Four Questions I Get Asked About Academic Writing

PREWRITING MATTERS

By Ryan Anthony
CIACI VIP ENGLISH


You should never, absolutely never underestimate good quality prewriting and revision! It goes without saying right? The kind of planning and prewriting I am referencing may not be as complicated as what you may imagine. I am simply referring to some areas that I often see lacking in academic writing. As a professional proofreader, I come across plenty examples of poor prewriting. Another bit I would like to draw attention to is if it does not sound right, it is probably not the best way to say it. Going back and revising is never a bad idea even when you think your writing is solid. So, here is some advice that I would like you to strongly consider.

Make Some Lists

As we all know, it is our job when writing to attract and make our audience interested in reading our work. Thus, it is a good idea to vary the words that you use whenever possible. I am not talking about keywords or terminology associated with your topic and research, but instead, I am talking about the kinds of transitions and connectors that you use. It is also a wonderful idea to vary intensifiers. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but it really does add quality to your writing. With that being said, I challenge you to make a list of all the connectors and transitions you know. Also come up with a list of synonyms for everything you write. The great thing about this is that you can use these lists over and over again thus making your next writing session much easier.

Simple Is Not Always Better

It is also extremely helpful when it comes to improving your writing by having a look at your sentences and looking for solid relationships among your ideas. Even though you may have wonderful simple sentences or cross paragraph transitions, have a look at the individual sentences themselves. See if you can connect some simple sentences and turn them into complex ones. For the audience, complex sentences offer more information at a time and they are much more attractive to the eyes. Just because your sentences may be quite wordy or lengthy does not mean they are complex in structure.

Tackle Problem Areas

I find it pretty funny when I hear people stating their weaknesses over and over again regarding the academic writing process. I think to myself, why do not they just improve themselves? If you know you have certain challenges when writing, it will not kill you to work hard on improving your writing skills. There are many references and sources out there about grammar and usage. There is just way too much free information out there for you not to take advantage of. With that in mind, I encourage you to spare time and spend time studying grammar and vocabulary. It is also a good idea to practice often. Before you know it, you will have improved a great deal. 

Please visit http://ciacivipenglish.wixsite.com/bandung/proofreading for more information

HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC PAPER

12 Things to Remember 

1.    Determine what it is that you wish to write about. How can you write if you do not have a focus or specific topic in mind?
2.     Brainstorm or mind map ideas that pertain to your topic.
3.     Look for connections in your ideas.
4.     Research the topic to gather credible information that supports your ideas.
5.     Develop a thesis or clear topic statement. Your topic statement or thesis statement should have exactly your topic and the areas that you wish to discuss in order to support your idea.
6.   Make an outline of your paper.
7.   Make an introduction from general to specific. Start off by attracting the readers and end with a good topic statement or thesis statement.
8.   Develop supporting paragraphs that relate to specific topics from your thesis or topic statement.
9.   Use examples and details to support any ideas and opinions. Don’t forget to cite sources.
10.  Never use someone else’s idea as your own. Again remember to cite sources.
11. Use transitions to add flow and cohesion to your ideas.
12.  Your conclusion should be the opposite of your introduction in that you should go from specific to general. Try to finish with a thought provoking statement.

Writing Academic Papers for International Journals

Writing Academic Papers for International Journals

Geared towards professors, lecturers, and university students in Indonesia

By Ryan Anthony Founder of CIACI VIP ENGLISH

Writing articles especially those academic in nature can be quite daunting at times especially if you intend to write a good one. Whether it is problems with constructing sentences that are grammatically correct in English or simply making your academic paper have the flow you desire, you must understand that if you have good guidelines and a solid method, your writing can be much more efficient and enjoyable. So, let’s dig deep into this matter and have a look at what it takes to ensure that your papers get published by trusted and well indexed international journals. In this article I will discuss various aspects pertaining to good writing such as preparing a checklist, revising, and seeking professional proofreaders.

Sticking to a Checklist

First thing is first when it comes to anything that we set out to do. Just about every accomplishment starts out with successful planning and the same is so with good writing. Before you embark on this journey of writing, you should ensure that you make a checklist that you can stick to in order to make sure that you do not leave things out that could mean the difference between having your writing accepted or not, and I know that I need not tell you that time can cost you money. When I write academic papers, I usually adhere to this checklist.

The items in the checklist that follows are not in any particular order and should not be taken as a step by step guide but more of as a reminder of areas to consider.

1.  Purpose: Always consider why you are writing. I know that this may seem obvious, but your motivations for writing will be very clear when someone reads your work. As it is required for lecturers to be published in journals to earn points for promotion, never have your article allude to writing just for the sake of getting promoted. Your purpose for writing should be to inform, educate, inspire, explain and such.

Make sure your writing style is in line with this true purpose.

2.  Vocabulary: Vocabulary consistency is absolutely vital as to clearly define your keywords and industry specific terminology. Remember that you are not writing a novel that will be read by just about anyone, but that you are writing a paper that will be read and criticized by your peers and fellow experts of your field of research. So, generally speaking you do not have to tell a medical doctor what a stethoscope is. Also, please stick to one kind of spelling. If you are using British English then stick to that and do not mix in American type spelling because as you know there are some differences. If you were speaking instead of writing, you would not switch between different accents right, well such is the case in writing academic papers.

3.   Cohesion: Another aspect that some fail to consider is cohesion. In your paper as you explain various steps and methods and such, you must keep your readers on the same page by ensuring that your ideas are connected and understood. Make sure that you use solid connectors when developing thought on paper. If your peers cannot determine the relationships of ideas then your paper ceases to be effective and if that is such, then your paper has little purpose if any at all.

4.     Syntax: Please be aware of the fact that writing in your own language if English is not your native language is much different from writing in English. A comma is not a period and a period is not a comma if you know what I mean. Please make sure that you review and understand proper English syntax as to make sure that your ideas are conveyed accurately. Usually there are four that I like to keep in mind and use which are the comma, period, semi-colon, and colon.

5.      Grammar: It goes without saying, but I will say it anyway that good grammar is paramount here. When I say grammar, I would really like to highlight tenses. Please always keep in mind when something happened, is happening, and will happen. Some languages like Indonesian do not have verb tenses and this can be a challenge sometimes for non-native English speakers to form sentences in correct tenses. I strongly recommend that you download Longman’s Guide for the TOEFL Paper Based Test by Deborah Phillips as it has a very easy to learn grammar section that takes you step by step through English grammar.

6.       Translating: Although Google Translate is an awesome tool and resource, you must keep in mind that the results are almost always not grammatically correct and that words are often out of place or inappropriate to your field. Remember that when it comes to translating, that you have to transfer meaning and thought not just random words and it must be conveyed as how native speakers of that language would convey it.

Revising your Paper

In addition to following a checklist, it is always a very good idea to have a look back at your paper and look for some opportunities for meaningful revision. No one writes perfectly the first time around and upon second or third glance you might very well see some room for improvement. If you feel as though some areas can be better, then chances are that others would feel the exact same way. Make sure that you have the ideal organization for your material and that it is presented exactly how you desire it to be. It is also always a good idea to look at the requirements and format for international journals to make sure that your paper is in line with them. Editing and revising are  natural parts of the writing process, so please do not be discouraged if the journal that you wish to submit your paper to has some changes in mind and or areas that you must improve. It is all about ensuring that your paper is the best that it can be.

Hiring a Proofreader

Lastly, it can be necessary to hire a professional proofreader. Sometimes non-native English speakers may just have certain limits when it comes to accurately conveying thought in the English language. If this is the case or even if you just want to have another set of eyes have a look at your paper and check for vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and such, it is always the best idea to have a professional proofreader who is a native English speaker. Native speakers of any language should have a better command of his or her language than he or she would have of a foreign language or even a second language. Although hiring a native English speaker is essential to proofread your writing, ensure that he or she has enough experience, references, and positive feedback when it comes to proofreading. Also, make sure that you disclose all important information to the proofreader like deadline, your expectations, and feedback from the journal if you have any. Not giving a proofreader a realistic amount of time to check your work can lead to poor proofreading and a waste of money. Also, as long as the fee requested by the proofreader is not overly priced; it is a good idea to not ask for a discount. Remember that after all, you do get what you pay for. If in fact you are in need of a native English speaker who is a professional English proofreader, please add me on Facebook at Ryan Anthony and Instagram at englishwithryan. I would be glad to help you achieve your goal of getting published in an international journal.

Happy Writing!