Adding Corrections, Explanations and Other Comments to Direct Quotations Whenever an academic or scientific author directly quotes material from a source, he or she should ensure that the content of the quotation is accurately represented and will be clearly understood…
Reviewers Comments on Research Papers and Publisher Rejection
Reviewers Comments on Research Papers and Publisher Rejection In virtually all worthwhile endeavours there is significant risk. Sharing your scholarly writing is no exception, and this is the case whether you are submitting it to a journal or press for…
How To Write for Your Readers: Three Essential Concerns
Knowing Your Readers and Tailoring Your Academic Writing for Them Although advanced scholars and business professionals tend to write for very specific groups of people much of the time, they sometimes forget just how important it is to know who…
Presenting Your Academic Research and Promoting Its Publication
Nurturing Your Conference Paper for a Long and Successful Life Although the average conference paper is presented in less than half an hour, its ideal life is much longer. From initial conception to final publication, this sort of long and…
Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing
Using Adjectives Effectively in Academic and Scientific Writing Some authors claim that adjectives are virtually unnecessary. Choosing the correct noun in any given situation is the key, they would argue, and with the right noun, who needs an accompanying adjective?…
En Rules or Short Dashes and Their Many Proper Uses
Using En Rules without Spaces Correctly and Effectively An en rule or en dash is longer than a hyphen and shorter than an em rule. It can be used closed up without any spaces around it or with spaces on…
How To Write Perfect Headings for Your Journal Article
Structural Headings and What Comes under Them in Academic Writing The relationship between the headings an academic or scientific author uses to organise and divide his or her journal article and the material that comes under them is usually straightforward….
The Correct and Effective Use of En Rules without Spaces in Your Thesis or Dissertation
The Correct and Effective Use of En Rules without Spaces in Your Thesis or Dissertation As you draft your thesis or dissertation, you will likely discover that you need to use en rules, so you will also need to understand…
The Correct Use of Infinitive Verbs in Academic & Scientific English
The Correct Use of Infinitive Verbs in Academic & Scientific English It was once considered completely inappropriate to split infinitives in formal, particularly scholarly writing in the English language, but the rules tend to be less strictly observed these days….
The Correct Use of Three Notoriously Tricky English Verbs Lie, Lie, Lay
Lie, Lie and Lay: Three Challenging English Verbs and How To Use Them Properly in Your Thesis or Dissertation English presents many challenges for students who are writing a thesis or dissertation in the language. This is obviously the case…
Brainstorming for Your Thesis or Dissertation while Reading Sources
Reflecting on the Sources You Read and Recording Your Thoughts for Future Use Taking careful notes as you read the sources that inform your thesis or dissertation research should obviously involve recording any material in those sources that may prove…
Revising a Thesis or Dissertation Abstract and Visual Aids for Publication
Revising a Thesis or Dissertation Abstract and Visual Aids for Publication As you start to develop an article from the research and writing you have done for your thesis or dissertation, you will ideally already have designed some tables and…
Rewriting Doctoral or PhD Thesis Research for Journal Readers
Anticipating Your New Audience as You Transform Your Thesis into Articles When you transform a long and detailed study such as a thesis or dissertation into one or more scholarly articles, the word limits set by most scholarly journals will…
How To Overcome Writer’s Block when Writing Your Thesis
How To Overcome Writer’s Block when Writing a Thesis or Dissertation The only true cure for writer’s block is writing, as unhelpful or even frustrating as that thought may seem when the flood of ideas you want to communicate becomes…
How to Use the Semicolon Correctly in English
How to Use the Semicolon Correctly in English Although the semicolon (;) is used more rarely these days than it once was and is even considered redundant by some writers, it remains an effective piece of punctuation with very specific…
Why You Should Hire an Academic Proofreader for Your Thesis or Dissertation
Why You Should Hire an Academic Proofreader for Your Thesis or Dissertation Careful proofreading are required at many stages in the lengthy process of producing a successful thesis or dissertation. The parts of your writing that you share at various…
Helpful Tips for Improving Thesis or Dissertation Writing Skills
Helpful Tips for Improving Thesis or Dissertation Writing Skills For the grand majority of postgraduate students, writing a thesis or dissertation will be the most challenging writing project they have yet attempted. Most students will have written essays and reports…
Dealing with the Temptation of Procrastination while Doing a PhD or MA
Dealing with the Temptation of Procrastination while Doing a PhD or MA The temptation to procrastinate while working on a PhD or MA can seem irresistible at times. For the majority of students, the process of writing (or starting to…
How To Construct the Central Argument of a Doctoral or PhD Thesis
How To Construct the Central Argument of a Doctoral or PhD Thesis A carefully constructed argument is as vital to a successful academic or scientific thesis as methodology and evidence are. Indeed, the argument of a thesis or dissertation encompasses…
Formatting Headings & Subheadings for Your Thesis or Dissertation
Formatting Headings and Subheadings with Word’s Heading Styles A carefully organised thesis or dissertation communicates advanced research and sophisticated discussions to readers and examiners more clearly than a poorly organised one does, which is no doubt why universities and departments…
Managing Sources That Overlap Your Research Intentions
Managing Sources That Overlap Your Research Intentions It is usually pleasant for a scholar to discover academic or scientific sources that present information associated with his or her research interests and areas of expertise. It is not quite so pleasant…
The Best of Beginnings: The First Formal Meeting with Your Supervisor
The Best of Beginnings: The First Formal Meeting with Your Supervisor As you embark upon the advanced research required for a thesis or dissertation, you may already know or have corresponded extensively with the faculty member who will be your…
Thesis and Dissertation Meetings with Your Mentors
The Post-Meeting Effect and How To Make the Most of It Meetings associated with planning, conducting and writing up research tend to be a fact of life for thesis and dissertation students. Meetings with your supervisor or primary mentor will…
What Thesis Students Need To Know & Do for Success
The Responsibilities of Thesis and Dissertation Students Most postgraduate research and the theses and dissertations that grow from it are student driven, and the enthusiasm, initiative and persistence of candidates are often considered to be as important as their research…
Responding to Peer Reviewer Comments: A Free Example Letter
Responding to Peer Reviewer Comments: A Free Example Letter Responding to the comments peer reviewers offer when they assess your research paper can be as challenging as writing the original manuscript, especially when the necessity of revising your paper to…
Example of a Quantitative Research Paper for Researchers
Example of a Quantitative Research Paper for Researchers This example of a quantitative research paper is designed to help researchers who are learning how to write about their work. The reported research observes the behaviour of restaurant customers, and example…
How To Write the Findings Section of a Research Paper
How To Write the Findings Section of a Research Paper Each research project is unique, so it is natural for one researcher to make use of somewhat different strategies than another when it comes to designing and writing the section…
Free Sample Letters for Withdrawing a Manuscript from a Publisher
Free Sample Letters for Withdrawing a Manuscript from a Publisher Withdrawing an academic or scientific manuscript that has been submitted to a journal or press for publication is never advisable and should only be considered when absolutely necessary. If your…
Why Does Google Scholar Not Find My Research Paper?
Why Does Google Scholar Not Find My Research Paper? Google Scholar is an incredibly useful tool for scientists and academics as well as their potential readers, including those all-important hiring committees and funding bodies, but it is essential to be…
‘ibid.’ and ‘id.’ Abbreviations for References In Academic Writing
A Few Latin Abbreviations for References: ‘Ibid.’ and the ‘Id.’ Group Latin abbreviations used to be much more common in scholarly references than they are today, but some still appear in citations and notes. Those which continue to be used…
Full Stops in Titles, Headings and Captions
Full Stops in Titles, Headings and Captions As a general rule, a full stop is not used at the end of a displayed title, heading, subheading or caption in scholarly English prose. This applies whether the displayed text is the…
How To Cite ISO, ANSI, CFR & Other Industry Standards & Guidelines
How To Cite ISO, ANSI, CFR & Other Industry Standards & Guidelines Although there is no universally correct style for citing industry standards and guidelines in academic and scientific research documents, it is nonetheless important to provide citations and references…
The Appropriate Use of Articles before Abbreviations in Academic Papers
The Appropriate Use of Articles before Abbreviations in Academic Papers Abbreviations are basic tools for most authors of scholarly prose and are used with considerable frequency in scientific writing. They can quickly and effectively communicate concepts that would take several…
How To Write References for Academic & Scientific Research Papers
How To Write References for Academic and Scientific Research Papers Writing accurate & appropriate references is an essential aspect of preparing a research paper for successful publication, examination or any other kind of serious dissemination or evaluation. This article explains…
How To Write an Effective Figure Legend for a Laboratory Report
How To Write an Effective Figure Legend for a Laboratory Report A figure legend is a chunk of text that accompanies each figure in a laboratory report. Its purpose is to explain the figure clearly and thoroughly, providing readers with…
How To Write Highlights for an Academic or Scientific Paper
How To Write Highlights for an Academic or Scientific Paper Although some academic and scientific journals have a long tradition of requesting summaries of key findings from the authors of articles accepted for publication, highlights are, for the most part,…
The Plural and Possessive Forms of Abbreviations
The Plural and Possessive Forms of Abbreviations Abbreviations of all kinds are used frequently and sometimes extensively in academic and especially scientific writing. Most scholarly authors realise that each abbreviation must be carefully defined for readers when it is first…
What Is a Good Impact Factor of a Journal?
What Is a Good Impact Factor of a Journal? What is a good impact factor of a journal? Well, it is not a question that can be given a simple numerical answer that will apply to all journals. In this…
How Long Should a Dissertation or Thesis Introduction Be?
How Long Should a Dissertation or Thesis Introduction Be? How long should the introduction to your thesis or dissertation be? The most obvious answer is as long as it needs to be – no longer and no shorter. This is…
Helpful Tips on Using Abbreviations in Academic & Scientific Writing
Helpful Tips on Using Abbreviations in Academic & Scientific Writing Abbreviations of various kinds are common features of academic and scientific papers, but the guidelines of many journals will ask authors to keep their use to a bare minimum or…
Using Direct Quotations in Your Thesis or Dissertation
Using Direct Quotations in Your Thesis or Dissertation Whenever you quote the exact words of another author or speaker in your thesis or dissertation, it is essential that you quote those words with accuracy and observe with precision and consistency…
13 Examples of Supplementary Materials for Academic Journal Papers
13 Examples of Supplementary Materials for Academic Journal Papers Academics and scientists include many different kinds of supplementary materials when they submit research papers for publication in scholarly journals, and they do so now more than they ever have in…
How To Integrate Words from Foreign Languages into Your Thesis or Dissertation
How To Integrate Words from Foreign Languages into Your Thesis or Dissertation If you are writing your thesis or dissertation in the English language but need to use certain words, phrases or longer passages of text in another language (or…
8 Key Steps for Writing a Literature Review Article for a Journal
8 Key Steps for Writing a Literature Review Article for a Journal Knowing how to write a literature review for an academic or scientific journal is a valuable skill. Many scholarly journals publish stand-alone literature reviews as review articles, survey…
When Major Revisions Are Required after Your Thesis or Dissertation Exam
When Major Revisions Are Required after Your Thesis or Dissertation Exam Anticipating the inevitability of revisions after the final examination of a thesis or dissertation may be a wise strategy for any postgraduate student, but no candidate wants to think…
Academic Writing Examples for a Publishable Research Article
Academic Writing Examples for a Publishable Research Article The writing required to produce a high-quality academic or scientific article for publication in a peer-reviewed journal is a specialised kind of formal writing. It may be similar to the writing advanced…
Using or Not Using the Serial or Oxford Comma in Your Thesis or Dissertation
Using or Not Using the Serial or Oxford Comma in Your Thesis or Dissertation A serial or Oxford comma is the comma that appears immediately after the penultimate item in a series or list when a conjunction separates that item…
What Types of Articles Are Published in Academic and Scientific Journals?
What Types of Articles Are Published in Academic & Scientific Journals? Academic and scientific journals publish many different types of articles, and the names and categories they use to label and describe those documents are still more numerous. Scientific journals…
How To Write an Effective and Professional Email To the Editor
Communicating with Journal Editors via Email Any scholar who uses email to communicate in a professional context sooner or later becomes aware that it can be a tricky medium to negotiate at times. Yes, it is wonderfully easy and instantaneous,…
The Benefits of Writing for Your Thesis or Dissertation Supervisor as Soon as Possible
The Benefits of Writing for Your Thesis or Dissertation Supervisor as Soon as Possible The impulse to postpone writing something to submit to your supervisor or primary mentor until you feel you have truly worthwhile research to report and valuable…