Writing..• materialises ideas and results• academic writing:

– exams– reports– assignments– dissertation/thesis

“ good ideas and works can only be materialised via good writing skills”

MSc Research Skills Module

Faculty of Engineering and Computing

Lecture Week 5:

Writing and publishing research content

Boon Kee Low

Writing beyond academy...• convince management about business

ideas• survey, investment appraisal, technical

reports and user manuals• advertising and marketing messages

• curriculum vitae

The objectives of this lecture:• learning outcomes:

– Understand the practical aspects of writing;– Write and present technical reports– Understand the importance of publishing research works

• sections:– Writing the outline and the first draft– Focusing– Writing the common bits: abstract, introduction and conclusion– Publishing your research work

1. Writing the outline• enable relevant elements of the document to be

identified • expect to refine the outline throughout the project• typical sections for an outline:

– Title, content page, glossary and acknowledgement;– Introduction, literature review and concept;– Research design and implementation;– Results and analysis;– Conclusion, recommendations and further works;– Appendix and references

1. Writing the outlineExample 1 Scope

Broad topic: Multimedia

Focused topic: The Development of Multimedia Kiosk

Research title: The Development of Multimedia Kiosk for Campus Information using

Authorware™

Example 2

Broad topic: Property Valuation

Focused topic: Property Market in Holyrood

Research title: The Implications of the Scottish Parliament on the Property Value in Holyrood

Example 3

Broad topic: E-Commerce

Focused topic: The Impacts of E-Commerce

Research title: E-Commerce and the Retailing Industry: Threats or Opportunities?

Table 2: Examples of good research title

1. Writing the first draft• go for the sections you feel most at ease

with:

literature review /background design/implementation analysis/results

abstract conclusion/recommendations introductionTypical order of writing cycle

• aim to get a quick flow of ideas on to the paper/word processor

1. Writing the first draft• start writing early and frequently

• 3 steps techniques for writing

generate organise construct

2. Focusing• focus on your readers

– what knowledge do they have? – what can they understand the technical terminology? – put yourself in your readers shoe

• focus on document quality– no spelling errors and grammatical sound– concise (short and ‘crisp’ sentences)– well structured (subheadings)– avoid ‘chatty’ expressions

2. Focusing• focus on specification

– quantitative: words/pages limits, presentation requirements– qualitative: scope - is the specific topic adequately covered?– REMEMBER: quantity is no substitute for quality.

School Length Paper Margin/Justification Font/Spacing

Built Environment 20-25,000

words

A4, 90g/m2 40mm (binging edge),

20mm other sides

10pt, 1½ or

double spacing

Computing, 100 pages,(up

to half as

appendix)

A4, Between

70-100g/m2

Left margin 3.81cm

(1.5”), right margin

2.54cm (1”), top margin

2.54 (1”), Right-left

margin justified

Times Roman

12pt text, 10pt

code extract,

single spaced

For MSc Dissertation

3. Writing the abstract• abstract

– is the essence or the core of the document– enable the relevance of document (to the readers) to be

determined– writing it means ‘REVEALING THE CORE’– should contain 3 elements:

• statement of the research scope and objective;• research method/algorithm used• major findings

– use collective terms: ‘empirical studies’, ‘OPPS’ etc.– use the 3-step writing technique

3. Writing the introduction• introduction

– engage the reader for the rest of the text– give the ‘big picture’– expanding the abstract (the core) and incorporating broader

issues relevant to the work– avoid diving into theoretical and technical details

Project Related broad issues

face recognition technology video compression, security/ surveillance

WWW technology (XML) e-commerce application

multimedia applications education, tourist information

transportation modelling environment issues, congestion

self-built markets new economy in property and construction

3. Writing the introduction• introduction should contain:

– background information: definitions, brief review of past research, application

– objectives and hypothesis– proposed method– description of document content: e.g. ‘chapter X describes…, the

next two chapters then focuses on….’

• reuse research proposal for writing introduction and abstract

3. Writing the conclusion• conclusion

– bring your main achievement into focus– a response to introduction with an emphasis (‘punchlines’) of

your key results– should contain:

• statements of accomplishment of research objectives: e.g. ‘The project has undertaken ‘Objective A, B, and then C etc..’

• a summary of key results: ‘How they fulfilled the objectives stated?’

• statements of limitations and further works

4. Publishing your research• why publish?

– easy to re-use and adapt existing work

• 3 scope of interest:– research and developments: peer recognition, avoid ‘re-

inventing the wheels’.– commercial interests: business plans/new software

developments, relevant to technology transfer schemes– self interests: strengthen your employment potentials, extra income

4. Publishing your research• academic means:

– conference: 3/4 pages with some research originalities– refereed journal: normally 4000-7000 words, strictly reviewed by

experts

• commercial means: – trade magazines – competition, e.g: £300 for 1000 words research case studies (CIOB)– commission reports and £2000 for up to 7000 words review of a

research topic (RICS)

4. Publishing your research

• electronic (WWW) publishing – the use of WWW is becoming widespread– hyperlinks and discussions group– the use of multimedia: software demonstration– online CV for ‘roaming’ employers

• a special handout and online tutorials can be found on the Module website

Research Skills Module Website

• additional information, links, examples, handouts, references

http://www.sbe.napier.ac.uk/staff/bkeelow/student.htm