argument is basically similar to a previous
  argument Brown proposed in 1999.
• The future tense and modals are used for further
  research and other recommendations.
• If I can obtain more funding, I will continue
  this study using a larger amount of data.
• Further research should control language mode as
  a determining variable.

39
Writing Effective RA Titles and Abstracts
40
Title

• Importance of the article title
• The first thing to get the editors attention
• Used by scholars in literature search
• Principle desirable qualities
• Should reflect/represent the article content
• Activates the correct schema to ID the research
  area
• Should attract the readers attention
• Raises a question in the readers mind
• Alerts the reader to an issue/unresolved
  controversy
• Point to any unique contribution made by the
  article
• Is not a cliché, or something obviously already
  well covered

41
RA Abstracts Function

• The abstract provides the reader with a brief
  preview of your study based on information from
  the other sections of the report.
• It is often the last part of the report to be
  written.
• Many readers depend on the abstract to give them
  enough information about the study to decide if
  they will read the entire report or not.

42
RA Abstracts Structure

• Length
• 100-250 words
• 5 to 8 sentences
• Organizational structure
• various possibilities i.e. problem-solution
• problem, method, result, conclusion
• may have between 3 6 functional sections
• some elements will be obligatory, others optional
• Structure may vary with purpose and contexts of
  use

43
4 Move (step) organizational structure for the
Abstract

• Create a research space (CARS) (OBLIGATORY)
• Describe the importance of the subject/field
  under discussion
• Explain the weaknesses, shortcomings, or unsolved
  problems in that field
• State the purpose of the current research
• Explain the research procedure (OPTIONAL)
• Outline the research results (OBLIGATORY)
• Evaluate the results (OPTIONAL)
• Compare the results with those obtained by other
  researchers
• Draw a conclusion

44
5 Move (step) organizational structure for the
Abstract

• B some Background information
• P the Principal activity (or purpose) of the
  study and its scope
• M some information about the Methodology used in
  the study
• R the most important Results of the study
• C a statement of Conclusion or recommendation

45
Reduced abstractsORDER OF INFORMATION ELEMENTS
IN REDUCED ABSTRACTS

• Some journal editors establish a severe word
  limit for the abstract.
• In order to shorten an abstract to satisfy such
  limitations, you can eliminate or combine the P,
  M, R C elements.
• One way to order the elements is
• P M Purpose and Method of the study
• R Results
• C conclusions and recommendations (optional)

46
Use of verb tenses in the abstract Functional

• predominantly past tense throughout
• also use of present tense
• use past tense for reporting events in past (Move
  2)
• use present tense for reporting your own opinion
  or comparing findings (Move 3)
• use present perfect tense for events just
  completed

47
Verb tenses in the sections of the Abstract

• B Background information (present tense)
• One of the basic principles of communication is
  that the message should be understood by the
  intended audience.
• P Principal activity (past tense/present perfect
  tense)
• In this study the readability of tax booklets
  from nine states was evaluated.
• Net energy analyses have been carried out for
  eight trajectories which convert energy source
  into heated domestic water.
• M Methodology (past tense)
• Children performed a 5-trial task.
• R Results (past tense)
• Older workers surpassed younger ones in both
  speed and skill jobs.
• C Conclusions (present tense/tentative
  verbs/modal auxiliaries)
• The results suggest that the presence of unique
  sets of industry factors can be used to explain
  variation in economic growth.

48
RA References and citations in the literature
review
49
References Overview

• References are not just a matter of details about
  author, year of publication, title, place of
  publication, and publisher, or in the case of
  journal articles, journal volume number and
  pages.
• The way a RA author handles their references is a
  central quality issue that is used to determine
  whether the article is to be published.

50
Technical aspects

• Use a conventional style format for references
• e.g. Harvard, Chicago, American Psychological
  Association (APA), Modern Language Association
  (MLA), Vancouver etc.
• Use a single style for references
• no mixing of different styles.
• Both the reference section and in text citations
  should follow the criteria of the chosen style
• Pay close attention to details
• Consider using citation manager software (e.g.
  Endnote)

51
Functions of references

• References can be used for a number of reasons
• as proof that you are familiar with the
  literature
• as support for an idea or argument
• to help define a key term
• to explain a theoretical framework
• to position the your work in relation to other
  studies
• to highlight the significance of your findings

52
Typical problems with referencing by foreign
authors

• References by foreign authors (including
  Indonesians) may be problematical because
• they are either out of date (the majority older
  than a decade) or not strictly relevant to the
  study (too general)
• the bibliography includes references to works not
  cited (dirujuk) in the article
• they dont provide a reference for a quotation
  (plagiarism)

53
Focus of information in citations

• There are two main types of citations
• information prominent in which the information
  comes first and author information is placed at
  the end of the sentence, and
• author prominent in which the focus is on the
  author.

54
Information prominent citations
55
Author prominent citations
56
Information structure for citations

• Use a logical plan to order your citations.
• Use information prominent and weak author
  prominent citations at the beginning and at
  transitional points.
• Use author prominent citations to report specific
  findings later.

57
Language conventions for citations

• Use verb tenses correctly
• present tense for facts
• present perfect tense for weak author citations
  and general statements about the research
• past tense for author prominent citations and
  results limited to a single study.
• Use tentative verbs of report for suggestions or
  proposals.
• Use modal auxiliaries in the complement to
  indicate tentative findings.

58
What is EndNote?

• an online search tool
• search online bibliographic databases and
  retrieve the references directly into EndNote.
• a reference and image database
• store, manage, and search for bibliographic
  references in your private reference library.
• a bibliography and manuscript maker
• format citations, figures, and tables in
  Microsoft Word
• insert citations in your manuscript.

59
Definitions References, citations, quotations
...

• reference n a mention or citation of a source of
  information in a book or article a book or
  passage cited in such a way. (rujukan, merujuk)
• citation n a quotation from or reference to a
  book, paper, or author, especially in a scholarly
  work, along with information about the source
  (author, date, page).
• quotation n a group of words taken from a text or
  speech and repeated by someone other than the
  original author or speaker. (kutipan, mengutip)
• bibliography n (pl. -ies) a list of the books
  referred to in a scholarly work, typically
  printed as an appendix.

60
Final words Becoming an independent writer

• Develop a systematic note-taking citation
  system
• Understand the genre- and journal-specific
  features of the text
• Use a process approach break things down
• Organize your thoughts so they flow
• Develop sensitivity to language features
• Try to get feedback on your drafts
• Check your proofs