How to Write an Abstract and a Research Article.docx
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How to Write an Abstract and a Research Article.docx
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HowtoWriteanAbstractandaResearchArticle
HowtoWriteanAbstractandaResearchArticle
Howtowritearesearcharticle
Warmup
Academicwritingisdifferentfromdailywritinginanumberofaspects,inparticularintermsoflanguage/styleanddiscoursestructure/genericstructure.Inthesetwoweeks,wearegoingtolearnthemacro-elementsofaresearcharticleaswellastheirmicro-elements.Althoughthereisnoconsensusonthisissue,aresearcharticleisgenerallycomposedofTitle(andsubtitleifnecessary),Abstract(withkeywords),Introduction,LiteratureReview,Method,Results/Findings,Discussion,Conclusion,andReferences(andappendixesinsomecases).Afterlearningthismodule,youwillbeableto:
1.readaresearcharticlecritically;
2. identifythecomponentsofaresearcharticle;
3.preparethecomponentsofaresearcharticleinaproperway;
4.learntowriteyourownresearcharticleinEnglish.
Writingaresearcharticleisaverydemandingandcomplextaskbothintellectuallyandlinguistically.Soitwouldbeunrealisticifyouaimedtoohighforthesetwoweeks’study.Sincemanyofyouareveteranresearchersinyourownfieldofstudy,youarewellcapableofwritingaresearcharticleintellectually.However,itmightstillbeachallengetowriteyourarticleinacademicEnglish,followingtheestablishedpracticeoftheinternationalacademiccommunity.
Itisworthnotingthattheformatrecommendedhereisforthegeneralpurposeofempiricalstudies.Publishedarticlesmayvaryinsomeaspectsandindividualjournalsmaysetoutparticularguidelinesforauthors.Sodoreadtheauthorguidelinesofyourtargetjournalanditspublishedarticlesbeforeyoufinaliseyourarticleandsubmitittoeditorialreview.Let’slookattheexampleofInternationalReviewofResearchinOpenandDistanceLearning,whoselengthyauthorguidelinesincludeasub-sectiononthepreferredformatofafullresearcharticle(http:
//www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/about/submissions#authorGuidelines):
Apublishablepapershouldcontainthefollowing:
1.abstract(150-250words,describingtheresearchproblem,themethod,thebasicfindings,theconclusions,andtherecommendations);
2.keywords;
3.introduction(whatistheproblem?
);
4.researchmethodand/ortheoryused;
5.ifanapplicationorexperiment,adescriptionofpoolofsubjectsandhowtheywerechosen;
6.analysisofresearchandhowresults/findingsimpacttheoryandpractice;
7.conclusion;
8.references.
Abstractwriting
Althoughanabstractisusuallythelastitemthatyouwrite,itappearsattheverybeginningofanarticleandisthefirstthingpeoplereadwhentheywanttohaveaquickoverviewofyourwholearticle.ItisalsoimportantinthatagoodabstractmayattracttheEditor’sandreviewer’sattention.Toacertaindegreewhetheryourarticlewillbetakenupforreviewdependsonyourabstract.Thisisbecausearequestforreviewisoftenaccompaniedbytheabstractonly.Itisusuallynotuntiltherequestisacceptedthatthewholearticlewillbesenttothereviewer.Sodospendsometimewritingtheabstract.Generallyspeaking,youhadbetterleavewritingtheabstracttotheend,becauseyouwillhaveaclearerpictureofallyourresults/findingsandconclusion.
Theelementsofanabstract
Anabstractisusuallymadeupofsixelementsinresponsetothefollowingsixquestions:
1.Whatisthesubjectmatter/areatheresearcharticleisdealingwith?
2.Whydowecareabouttheproblem?
/Whatpossiblegapexistsinthepreviousstudies?
3.Whatisthepurposeofyourstudy?
4.Whatdidyouactuallydotogetyourresults/findings?
5.Whataresomeoftheimportantresults/findings?
6.Whataresomeoftheimplicationsofstudy,especiallyfortheproblem/gapidentifiedinQuestion2?
Inotherwords,anabstractcoverstheessentialacademicelementsofthefull-lengtharticle,namelythetopic,background,purpose,methods,results/findings,andconclusion.Butdobearinmindthatsomeoftheseelementsareobligatorywhilesomeareoptional.Lookatthefollowingexamples:
Abstract1
Foreignlanguageteachereducationisanextensivelyresearchedsubject(Topic).Nevertheless,theresearchfocusisonclassroomteachers,despitethefactthatdistancelanguagelearningisburgeoningtoday(Background).Inthelightofthis,asurveywascarriedoutamongdistanceEnglishlanguageteaching(ELT)tutorsattheChineseradioandtelevisionuniversities(RTVU)withtheaimofexploringtheirprofessionaldevelopmentneeds,aswellasidentifyingpossiblewaysofcateringforsuchneeds(PurposeandMethod).SurveyfindingsindicatethattheoverallscenarioforChinesetutors’professionaldevelopmentwasnotpromising(Results/Findings).Accordingly,recommendationsaremadetoimprovethequalityandavailabilityofprofessionaldevelopmentforELTtutorsatRTVUs.Itishopedthatthisstudy,whichdealswithaverydifferentdistancelanguageteachingcontext,mayformausefuladditiontothefindingsfromotherresearchers(Conclusion).(Xiao,J.,&Zhao,C.(2011).DistanceELTtutorsinChina'sradioandtelevisionuniversities:
professionaldevelopment.OpenLearning:
TheJournalofOpen,Distanceande-Learning,26,51-66)
Abstract2
Thispaperreportsthedesign,implementation,andevaluationofateleseminaroninstructionaldesign(ID)andcomputer-mediatedcommunication(CMC)forthepurposesofstaffdevelopmentatTheUniversityofSouthernQueensland,Toowoomba,Australia(Topic,andmethodaswell).Participationwasopentoanystaffwithaninvolvementorinterestindistanceeducation(Method).Thisstudywasmotivatedbythefollowingresearchquestions:
IsCMCaviablemediumfortheprofessionaldevelopmentofstaffindistanceeducation?
DoesthenatureofmoderationofCMC-baseddiscussionsinfluencethenatureofcontributionsfromsubscribers?
Doparticipantsusedifferentstrategies(interactive,cognitive,andmetacognitive)inCMC-baseddiscussions?
(Purpose)ToaddressthesequestionsateleseminarwasinstitutedwithafocusontheissuesofIDandCMC.CMC-basedmoderationtechniqueswereusedtomanagethediscussion.Bothqualitativeandquantitativeevaluationtoolswereusedtomeasuretheoutcomesoftheteleseminar(Method).ResultsoftheseevaluationdatashowthatCMCprovedtobeaviablemediumfortheprofessionaldevelopmentofstaff,thatthemoderationstrategiesinfluencedthenatureofcontributionsfromthesubscribers,andthatparticipantsusedarangeofstrategiestomanagethediscussionandtheirparticipationinit(Results/Findings).(deVries,L.,Naidu,S.,Jegede,O.,&Collis,B.(1995).On-lineprofessionalstaffdevelopment:
Anevaluationstudy.DistanceEducation,16,157-173)
Thelanguageofanabstract
Anabstractisawell-developedparagraphwhichiscoherentandconcise,andisabletostandaloneasaunitofinformation.
1.Usecompletesentences.
AscanbeseenfromAbstract1andAbstract2,allthesentencesinanabstractaregrammaticallycomplete;donotomitsentenceelementseventhoughtheymaybeeasilyinferred.
1.Usefamiliarterminologywheneveryoucan(andalwaysexplaintermsthatmaybeunfamiliartotheordinaryreader).
Thetwoabstractsquotedabovecontainnounfamiliarorobscureterminologywhichmaypresentdifficultytothereaders.Verytechnicaltermsusedinanabstractmayrequireanexplanation,evenattheriskofviolatingtheruleofavoidingreferencingasmentionedbelow.Abstract3isacaseinpoint.
Abstract3
ResearchershaveadopteddiverseperspectivesontheeffectofpeerreviewonstudentwritinginthefieldofteachingEnglishasaFirstLanguage(E1L)andEnglishasaSecond/ForeignLanguage(ESL/EFL)inthepasttwodecades.Nevertheless,researcheshavechieflycenteredonconventionallearningsettingswithon-campusstudentsinmind;scantattentionhasbeenpaidtopeerreviewinthedistancelearningcontextdespitethefactthatdistanceEFLlearningisagrowingbranchofEnglishLanguageTeaching(ELT)intheworldtoday.Tofillthegap,thisstudyreportsonanactionresearchprojectintopairedpeerreviewinadistance-taughtEFLwritingcourseatanopenuniversityinChinatoinvestigatetheextenttowhichpeerfeedbackwasusedtoimproveEFLwriting,howitwasacceptedbyChinesedistanceEnglishlearnersandhowitimpactedontheirtransferrableskillsandself-efficacy,i.e.‘beliefsinone’scapabilitiestoorganizeandexecutethecoursesofactionrequiredtoproducegivenattainments’(Bandura,1997,p.3).Findingsfromthestudyindicatethatpeerreviewhasyieldedgoodeducationalbenefitsintheseareasalthoughthereisstillroomforimprovement.Thearticlealsodiscusseswaystoovercomeobstaclesandtotapintothepotentialbenefitsofpeerreviewinthestudyofothercourses.(Xiao,J.(2008).Pairedpeerreviewinadistance-taughtEFLwritingcourse.TheJournalOfAsiaTEFL,5(4),85-115)
Abstract3containsatechnicalterm–self-efficacyandaquotationisgiventoexplainthetermatthesuggestionofthereviewerwhoexpressedaconcernthatreadersmightnoteasilyunderstandwhatitmeansinthiscontext.
3.Avoidusingfirstpersonpronounsorthename(s)oftheauthor(s)asSubject.SentencesbeginningwithI/weorProf.Niu(theauthor)shouldbeavoidedifpossible.
AllthethreeabstractsdonothavesentenceswithI/weortheauthor’snamesasSubject.Butdokeepinmindthatoccasionallytherearesentencesbeginningwithweinanabstractaslongasthewholeabstractreadscoherently.
4.UseabstractconceptsasSubject,i.e.,focusontheissuesratherthanonpeople.
Re-readthethreeabstractsandyouwillfindonlyonesenten
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