1、English Academic Writing English Academic WritingChapter 2:Research Proposal English Academic WritingLead in:(1)Whats your understanding of proposal?(2)Why you should outline a proposal before writing English academic paper?(3)What procedures do we follow in publication of papers?Chapter Two:Researc
2、h Proposal Part One:Research Proposal Writing Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writing Part Three:The Publication of PapersChapter Two Part One:Research Proposal Writing1.Definition of Research ProposalResearch proposal is a brief(up to two pages or more)overview of your research paper,giving th
3、e reader sufficient information about the work you have done,about the way you did it and the value of this work.Chapter Two Part One:Research Proposal Writing2.Components of a Research Proposal Usually,a research proposal consists of the following parts:background,objective,scope,methodology and ap
4、proach,facilities,budget,deliverables and program schedule,referencesChapter Two Part One:Research Proposal Writing3.Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing The following are the common mistakes in proposal writing.Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.Failure to delimit t
5、he boundary conditions for your research.Failure to cite landmark studies.Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions by other researchers.Failure to stay focused on the research question.Chapter Two Part One:Research Proposal Writing3.Common Mistakes in Proposal Writin
6、g The following are the common mistakes in proposal writing.Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research.Too much detail on minor issues,but not enough detail on major issues.Too much rambling going“all over the map”without a clear sense of direction.Too many citat
7、ion lapses and incorrect references.Too long or too short.Failing to follow a certain style.Slopping writingChapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv 1.Possible Problems in the Titlev Good titles often observe the following three principles:accuracy,brevity and clarity.However,there
8、are many potential problems in the title.v (1)The title is too broad or too narrow.v(2)The title is outdated.v(3)The title cannot explain the research topic accurately and explicitly.v(4)The title is not concise enough.v(5)The title is written in lower case.v(6)There is mismatch between the title an
9、d the content of the paper.Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv 2.Errors in Abstractv As it will be discussed in Chapter Six,an abstract is a highly condensed version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major points covered.v Two serious problems do exist in the wri
10、ting of abstracts.The first one is that there is toov much background information in the abstract.The other one is that the findings and contributions are too sketchy.Go to main Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic WritingvActivity 1:v Try to analyze an abstract on Page 35.Try to find th
11、e problems of this abstract.Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic WritingvKey:v Analysis:This abstract uses too much space to elaborate on the background information at the very beginning.Besides,there is no mention of its research method and findings though it mentions its research purpo
12、se.Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv 3.Common Problems in Paper Writing The common problems in a paper are as follows:There is no or not enough review on relevant literature in the introduction section.Many authors simply list the relevant studies in their literature review,f
13、ailing to provide any categorization,comments or evaluation.Some papers only include the relevant background of the research,but they dont introduce the research questions and methods in the introduction section.In the introduction,there is no natural transition from the literature review to the res
14、earch questions.The report on the research methods is not specific enough for duplicated studies.The content of each part in the paper is not balanced.Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv The examples and diagrams are not sequential,or without titles.They are not independent of
15、the text.v The direct citations from other books or journals are not marked by quotation marks.v There is not any evidence to support viewpoints.v Errors in grammar and expressions are common.v To sum up,those errors mentioned above are common in paper writing.People can overcome these problems by p
16、ractice.v Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv 4.Common Problems in References The references are outdated,e.g.Brown,P,&S.Levinson.Politeness:Some Universals in Language Usage.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,1987.The references are listed in different reference style and th
17、ere is no standard guide,e.g.1An Introduction to Linguistics(Stuart C.Poole),Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.2 Robin,R.H.General Linguistics.Beijing:Foreign Language Reaching and Research Press,2000.Chapter Two Part Two:Common Problems in Academic Writingv 4.Common Problems in Reference
18、s Some references are not from professional journals and they are not of great value.The references are not consistent with the in-text citations.The on-line references are not documented clearly.English references are more than Chinese references or vice versa.Chapter Two Part Three:The Publication
19、 of Papersv1.Choosing an Appropriate Journal:Before submission,it is necessary to choose an appropriate journal in accordance with the paper.Generally speaking,there are a few considerations as follows:(1)The content of the thesis should be within the range of the periodical.(2)The readers of the jo
20、urnal(3)The quality,the influence and the acceptance rate of the journal(4)The history of the journal(5)Submission feeChapter Two Part Three:The Publication of Papersv 2.Strategies for Publishing Papers English academic paper should be academic and innovative.A good paper should be logical,well-orga
21、nized and articulate.English academic papers need to observe internationally accepted styles.Write it in English rather than translating it from a Chinese version.Authors had better read the contribution instruction of the target journal and get familiar with its style and specific requirements.Simp
22、le errors such as errors in grammar,tense,the third person and singular and plural forms should be avoided.Written style should be employed,and oral expressions such as“kind of”,“cant”,“nowadays”,etc.should be avoided.Chapter Two Part Three:The Publication of Papersv3.Paper Review Periodv v The aver
23、age review period for a paper is about three months.However,the period will differ for different disciplines,different publish houses or different papers.Chapter Two Part Three:The Publication of Papers4.Paper Review Processes The major processes are as follows:(1)The author submits the paper.(2)The
24、 editor-in-chief reads the thesis,the abstract,the key words and the main body of the paper,then sends back the unqualified manuscript to the author and sends good ones to associate editors.(3)The editor-in-chief chooses an associate editor to review the paper.(4)The associate editor finds three or
25、four suitable reviewers in accordance with the content,the abstract and the keywords of the paper,and then submits the name list of reviewers to the editor-in-chief.Chapter Two Part Three:The Publication of Papers4.Paper Review Processes (5)The editor checks the name list and negotiates with the rev
26、iewers about the review schedule.(6)The reviewers and the associate editor review the papers.(7)If the papers are not finished in time by the reviewers,the editor-in-chief can remind them of the schedule.(8)The editor sends the associate editor the suggestions made by all the reviewers.Chapter Two P
27、art Three:The Publication of Papers4.Paper Review Processes (9)The editor-in-chief checks the suggestions submitted by the associate editor and makes the final review.Then he makes a final decision and gives the author the result.(10)The accepted paper shall be published after the processes mentioned above.Chapter Two:Research Proposal Homework:Discuss in groups of three or four and provide your own research proposal.Then consult your teacher to give you some advice.v Chapter Two:Research ProposalThank you
