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Fundamental writing skills for researchers, part 1 introduction and snapshot of writing (6:31).

Everyone is capable of being a good writer, even without any innate skill. A snapshot of research writing is given, from presenting a research question in context of current knowledge to interpreting your findings. In other words, moving from general to specific, then specific to general. It's important to be a careful and intentional writer. It's not about writing, it's about readability. Focusing on your readers and their needs helps make your message clear.

Part 2 Making Meaning Clear (6:31)

"Going-to-the-Caribbean writing" is boring, dense, and generally not reader-friendly because it lacks transitions, logic, and concern for reader understanding. An example of "Caribbean writing," along with a more reader-friendly revision, is provided. Good writing clearly communicates meaning to readers by always keeping their needs in mind.

Part 3 Writing Myths (4:20)

The impulse to impress readers with complex sentences and pretentious words is regrettably common in research writing. Writing to impress seeks validation for the writer rather than comprehension for the reader. Revision is always needed because ideas don’t flow logically from the writer's mind to the page.

Part 4 How Readers Read and Respond (7:19)

There are several levels of a reader's response to a piece of writing. The writer is responsible for the reader’s experience in everything from visual appeal and organization to readability and tone. The purpose of research writing is to convey your data and interpretations of that data while convincing your reader that your perspective is valid. Critique your writing by continually keeping your reader in mind.

Part 5 Helping Your Audience Interpret Your Meaning (11:58)

Your role as writer is to make sense—to make your meaning clear to the reader. Use punctuation, grammar, and other language conventions as road signs to help your reader interpret your writing. Basic vocabulary and simple sentence construction is sufficient, even for winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. But your audience may vary, and that takes very careful planning on your part.

Part 6 Giving Structure to Your Writing (6:24)

Paragraphs, topic sentences, and transitions provide the structure of your writing. Mastering these building blocks is the key to being able to clearly communicate your thinking to your reader. The topic sentence is the king or queen of the sentence and each line of the paragraph should support or elaborate upon that main thought. Transitions are used to help the reader move from one thought to the next, whether within a sentence, from sentence to sentence, or from paragraph to paragraph.

Part 7 Writing as a Logical Process (10:07)

Writing is a logical process, and a sentence is like a mathematical formula. Using levels of generality allows you to move from general to specific levels of detail. Sometimes you'll need to use more words to make your meaning clear to the reader. A piece of writing is not clear simply because it is brief.

Download the Logical Puzzles Handout

Part 8 Making Meaning Clear (9:13)

Logic doesn't flow naturally from mind to paper. You are responsible for writing a clear topic sentence and supporting it in a logical way. Transitions point out to the reader the logical connections between ideas, and order is important. Outlining will help you write effectively and more efficiently.

Part 9 Outlining (8:12)

Planning your writing will save you a great deal of time. Again, levels of generality come into play here, as does the structure of a paragraph. But don't focus on the skeleton of an outline, emphasize the content as you coordinate and subordinate your ideas. When you create an outline, step back and analyze it critically. You need to impose logic on your writing, then crystallize your logic by making specific connections.

Part 10 Headings, Figures, Rhythm, and Length (4:15)

Headings and subheadings used consistently help your reader see the structure of your writing. Tables, figures, and charts are powerful aids to making your meaning clear. But don't just present them to your reader; interpret their significance. Finally, you’ll also improve readability by varying the length and construction of your sentences.

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11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

Identify reasons to research writing projects.
Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

Medical laboratory technician
Small business owner
Information technology professional
Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

Choose a topic.
Plan and schedule time to research and write.
Conduct research.
Organize research and ideas.
Draft your paper.
Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Chapter 1: What is Research and Research Writing?

Six people of various sizes spread out evenly across the illustration, each next to a plant. Some people are watering the plants, some are gently touching the plant.

Write here, write now.

Developing your skills as a writer will make you more successful in ALL of your classes. Knowing how to think critically, organize your ideas, be concise, ask questions, perform research and back up your claims with evidence is key to almost everything you will do at university.

Writing is life

Solid writing skills will help you wow your family and friends with your well-articulated ideas, ace job interviews, build confidence in yourself, and feel part of a community of writers.

Beyond University

Whether you go on to graduate school, teach, work for the government or a non-profit, start your own business or your own heavy metal band, becoming a stronger writer will give you a solid foundation you can keep building on.

This chapter:

Defines research and gives examples
Describes the writing process
Introduces writing using research
Introduces simple research writing
Prompts you to think about research and writing meaningful to you

Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass : Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants . Milkweed Editions, 2013.

From “ Why Writing Matters “ . Writing Place: A Scholarly Writing Textbook by Lindsay Cuff. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. 2023.

Reading and Writing Research for Undergraduates Copyright © 2023 by Stephanie Ojeda Ponce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book

Writing skills

No matter how novel your research, or how much time you’ve invested in your work, you still need to pay attention to some basic writing rules if you want to get published.

Our writing skills modules contain some helpful advice so you can ensure poor use of language or sloppy article structure doesn’t let you down.

You will discover the 10 most common mistakes researchers make in their manuscripts, from ambiguity and inconsistency to incorrect referencing. And then, of course, there’s the ethics issue of plagiarism….

We also look at the topic of manuscript language in detail, and offer some advice on where you can find support to improve it.

What you will learn

Information on common writing mistakes
Advice on how to avoid those errors
A guide to correct manuscript language

Modules in Writing skills

How to prepare a proposal for review article

How to prepare a proposal for a review article

Writing a persuasive cover letter for your manuscript

How to turn your thesis into an article

5 Diseases ailing research – and how to cure them

Using proper manuscript language

10 tips for writing a truly terrible journal article

Academic Skills
Graduate research services
Graduate research

Developing writing skills for graduate research

Adopting authoring mindsets and strategies.

This resource introduces approaches to starting, sustaining and strengthening your thesis writing. It includes activities to help you apply tips and reflect on your own learning. It should take you 15-20 minutes to read and complete. Check out the further resources at the bottom of each section and references on the last page for more information on this topic.

Writing a graduate research thesis to a publishable standard requires you to adopt the identity of an author and expert in your field and seek ways to maximise your readership. Developing these ‘authoring’ skills involves heightening your awareness of the processes of doctoral writing and establishing a productive writing routine.

Write to think

Writing shapes and refines your thinking. A sort of gym for the intellect.

Writing deepens insight into ideas and information, reveals gaps and creates opportunities to refine expression. Writing down your ideas regularly helps you to not only record them for later use but also process them into new knowledge, freeing up mental space for further thinking.

Write-to-think tips:

Try free writing : write continuously on a topic, with as few pauses as possible, without worrying about writing structure or syntax. Give your free writing a time limit, such as 10 minutes at a time, to help you focus on the task of idea generation.
Use a writing plan but treat it flexibly. You may need to go back and adjust it as your ideas develop through writing.
Write frequently: dedicating specific , regular timeframes to writing can help you avoid procrastination.
Choose a thesis or article in your field which you consider a good model.
Remove all the substantive content – language that is specific to the topic – until only the language that frames the content remains.
You’ll end up with a ‘skeleton’ you can expand with your own ideas.
In a later stage, you can modify the language of this skeleton, but using a template of framing language is not plagiarism.

'Skeleton sentence' example:

"Accumulating research on … [my topic] in recent years has indicated a growing need to … [my research problem]. For example, many studies have shown … [my synthesis]. This suggests that … [my interpretation]. This issue needs to be addressed using … [my new approach] because … [my reason]. In this paper, I aim to … [my focus/contribution]"

Shape your writing as you go

It is important to accept ‘good enough’ writing in the early stages, because it is likely that you will need to polish your work as your research progresses in any case.

Just do the best you can early on, knowing that you are writing mostly for yourself and possibly your supervisor, and you will probably revise the writing later to make it suitable for an external examiner.

When revising, note how much your knowledge and understanding has grown in the intervening months or years. Such growth is often assisted by your earlier writing as a first step in the clarification process.

Have the courage to let go of earlier ideas and snippets of writing that no longer have a place in your thesis. If you are hesitant to delete material, create a document for these snippets in case you want to revisit them later.

Write for your reader

A text is a kind of journey that the reader takes, with you as their guide. When refining your writing, anticipate and work to meet your readers’ needs so that they receive the message you intended in the simplest way possible within your field.

Think about the widest possible readership to help you shape your writing so that it appeals to as many scholars as it can.
Set the right expectations and deliver upon them. For example, only criticise what you will properly discuss through your work. Be consistent and don’t oversell.
Create short-cuts for your readers, for example, by using informative headings, because they will be looking for them.
Which terms and concepts can you be confident that your reader will know?
Which ones may require explanation? These might be very new, or not widely used beyond a few ‘schools of thought’. They may come from another discipline or have different uses in different but related fields. In any of these cases, state the meaning you are referring to.
Direct the reader as to where the text will lead and what will be presented along the way. This often appears in chapter or section introductions.
Summarise the main points established at the end of a section or chapter.
Signal forward , for example, ‘This problem will be discussed in detail in Chapter 2’, and remind readers, for example, ‘as was presented in chapter 3, section 3.1’
Indicate your stance , for example, expressions such as “this promising study shows” or “one minor consideration is...” help your reader understand the relative importance of an idea.
Use cohesive devices, such as ‘first’, ‘second’ and ‘third’, to signpost and link elements.

Study examination criteria and model theses

First and foremost, a thesis needs to meet examination criteria. Explore the UoM examination criteria and then find an example thesis in your field.

How does the thesis address each of the criteria?
How can you use these criteria to guide your writing?

How do examiners read a thesis?

Academic Phrasebank for language to frame content

Use the side menu to go the next section: Writing complex information clearly , where we look at ways to enhance the clarity of your writing.

Writing complex information clearly

Academic writing usually delivers a lot of new content in limited space, which may create difficulties for your reader in following your ideas. This page introduces some strategies for word choice and sentence organisation to help you create clear and cohesive writing.

Keep it simple

The presentation below introduces examples and strategies you can use to simplify your own writing.

Click on 'next' at the bottom of the slide to work through the activity.

*If content below does not display, please refresh your browser

Examine sample sentences

This activity will provide practice and feedback on your understanding of principles of clear research writing.

Read the sentence, and then select the reason it lacks clarity from the options below it.

Move through the activity by clicking on the 'next' arrow (bottom right).

Developing clarity and focus

Use the side menu to go the next section: Developing authorial voice and narrative , where we examine a writing structure that helps progress a thesis argument.

Developing an authorial voice and narrative

In research writing, an author’s voice is an instrument that weaves all ideas, including background information and your own research, into a unified argument.

Authorial voice is created:

At a micro level: by using language that shows your involvement and evaluation, such as when you decide whether to write ‘Smith (2017) demonstrates that …’ or ‘assumes that …’ (reporting verbs show your attitude to the source).

Narrative is closely related to voice as another instrument for developing your research argument. If your voice expresses your creative and critical thinking, your narrative paces the progression of the argument through all thesis elements, from the research problem through to your methods, results and discussion.

Narrative can be seen most clearly in the structural and content alignment of introductory and concluding messages on the levels of the whole thesis, individual chapters, sections and paragraphs.

Use a U-shaped writing structure

Argument through voice and narrative can be shown through a U-shaped writing structure. Watch the following video to see the movement of ideas at the paragraph level.

Extrapolate the U-shaped structure

In a model thesis or your own thesis:

Can you notice a similar progression from the general to the specific back to the general, not only at the paragraph level but also at the section, chapter and thesis level?
Is the thesis argument being developed in small steps at a lower level and in broader strokes at a higher one?
Put together the introduction and conclusion to each of the thesis chapters in one document. Do they make a smooth narrative?
Is there enough rationale and progression of the thesis argument?
Does the language help show these?

Incorporating sources

Connecting chapters/chapter introductions

Writing more than one thing at the same time

Use the side menu to go the next section: Demonstrating originality and strength of claim, where we look at an originality checklist and the language for stating your original contribution.

Demonstrating originality and strength of claim

In highlighting your original contribution, the language you use in your thesis should convey your critical awareness and use of disciplinary conventions and terminology, even when you aim to deviate from these.

Originality checklist

There are many ways in which a thesis can be original. Consult the originality checklist below. What box(es) does your thesis tick?

You do empirical work that has not been done before
You synthesise things that have not been put together before
You make a new interpretation of someone else’s material/ideas
You do something in a country that has only previously been done elsewhere
You take an existing technique and apply it to a new area
You work across disciplines, using different methodologies
You look at topics that people in your discipline have not looked at
You test existing knowledge in an original way
You add to knowledge in a way that has not been done before (e.g., a new theory/framework/model/solution)
You write down a new piece of information for the first time
You give a good exposition of someone else’s idea
You continue an original piece of work.

(Adapted from Murray, 2017, p. 69)

Strength of claim

When expressing your claim:

Use language that conveys your confidence about your research and its importance as appropriate to the strength of your evidence
Use a balanced tone to state both the contributions and limitations of others’ research and your own
Avoid absolute terms, for example, ‘perfect’ or ‘prove’, unless your evidence is absolute.

Explore an example

In thesis writing, well-chosen verbs and adjectives can help send a strong message about the original contribution of the work.

In the following activity, you will analyse excerpts from an example thesis to better understand how to do this.

Read excerpt 1 and excerpt 2, below.
Remember: verbs are often actions (e.g. write, explore, fulfill ) while adjectives are descriptive (e.g. important, difficult, broken )

The example statement above, with its well-selected verbs and adjectives, establishes the implications/significance of the research.

It shows the writer’s disciplinary expertise by connecting the research to the field, using its language and exceeding its current knowledge.

This statement also shows the originality of the thesis, at least in two ways:

synthesising things that have not been put together before
adding to knowledge in a way that has not been done before

(Murray, 2017)

Write your statement of original contribution

Use the following prompts to help you reflect on your expertise and contribution in your field. Give yourself 5-10 minutes to free-write, then review your statement to fit your thesis.

What’s your original contribution in a phrase? (Think about the title of your thesis)

"My work is/will be original in the sense that…"

If you treat writing not as an isolated task, but a tool to help you learn and integrate your readings and research into a cohesive whole, you have the best chance of producing a quality thesis.

Write to think through ideas, test and connect them, increase the precision of your expression, and find your writer’s voice and originality.

For more information and support in your writing, Explore: Academic Skills Graduate Research services

Developing originality

Mewburn, I. (2019, February 13). The uneven U. The Thesis Whisperer . https://thesiswhisperer.com/2019/02/13/the-uneven-u/

Mody, F. (2018). Doctors down under: European medical migrants in Victoria (Australia) , 1930-60 [PhD thesis, University of Melbourne]. http://hdl.handle.net/11343/221550

Murray, R. (2017). How to write a thesis . Open University Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unimelb/reader.action?docID=6212212

Raamsdonk, J. (2018). Mechanisms underlying longevity: A genetic switch model of aging. Experimental Gerontology, 107 , 136–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exger.2017.08.005

Southern aurora. (2023). Our Tasmania . http://www.ourtasmania.com.au/southern-aurora.html

Thomson, P., & Kamler, B. (2013). Writing for peer reviewed journals: Strategies for getting published . Routledge. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unimelb/reader.action?docID=1092713

Whittle, I., Midgley, S., Georges, H., Pringle, A.-M., & Taylor, R. (2005). Patient perceptions of ‘“awake”’ brain tumour surgery. Acta Neurochir (Wien), 147 , 275–277. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-004-0445-7

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11.1: The Purpose of Research Writing

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Learning Objectives

Identify reasons to research writing projects.
Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Reasons for Research

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper. A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

Exercise $\PageIndex{1}$

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

Research Writing at Work

writing at work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

Medical laboratory technician
Small business owner
Information technology professional
Freelance magazine writer

Exercise $\PageIndex{2}$

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

Choose a topic.
Plan and schedule time to research and write.
Conduct research.
Organize research and ideas.
Draft your paper.
Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question—a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis. You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal. In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Section 11.2 for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism, or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

Exercise $\PageIndex{3}$

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

By the Northeastern Community

Improving research skills for better academic writing.

by Matthew | Mar 8, 2024 | Uncategorized | 0 comments

Academic writing is a skill that, although critical to higher education and professional success, many find daunting. At the heart of compelling academic writing lies the prowess of research skills. Enhancing these skills not only enriches your writing but transforms the process into an engaging discovery. Let’s dive into the art and science of refining research skills for outstanding academic writing, shedding light on not-so-obvious strategies, and embracing a playful exploration of knowledge.

The Quest for Quality Sources

Finding credible and relevant information is the first step to research excellence. Beyond the walls of your library, the digital age offers a plethora of resources. However, the key lies in discerning the quality of your sources. Peer-reviewed journals , official publications, and academic databases are goldmines waiting to be explored. Understanding the hierarchy of source quality is like being an academic detective; it’s all about the thrill of the hunt for evidence that supports your narrative.

Expanding Your Research Toolkit

In the digital age, your research toolkit can extend far beyond traditional methods. Embracing new technologies and platforms can provide unexpected insights and resources. Exploring specialized search engines, academic forums, and even social media platforms can uncover valuable nuggets of information. When embarking on this journey, it’s also useful to explore various online communities for insights and discussions related to academic writing. One such resource can be found at “ Best Essay Writing Service Reddit “, where members share experiences and advice on a broad spectrum of academic writing topics. Keeping abreast of emerging research technologies and methodologies can give your writing an edge, making your research more efficient and comprehensive.

Mastering the Art of Note-Taking

Note-taking is more than jotting down what you find; it’s about capturing the essence in a manner that resonates with your unique writing voice. Whether you prefer digital tools or the romance of pen and paper, developing a system that works for you is essential. This could mean organizing your notes by theme, creating a digital map of interconnected ideas, or even doodling in the margins. The goal is to transform raw data into a storyboard for your academic tale.

The Critical Eye: Analyzing Information

With information at your fingertips, the challenge shifts to analysis. Evaluating the validity and relevance of your findings is crucial. This is where your critical thinking hat comes in handy. Asking questions such as “Who is the author?”, “What is their agenda?”, and “How does this information align with my thesis?” helps filter the wheat from the chaff, ensuring that your paper is built on a solid foundation of credible evidence.

Creative Thinking in Research

Who said research has to be dry? Unlocking your creative thinking can lead to finding connections between seemingly disparate ideas, fostering a truly original piece of writing. This might involve playing “devil’s advocate” with your sources or imagining a debate between different authors you’ve read. Embracing creativity makes the research process not just productive but fun.

Organizing Your Findings

Research is an iterative process, and staying organized can be the make or break. Electronic folders, bibliography management software , or a good old-fashioned notebook can help keep track of sources, ideas, and citations. This organization is not just about convenience but about weaving a coherent narrative that guides your reader through the journey of your thesis.

Seeking Feedback and Reflecting

Research, like any skill, benefits greatly from feedback. Discussing your findings and arguments with peers, mentors, or even friends can uncover angles you hadn’t considered and refine your thinking. Moreover, reflection upon the research process itself – what worked and what didn’t – is invaluable for continual improvement. Treat feedback and reflection as your research companions, guiding you towards clearer, more persuasive academic writing.

Interdisciplinary Research

Stepping outside your academic silo can significantly enhance your research. Interdisciplinary approaches bring fresh perspectives and methodologies, enriching your analysis and conclusions. Collaborating with colleagues from different disciplines or incorporating theories and findings from other fields into your work can reveal innovative solutions and connections, bolstering the rigor and impact of your research.

Concluding Remarks

The journey to mastering research skills is ongoing and ever-evolving. The landscape of information is vast and varied, offering boundless opportunities for those willing to venture beyond the familiar. By incorporating these added strategies and maintaining a mindset open to growth and innovation, your academic writing will not only improve but thrive. Embracing the full spectrum of research possibilities opens the door to a world of intellectual discovery and scholarly excellence.

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The Process of Research Writing

(19 reviews)

Steven D. Krause, Eastern Michigan University

Publisher: Steven D. Krause

Language: English

Formats Available

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Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Kevin Kennedy, Adjunct Professor, Bridgewater State University on 12/2/22

I think this book would make an excellent supplement to other class material in a class focused on writing and research. It helps a lot with the "why"s of research and gives a high-level overview. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

I think this book would make an excellent supplement to other class material in a class focused on writing and research. It helps a lot with the "why"s of research and gives a high-level overview.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book is accurate, and talks a lot about different ways to view academic writing

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This would be quite relevant for a student early on the college journey who is starting to complete research-based projects.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is clear and concise, though that conciseness sometimes leads to less content than I'd like

Consistency rating: 5

The book is consistent throughout

Modularity rating: 4

I could use the first chapters of this book very easily, but the later ones get into exercises that my classes wouldn't necessarily use

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The book is organized from the high level (what is academic writing with research) to the more specific (here are some specific exercises)

Interface rating: 3

I don't like the flow from contents to chapters, and they feel distinctly text-based. This is a no-frills text, but that's ok.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

I didn't note anything glaringly obvious

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I think that this text stays away from the cultural and focuses mostly on the cognitive. This prevents offensive material, though it may make it less appealing to students.

Reviewed by Julie Sorge Way, Instructional Faculty, James Madison University on 11/23/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Overall, I think this book’s strongest suits are its organization, clarity, and modularity. It is useful and adaptable for a wide range of courses involving a research component, and as the book itself argues, research is a part of most learning at the university level, whether or not a single traditional “research paper” is the end goal of a course. This is a great book with adaptable and useful content across a range of disciplines, and while it is low on “bells and whistles,” the content it provides seems to be relevant, helpful, and also fill a gap among other OER texts that focus more on rhetoric and less on research.

Because this is a book on research writing rather than cutting edge science, etc. it is unlikely to be made inaccurate by the passing of time.

In a desire to move past the simple “Comp II” textbook, Krause’s work here is relevant to a variety of fields. In creating a course with a major-specific research component, many parts of this text are relevant to what I’m doing, and due to its modularity and organization (see below) I am able to make use of it easily and draw students’ attention to the parts that will help them most with our learning objectives.

Clarity rating: 5

Krause’s writing style is uncomplicated and direct. His examples are ones I think most students could relate to or at least connect with reasonably well.

While the book is internally consistent in its tone, level of detail, and relevance to Krause’s original writing goals, in the process of applying it to different courses (as almost inevitably happens with OER materials) it is inconsistently useful for the course I in particular am planning. This is certainly no fault of the book’s. One example would be that it presents MLA and APA format for citing sources, but not Chicago/Turabian.

Modularity rating: 5

Certainly, its modularity is a real strong suit for Krause’s book overall – individual instructors planning different types of coursework that involve writing and research can easily adapt parts that work, and its Creative Commons license makes this even better.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Clear and direct organization is another strong suit in Krause’s text. The information is presented in an orderly and easy to navigate way that allows instructors and students alike to hone in on the most useful information for their writing and research task without spending undue amounts of time searching. This is much appreciated especially in an open access text where instructors are more likely to be “picking and choosing” relevant content from multiple texts and resources.

Interface rating: 4

Simple but clear – basic HTML and PDF navigation by chapter and section. Like many OER texts it is a bit short on visual engagement – the colorful infographics and illustrations many people are used to both in printed textbooks and interacting with internet content.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No errors noted.

Widely relevant (at least in the North American context I have most experience with) but as always, instructors should preview and adapt all material for the needs and context of their own classes and students.

Reviewed by Li-Anne Delavega, Undergraduate Research Experience Coordinator, Kapiolani Community College on 5/1/21

This textbook builds a good foundation for first-year students with topics such as developing a thesis, how to find sources and evaluate them, creating an annotated bibliography, audience, and avoiding plagiarism. While the content is explained well and students are slowly walked through the research process, the textbook ends abruptly ends with a quick overview of the elements of a research essay after students organize their evidence and create an outline. A part two textbook that covers the rest of the writing process, such as structuring paragraphs, how to write an introduction and conclusion, and revising drafts, is needed to help students get to a finished product. As a composition-based textbook, I also felt it could have used a section on building arguments. The true gem of this textbook is its activities/exercises and comprehensive but accessible explanations.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Aside from outdated citations and technology-related content, the process-based writing instruction is accurate and answers common questions from students about research and basic writing. I feel like the questions, checklists, and activities posed are helpful for students to really think through their writing process, and the author explains things without judgment. While students can benefit, I feel that faculty would also benefit from using this as a teaching manual to plan their classes.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The writing instruction is solid and is still used in many textbooks today. Obviously, the sections on technology and citation are outdated, but some sections still have good reliable advice at their core. For example, search language, unreliable web sources, and collaborating online have evolved, but the concepts remain the same. I would cut those sections out and just take what I needed to give to students. The author has no plans to update this book, and someone would need to rewrite many sections of the book, which is not easy to implement.

The book is largely free of jargon and terms are clearly explained. The author's tone is casual and conversational when compared to other textbooks, which makes it more accessible to students and acts as a guide through the research process. However, it does lend itself to longer sections that could use heavy editing and it does sound like a mini-lecture, but I liked the way he thoroughly explains and sets up concepts. His tone and style are a bit inconsistent as others have noted.

The book is very consistent since research and writing terminology is the same across most disciplines. If you're a composition instructor, you'll find the framework is just common writing pedagogy for academic writing: focus on the writing process, freewriting, peer review, audience, revision, etc.

This book was intended to be modular and chapters are mostly self-contained, so it is easy to use individual chapters or change the sequence. There are unusable hyperlinks in each chapter that refer to other sections, but those are additional resources that could be replaced with a citation guide or other common resources. Sections, activities, examples, and key ideas are clearly labeled and can be used without the rest of the chapter. However, some writing concepts, such as a working thesis, are mentioned again in later chapters.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Parts of the book are easily identifiable and the content within the chapter flows easily from one concept to the next. I felt that some of the chapters should have appeared earlier in the textbook. Students would have to wait until chapter 10 to learn about the research essay. Revising a working thesis comes before categorizing and reviewing your evidence. The peer-review chapter that advises students to read sections of their writing aloud to catch mistakes comes before brainstorming a topic. However, the sequence will depend on the instructor's preference. An index or a complete, searchable text would have helped so you don't need to guess which chapter has the content you need.

The PDF is the more polished and easier to read of the two versions. Overall, the PDF was well laid out, with clear headers and images. I found the colored boxes for the exercises helpful, though a lighter color would make the text easier to see for more students. The text uses different styles to create organization and emphasis, which made some pages (especially in the beginning) hard to read with the bolded and italicized clutter. I would have loved a complied version with all the chapters.

The HTML version is difficult to read as it is one long block of text and the callouts and images are not well spaced. There is, unfortunately, no benefit to reading the web version: no clickable links, dynamic text flow, or navigational links within each page so you will need to go back to the TOC to get the next section.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

The book has grammatical and mechanical errors throughout but does not impact content comprehension. Other reviewers here identified more notable errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

The language, examples, and references were generally ok, but the overall textbook felt acultural. Some consideration was taken with pronouns (relies on they/them/their) and gender roles. As others pointed out, there are many areas that could have used diversified sources, topics, references, examples, and students. Some of the textbook's activities assume able-bodied students and sections such as peer collaboration would benefit from a more nuanced discussion when he brought up resentment over non-contributing members, being silenced, and access to resources. There are a few red flags, but one glaring example is on page 5 of chapter 10. An excerpt from an article titled “Preparing to Be Colonized: Land Tenure and Legal Strategy in Nineteenth-Century Hawaii”(which includes the sentence, "Why did Hawaiians do this to themselves?") was used to show students when to use "I" in writing.

Overall, this is a good resource for writing instructors. As this book was written in 2007, faculty will need to cut or adapt a fair amount of the text to modernize it. It is not a textbook to assign to students for the semester, but the textbook's core content is solid writing pedagogy and the focus on using activities to reflect and revise is wonderful. Those outside of composition may find the basic exercises and explanations useful as long as students are primarily working out of a more discipline-specific (e.g., sciences) writing guide.

Reviewed by Milena Gueorguieva, Associate Teaching Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell on 6/28/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This is a process based research writing textbook, a rarity among composition textbooks. It is often the case that foundational writing courses are supposed to cover process and then, very often, instructors, students and textbook authors all forget that process is important when they have to dive into the technical aspects of conducting and writing about and from research, usually in a 'second course' in the first year writing sequence. This is not the case with this book: it is a thoughtful, comprehensive exploration of writing from research as a multi-step recursive process. This approach can help students solidify the knowledge and skills they have acquired in prior courses, especially the multi-step recursive nature of writing as a process while developing a set of strong writing from research skills.

The foundations of research writing are presented in an accessible yet rigorous way. The book does away with the myth of research writing as something you do after you think about and research a topic. The author articulated this idea very well, when he wrote, ”We think about what it is we want to research and write about, but at the same time, we learn what to think based on our research and our writing.”

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Overall, an excellent handbook (it can be used non-sequentially); however, some of the information on database searches and working with popular internet sources as well as collaborative writing (especially as it relates to the use of technology) needs updating.

The appropriately conversational tone translates complex academic concepts into easy to access ideas that students can relate to. The same is true for the many activities and exercises that demonstrate a variety of real life applications for the research skills presented in the book, which helps students see that research and research based writing happen everywhere, not just on campuses , where students seem to write for an audience of one: the professor who assigned the paper.

The material presented is rigorously and consistently presented in various modes: text, activities and exercises.

It can be used in a variety of ways; it has excellent modular stucture.

Excellently organized: reviews and expands on what students might already know about academic writing as a process; introduces the fundamentals of research and research writing and then uses both of these sets of skills in various research projects.

Although it has some very useful and appropriate visuals , the text could have been more user friendly; it is difficult to follow.

Excellently proof-read,

the book is culturally sensitive and contains appropriate examples and/or references.

An overall excellent composition text that provides useful exercises and assignments (such as the antithesis essay) that can help students build complex and nuanced arguments based on research. Highly recommend!

Reviewed by Valerie Young, Associate Professor, Hanover College on 3/29/20

This text is both general and specific. General enough for use in a variety of courses and disciplines, specific enough to garner interest for faculty who want to teach students the fundamentals and more nuanced aspects of research writing. The basics are here. The text could be assigned in specific modules. The text will benefit from an update, especially in regards to references about collaborative writing tools and internet research. The text is missing a chapter on reading research and integrating research into the literature review process. This is a relevant skill for research writing, as student writers often struggle with reading the work of others to understand the body of literature as a foundation for their own assertions.

The content and information seems like it could be helpful for any undergraduate course that has a research writing project. The unique aspects of this book are its features of collaborative and peer review writing practices and all of the exercises embedded in the text. The author gives examples and writing exercises throughout the chapters. These examples could serve inexperienced students quite well. They could also annoy advanced students.

There are some references to the World Wide Web and the Internet, and library research that seem a bit outdated. There isn't much advanced referencing of commonly used internet research options, such as Google Scholar, citation apps, etc.

Clarity rating: 3

Some points are clear and concise. Other pieces go into too much detail for one chapter page. Because the pages are long, and not all content will be relevant to all readers, the author could consider using "collapsible" sections. This could be especially relevant in the APA & MLA sections, offering a side-by-side comparison of each or offering overviews of style basics with sections that open up into more details for some interested readers.

Consistency rating: 4

no issues here

Modularity rating: 3

The chapters are relatively concise and each starts with an overview of content. The web format does not allow for much navigational flow between chapters or sections. It would be great to hyperlink sections of content that are related so that readers can pass through parts of the text to other topics. It does look like the author intended to hyperlink between chapters, but those links (denoted "Hyperlink:" in the text) are not functional.

Overall flow is appropriate for an interdisciplinary lens. Readers can move through as many or as few sections as needed. The chapter topics and subtopics are organized fairly comprehensively, and often by questions that students might ask.

Interface rating: 2

The long blocks of text in each chapter aren't very reader friendly. Also, once the reader gets to the end of the long page / chapter, there is no navigation up to the top of the chapter or laterally to previous or next content. Text doesn't adjust to screen size, so larger screens might have lots of white space.

no issues noticed. Some examples could be updated to be more inclusive, culturally diverse, etc.

This book has some good lessons, questions, and suggestions for topics relevant to research writing. The text could benefit from a more modern take on research writing, as some of the topics and phrases are dated.

Reviewed by Jennifer Wilde, Adjunct instructor, Columbia Gorge Community College on 12/13/18

The text is a wonderful guidebook to the process of writing a research essay. It describes the steps a college writer should take when approaching a research assignment, and I have no doubt that if students followed the steps outlined by the text, they would be sure to succeed in generating a quality thesis statement and locating appropriate sources. It is not comprehensive in that it has very little to say regarding composition, clarity and style. It does not contain an index or glossary.

Sections on MLA and APA format are inaccurate in that they are outdated. It would be preferable for the text to refer students to the online resources that provide up to date information on the latest conventions of APA and MLA.

The bulk of the chapters are timeless and filled with wisdom about using research to write a paper. However, the book should contain links or otherwise refer students to the web sources that would tell them how to use current MLA/APA format. There are some passages that feel anachronistic, as when the author recommends that students consider the advantages of using a computer rather than a word processor or typewriter. The sections on computer research and "netiquette" feel outdated. Finally, the author describes the differences between scholarly sources and periodicals but does not address the newer type of resources, the online journal that is peer-reviewed but open access and not associated with a university.

The writing is strong and clear. Dr. Krause does not indulge in the use of jargon.

The different sections open with an explanation of what will be covered. Then, the author explains the content. Some chapters are rather short while others are long, but generally each topic is addressed comprehensively. In the last several chapters, the author closes with a sample of student work that illustrates the principles the chapter addressed.

The text is divisible into sections. To some extent the content is sequential, but it is not necessary to read the early chapters (such as the section on using computers, which millenials do not need to read) in order to benefit from the wisdom in later chapters. I used this text in a writing 121 course, and I did not assign the entire text. I found some chapters helpful and others not so relevant to my particular needs. Students found the chapters useful and discrete, and they did not feel like they had to go back and read the whole thing. The section on writing an annotated bibliography, for instance, could be used in any writing class.

The topics are presented in the order in which a student approaches a writing assignment. First, the author asks, why write a research essay, and why do research? Next, the author addresses critical thinking and library/data use; quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing; collaboration and writing with others; writing a quality thesis statement; annotating a bibliography; categorizing sources; dealing with counterarguments, and actually writing the research essay. It's quite intuitive and logical. It seems clear that this author has had a lot of experience teaching students how to do these steps.

The interface is straightforward, but I could not locate any hyperlinks that worked. Navigation through the book was no problem.

The book is well written overall. The writer's style is straightforward and clear. There are occasional typos and words that feel misplaced, as in the following sentence: "The reality is though that the possibilities and process of research writing are more complicated and much richer than that." There should be commas around the word "though", and the tone is fairly conversational. These are extremely minor issues.

The examples feel inclusive and I was not aware of any cultural insensitivity in the book overall.

The book is really helpful! I particularly appreciate the sections on how to write an annotated bib and a good thesis statement, and I think the sections on writing a category/evaluation of sources, working thesis statement, and antithesis exercise are unique in the large field of writing textbooks. The book contains no instruction on grammatical conventions, style, clarity, rhetoric, how to emphasize or de-emphasize points, or other writing tips. In that sense, it is not a great text for a composition class. But I think it's extremely useful as a second resource for such a class, especially for classes that teach argumentation or those that require an analytic essay. I feel it is most appropriate for science students - nursing, psychology, medicine, biology, sociology. It is less likely to be useful for a general WR 121 class, or for a bunch of English majors who largely use primary sources.

Reviewed by Jess Magaña, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Missouri-Kansas City on 6/19/18

This is a comprehensive introduction to planning and writing research papers. The suggested activities seem helpful, and the lack of an index or glossary does not interfere with understanding. read more

This is a comprehensive introduction to planning and writing research papers. The suggested activities seem helpful, and the lack of an index or glossary does not interfere with understanding.

The information is accurate and straightforward.

Some information is out of date, such as the section regarding email, but the main concepts are well explained and relevant. An instructor could easily substitute a lecture or activity with updated information.

The clarity is excellent.

There are no inconsistencies.

The text is organized in a way that lends itself to changing the order of chapters and adding and subtracting topics to suit the needs of each class.

The progression of chapters is logical.

Interface rating: 5

The "hyperlinks" helpfully direct readers to related topics (although these are not actual links in the online version), which contributes to the modularity of the text.

There are a few errors, but none that significantly obscure meaning.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This text could use updated examples showing greater diversity in authors and work. I recommend instructors find supplementary examples relevant to their classes.

I intend to use this text in my courses, supplemented with a few activities and more diverse examples to suit my students' needs.

Reviewed by Sheila Packa, Instructor, Lake Superior College on 2/1/18

The text is a comprehensive guide to research for students in College Composition courses. The text is concise and interesting. Critical thinking, research and writing argument are integrated into his suggested assignments. The author covers... read more

The author covers the research question, library resources, how to paraphrase and use quotes, and collaborative writing projects. There are suggested exercises in the process of research, such as a topic proposal, a guide to developing a strong thesis statement, a full exploration of refutation (called the antithesis), the critique or rhetorical analysis, the annotated bibliography, and a guide to help students to accumulate a good assortment of sources. MLA and APA documentation is covered. Note that this text is published in 2007. Therefore, I recommend the use of MLA 8 Handbook for up-to-date guidelines for correct documentation. The Research Paper is full explained. In the chapter, Alternate Ways to Present Research, the author focuses on a Portfolio. He discusses web publication of research and poster sessions.

I value the clarity of ideas. The text is error-free, and I like the example essays written by students that will serve to inspire students.

The content is relevant. The author guides students through the process in a way that is easy to understand and also academically rigorous. The MLA 8 Handbook is a needed supplement (and that is affordable).

The writing is clear and concise. The organization of the chapters is logical and leads the students through steps in the process of research, writing a reasoned argument, and professional presentation of the research.

Terminology is clear and the framework for research is clear and sensible.

The book's modularity is definitely a strength. It's possible to use chapters of the text without using the entire book and to omit chapters that are not a focus of the instructor.

This book has a logical arrangement of chapters and the assignments are valuable.

The interface is great. It's readable online or in pdf form.

No grammatical errors. There is one detail that reflects changing rules of documentation. In MLA, titles of books, magazines, and journals are now italicized instead of underlined. In this text, they are underlined.

The text is free of bias or stereotypes.

Reviewed by Jennie Englund, Instructor, Composition I & II, Rogue Community College, Oregon on 8/15/17

Twelve chapters are broken into multiple parts. On Page 3 of the Introduction, the text emphasizes its purpose as an "introduction to academic writing and research." The following chapters present more than substantial information to give... read more

Twelve chapters are broken into multiple parts.

On Page 3 of the Introduction, the text emphasizes its purpose as an "introduction to academic writing and research." The following chapters present more than substantial information to give introductory (even well into master) research writers a foundation of the basics, as well as some detail. It differentiates itself as "Academic" research writing through thesis, evidence, and citation. Two of these concepts are revisted in the conclusion. The third (thesis) has its own section, which this reviewer will use in class.

I'm grateful to have reviewed an earlier electronic text. This provided the ability to compare/contrast, and note that this particular text was more comprehensive and in-depth than the guide I had previously reviewed (which was more of a framework, good in its own right.)

Had the guide contained a thorough section on revision, I'd give it a perfect score! Thus, the book very very nearly does what it sets out to do; it provides most of The Process of Research Writing.

Retrieval dates are no longer used on the APA References page. This reviewer would have preferred titles italicized instead of underlined.

The text opens with an introduction of the project, by its author. The project began in 2000 as a text for a major publishing house, but eventually landed via author's rights as an electronic text. Therefore, essentially, the book has already been around quite a while. This reviewer concludes that time, thought, and execution went into publishing the material, and predicts its popularity and usability will grow.

Timeless, the guide could have been used with small updates twenty years ago, and could be used with updates twenty years from now.

The guide could be used as the sole text in a composition course, supplemented by more formal (as well as APA) examples.

The text is organized into 12 chapters; it logically begins with "Thinking Critically about Research," and concludes with "Citing Your Research Using MLA or APA Style." The text includes most of what this reviewer uses to teach academic research writing. However, the book omits the editing/revising process.

The guide poses purposeful questions.

On Page 7 of the Introduction, the text reports being "organized in a 'step-by-step' fashion," with an invitation to the reader to use the book in any order, and revisit passages. The reviewer found the organization to be consistent and as systematic as the actual composition of an academic research paper.

The meat of the text begins with the definition and purpose of "Research." Immediately, a nod to working thesis follows, which is revisited in Chapter 5. Sources are examined and classified into a chart of "Scholarly Versus Non-scholarly or Popular Sources." The segment on "Using the Library" would complement a course or class period on library usage.

The Table of Contents is fluid and logical. Within the text, concepts are revisited and built upon, which the reviewer appreciates. Examples and exercises are given.

Chapter 10 contains an outline of a student research paper (which follows). The paper examines the problems with and solutions for university athletics. The paper is in MLA format. Tone is less formal than this reviewer would use as an example of academic research writing. The reviewer would have welcomed an example of an APA paper, as well.

The last chapter fully realizes instruction introduced at the beginning: citation defines academic writing, and academic writers credit their sources, and present evidence to their readers. I wish this last part emphasized thesis again, too, but in all, it is a very structured, reader-friendly guide.

Charts are integrated and understandable, though the majority of the book is text.

This review found some grammatical errors including capitalization. Book/journal/magazine/newspaper titles are underlined in lieu of italicized.

Student examples include Daniel Marvins, Ashley Nelson, Jeremy Stephens, Kelly Ritter, Stuart Banner, and Casey Copeman. Most examples of citations are from male authors. Text would benefit from multi-cultural authors. Examples/topics include The Great Gatsby,African-American Physicians and Drug Advertising, Cyberculture, ADHD, Diabetes, Student-athletes, and Drunk Driving.Examples are culturally appropriate and multi-disciplinary. Consistent pronoun used: he/him/his

Third-person narration is used; the author addresses the reader directly (and informally). While this perhaps makes a connection between the author and the reader, and adds to understanding, it does not reflect academic research writing, and may confuse beginning writers?

Chapter 5, "Writing a Working Thesis," is among the most clear, comprehensive, and straightforward instruction on the topic this reviewer has seen. I will use this section in my Composition I and II courses, as well as Chapters 1, 3, and 12. I wish this form had a place to rate usability. In that case, this guide would score highly. I commend Dr. Krause's execution and composition, and applaud his sharing this at no cost with the academic community.

Reviewed by Marie Lechelt, ESL/English Instructor and Writing Center Co-director, Riverland Community College on 6/20/17

"The Process of Research Writing" is a textbook that includes all of the major topics covered in most college research writing courses. The style of writing makes it easily understood by students. Depending on your focus in your writing class, you may want to supplement this text with more about argumentative writing. Other writing models, homework exercises, and classroom activities found by the instructor would also compliment the use of this text. While I would not use this textbook in my course from start to finish, I would jump around and use a variety of sections from it to teach research writing. This text could be used for a beginning writing class or a second semester writing course. Based on my students writing experiences and abilities, I would eliminate or include certain sections. There is no index or glossary included. The hyperlinks to other sections also do not work.

The content is accurate and error-free. I didn't detect any biased information either. The MLA and APA information have changed since this book was published. The peer review work, plagiarism, critiquing sources, and many more of the topics are almost exactly what I teach to my students. This format will work well for them.

While most research writing content does not change over time, there are many parts of this book that could be updated. These include examples (The Great Gatsby), hyperlinks, and references to technology. The technology aspect is especially important. Since technology is constantly changing, most textbooks (print and online) are out of date as soon as they are printed. Because of this, teachers are constantly having to use supplemental material, which is fine. Just like our class websites, we have to update this information every semester or even more often. If you choose to use this textbook, keep in mind that this will be necessary. The MLA/APA information is also out of date, but this is also to be expected.

Clarity is one of the benefits of this textbook. Although the style is somewhat informal, it included appropriate topics and terminology for students learning to write research essays. Students can understand the topics with one or two readings and discuss the topics in class. There were a few places that seemed like common knowledge for students at this level, like the library or using computers. Unfortunately, we do still have students who do not come to us having already learned this information. So, I don't think these sections would have a negative impact on other students. Students can also be given optional sections to read, or as I plan to do, the teacher can skip around and only assign some sections.

The majority of the terminology is common knowledge in research writing teaching. The text is fairly informal in writing style, which I believe is an advantage for students. Many times, students will read a text and then I will need to explain the terminology or ideas in depth in my lectures. Since I prefer to complete activities and work on students' writing in class, instead of lecturing, this book will work well. The chapter on the "Antithesis" was new to me. While I have taught these ideas, I have not used this term before. This is a chapter I may not use and instead include supplemental material of my own.

The chapters are divided clearly and could be separated quite easily to use as individual units in a writing class. If the hyperlinks worked though, they would be helpful. Exercises build upon one another, so one could not assign a later exercise without students first understanding the other sections of the text. I plan to use this text in a research writing class, and I will be skipping around and only using some sections. I do not believe there will be any problem with this. While students may at first feel that starting on Chapter 4 might be strange, they are very adaptive and should have no difficulties with this format.

The Table of Contents is clear and easily understood. Each chapter follows a logical sequence, and students will be able to transition from one topic to another without difficulty. The use of charts, headings, bold, highlighting, and some other visual aids help the reader to understand what is most important to remember. Although, this could be improved upon with the use of color and graphics. While the content is valuable, I would most likely skip around when using this book in the classroom. While the author begin with an introduction and then jumps right into research, I focus on topic selection and thesis writing before research begins. Of course, as the author mentions, students will go back to their thesis and research many times before finishing the writing process.

The text is easily navigated, and students would be able to follow the topics throughout. The lack of graphics and color is noticeable and detracts from the content. In a world of advanced technology where students click on hundreds of websites with amazing content each week, online textbooks need to meet this standard. This textbook is similar to a traditional textbook. Some links are also inactive.

There were some typos and small grammatical errors but no glaring instances. They also did not impact understanding.

This book contained no offensive language or examples. However, we have a lot of diversity in our classrooms, and this is not reflected in the book. Expanding the examples or including links to diverse examples would be helpful.

I will be using this text in a second semester writing class. It has valuable information about research writing. I believe it could also be used for a first semester writing class. As mentioned above, I will use sections of the text and skip around to accommodate the needs of my students. Supplemental materials will also be needed to meet current technology needs.

Reviewed by Betsy Goetz, English Instructor, Riverland Community College on 6/20/17

The text covers all subject areas appropriately. read more

The text covers all subject areas appropriately.

Overall, the text is accurate.

Relevant and current.

I liked the clarity of the text, especially the specific exercises for students to apply the theory they have learned.

This text is consistent -- good terminology!

Clear sections to focus on key points of research writing.

Well organized.

Not confusing

Overall, lacking grammatical errors.

Relevant -- research writing and thesis building are timeless.

Reviewed by Karen Pleasant, Adjunct Instructor, Rogue Community College on 4/11/17

The textbook covered the basics of writing a research paper (the term "essay"is preferred by the author) and would be appropriate for an introductory college writing course, such as WR 121 or WR 122. A table of content is provided, but there is no glossary. The textbook guides a student from exploring the initial topic selection through the finished product, although I would have liked the use of citations to be covered in more depth. If I chose this as the textbook for my class I would also need to add supplemental materials about thoroughly developing an argument as well as revising a paper.

The author presented the material in an unbiased manner and does so in a way that provides high readability for students with little to no background in writing a research paper. Excellent examples are provided to reinforce concepts and thoughtful, creative collaborative exercises round out each chapter to give practice in skill mastery. Both MLA and APA formatting styles are included, but the APA section needs to be updated. The book was published in 2007 and many of the APA guidelines have changed., including the preference for using italics versus underlining for book and journal titles.

Each chapter is self-contained and stands alone and , therefore, could easily be updated. Most of the information is relevant and could be used indefinitely. I like that Chapter 11 recommended alternate ways to present the research and suggested more contemporary technology based methods. Chapter 12, about APA and MLA citations, is the chapter that currently needs to be updated and would need to be checked for accuracy annually against the latest APA & MLA guidelines. As it reads, I would handout current materials for APA citation sessions and not use this chapter in the book.

The book is well organized and is very user friendly. I think students would enjoy reading it and be able to relate readily to the content. Examples given and exercises provided help to clarify the content and reinforce the concepts for students. The textbook flows well from selection of initial topic ideas to finished product and will help students to work through the process of writing a research paper.

New terms are thoroughly explained and are used consistently throughout the textbook. The knowledge students gain as they progress through the book feels logical and organized in a usable fashion.

The text is organized so that each chapter stands alone and the order the information is presented can be easily modified to fit the needs of an instructor. The book is that rare combination of being equally functional for both student and instructor.

The topics are presented as needed to guide students through the process of writing a research paper, but could be done in another order if desired. Bold and boxed items are used to emphasize key concepts and chapter exercises.

The textbook is visually appealing and easy to read with adequate use of white space and varied font sizes. I explored the textbook via the PDF documents, which were easy to download, although the hyperlinks were not accessible.

There were noticeable grammatical errors.

The textbook is inclusive and accessible to all and didn't have any content that could be deemed offensive. The approachable layout and writing style make the textbook relevant to college students from a variety of backgrounds.

I would definitely adopt this open textbook for my writing classes. The author provided some wonderful ideas for teaching about research papers and I found many chapter exercises that I would be willing to incorporate into my class . I am especially intrigued by the use of writing an antithesis paper as a lead in to adding opposition to the research paper and look forward to getting student input and feedback about some of the alternative ways to present their research. Compared to textbooks I have used or perused in the past, this book seems more inviting and user friendly for students new to writing college level research papers.

Reviewed by VINCENT LASNIK, Adjunct Professor, Rogue Community College on 4/11/17

This comprehensiveness is one of the strengths of The Process of Research Writing. The Table of Contents (TOC) is fine—and each separate chapter also reproduces the contents listing from high-lever through low-level subsections at the beginning of each chapter. This duplicate listing feature helps orient students to what is covered (and what is not) for every chapter in-context. Yes—It is a fair evaluation that there can generally be easy-to-fix, quickly recognizable updates, enhancements, and notable improvements to virtually any textbook 10-15 years after its initial publication date (particularly related to changing terminology and nomenclature within the dynamic English lexicon, technology applications (databases, websites, ‘search engines,’ current good ‘help sites’ for students learning the latest iteration of APA style for manuscript formatting, in-text citations, and end references, etc.)—and the Krause text is a prime candidate for such a thorough revision. For example, digital object identifiers (the doi was first introduced circa 2000) did not become widely/pervasively established until well into the first decade of the 21st century; the ‘doi’ is an ubiquitous standard today in 2017. Nevertheless, many of the basic (boilerplate) concepts are clearly noted and credibly, coherently explained. The text could use some effective reorganization (as I note elsewhere in my review)—but that is arguably a subjective/personalized perspective more related to the way we approach writing instruction and student academic development at Rogue Community College—and perhaps less of a global/universal criticism.

See my comments in other sections that impact this issue. Overall, Krause’s text appears, “accurate, error-free and unbiased.” There are no obvious problems with this observation/contention. Some of the ‘out-of-date’ specifics in the text need updating as I note in detail in my other comments.

Most of the text describes research-writing strategies that are fairly well-established if not generic to the undergraduate English composition content area; thus, the overall longevity of the existing text is good. I have suggested, however, that any such ‘how-to’ guide should be updated (as this particular version) after its first decade of publication. The content for online research, for example, reflects an early 2000s perspective of emerging technology terms (e.g., defining blogs as “web-logs” is easily 12-15 years behind the use of the term in 2017), and some of the online websites mentioned are no longer relevant. These types of ‘out-of-date’ past-referents/links, however, can be easily updated to 2017+ accuracy. I have made a few suggestions about such an update—including my offer to assist Steve Krause (gratis and pro bono) in this update should my collaboration be desired. Otherwise, Krause might go the more open ‘peer review’ route and assemble a set of active teachers, instructors, and adjunct professors (such as me) who are on the ‘frontlines’ of current praxis for research-based, critical thinking, problem-oriented writing courses across the 11th-12th grade and through the undergraduate and workforce education community.

The text is written is a clear, credible, and cogent prose throughout. This is one of the particular strengths of Krause’s text—and recursively provides an exemplar for well-written composition. On occasion, the clarity for students might be improved by additional ‘real-world examples’ (i.e., more ‘showing rather than mere abstract telling) explicating some obtuse concepts and numerous rules (e.g., for research strategy, proofreading/editing, using search engines and conducting library research, etc.)—but a similar constructive criticism could easily be made of nearly all similar sources.

The text wording, terminology, framework and process emphasis are highly consistent. There are overlaps and dovetailing (i.e., redundancy) in any/every college textbook—but Krause keeps these to a minimum throughout. Some updating of terminology would be appropriate, useful, and needed as I note throughout my OER review.

The text is superb in this regard. The chapters and exercises are highly modular—which supports the customized reorganization I apply myself in my own courses as noted in my other comments. Numerous subheads and special highlighted ‘key points’ textboxes augment this modularity and improve the narrowing of assigned readings, examples, and exercises for most writing courses. The Process of Research Writing is clearly not, “overly self-referential,” and can easily be, “reorganized and realigned with various subunits of a course without presenting much disruption to the reader” by any instructor.

One of the principal weaknesses of the set of chapters is that the given ‘table of contents’ structure is conceptually disjointed—at least insofar as my research writing course is designed. Therefore, to provide a more coherent, logical sequence congruent to the course organization of my Writing 122 (this is an intermediate/advanced-level English Composition II)—it was necessary to assign a completely different order of The Process of Research Writing (Krause, 2007) high-level chapters/pages for weekly course reading assignments as follows:

Week One: Table of Contents; Introduction: Why Write Research Projects?; and Chapter 1: Thinking Critically About Research; Week Two: Chapter 2: Understanding and Using the Library and the Internet for Research. These three starting chapters were reasonable to introduce in Krause’s original sequence. Continuing into Week Two, I also added Chapter 4: How to Collaborate and Write with Others (but I highlighted limited/specific passages only since WR122 does not emphasize collaborative prose composition activities and extensive group-writing projects using such apps as Google Docs). Week Three: I then assigned Chapter 10: The Research Essay—since it was important to orient students to the intrinsic, namesake umbrella concept of researching and writing the research essay—the essential focus of the course I teach. IMPORTANT NEED TO RESTRUCTURE THE OER as it exists: Viewed from a course rationale and content/skill acquisition conceptual level—I have no idea why Krause did not place ‘Writing The Research Essay’ as high as Chapter 2. It comes far too late in the book as Chapter 10. This is actually where the chapter belongs (in my view); the other topics in the remaining Chapters’ (2—12) would more cogently and effectively proceed after first exploring the high-level nature of the research essay task in the first place. The subsequent skills for conducting Online Library Research; Quoting, Paraphrasing, Avoiding Plagiarism, creating a testable ‘Working Thesis,’ producing an Annotated Bibliography (some courses also use a précis assignment), Evaluating and Categorizing Sources, etc.—are realistically supporting, scaffolding, and corroborating functional/operational skills designed to design, research, and produce the research-based essay project. Therefore—from a project-based and problem-oriented pedagogical strategy/approach—a sound argument could be proffered that putting Chapter 10 second in a reordered book would help students on many levels (not the least being engaging interest and promoting contextual understanding for why learning the content of the remaining chapters makes sense and can be critical/applicable to the research-writing process.

Continuing on my own WR122 course text-sequence customization—in Week Four—we move into the attribution phase of the writing process in Chapter 3: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism. Logically, we then move (in Week Five) to Chapter 5: The Working Thesis so students can ask significant/original questions and determine a point of departure into their research essay. This seemed like a good time to add the concept of ‘opposition views’ (i.e., counter-claims, rejoinder and rebuttal) discussed in Chapter 8: The Antithesis. In Week Six—we moved into essay formatting, in-text citation and end references, so Chapter 12: Citing Your Research Using MLA or APA Style {(focusing on reading pp. 1-2 (brief overview), and pp. 18-33 about APA style)} was assigned. In addition, students also perused Chapter 7: The Critique preceding a related argumentative assignment (i.e., a movie review project). For Week Seven (concurrent with an annotated bibliography project for the main term paper—students read Chapter 6: The Annotated Bibliography, and Chapter 9: The Categorization and Evaluation (of sources) that was ostensibly/logically relevant to the annotated bibliography project. Concluding the course for Weeks Eight-Eleven—there were new required readings. Students were instructed to review previous readings in The Process of Research Writing (Krause, 2007)—time permitting. Also Note: Chapter 11: Alternative Ways to Present Your Research is completely optional reading. It is not particularly applicable to this course; there is a student’s self-reflection about the research process on pp. 3-11 that may have some nominal merit, but it notes MLA style (versus my course’s use of APA 6th edition style only) and is in any case not required.

The text is not fancy; standard black and white (high-contrast) font used throughout. For emphasis of key points, Krause does use special ‘highlight boxes’ with gray background, a thick black stroke on the outside of the rectangular textbox. While the gray level might be lowered (in the update) for improved contrast—the true-black, bulleted, bolded key-terms are easy to perceive/read. The only criticism I have is the distracting overuse of quotation mark punctuation for emphasis; this should be corrected in any updated version. Otherwise, most of the book’s interface presentation supports a good user (student) experience, good printability, and good accessibility per ADA and general disability (e.g., visually impaired learners) protocols.

There are no significant/glaring occurrences of grammatical errors in the text. I am not a ‘grammar snob’ in any case. The prose seems clear, cogent, thoughtful, well-written; it generally uses solid grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. The exception is the overuse of a somewhat casual/conversational tone combined with (what is more of a recognizable issue) a distracting overuse of quotation marks—many of which are simply neither needed nor helpful; most could be quickly removed with an immediate improvement to readability.

I do not see significant, relevant, or glaring faux pas pertaining to any biased disrespect for multiculturalism. All persons (e.g., races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, and cultural backgrounds) are equally respected and appreciated. The content area (English composition) is very amenable to a relatively generic, culture-free perspective—and Krause’s examples and prose is well-within any applicable standards of post-modern, scholarly, formal non-fiction in written Standard English.

[1] The Process of Research Writing was ostensibly presented/published to Creative Commons in 2007. No identifiable part/portion of the original edition text appears to have been updated (changed, modified, or improved) since then (i.e., at least 10 years); This is perhaps the single, most apparent flaw/weakness for this textbook. An in-depth revision to 2017 post-rhetorical model essay-writing standards and APA conventions would be invaluable—and quite bluntly—is sorely required. A newly updated Version 2.0 for 2017-18 should be critically planned (and scheduled or already ‘in progress’ if it is not already).

[2] There are many insightful, practical, and high-value approaches to the research writing process; in this regard—the nominal OER title is superbly appropriate for late high-school and beginning college (undergraduate) research essay projects. Even though some of the technical components (e.g., APA style) require updating/revision (which makes basic, reasonable sense after a ‘decade on the shelf’ for any academic research writing source)—Krause’s chapters can effectively replace many expensive, glossy college entry-level textbooks! After presenting the core concepts in a coherent and self-evident manner, Krause supplies a plethora of examples to illustrate those concepts. Then (and this is one of the true strengths of this OER)—each chapter (particularly Chapters 5-10) highlights student-oriented exercises to practice those same core concepts). Because of this latter emphasis—the Krause OER is ‘learner-centered’ (as opposed to ‘content centered’), problem-oriented and performance-oriented as well—providing opportunities for creative, resourceful teachers to adapt/adopt the OER to course assignments.

[3] There does not appear to be a single (standalone) PDF for this OER. This is a notable flaw/weakness for this textbook. Conversely, however, although a single PDF would have some convenient ‘easier downloading’ advantages for students—having separate chapters affords every teacher to create a customized chapter-order (as I have efficiently done to correspond to my course design). The chapters support excellent modularity and the accompanying exercises/examples demonstrate the concepts Krause explicates with a fine degree of granularity for any teacher. Thus—integrating any textbooks or teaching/learning resources (like OERs) always has tradeoffs—plusses and minuses, positives and negatives. The obvious key, therefore, is taking the liberty of using the OER as a supporting scaffold or buttress to an instructor’s original design concept—rather than the foundation around which a course can be designed.

[4] Some minor weaknesses for prose instruction are (a) Krause’s acceptance of passive, sophomoric signal phrasing (i.e., According to X…)—as opposed to strong, active voice such as ‘’X found…’; and (b) a general overuse of quotation marks throughout the book. This is not meant as a harsh criticism—merely an observation that readability could be improved with a newer version that eliminates most quotation marks (Note: In APA style—these punctuation symbols are only used for verbatim quotes. This makes for a cleaner, clearer manuscript).

[5] One of the solid/helpful strengths of the book is a relatively accurate presentation of APA style for in-text citation and end references (Chapter 12). It appears that like many academics—Krause is more familiar and comfortable with the Modern Language Association’s MLA style/formatting. No problem there—I was simply trained on APA beginning in 1984 so it is native to me; I also use the latest version of APA style in all of my writing (college composition) courses. Thus—it should come as no surprise there are a number of obvious APA-associated inaccuracies including (but limited to): (a) meekly accepting ‘n.d.’ (no date) and ‘n.a.’ (no author) sources when a little investigative research by the student (and adherence to the APA rule hierarchy for dates and authors) would easily come up with a sound date and author. Another error (b) seems to be more typographic (formatting) and/or refers to an earlier edition of APA style: the end references in the PDF (and html versions?) use underline in place of italics. The 2011 APA 6th edition style does not use underline in the end references. There are other small (faux pas) errors such as (c) noting generally inaccessible proprietary online databases and servers (again—no longer done in APA). A thorough, meticulous updating of this OER source would probably take care of many of these APA-error issues. I’d be happy to work with Steve on this update at any time.

[6] I use Amy Guptill’s Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence by Amy Guptill of State University of New York (2016) for my English Composition I course that emphasizes general essay writing and a simple research-supported argumentative essay. I teach that course using the following assigned readings: Week One: Chapter 1 (Really? Writing? Again?), pp. 1-7, and Chapter 2 (What Does the Professor Want? Understanding the Assignment), pp. 9-18; Week Two: Chapter 6 (Back to Basics: The Perfect Paragraph), pp. 48-56; Chapter 7 (Intros and Outros), pp. 57-64; Week Four: Chapter 9 (Getting the Mechanics Right), pp. 75-85; Week Five: Chapter 8 (Clarity and Concision), pp. 65-73; Week Six: Chapter 3 (Constructing the Thesis and Argument—From the Ground Up), pp. 19-27; Week Seven: Chapter 4 (Secondary Sources in Their Natural Habitats), pp. 28-37; Week Eight: Chapter 5 (Listening to Sources, Talking to Sources), pp. 38-47. I then switch over to Krause’s OER for my English Composition II course. At Rogue Community College, Writing 122 emphasizes intermediate essay writing and analytical, more rigorous and original research-based essays involving critical thinking. I completely reordered the chapters as described above to fit into my course design. I like Krause’s individual ‘modular’ chapters—but the particular ‘scope and sequence’ he uses are debatable. Overall, however, The Process of Research Writing easily and effectively substitutes/replaces other costly tomes from for-profit academic publishers—even those that offer bundled DVDs and online-access to proprietary tutorial sources. Used in conjunction with other freely available PDF OERs, websites, YouTube videos, tutorial/practice sites from innumerable libraries, blogs (e.g., the APA Blog is particularly helpful)—as well as original/customized sources created by individual instructors for their own courses—the Krause book offers a good, solid baseline for developing research-based writing competencies particularly appropriate for the first two years of college.

Reviewed by Amy Jo Swing, English Instructor, Lake Superior College on 4/11/17

This book covers most of the main concepts of research writing: thesis, research, documenting, and process. It's weak on argument though, which is standard in most research composition texts. The book provides a clear index so finding information is relatively easy. The other weak spot is on evaluation evidence: there is a section on it but not comprehensive examples. Students in general needs lots of practice on how to evaluate and use information.

The information is accurate mostly except for the APA and MLA section. Writing and research writing haven't changed that much in a long time. It's more the technology and tools that change.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

The ideas about research and writing in general are fine, However, the references to technology and documentation are very out of date, over 10 years so. Students use technology very differently than described in this text, and the technologies themselves have changed. For example, the author talks about floppy disks and AOL messenger but not about Google Drive, Wikipedia, Prezi, or how to use phones and tablets while researching. Our students are digital natives and need to understand how to use their devices to write and research.

The book is quite readable in general. Concepts are easy to understand. Sometimes, they are almost too simple like the section explaining what a library is. Students might not be sophisticated library users, but they understand in general how they work. The chapters are concise, which is nice for student use too.

Except for pronoun use, the book is consistent in tone and terms. Not all the terms are ones I use in my own teaching, and it would be nice to see explanation of more argument/research frameworks like the Toulmin Model of argument.

The chapters are pretty self-contained and clear as individual units. I can see including certain chapters and leaving out others that aren't as relevant to my teaching style or assignments. One could easily assign the chapters in a different order, but students ask lots of questions when you assign chapter 6 first and then weeks later, assign chapter 2 or 3.

The basic chapters make sense in terms of how they are created and categorized but the order is problematic if an instructor were to assign them in the order presented. For example, the chapter on creating an annotated bibliography comes before the one on documenting (APA/MLA). Students can't complete an annotated bibliography without knowing how to cite sources. Same with evaluating sources. There is so much information on locating sources before any clear mention is made of how to evaluate them. I find that is the weak spot with students. If they learn how to evaluate sources, it's easier to find and locate and research effectively.

Not many images. Students really like info-graphics, pictures, and multi-media. The hyperlinks to other sections of the book do not work in either the PDF or HTML versions. I do like some of the illustrations like mapping and how research is more a web than a linear process. For an online textbook, there aren't a lot of hyperlinks to outside resources (of which there are so many like Purdue's OWL and the Guide to Grammar and Writing).

There were quite a few errors : comma errors, spelling (affect/effect), some pronoun agreement errors, capitalization errors with the title in Chapter Four. The author also uses passive voice quite a bit, which is inconsistent with the general familiar tone. In some chapters, there is constant switching between first, second, and third person. I focus much on point of view consistency in my students' writing, and this would not be a great model for that.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

There is no cultural offensiveness but not much diversity in examples and students names either. Marginalized students (of color, with disabilities, of different sexuality or gender) would not see themselves reflected much.

This is a good basic reference on the process of writing and research. However, it would not be too useful without updated information on technology and documentation. As a web-based text, it reads more like a traditional physical textbook.

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pihlaja, Instructor, Lake Superior College on 2/8/17

The length and scope of this book are appropriate for a semester-long research writing course, with twelve chapters that move from foundational concepts into more specific skills that are needed for the crafting of a paper incorporating MLA or APA citation. In particular, I like that the early chapters cover the questions of "Why Write Research Papers?" and how to think critically, the middle chapters provide specific activities in the skills of quoting and paraphrasing, and the later chapters bring in assignments (such as writing an annotated bibliography) that help students practice and build content for their ultimate paper.There is no index or glossary to this book; however, the table of contents provides an overview of the chapters that guides navigation well.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

In terms of the thinking, this book's information is logical and sound. The explanations of concepts and activities read easily and do a fine job of explicating the why and how of research writing. In a few places, however, the word "effected" is used when it should be "affected." Editing also is needed when the author uses phrases such as "in the nutshell" instead of "in a nutshell." As well, in Chapter 4, there is pronoun/antecedent disagreement when the author uses "their" to refer to "each member." Also, each chapter contains at least one "Hyperlink" to supplemental information, yet the hyperlinks are dead. For the most part, the text is clean and well edited, but we English teachers are line-editing sticklers, so even small, occasional errors stand out. Overall: the ideas presented are accurate and free of bias, yet there are a few, niggling errors.

When it comes to relevance and longevity, this book is problematic. In fact, it is so outdated as to be unusable, at least for this instructor. Certainly, the concepts presented are solid; they don't change with passing years. However, typographically, the book is passe, as it uses two spaces after periods. Even more troubling is that it refers to the Internet as "new" and comes from a point of view that sees this thing called "the World Wide Web" as novel while also noting students might want to rely on microfilm and microfiche during their research. In another example, the author suggests to students that a benefit of writing on computers is that they can share their work with each other on disc or through email. Truly, such references make the book unusable for a class in 2017. Another issue is that the Modern Language Association has updated its guidelines several times since this book's publication; ideally, a text used in a research writing class would cover, if not the latest guidelines, at least the previous version of the guidelines. A full rewrite of the book is necessary before it could be adopted. As the book currently stands, students would roll their eyes at the antiquated technological language, and the teacher would need to apologize for asking students to read a text that is so out-of-date.

The writing in this book is both accessible and intelligent. It's eminently readable. Specifically, the inclusion of things like an "Evidence Quality and Credibility Checklist" at the end of Chapter 1 and the continual use of grey boxes that highlight major concepts is very good. Also extremely helpful are the examples of student writing that end nearly every chapter; these models demonstrate to readers what is expected from each assignment. Finally, the explanations of quoting and paraphrasing are superior -- so clear, so easy for students to digest. Were it not outdated in terms of technological references, I would definitely consider using this book in my classes due to the clarity of the prose.

Consistency rating: 3

For the most part, the book is well structured and consistent in its design and layout. Each chapter provides general explanation of a concept, moves into a specific assignment, and ends with an example or two of student responses to that assignment. Very quickly, readers know what to expect from each chapter, and there's something comforting about the predictability of the layout, especially in a book that is being read on a screen, using scrolling. When it comes to the terminology, my only note would be that the book starts out using a relaxed second-person point of view, addressing students as "you," but then, at the end of Chapter 2, the author suddenly begins also using the first-person "I." This first-person point of view continues throughout the book, so it becomes consistent from that point on, but for me as a reader, I never quite adjusted to that level of informality, particularly when all the sentences using "I" could easily be re-written in the third person. Before reading this text, I hadn't really considered what I like in a book, but now I know: because I want the text to model the ideal, I would prefer a more formal (and consistent) point of view. Today's students struggle to create essays that don't include "you" or "I" -- even when they very consciously are trying to avoid those words. Learning to write from the third person POV is surprisingly challenging. Therefore, my personal preference would be a textbook that consistently models this approach.

The chapters in this book are of a perfect length -- long enough to develop the ideas and present comprehensive explanations yet short enough to be ingested and excised. Put another way, I could see grabbing bits and pieces of this text and using them in my classes. For instance, without adopting the entire text, I still could pull the instructions for the Anti-Thesis essay or the Annotated Bibliography, or I could use the explanation of the purpose of collaboration. Indeed, the chapters and exercises in this book are tight "modules" that allow an instructor to pick and choose or to reorganize the chapters to better fit with an individual course structure. For me, although I won't use this entire text, I can envision incorporating pieces of it into my teaching.

The organization of this book is one of its greatest strengths. It starts with a broad overview of research into an exploration of the process behind seeking out reputable sources, weaves in a few shorter essay assignments that serve as building blocks for a longer paper, and culminates with the ideas for a final, capstone research project -- something that naturally grows out of all the previous chapters. Each chapter in the text flows easily out of the chapter before it. One of this text's greatest strengths is how each successive chapter builds on the concepts presented in the previous chapters.

As noted earlier, the hyperlinks in the book don't work. As well, the screenshots included in the book are blurry and add little, except frustration, to the content. Outside of those issues, though, the book is physically easy to read and navigate, largely thanks to the easy clicking between the table of contents and individual chapters.

As suggested earlier, the book, as a whole, reads easily, yet there are some errors with the homonyms "effected" and "affected," along with pronoun/antecedent disagreement. I also noticed a handful of places where there are extra spaces around commas (in addition to the use of two spaces after periods).

This text is definitely not insensitive or offensive; its tone is fair and balanced, free of bias. On the other hand, this book does not really bring in examples that address diversity. Students reading this book will not see acknowledgment of different races, ethnicities, sexual preferences, or personal histories. Thus, in addition to updating the references to technology, if this book were rewritten, it also could more deliberately address this lack. As it is, the content of this book does feel whitewashed and free of cultural relevance.

There is a lot of promise in this text because the explanations and assignments are so good. But unless it is updated, I don’t see it as usable in a current classroom.

Reviewed by Leana Dickerson, Instructor , Linn Benton Community College on 2/8/17

The author certainly outlines and examines elements of research writing, and does so in a very clear, organized, and thoughtful way. There is no glossary or index included in the text, but the chapters and headings in the table of contents and at the beginning of each section very clearly outline what is to be expected from the text. Most all of the concepts are very thoroughly explained and examined including topics that typically are glossed over in research writing texts, including the opposition to argument, close reading, and the importance of research writing to a variety of career pathways. Although thorough in what is present, there are some issues that I would want to touch on with my research students including developing effective argument, logical organization, and examples of the revision process.

The information in this text is accurate and adequately explained. It seems readily accessible for any college age student, but doesn’t expect students to come with a background in research or writing. MLA formatting for works cited pages is up to date, and even addresses the fact that the format for citation changes regularly and points to appropriate resources outside of the text. The only formatting issue that I noticed were some in-text citations (examples throughout early chapters) that included a comma which is no longer expected by the MLA. In the works cited section (and throughout, in examples) when referring to book titles, the author does use the underline function instead of an italicized book title; the author also refers to the use of either italic or underlined differentiation, yet MLA suggests italics in text form.

The content of this text is very straight forward and although essentially up to date, may need updates as relevant technology develops. Updates should be simple and clear to implement as needed because of the strict organization of each chapter.

I found the content clarity in this text to be refreshing for college age students. Often, as an instructor, I ask my students to read a text and then I must re-visit the content in lecture format to ensure that my students are not lost on terminology or foundational knowledge. This text does not assume any prior knowledge from the reader, but also does not feel rudimentary. The formatting and highlighted importance of some information also provided clarity and consistency throughout. The author paced information well, building on major concepts from the beginning and returning to them throughout. The final stages of the text bring students to a major essay that easily shows how each concept included throughout the text can weave into a larger project.

This text is consistent, and feels organized with format, terminology, and the building of content from beginning to end.

The sections in this text are easily broken into segments that can be taught or read at any point throughout the writing process. The text does build on exercises from the beginning to the end, but each of these can be taken out of a linear timeline and used for multiple kinds of projects. The author actually refers to this organization in text, making it clear how each element can work alone or for a streamlined project.

Concepts build upon one another, and yet can be returned to (or jumped to) out of order and still be easy to access and utilize. The text is broken up nicely with bolded, bulleted, or boxed items which designate a stopping point, a discussion to consider, or important details or concepts to focus on.

The layout and navigation of this text online is very accessible, organized, and easy to read. The text PDFs often open in a full browser window, other times they open as PDF documents, but either way include a clean, streamlined format. The text does not seem to be able to be downloaded, making it potentially difficult for students to access without internet access. One issue that I did encounter was that in PDF format, or in html, hyperlinks do not function.

The text is clear, free of grammatical errors, and flows well.

This text is relevant to all audiences and very approachable for college age students.

I found this text to be a refreshing change from what is typically find in research textbooks; it’s relevance to more than just the assignment will help students connect research to the broader concept of academia and other facets of their lives. The antithesis section is a useful way for students to really engage with an opposing opinion and how they can then incorporate that into a successful research project. Also, the differing ways of presenting research I found to be useful for students to think about their project beyond a stapled stack of pages, and to expand that to differing modes of communication and presentation. I look forward to being able to use this text with students.

Reviewed by Samuel Kessler, Postdoctoral Fellow, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on 2/8/17

"The Process of Research Writing" covers most of the areas students need to understand as they begin research writing at a college level. It has explanations of theses, bibliographies, citations, outlines, first paragraphs, etc. There is no index or glossary, the latter especially being something that would have been very helpful and easy to put together. Krause has many useful definitions and quick-help guides throughout the text, but they are so scattered and ineffectively labeled that it can be very difficult to find them without reading through whole chapters in one's search. On the whole, buried inside these pages, is a very effective guides to *teaching* about research writing. In truth, this book is a teacher's introduction to a class (or, more realistically, three or four class sessions) devoted to college-level academic writing. Unfortunately, there are a lot of words that one has to get through to find all these subject, which can make for tough going.

Based on the questions and errors I see my students making, Krause has done a strong job of highlighting the basics of proper academic research. He spends much time on sources, especially on learning to differentiate between scholarly, trade, and journalistic sources, as well as how to steer clear and note the signs of online schlock (i.e. much of the internet). His tips for peer-to-peer editing and self-reflexive assignments are just the sort of things our students needs help working on.

This is a strange book. The portions that are about implementing class assignments or explaining terms like thesis and antithesis, as well as the examples of an outline or a good first paragraph, are all excellent tools for a classroom.

But there are so many instances of irrelevant or outdates explanations. No college student today needs to read about why writing on a computer is a useful thing to do. No student needs to read about how email can be a tool for academic exchange. A section on using computers for research? On how to copy and paste within a word document? (And no-one calls it the "World Wide Web".) These are issues for the late 90s, not for students in the second decade of the twenty-first century.

There is also a fair amount that is personal and peculiar to the author: a discussion of why he uses the term "research essay" instead of "research paper"? That is just wasted space, and actually without the argumentative merits of a research thesis that he had been teaching up to that point.

For students at research universities, or even at second-tier state and private colleges, the information about libraries and library catalogues changes so quickly that I could never assign those passages. Instead, we'll spend class time looking at our specific library interface. And often, so much material is being sent off-site these days that in many humanities fields its not even possible to scan the shelves any longer. And in science, books are almost irrelevant: online access journals are where the latest research is stored. A bound edition of *Science* from the 1970s contains very little that's important for a scientific research paper written in 2016--unless that paper is about the history of some form of experiment.

Krause writes in a folksy, breezy second-person. Now, so does Tom Friedman of the Times, though that is one of the main criticisms of his otherwise insights books. Krause has a tendency to be overly wordy. This book should more closely resemble Hemingway than Knausgaard in order to be practical. For students who have Facebook etc. open while they're reading this book, every sentence that's not directly relevant will make their minds wander. There are so many sentences that simply need to be cut. To use this book, I'd need to cut and paste just the relevant passages. And without an index or glossary, assigning sections to students is very hard.

"The Process of Research Writing" is internally consistent. Krause maintains the same tone throughout, and defines terms as he goes along. The chapters vary considerably in length, with the short chapters always being more useful and focused, with less superfluous verbiage and fewer authorial quirks.

Modularity rating: 2

"The Process of Research Writing" is a very difficult text to use. The HTML and PDF versions are identical, which defeats the unique way the internet functions. I read this book on both Safari and Chrome, and in neither browser do the hyperlinks work. The tables of content at the heads of each chapter do not link to their respective sections. The projects, assignments, and definitions do not appear in different windows, which would make them possible to keep open while continuing on in the book. There are many instances in which moving back and forth between sections would be very helpful, and that is simply not possible without having multiple windows of the same book open and going between them that way--something that is very clumsy. And again, there are so many superfluous words that even assigning specific chapters means getting through a lot of talk before actually encountering the various hints, tricks, and explanations that are important for learning how to do college-level research.

"The Process of Research Writing" reads like a series of lectures that are meant to be give in a large lecture class, with assignments appended throughout and at the ends. The order of the books is, overall, what one would expect and need for teaching the basics. However, there is a good deal in Chapter 10 that should have appeared earlier (outlines, for instance), and that becomes part of one long chapter that is difficult to use and should have been divided into smaller sections.

As mentioned, in neither Safari nor Chrome do the hyperlinks work. And there appears to have been no planning for links from the chapter tables-of-content to their various associated sections. This makes it very difficult to get between sections or to return to where one was after going somewhere else in the book. Further, there are many links on the internet that remain stable over long periods of time. The Library of Congress, for instance, about which there is a section concerning its cataloguing system, should have a link. As should WorldCat, which for many people who do not have access to a major research library is the best place for learning about texts. Many services like LexusNexus, ABC Clio, and the NY Times archive all also maintain stable websites that should be externally linked.

Except for a smattering of typos, the book has fine (though informal) grammar. This is not a text that could also be used to demonstrate high-level academic writing.

There is nothing culturally offensive here in any way.

In many ways, this is a much better book for teachers of first-year students than for the students themselves. There are many sections of this book to pull out and assign, or to read together in class, to help students gain an understanding of college-level research. But this is not a book I'd ever assign to my students in total. The suggestions for in-class and homework assignments are all high quality pedagogy. But students shouldn't read about their own assignments--they should just do them. Departments can give this book to first-year professors to help them create class periods where they teach their students how to write papers. That would be an excellent use for this text. But as a book for students themselves, I cannot recommend it.

Reviewed by Margaret Wood, Instructor, Klamath Community College on 8/21/16

The book thoroughly covers the material that first-year college research writers need to know including an introduction to basic academic research concepts, searches and source evaluation from library and web resources, a thorough discussion of summary, paraphrase and direct quotation, collaboration and peer review, topic selection, hypothesis and thesis development, annotated bibliography, text analysis and evaluation, engaging seriously with opposing viewpoints, working with evidence and attributes of evidence, the components of a traditional research essay, alternative forms of presentation (web-based project), and finally MLA and APA documentation. There are also hyperlinks to help readers move to relevant information in other chapters.

While concepts like ethos, logos, and pathos are mentioned in passing, they are not deeply developed. Other topics I generally teach alongside research which are not covered include strategies for defining terms, inductive and deductive logic, and logical fallacies.

I did not identify any inaccuracies or biases. There are areas where focus may be a bit different. For example, the model my institution uses for annotated bibliographies uses the rhetorical precis as a summary model, and also encourages a brief evaluative analysis. On the other hand, the emphasis given to the antithesis is new to me, and looks like a very good idea. I did identify a couple of grammatical issues -- two cases of "effect" instead of "affect", and one pronoun agreement problem.

Good writing principles don't tend to change that much. The discussion of the Web-based research project is very timely.

The book is written in a conversational style which should be easy for students to understand. All technical terms are clearly explained. There are also aids for comprehension and review including: a useful bulleted list at the beginning of each chapter outlines material covered in that chapter; highlighted boxes which provide guidance for class discussion on the topic; sample assignments; easy-to-read checklists of key points.

The text is entirely consistent. Hyperlinks help to connect key points to other chapters.

The material is subdivided into clear and appropriate chapters; moreover, the chapters provide clear subheadings. However, I did identify one instance where subheadings indicated material that is not present in chapter four: Three Ideas for Collaborative Projects * Research Idea Groups * Research Writing Partners * Collaborative Research Writing Projects.

Also, as previously mentioned, some material that I would like to include is not covered in this text.

I feel that chapter 3 should be placed later, at a point in the term where students have actually begun the writing process.

Images, though used infrequently, are blurry, and hyperlinks, at least as I was able to access them, did not appear to be active.

Mentioned above -- two "effect"/"affect" issues and one issue of pronoun agreement

I did not identify any culturally insensitive issues. The one essay topic used throughout, a thesis involving The Great Gatsby, I did not find particularly relevant, since my institution excludes literature from its research projects.

Solid and thorough advice on research writing. Quite heavy on text, but advice is useful and frequently innovative.

Reviewed by Laura Sanders, Instructor, Portland Community College on 8/21/16

The text offers a comprehensive discussion of all the elements of writing a research project. The author covers evaluating sources, using library research, incorporating research into essays, collaborative work, creating a thesis, as well as... read more

The text offers a comprehensive discussion of all the elements of writing a research project.

The author covers evaluating sources, using library research, incorporating research into essays, collaborative work, creating a thesis, as well as writing annotated bibliographies, close reading, opposition, alternative project formats, and citing sources.

Although there is no index or glossary, the text is organized in discrete chapters available on the site as HTML or PDF for easy navigation.

Although I found no inaccuracies, both the APA and MLA handbooks have been updated since the versions used in this text.

Most of the content will not be obsolete any time soon, but the citation chapter is not based on recent APA and MLA handbooks.

The section on alternative ways to present research (Chapter 11) could be updated to include YouTube, Prezi, and more recent technology.

The modular format would make it very easy to update.

The text is written at a level that is appropriate for the target audience, college students who need to build research and writing skills.

This text is internally consistent.

I consider the modules to be one of the main strengths of the text. The sections have useful subheadings.

It would be easy to select specific chapters as course readings.

The chapters follow an intuitive sequence of developing a paper from topic to research to draft.

This text is easy to navigate.

I found no grammar errors.

There are ample opportunities here to add cultural diversity to the sample topics and writing tasks.

I am thrilled to offer this text to my students instead of the incredibly expensive alternatives currently available.

I am particularly interested in using this book for online writing courses, so students who desire more thorough discussion of particular stages of writing a research project could build or refresh foundational skills in these areas.

Introduction
Chapter One: Thinking Critically About Research
Chapter Two: Understanding and Using the Library and the Internet for Research
Chapter Three: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism
Chapter Four: How to Collaborate and Write With Others
Chapter Five: The Working Thesis Exercise
Chapter Six: The Annotated Bibliography Exercise
Chapter Seven: The Critique Exercise
Chapter Eight: The Antithesis Exercise
Chapter Nine: The Categorization and Evaluation Exercise
Chapter Ten: The Research Essay
Chapter Eleven: Alternative Ways to Present Your Research
Chapter Twelve: Citing Your Research Using MLA or APA Style

Ancillary Material

About the book.

The title of this book is The Process of Research Writing , and in the nutshell, that is what the book is about. A lot of times, instructors and students tend to separate “thinking,” “researching,” and “writing” into different categories that aren't necessarily very well connected. First you think, then you research, and then you write. The reality is though that the possibilities and process of research writing are more complicated and much richer than that. We think about what it is we want to research and write about, but at the same time, we learn what to think based on our research and our writing. The goal of this book is to guide you through this process of research writing by emphasizing a series of exercises that touch on different and related parts of the research process.

About the Contributors

Steven D. Krause grew up in eastern Iowa, earned a BA in English at the University of Iowa, an MFA in Fiction Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a PhD in Rhetoric and Writing at Bowling Green State University. He joined the faculty at Eastern Michigan University in 1998.

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Book Title: Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers

Author: RMIT University Library

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Book Description: These modules are for academic and higher degree researchers who want to develop and extend the skills required in the contemporary research environment. (This set of modules is under development - check back regularly to find additional content.)

Book Information

Book description.

Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers is for higher degree students and academics who want to develop skills to assist them on their research journey, from the beginning stages of searching the literature and developing a research proposal, to writing and presentation skills, and on to managing their researcher profile and finding evidence of their research impact.

While written with RMIT University higher degree and academic researchers in mind, other researchers world-wide may find it applicable – feel free to adopt or adapt to suit your own context.

This set of modules is under development – check back regularly to find additional content.

Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers Copyright © 2022 by RMIT University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Researching and Referencing: Writing Skills

Research Skills Resources
Locating Information
Evaluating Resources
Study Skills Resources
Writing Skills
Presentations
Academic Skills
Referencing Skills
Digital Literacy
Plagiarism This link opens in a new window
Generative AI

Writing Tasks

Case Studies
Reflective Writing
Literature Review
Task Word Glossary

What are the steps in writing an essay?

Refer back to the Research Skills process to ensure that the information you have gathered meets the definition of your task.

Formulate your statement

Organise the notes you have taken into

Main topics and sub topics
Record details of all sources consulted

Introduction

A general introductory statement

The Body

Each paragraph is composed of key points expanded into topic sentences
Each paragraph should work together to prove your main idea

The conclusion

The conclusion reflects on what has been stated and proved
Briefly re-state key points to remind the reader of how well you have made your case

For more information review these sites:

Federation University - Essay writing
University of Newcastle - Essay structure
University of New South Wales (UNSW) - The basics of essay writing
Is often a problem or case study that presents information, not an argument. It often provides recommended action to solve the problem or case study
Is to investigate, present and analyse information thoroughly and logically
It considers the reader. For example if the reader is a client, the report needs to be written for the client as the reader
Is always in sections and subsections with headings. The order is often shown by numbers and/or letters
Must be objective in style

For more on report writing, review the following sites;

Australian National University (ANU) - Report writing
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) - Writing a report

What is a case study

A case study is a description of a real life problem or situation which requires analysis. You will need to describe and discuss the issues involved and provide recommendations based on your conclusions.

You can find out more about how to prepare and write your case studies using the links below.

Monash University - Writing a case study
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) - Writing a case study response
University of Technology Sydney (UTS) - Case study writing

What is reflective writing?

Reflective writing (2017) YouTube video by University of South Australia, 2 min.
University of Edinburgh : Reflection toolkit

What is a literature review?

A literature review is an investigation of sources such as books and articles that relate to a topic or question. The aim of a literature review is to establish what is known and what is not known (the gaps) within that topic.

How your literature review is structured and the approach you take will often be determined by the topic or discipline you are studying.

Here are a few resources that will help you get started:

American Psychological Association – In-text citations
American Psychological Association – Paraphrasing
Australian National University (ANU) - Literature Review
University of New South Wales - Literature Review
University of Queensland - Literature Review

Free eBooks

Suggested eResources

Suggested eBooks and Websites

Essay Writing
Grammar and Spelling
Report Writing

University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Essay writing : the basics
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) - Types of essays

Visual dictionary
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Skillswise

Clickview playlist: Punctuation explained (2010) - eVideo
Griffith University - Assignment writing
RMIT - Writing a report
Purdue University - Writing reports, proposals & technical documents

Monash University - Language & Learning Online - Writing
Purdue Online Writing Lab
University of Wisconsin-Madison - Writer's handbook
University of Richmond's Writer's Web

Suggested eVideos

Essaycraft (2020) - eVideos

Note Taking Using Mind Maps

Note taking using mind maps (2008) - eVideo YouTube video by G King, 3 min
<< Previous: Study Skills Resources
Next: Presentations >>
Last Updated: Apr 5, 2024 2:16 PM
URL: https://tafensw.libguides.com/research

Research Writing and Analysis

NVivo Group and Study Sessions
SPSS This link opens in a new window
Statistical Analysis Group sessions
Using Qualtrics
Dissertation and Data Analysis Group Sessions
Research Process Flow Chart
Research Alignment This link opens in a new window
Step 1: Seek Out Evidence
Step 2: Explain
Step 3: The Big Picture
Step 4: Own It
Step 5: Illustrate
Annotated Bibliography
Literature Review This link opens in a new window
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
How to Synthesize and Analyze
Synthesis and Analysis Practice
Synthesis and Analysis Group Sessions
Problem Statement
Purpose Statement
Quantitative Research Questions
Qualitative Research Questions
Trustworthiness of Qualitative Data
Analysis and Coding Example- Qualitative Data
Thematic Data Analysis in Qualitative Design
Dissertation to Journal Article This link opens in a new window
International Journal of Online Graduate Education (IJOGE) This link opens in a new window
Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning (JRIT&L) This link opens in a new window

Research Writing: The 5-Step Approach

What is research writing?

Research writing involves f inding a topic, i dentifying a problem, g athering research, and l ogically presenting the evidence u sing scholarly writing conventions.

A circle graph of the 5 steps to research writing

How to improve research writing skills?

Implement a plan before and during the process to develop your research writing skills by following the five-step process.

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Next: Step 1: Seek Out Evidence >>
Last Updated: Apr 2, 2024 6:35 PM
URL: https://resources.nu.edu/researchtools

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J Microbiol Biol Educ
v.12(2); 2011

Improving Scientific Research and Writing Skills through Peer Review and Empirical Group Learning †

Emilee senkevitch.

1 Department of Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Ann C. Smith

Gili marbach-ad.

2 Department of Teaching & Learning Center, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

Wenxia Song

Associated data.

Appendix 2: Guide and Questions: Introduction section

Appendix 3: Guide and Questions: Methods and Results (MR) section

Appendix 4: Guide and Questions: Discussion section

Appendix 5: Guide for Analysis and Presentation of Research Results

Appendix 6: Guide for Group Research Paper

Appendix 7: Introduction Rubric

Appendix 8: MR Rubric

Appendix 9: Discussion Rubric

Appendix 10: Lab Report Rubric

Appendix 11: Analysis and Presentation of Research Results Rubric

Appendix 12: Peer Review Rubric of Group Research Paper

Appendix 13: Peer Review of individual contribution in a group

Appendix 14: Group Research Paper Rubric

Appendix 15: ROLA pre-assessment survey

Appendix 16: ROLA post-assessment survey

Appendix 17: Examples of Group Research Papers

Appendix 18: Examples of Peer Review Assignments

Appendix 19: Instructor Version of Procedure: Three Stages of Implementation

Appendix 20: Analysis of students’ perceptions

Here we describe a semester-long, multipart activity called “Read and wRite to reveal the Research process” (R 3 ) that was designed to teach students the elements of a scientific research paper. We implemented R 3 in an advanced immunology course. In R 3 , we paralleled the activities of reading, discussion, and presentation of relevant immunology work from primary research papers with student writing, discussion, and presentation of their own lab findings. We used reading, discussing, and writing activities to introduce students to the rationale for basic components of a scientific research paper, the method of composing a scientific paper, and the applications of course content to scientific research. As a final part of R 3 , students worked collaboratively to construct a Group Research Paper that reported on a hypothesis-driven research project, followed by a peer review activity that mimicked the last stage of the scientific publishing process. Assessment of student learning revealed a statistically significant gain in student performance on writing in the style of a research paper from the start of the semester to the end of the semester.

INTRODUCTION

It is important for students majoring in science to develop basic skills in reading and writing scientific literature and to have a meaningful understanding of the research process as practiced by scientists. The aim of this semester-long, multipart activity, “Read and wRite to reveal the Research process” (R 3 ), was to engage students in reading primary scientific literature, writing scientific reports, and conducting research with the goal of increased understanding of the scientific research process in an authentic context. We linked the reading of primary research articles with scientific writing, data reporting, and the research conducting process, and then connected the students’ course experience to the scientific research process that addresses authentic research questions. R 3 was delivered in three sequential stages: Stage 1: Understanding research paper components, Stage 2: Learning to write a research paper, and Stage 3: Practicing scientific research and writing ( Fig. 1 ). The activities inherent in the design allowed students to develop and practice combined skills in scientific literature reading, research conducting, data processing and presenting, scientific writing, peer review, and working in groups.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is jmbe-12-2-157f1.jpg

A flow chart for the three stages of R 3 .

The R 3 could be applied to any science course where the goal is to increase student understanding of the research process and improve students’ writing skills through reading and discussion of primary literature. Here we present the application of R 3 to an immunology lab course.

Intended audience

R 3 is appropriate for application in an advanced undergraduate science course. Here we describe the application to an upper-level immunology laboratory course that was designed for microbiology and biology majors.

Learning and preparation time

In the immunology course, R 3 was implemented over a semester (14 weeks). Lab sessions met twice each week for two hours. R 3 was implemented in three stages ( Fig. 1 ):

Stage 1 (Week 1-3): Understanding research paper components
Stage 2 (Week 4-9): Learning to write a research paper
Stage 3 (Week 9-14): Practicing scientific research and writing

During Stage 1 and Stage 2, approximately twenty minutes was allowed in each class period for discussion of research papers and student presentations (Instructor Version). In Stage 3, all in-class time was devoted to practicing scientific research and writing; students planned, implemented group research projects, and wrote their final Group Research Paper. The last full class meeting was devoted to peer review.

Students also were required to complete work out of class for each stage. In Stage 1, students read Paper#1 in stages, composed responses to questions and wrote individual “Introduction,” “Methods/Results,” and “Discussion” sections (“Guide and Questions” for “Introduction” section, “Methods and Results” section, and “Discussion” Section in Appendix 2, 3, and 4 ). In Stage 2, students read Paper #2, prepared for discussion of “Introduction” section, analysis and oral presentation of selected data from Research Paper #2 ( Appendix 5 ), discussion of “Discussion” section, and wrote four complete lab reports. In Stage 3, students worked individually to prepare for the Group Research Project and then with their groups to complete the Group Research Paper ( Appendix 6 ).

Instructor preparation

We have provided research papers, student materials, lab project scenarios, and grading rubrics used in the implementation of R 3 in an immunology course. Project scenarios for Stage 3 were derived from primary research papers and were written based on the “Introduction” sections of these research articles ( 12 ). To apply R 3 to another course, it will be necessary for an instructor to choose research papers, compose discussion questions, and develop lab project scenarios, based on the course subject. Using our work as a guide, we expect this will take about one week of effort.

Assigning students to groups

Allow approximately one hour to assign students into groups using information from student-completed Group Building Questionnaires.

One graduate student teaching assistant (TA) was responsible for grading of all assignments for one lab section of students (18–20 students). Using specifically designed rubrics (Materials), grading of student assignments required 1–4 hours, depending on the length of the assignment. For courses with an enrollment of 20 students or less, it is expected that the course instructor should be able to manage the grading.

Prerequisite student knowledge

For our application to an immunology lab course, students were expected to have general knowledge of microbiology, cell biology, and genetics, and required to have an immunology lecture course as a pre- or corequisite.

Learning objectives

R 3 was part of a larger project involving the development of research-oriented learning activities (ROLA) in Host-Pathogen Interaction undergraduate courses (NSF DUE 0837515). ROLA development involved collaboration between faculty members of the Host Pathogen Interactions (HPI) teaching community ( 7 , 8 ) and selected research-active graduate students serving as HPI teaching fellows. For each ROLA, the faculty research was used as the inspiration or model system for the design. Development was approached using the Backward Design method ( 4 , 13 ), where learning goals and assessments were first established and then activities developed to meet the goals. The design of these activities was meant to help students develop higher-order thinking ( 1 , 9 ), a meaningful understanding of the process and the relevance of science ( 14 ), and cultivate skills in research and communication. In order to accomplish these goals, R 3 established the following learning goals. At the completion of the R 3 course students will:

Understand scientific research as illustrated in scientific research papers.
Understand the steps for writing and publishing research results.
Be able to process and present scientific data in an appropriate scientific fashion.
Be able to articulate the role of collaboration in the research process.
Understand how scientific techniques are employed in scientific research.
Be able to present scientific information in oral and written fashion using appropriate terminology.

We have set forth learning outcomes ( Table 1 ) to measure the progress that student make toward these goals.

Use of Backward Design to develop R 3 . Learning outcomes were established to meet the overall goals of the course design, followed by the development of assessment measures and student activities. Activities engaged students in reading and writing to reveal the scientific research process.

R 3 used primary scientific literature to engage students in learning scientific writing and research skills. Students completed reading, discussion (within a group of 4–5 and within a lab section of 20 students), and individual and collaborative writing activities connected to the primary research articles while learning immunology concepts from lectures and lab exercises. The student activities were completed in three stages where the scope and depth of the student work increased incrementally over the semester: Stage 1: Understanding research paper components; Stage 2: Learning to write a research paper; and Stage 3: Practicing scientific research and writing ( Table 2 ).

The organization of R 3 . R 3 consists of three stages with paired reading and writing assignments, which are coordinated with in-class and in-group discussion and lab activities. See text in “Three Stages of Implementation” (Appendix 19) for description of Stages and Parts.

Sources of primary literature

All open access immunology research journals, particularly Infection & Immunity and Journal of Experimental Medicine .

Instruction documents

Group Building Questionnaire ( Appendix 1 )
Guide and Questions: Introduction section ( Appendix 2 )
Guide and Questions: Methods and results (MR) section ( Appendix 3 )
Guide and Questions: Discussion section ( Appendix 4 )
Guide for Analysis and Presentation of Research Results ( Appendix 5 )
Guide for Group Research Paper ( Appendix 6 )

Assessment measures

Introduction Rubric ( Appendix 7 )
MR Rubric ( Appendix 8 )
Discussion Rubric ( Appendix 9 )
Lab Report Rubric ( Appendix 10 )
Analysis and Presentation of Research Results Rubric ( Appendix 11 )
Peer Review Rubric of Group Research Paper ( Appendix 12 )
Peer Review of individual contribution in a group ( Appendix 13 )
Group Research Paper Rubric ( Appendix 14 )
Assessments of student perceptions on the course:
ROLA pre-assessment ( Appendix 15 )
ROLA post-assessment ( Appendix 16 )

Student instructions

R 3 was carried out in three stages of learning in the immunology lab course as depicted in Table 2 . Written instructions are found in Appendix 2–6 .

Instructor version

Distribution of materials.

For distributing course materials, we used the Online University Learning Management System. Alternatively, materials could be emailed to students or distributed in class.

Group design

R 3 incorporated group work into student activities. We divided students into groups of 4–5 individuals. This size was selected as it falls in the range of effective group size for collaborative learning ( 2 , 5 ) and was related to the total number of students in each section of the class. To maximize diversity, students were asked to complete the Group Building Questionnaire ( Appendix 1 ), and were divided into groups with diversity in their majors, previously completed courses, previous research experience, and career goals. A participation grade was built into the overall semester grade. Students were reminded throughout the semester about this grade and that poor participation would negatively impact their grade. Throughout the semester, TAs monitored student participation during class discussions and observed groups during lab activities. TAs documented evidence of students not participating in discussions or not contributing to the lab activities; they tracked students who consistently did not pay attention or were disruptive during discussions. At the end of the semester, TAs ranked each student’s participation as “Exceptional,” “Acceptable,” or “Poor.” Also at the end of the semester, students anonymously rated fellow group members on contributions to the group research paper and to lab activities ( Appendix 13 ) on a scale of 1–10, with 10 indicating a significant contribution and 1 indicating little to no contribution to the group. When determining the final participation grade, we decided that students receiving a combination score of less than 5 from their group members and a TA participation grade of “Poor” received a 20% reduction in their overall participation grade (See Table 3 ).

Grading. The assignments in R 3 are worth a total of 300 points. The assignments in Stage 1 were designed to be “low stakes” assignments while the assignments in Stage 2 and 3 are considered more “high stakes” assignments. “Type of assignment” refers to individual or group work. In the case of group work, all members of the group received the same grade.

Pre- and postassessment

In the first and last class periods, students completed ROLA pre- and ROLA postassessments ( Appendix 15 and 16 ).

Three stages of implementation

For a more detailed description of each stage of R 3 , see Appendix 19 and Table 2 .

Stage 1: Understanding research paper components. Research Paper #1 sections of “Introduction,” “Methods and Results,” and “Discussion” were introduced separately and sequentially using the same three-step teaching strategy: guided reading, guided discussion, and guided writing.

Part a: Guided Reading of Research Paper #1 “Introduction”
Part b: Guided Discussion of Research Paper #1 “Introduction”
Part c: Guided Writing of Introduction Section

Stage 2: Learning to write a research paper. In Stage 2 students read Research Paper #2 and applied insights from Stage 1. The “Results” section of Research Paper #2 was analyzed and discussed in detail. Furthermore, students worked directly on data processing and presenting techniques using their lab generated data and then reported their work by writing four lab reports.

Part a: Guided Discussion of Research Paper #2 “Introduction”
Part b: Guided Analysis and Presentation of Research Results
Part c: Guided Discussion of Research Paper #2 “Discussion”
Part d: Guided Data Processing and Presentation
Part e: Writing a Full Lab Report

Stage 3: Practicing scientific research and writing. In the third stage of R 3 , student groups performed a Group Research Project that culminated in writing the Group Research Paper using the skills developed in Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Part a: Performing Hypothesis-based Group Research Project
Part b: Writing the Group Research Paper
Part c: Guided Peer Review of Group Research Papers

Instructors and TAs graded written assignments using rubrics ( Appendix 7–10 and 14 ). When a major deficiency was discovered during grading, it was discussed during a TA meeting, and an instructional strategy was proposed and carried out to address the deficiency in the following week. All of the assignments in the R 3 application discussed here were worth a total of 300 points. The breakdown of points awarded for each assignment is described in Table 3 .

Suggestions for determining student learning

Students’ improvements in writing were assessed during each of the three stages using the “Introduction Rubric” ( Appendix 7 ), “MR Rubric” ( Appendix 8 ), “Discussion Rubric” ( Appendix 9 ), “Lab Report Rubric” ( Appendix 10 ), and “Group Research Paper Rubric” ( Appendix 14 ). Student learning can be further assessed by the analysis and presentation of research results ( Appendix 11 ) and the ROLA pre- and postassessments ( Appendix 15 and 16 ).

Sample data

An example of one “Group Research Paper” has been included, with instructor comments ( Appendix 17 ). Peer reviews of the first draft of this “Group Research Paper” are also included ( Appendix 18 ).

Safety issues

Safety issues relate to the specific lab protocols are not relevant to the course design as we describe here.

Field testing

We implemented R 3 in an immunology lab course, which was a 400-level, two-credit course that required junior or senior standing. The immunology lab course was comprised of 35 seniors (18 females, 17 males) and split between two lab sections. The average GPA was 3.2, and all students were science majors.

A faculty member who was active in the immunological research was the instructor of the course. Graduate students who worked in immunology and immunology-related fields served as Teaching Assistants for the lab sessions. TAs met with the faculty instructor each week to review and discuss upcoming goals, assignments, grading, and lab activities for the week.

Evidence of student learning

Student learning was assessed at each stage of the project via a set of rubrics ( Appendix 7–11, 14 ) and ROLA pre- and postassessments ( Appendix 15, 16 ).

Goals 1-6 all related to students’ gains in understanding of the research process. The analysis of student work on the “Group Research Paper” and the peer review of that paper revealed student gains in all six learning goals. Assessment using the “Group Research Paper Rubric” revealed student’s understanding of the content and context of each section of a research paper indicating an understanding of scientific research as illustrated in scientific research papers (Goal 1). The success in completion of the Group Research Project and Report demonstrates enhanced ability of students to collaborate (Goal 4), to write scientifically (Goal 6), to apply scientific techniques to the scientific research process (Goal 5), and to process and present data (Goal 3). Students gained an understanding of the steps for writing and publishing research results as they constructed their own paper, peer reviewed other student’s papers, and then used the insight from the peer review process and comments from other students to rewrite their own final paper (Goal 6). Student’s success in completing the final group research paper was revealed in student scores as assessed by the Lab Report Rubric ( Table 4 ). The average grade on the Group Research Paper was 37.96/40, or 96%. An example of a “Group Research Paper” is included ( Appendix 17 ). The grade breakdown for this paper is “Group 1” in Table 4 . Instructor’s comments during the grading of this paper are included in the document.

Assessment of Group Research Reports. Each group of 4-5 students wrote a Group Research Report based the hypothesis-driven research project. The reports were graded using the rubric (Appendix 14). All the major sections of the report and total points that can be earned in each section are listed in the top row. The total points and the points of individual sections for each group are listed.

Student learning related to Goals 1–6 was attributed to R 3 . We compared student’s scores on Stage 1 writing assignments (that is, assignments prior to writing full lab reports) to scores on the final “Group Research Paper.” We compared student performance on the “Introduction,” “Methods/Results,” and “Discussion” writing activities with parallel sections of the “Group Research Paper.” All writing activities were assessed using the same rubric ( Appendix 7–9 and 14 ). We found that student grades in the “Introduction” ( p < 0.001) and “Discussion” ( p < 0.05) sections in Stage 3 of the “Group Research Papers” were significantly higher than grades on Stage 1 writing activities ( Fig. 2 ). This suggests that students made significant improvements in the writing of the “Introduction” (average grade increased from 87% to 96%), and the “Discussion” section (average grade increased from 85% to 94%), while maintaining a consistent grade on the “Methods/Results” section (average grade increased from 92% to 93%). The “Group Research Project” was more challenging than Stage 1 or Stage 2 activities, as students worked without instructor guidance to perform a set of experiments necessary to address real-world research questions. This was in contrast to Stage 1 and Stage 2 lab assignments where students completed projects that involved one experiment with instructor guidance. Furthermore, the “Group Research Project” required students to work collaboratively in their groups to analyze and interpret information from multiple sets of data, and to synthesize the information into one whole for presentation in a group authored report. The analysis of student learning portrayed in Fig. 2 does not account for the increase in the rigor of learning activities from Stage 1 to Stage 3 and, as such, we suggest this may reflect a minimal level of student development from the R 3 experience.

An external file that holds a picture, illustration, etc.
Object name is jmbe-12-2-157f2.jpg

Comparison of student writing during Stage 1 to student writing in Stage 3. Student performance (based upon Rubrics Appendix 7-9) on Stage 1 writing assignments: “Introduction,” “Methods/Results,” and “Discussion” were compared with student performance on the similar sections of the Stage 3 Group Research Report graded according to the same rubric (Appendix 14). Shown are average values and standard deviation (n = 27). The increase in student performance from Stage 1 activity to Stage 3 activity was statistically significant for the Introduction section ( p < 0.001) and Discussion section ( p < 0.05).

One of the major goals for R 3 was to engage students in higher-order thinking. Higher-order thinking, defined as the use of cognitive skills, was evaluated using Bloom’s Taxonomy ( 1 ). Writing assignments as assessed by the “Lab Report Rubric” required students to collect and organize information into appropriate sections, summarize and appropriately present data in tables and charts, interpret and evaluate data, assess significance of findings, and synthesize information into a readable text meeting the format of a research publication. The “Analysis and Presentation of Research Results” activity as assessed by the “Analysis and Presentation of Research Results Rubric” required students to formulate a presentation using PowerPoint presentation software that illustrated their assessment of the “results” section of a research article. In the peer review process, students evaluated the clarity, presentation, and appropriateness of work presented in students’ group research papers. Each of these activities falls within Bloom’s levels 4–6 that are considered higher-order thinking ( 3 ). As indicated by the scores on the end of semester “Group Research Paper,” students were successfully engaged in higher-level thinking.

Student perceptions

At the end of the semester, students completed a postassessment survey ( Appendix 16 ), which allowed them to report by using written prompts on their experience in the course. Our analysis of student perceptions is included in Appendix 20 ( 10 ).

Possible modifications

Based on our application of R 3 in the context of an immunology lab, we suggest that R 3 can be applied to any science course (lab or lecture). Research articles in any scientific field may be used in similar ways to introduce the scientific research process, scientific research paper writing, data analysis, and applications of course content to real-world questions. For a lecture course, we suggest that literature-based research reports may be used to substitute experiment-based lab reports and research reports. Current scientific scenarios and questions could be used as the topics of student writing assignments. Published scientific articles could be modeled for these writing assignments. We recommend that considerable time should be given to the process of choosing appropriate primary research papers prior to instituting this course design. We selected articles that were well-written, described a clear experimental design, and addressed specific immunology content and methods.

We suggest that based on the level and learning goals of a course, any one of the three stages of R 3 could be incorporated into a course as an individual module. It is our belief that using research articles to teach scientific reading and writing gives a course an authenticity that allows students to link the classroom experience with research science.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS

Appendix 1: Group Building Questionnaire

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was supported by a National Science Foundation CCLI grant (DUE0837515) titled, “Activities to support deep and research oriented learning of host pathogen interactions”, a project of the Host Pathogen Interactions Teaching Team. We thank Ms. Heather Cohen, Heather Miller, and Trinity Perry to help teach the course as teaching assistants. The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

† Supplemental material available at http://jmbe.asm.org

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Scientific Research and Writing Skills in Engineering Students

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First Online: 20 August 2023
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Rosa Núñez-Pacheco ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4576-6224 12 ,
Elizabeth Vidal ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8367-9439 12 ,
Aymé Barreda-Parra ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7024-0809 12 &
Eveling Castro-Gutierrez ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0203-041X 12

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 692))

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Current education demands that university students possess a series of skills, among which scientific research and writing skills are essential for the future professional. The field of engineering is not exempt from this academic demand. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of the pre- and post-test on the research skills and scientific writing of students in an engineering program. The study is a quasi-experimental type of pretest and post-test design in the subject “Writing and Research Reports”. The participants were 94 students, 82 (87.2%) males and 12 (12.8%) females. The Self-rated skills for research-based learning (AHABI) instrument was applied and statistically significant differences were found in the three factors: process, management and development of information, and the total scale with a positive increase in research skills at the end of the semester. It is concluded that scientific writing courses have a positive impact on the development of research skills.

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Acknowledgements

To the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa for the funding granted to the project “Transmedia Gamification and Video Games to promote scientific writing in Engineering students”, under Contract No. IBA-IB-38-2020-UNSA.

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Núñez-Pacheco, R., Vidal, E., Barreda-Parra, A., Castro-Gutierrez, E. (2023). Scientific Research and Writing Skills in Engineering Students. In: Rocha, Á., Ferrás, C., Ibarra, W. (eds) Information Technology and Systems. ICITS 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 692. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-33261-6_7

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Technical Writing Skills You Need in the Workplace

Technical writers must keep up with ever-evolving technology, and this research shows you the skills you’ll need to keep pace.

As an editor and writer preparing to enter the professional workforce, I often wonder what impact technology will have on my career path and job security. Amid claims that AI can replace the need for writers and editors, technical writers may wonder what skills they need to stay relevant in the workplace. This research provides interesting insights into the skills that current technical communicators report they need each day in the workplace.

THE RESEARCH

In the research article “ Toward Understanding Important Workplace Issues for Technical Communicators ,” Clinton R. Lanier (2018) reports the results of a survey he administered to 203 technical communicators about which skills are needed for success in the technical communication field. Lanier divided the results into four larger categories, and the most commonly cited skills in each category are presented here:

Information Delivery: Forty-nine comments mentioned the greater need for technical communicators to produce information that will be viewed on mobile devices, “making concise help even more important,” according to one survey respondent (74).

Technology: Thirty-nine responses mentioned using Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) and XML to create and maintain technical documentation. (DITA is a standard that uses XML [a markup language for storing and transporting data] to maintain information.)

Designing and Writing Information: Thirty-two comments mentioned that agile documentation development (developing content that can quickly adapt at the same pace as technological or software advancements) was an important skill.

The Technical Communication Field: Thirty responses noted that technical communicators need to feel comfortable operating in a variety of roles, including marketing and project management capacities.

Although this list presents just a sample of what Lanier found, they suggest that technical communicators need to do more than just write and communicate.

THE IMPLICATIONS

Lanier says, “Considering the changes taking place in technology, from the way people consume information on mobile platforms or through apps to the increasing bandwidth and data availability, the changing roles for professionals in [technical communication] seems natural” (81). Indeed, Lanier’s research reveals that to be successful, technical communicators must continually practice and gain new skills.

“Considering the changes taking place in technology, from the way people consume information on mobile platforms or through apps to the increasing bandwidth and data availability, the changing roles for professionals in [technical communication] seems natural.” Lanier (2018)

Constantly gaining new skills can be a daunting task for technical communicators. It takes time to grow into new roles and learn how to write for mobile consumption, use XML, and develop content quickly. However, as technical writers prioritize developing new skills, they will craft dynamic, successful careers and keep up with an ever-evolving technological landscape.

To discover more about the skills that current technical communicators require and the findings of this study, read the full article:

Clinton R. Lanier. 2018. “Toward Understanding Important Workplace Issues for Technical Communicators.” Technical Communication 65 no. 1: 66–84. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26464533 .

—Sarah Griffin Anderson, Editing Research

FEATURE IMAGE BY TYLER FRANTA

Find More Research

Take a look at Emma Saavedra’s Editing Research article for insights on how to write comprehensive editing comments on technical documentation: “ One Way to Write High-Quality Comments on Technical Documents .”

Read Lorin Hurley’s Editing Research article about how to dive into technical editing without getting overwhelmed: “ Unmasking the Nature of Technical Editing .”

Read Susan Lang and Laura Palmer’s (2017) article to learn more about reconciling the skills that technical writers are taught in the classroom with the skills they will need in the workplace: “Reconceiving Technical Editing Competencies for the 21st Century: Reconciling Employer Needs with Curricular Mandates.” Technical Communication 64 (November): 297–309. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26464505 .

This Titling Tip Could Save Your Academic Paper

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Research Writing Skills
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What Writing Skills Do You Need?
10 Easy Ways to Improve Research Paper Writing Skills
20 ways to improve your writing skills

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4. Research Skills
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Legal Writing Skills Module 3: WRITING AND REFERENCING
How to Improve Research Writing Skills
Importance of Writing Skills in English
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Fundamental Writing Skills for Researchers
Part 1 Introduction and Snapshot of Writing (6:31) Everyone is capable of being a good writer, even without any innate skill. A snapshot of research writing is given, from presenting a research question in context of current knowledge to interpreting your findings. In other words, moving from general to specific, then specific to general.
How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips
Here are a few research practices and tips to help you hone your research and writing skills: 1. Start broad, then dive into the specifics. Researching is a big task, so it can be overwhelming to know where to start—there's nothing wrong with a basic internet search to get you started. Online resources like Google and Wikipedia, while not ...
PDF Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers
When writing an annotated bibliography, start with a summary or description for each source. As you read, take notes in your own words of the aim of the research, the methodologies that have been used, the main arguments and overall findings, and the scope and limitations of the study.
7 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills
Here are some strategies for developing your own written communication: 1. Review grammar and spelling basics. Grammar and spelling form the foundation of good writing. Writing with proper grammar and spelling communicates your professionality and attention to detail to your reader. It also makes your writing easier to understand.
11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing
Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer's Ideas. When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper.
Chapter 1: What is Research and Research Writing?
Writing is thinking. It's witnessing, observing, and sharing. Writing is powerful—it can change the world by communicating a new discovery or challenging someone's pre-existing beliefs, and it can also change you. Write here, write now. Developing your skills as a writer will make you more successful in ALL of your classes.
Elsevier Researcher Academy
Writing skills. No matter how novel your research, or how much time you've invested in your work, you still need to pay attention to some basic writing rules if you want to get published. Our writing skills modules contain some helpful advice so you can ensure poor use of language or sloppy article structure doesn't let you down.
Developing writing skills for graduate research
Writing a graduate research thesis to a publishable standard requires you to adopt the identity of an author and expert in your field and seek ways to maximise your readership. Developing these 'authoring' skills involves heightening your awareness of the processes of doctoral writing and establishing a productive writing routine.
11.1: The Purpose of Research Writing
Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world. Exercise 11.1.1 11.1. 1. Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life.
Honing Your Academic Writing Skills
This chapter on academic writing serves as a reference for a number of topics discussed throughout the textbook. Writing is often considered as your most important academic skill. Honing your academic writing skills, and eventually writing your dissertation is a crucial part of your PhD trajectory, and is intrinsically related to your research ...
Improving Research Skills for Better Academic Writing
Academic writing is a skill that, although critical to higher education and professional success, many find daunting. At the heart of compelling academic writing lies the prowess of research skills. Enhancing these skills not only enriches your writing but transforms the process into an engaging discovery.
The Process of Research Writing
This approach can help students solidify the knowledge and skills they have acquired in prior courses, especially the multi-step recursive nature of writing as a process while developing a set of strong writing from research skills. Content Accuracy rating: 5 The foundations of research writing are presented in an accessible yet rigorous way.
Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers
Book Description. Research and Writing Skills for Academic and Graduate Researchers is for higher degree students and academics who want to develop skills to assist them on their research journey, from the beginning stages of searching the literature and developing a research proposal, to writing and presentation skills, and on to managing ...
Home: Researching and Referencing: Writing Skills
Refer back to the Research Skills process to ensure that the information you have gathered meets the definition of your task. Formulate your statement. Organise the notes you have taken into. Main topics and sub topics. Record details of all sources consulted. Introduction. A general introductory statement. The Body.
Research Writing: The 5 Step Approach
What is research writing? Research writing involves f inding a topic, i dentifying a problem, g athering research, and l ogically presenting the evidence u sing scholarly writing conventions. How to improve research writing skills? Implement a plan before and during the process to develop your research writing skills by following the five-step ...
Writing Skills
The two main ways in which researchers share their work are through written and oral presentations. This chapter focuses on the specifics of academic writing Footnote 1, the next chapter discusses oral presentations.Section 4.1 provides an overview of the many possible outlets to publish your research, depending upon whether you want to make an impact in academia or practice.
Research Skills: What They Are and Why They're Important
Learn what research skills are, examples of in-demand research skills, how you can improve and use research skills at work, and how to highlight your research skills during the job search process. ... Common types of communication required when researching include report writing, data summarization, presentations, and interviewing. Detail ...
(PDF) Academic Research & Writing Skills Part 1 & 2
Abstract. This paper, presented in two parts over two issues, will focus on the writing skills required for communicating your research clearly and effectively. Academic writing is formal writing ...
Improving Scientific Research and Writing Skills through Peer Review
Here we describe a semester-long, multipart activity called "Read and wRite to reveal the Research process" (R 3) that was designed to teach students the elements of a scientific research paper.We implemented R 3 in an advanced immunology course. In R 3, we paralleled the activities of reading, discussion, and presentation of relevant immunology work from primary research papers with ...
What Are Research Skills? Definition, Examples and Tips
Research skills are the ability to find an answer to a question or a solution to a problem. They include your ability to gather information about a topic, review that information and analyze and interpret the details in a way to support a solution. Having research skills is necessary to advance your career as they directly relate to your ...
Research and teaching writing
Writing is an essential but complex skill that students must master if they are to take full advantage of educational, occupational, and civic responsibilities. Schools, and the teachers who work in them, are tasked with teaching students how to write. Knowledge about how to teach writing can be obtained from many different sources, including one's experience teaching or being taught to ...
Sharpen Your Writing Skills
Sharpen Your Writing Skills Regardless of your job, rank, or industry, written communication is a skill that can set you apart from your peers. Here's a three-step framework to help you level up ...
(PDF) Enhancing Writing Skills: A Review
speaking, reading and writing. These skills are equally. related to and supportive of each other. Writing is. considered as a very important skill among all the skills. Most people believe that ...
Earn a Clinical Trials Management Certificate at UChicago
Clinical Trials Management and Regulatory Compliance: Learn to use real-world clinical trials to reinforce your foundational knowledge and boost your career in clinical research. Medical Writing and Editing : This program will provide the foundation for mastering the fundamentals and best practices of medical writing, editing, and communication.
Scientific Research and Writing Skills in Engineering Students
Scientific research and writing skills can be learned and improved through specific activities and resources. Since writing and reading scientific articles appropriately are key competencies, the importance of developing correct scientific writing in students cannot be ignored. There is a lot of research on the development of such skills.
Technical Writing Skills You Need in the Workplace
Designing and Writing Information: Thirty-two comments mentioned that agile documentation development (developing content that can quickly adapt at the same pace as technological or software advancements) was an important skill. The Technical Communication Field: Thirty responses noted that technical communicators need to feel comfortable ...
Summer English Language and Culture Classes Open for Enrollment
International students at the U of A can enroll in English Language and Culture courses this summer, offering students the opportunity to hone their academic writing, research and speaking skills. The two classes, which begin May 28 and end Aug. 1, are: "ELAC 5043: Research Writing," from 8:35-10:05 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This ...

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Part 2 Making Meaning Clear (6:31)

Part 3 Writing Myths (4:20)

Part 4 How Readers Read and Respond (7:19)

Part 5 Helping Your Audience Interpret Your Meaning (11:58)

Part 6 Giving Structure to Your Writing (6:24)

Part 7 Writing as a Logical Process (10:07)

Part 8 Making Meaning Clear (9:13)

Part 9 Outlining (8:12)

Part 10 Headings, Figures, Rhythm, and Length (4:15)

11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Reasons for Research

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

Research Writing at Work

Writing at Work

Steps of the Research Writing Process

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Step 3: Conducting Research

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

Key Takeaways

Chapter 1: What is Research and Research Writing?

Write here, write now.

Writing is life

Beyond University

Share This Book

Writing skills

What you will learn

Modules in Writing skills

How to prepare a proposal for a review article

Writing a persuasive cover letter for your manuscript

How to turn your thesis into an article

5 Diseases ailing research – and how to cure them

Using proper manuscript language

10 tips for writing a truly terrible journal article

Developing writing skills for graduate research

Write to think

Write-to-think tips:

'Skeleton sentence' example:

Shape your writing as you go

Write for your reader

Study examination criteria and model theses

Writing complex information clearly

Keep it simple

Examine sample sentences

Developing an authorial voice and narrative

Use a U-shaped writing structure

Extrapolate the U-shaped structure

Demonstrating originality and strength of claim

Originality checklist

Strength of claim

Explore an example

Write your statement of original contribution

11.1: The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning Objectives

Reasons for Research

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

Research Writing at Work

writing at work

Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\)

Steps of the Research Writing Process

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Step 3: Conducting Research

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

Exercise \(\PageIndex{3}\)

Key Takeaways

By the Northeastern Community

The Quest for Quality Sources

Expanding Your Research Toolkit

Mastering the Art of Note-Taking

The Critical Eye: Analyzing Information

Creative Thinking in Research

Organizing Your Findings

Seeking Feedback and Reflecting