VESSELA ILIEVA, PH.D.UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY, USA

HSE-NIZHNY NOVGORODJUNE4, 2013

Writing for Academic and Professional

Publications in the U.S.

Introductions

Parts of this presentation are adapted from

Temple University Harrisburg Guide to graduate level writing. Retrieved from http://www.temple.edu/harrisburg/Resources/Writing-Workshop-powerpoint.ppt

OBJECTIVES

Review and discuss the characteristics of academic writing specific to publications in English language journals , including the USA.

Become aware of general writing strategies and skills to improve success of academic writing submitted to foreign/U.S. journals and publishers.

Know how to apply the general strategies and skills to all types of writing tasks - predominantly to papers that involve support from the academic and professional literature.

What is your discourse community?

LawBusinessMathematicsComputer scienceEducationMedicineEtc.

Types of Academic Papers

Research papers Empirical Theoretical

Meta-analysesConcept PapersPosition PapersReviewsResponsesAdd: Books, book chapters, proposalsOnline publications

Other Types of Academic Papers

InvitedPeer-reviewed

Blind Not blind

Not peer reviewed Often: conference proceedings Newsletters

Differences between Journals

Journal TiersJournal Aims and ScopeJournal Impact FactorJournal FrequencyReview Time (turnaround)Journal Acceptance RateJournal Fees

Academic Writing : Differences in Discourse from Around the

World

USARussiaOther?

Strategic Steps for Developing Academic Papers

Think of your audience first Where will the paper be submitted Who will compose the readership

Start with an outline Helps with the creation and maintenance of a linear

structureRevisit the outline after checking the literature

Some items may be excluded, new ones may be addedWRITEReread and rewrite: Take out non-essentials

(content and grammar)READ aloud to yourself before final grammar

check and submission (or send to a peer and share authorship)

Organize the Paper

Use Headings and Subheadings (think outline) APA examples

Balance length of different sectionsUse published papers in the same journal as heading

examples (but adapt to your own submission)Use the appropriate style!

APA: psychology, education, and other social sciences. MLA: literature, arts, and humanities.

Read and follow the Aims and Scope and the manuscript instructions, (2)

Minimize bias

Edit the Paper

You should address all squiggly lines in your document which may indicate spelling or grammar errors identified by your word processing program.

Eliminate any unnecessary words for conciseness throughout the paper. (see examples, Henson, 1999, , p. 51-52)

Each of your points are in the appropriate section of your paper.

All ideas that are not your own are cited properly.

Ask someone else to read your paper specifically for clarity of all of your points. A native speaker of the language of publication would be great!

Finalize the Paper

Write your introduction and conclusion. You do this in the finalization stage, you need to know what is in the body of your paper to write an effective introduction and conclusion.

Information in the introduction should be substantiated in the body of the paper. No new information should be added in the conclusion.

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Review the journal instructions to make sure you have covered all required elements.

Run one more spelling and grammar check in Word

Be prepared to wait; use reviewers comments well regardless of outcome (acceptance or rejection for publication)

Areas of Emphasis Academic Writing

There are several specific areas that are very important for writing quality papers. These areas include: Clarity Semantics Conciseness Positive phrases Subordination Parallel structure Paragraph construction

Resource: The Elements of Style by William Shrunk Jr. and E.B. White

Clarity

Often we mistakenly believe that academic writing involves writing many complex sentences and using a lot of fancy words.

One of the main goals of academic writing is to clearly present your points for the reader.

If your paper lacks clarity, your reviewers will have a variety of reactions, from thorough revision for style and clarity to rejection.

Example of Lack of Clarity

1. Example• “On the other end of this political-theological, teeter

totter is the mostly secular, liberal, left holding aloft the double barreled, cornucopia of liberation through ample and accurate education as well as the promise to patients of the provision of healthcare with privacy and respect for personhood.”

Example

You may often find that there are a number of words contained in your writing that can be safely eliminated without any kind of danger to your meaning whatsoever.

You may find words that can be eliminated without any danger to your meaning.

(Beer & McMurrey, 2005, p. 34)

Semantics

You should not use vague words. If a word can be misinterpreted, then it is not the best word to use.

Avoid absolute words (always, very, certain, absolutely…) In academia, nothing is ever certain.

Avoid using professional jargon words too much or just to spice up the writing. Words in academic fields have precise definitions that are not always commonly recognized or acknowledged in casual writing or correspondence.

Beware of becoming “lost in translation” (example abbreviation translation in two different languages); use labels as accepted in the language you are writing.

Examples of Vague Words

1. Example

• “Throughout the years death rates have been on the decline and 5 year survival rates increased.  Too vague…It is unclear to what period of time you are referring.”

• Throughout the years is not defined. The writer could mean for the last 200 years, the last 50 years or the last 10 years. The reader has no way of knowing.

2. Example• “Textbooks and travel costs make up much of the cost that

students experience at TUH. These expenses make many students try to find ways to cut costs.”

• Words like “these”, “those”, “their”, etc. should be use with caution. In the above sentence, it is not clear whether the writer is referring to just the expenses for textbooks and travel costs or all of the costs of a graduate education.

Examples of Absolute Words

1. Example

• “Children with autism are always victims of bullying.”

• Words like “proves”, “always”, “all”, “exactly”, and “causes” should be used with extreme caution in academic writing.

• Use of sources that provide numerical data/percentages would be appropriate to provide support for the extent of the problem.

2. Example

• “The article written by Smith et al. (2010) proves that children with autism are victims of bullying.”

Examples of Incorrect Words

1. Example

• Original – “Ritalin effects children’s ability to learn.”

• Correct – “Ritalin affects children’s ability to learn.”• e

Effect – noun (outcome, consequence)Affect- verb (to transform, to change)

1. Example• Original – “The choice is between three candidates.”

• Correct – “The choice is between two candidates.” Or “The choice is among three candidates.”

Conciseness

If a word or phrase can be shortened or even removed without losing the meaning of your sentence or point, do it.

Conciseness is different than brevity. A 150 page thesis can be concise.

In order to be concise, you should: Avoid redundancy

Avoid unnecessary modifiers

Avoid circumlocutions

Avoid filler words

Examples of Redundancy

1. Example

• The patient was helped significantly with a new experimental drug.

2. Example• At the conference, the speaker provide free

complimentary handbooks on how to implement evidenced based practice in health care organizations.

Examples of Unnecessary Modifiers

1. Example• Original – “Being a professional without some kind of

ethical foundation is dangerous.”

• Better – “Being a professional without an ethical foundation is dangerous.”

2. Example• Original – “Very little children often walk quietly on

the tips of their toes.”

• Better – “Young children often tiptoe.” (however consider the audience to ensure

understanding of culture-specific words)

Examples of Circumlocution

1. Example1. Original: In spite of the fact that2. Better: Although

2. Example1. Original: In the majority of instances2. Better: Usually

3. Example

• Original: In light of the fact that…

• Better: “Because…”

Examples of Filler Words

1. Example

• Original – “There is evidence to suggest that studying causes grades to increase.”

• Better – “Evidence suggests that studying causes grades to increase.”

2. Example1. Original – “Women, who suffer from asthma, have

been linked to having elevated psychological symptoms.”

2. Better – “Women, who suffer from asthma, may have elevated psychological symptoms.”

Positive Phrases

As a general principle, convert negative phrases into positive phrases whenever possible.

A positive phrase is usually more concise than a negative phrase.

A positive phrase is usually more clear than a negative phrase.

Example of a Positive Phrase

• Example

• Negative Phrase – “The student was usually not on time.”

• Better – “The student usually came late.”

Subordination

Subordination is the restructuring of clauses within other clauses.

Utilizing subordination eliminates a lot of words.

Utilizing subordination usually increases clarity.

Example of Subordination

1. Example

• Original – “The intervention was used to treat autism, and it took five steps.”

• With Subordination – “The intervention was used to treat autism in five steps.” Or “The five-step intervention was used to treat autism.” Or “The five-step intervention treated autism.”

Parallel structure

Parallelism is repetition of grammatical structures

These structures can be simple (single words) or complex (repetition of complete sentence structures)

Examples of Parallel Structure

I am not much of an athlete, but I like softball, soccer and hockey.( 3 nouns)

Dominic does not have enough time to play soccer, to join the debating team, and to participate in band.(3 infinitive phrases)

He said that he would meet you at the soccer field and that you should not be late. (2 noun clauses)

Examples of Parallel Structure

The players are excited, eager, and enthusiastic(3 adjectives)

The author wrote skillfully , and quickly. (2 adverbs)She fell in love and out of love in a few

minutes. (2 prepositional phrases)

Paragraph Construction

Every paragraph should have one and only one independent idea.

A paragraph should always have a beginning, middle and end. The beginning introduces your idea with a topic

sentence. The middle explains your idea with supporting sentences. The end connects your idea to the rest of the paragraph

or the section with a concluding sentence. In academic writing, the concluding sentence is typically used only for long paragraphs.

Be careful of long paragraphs as they usually contain more than one independent idea.

Format of Paper

An APA paper should have the following sections: Cover page Abstract Body Reference Page

Cover Page

An APA cover page should have: Header Running Head Title Author(s) name(s) Institution affiliation

Abstract

“An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly and, like a title, it enables persons interested in the document to retrieve it from abstracting and indexing databases (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 25).”

Abstracts are generally between 150 and 250 words.

Check journal guidelines if an abstract is required.

Body

HeadingsLong QuotesParenthetical text citationText citations for quotes

Examples of In-Text Citations: APA

One author: (Walker, 2007).Two authors: (Walker & Allen, 2004).Three or more authors: first instance -

(Bradley, Ramirez, & Soo, 1999). Subsequent instances – (Bradley et al., 1999).

Direct quote: Use quotation marks plus page number for under 40 words.

EXAMPLE: “This reader might be a student doing required reading, an expert who is determined to keep up or someone who is attracted to the title.” (Glicken, 2008, p.123).

When a reference may not be needed

When you include information that is:

• general knowledge (e.g. that Barrack Obama is the President of the U.S.A.)

• information that is common knowledge in your field

• ideas that are definitely your own, and findings or insights from your own research

Reference Page

All references must have been used in internal citation and vice versa.

Reference list must be in alphabetical order

References

Beer, D., & McMurrey, D. (2005). A guide to writing as an engineer (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Hanson, K. T. (1999). Writing for professional publication: Keys to academic and business success. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Temple University Harrisburg Guide to graduate level writing. Retrieved from http://www.temple.edu/harrisburg/Resources/Writing-Workshop-powerpoint.ppt

What is parallel structure. Retrieved from http://images.pcmac.org/SiSFiles/Schools/AL/MobileCounty/LeFloreHigh/Uploads/Presentations/What is parallel structure.ppt