Chapter Four
Writing Research Papers
and Making Presentations
What is a research paper?
In-depth consideration of a topic or research
question
Presents an original thesis statement
Engages with primary and secondary sources
Contributes something new to the field
3 stages of the writing
process
1. Research and planning
2. Writing
3. Revision
Understanding your
assignment
When is your deadline?
What word count are you aiming for?
What is the goal of the assignment?
What topics can you write about?
Choosing a topic
Clearly define and narrow down your topic
Sometimes you’re given a list of choices
Sometimes you have freedom to choose your own
Consider what was covered on the course
Follow your curiosity
Doing the research
Start exploring the literature on your topic
Use books, journals, and other reliable sources
Consider a variety of perspectives
Use your reading to inform your arguments
Keep notes of source details and useful quotations
Primary vs secondary
sources
Primary sources provide direct first-hand
evidence
Secondary sources provide commentary or
analysis
Examples of primary
sources
Interview transcripts
Works of art or literature
Historical documents
Statistical data
Examples of secondary
sources
Journal articles
Scholarly books
Reviews
Evaluating credibility: the
CRAAP test
Currency: Is the information up to date?
Relevance: Is it relevant to your research?
Authority: Where is it published and who is the author?
Accuracy: Where does the information come from? Is
evidence provided?
Purpose: Why was this information published?
Formulating a research
statement
States your central argument
Answers your research question
Concise, contentious, and coherent
Guides your arguments
Outlining your structure
Organize your thoughts
Understand the flow of information and how ideas
are related
Ensure nothing is forgotten
Writing the introduction
What is your paper about?
Introduce the topic, along with key terms and ideas
Why is your paper worthwhile?
Tell the reader what new insights you will offer
How will you make your arguments?
Give some signposting about the structure of the paper
Writing the body
Several paragraphs or sections
Each paragraph/section covers one idea
Information presented in a logical order that serves your
argument
Contains all your evidence and arguments—don’t save
anything for the conclusion
Paragraph structure
Follow your outline
Keep your thesis statement in mind
Use topic sentences
Make effective transitions
Writing the conclusion
No new arguments or evidence
Summarize your argument and central
point
Reflect on limitations
Suggest areas for further research
The first draft
Turn ideas into arguments
Maintain forward momentum—write now, perfect
later
Express yourself clearly
Be prepared to be flexible
Cite your sources
The steps of revising a
paper
1. Evaluating
2. Redrafting
3. Editing
4. Proofreading
Evaluating the first draft
Does it line up with your vision of the
paper?
Is there anything missing?
Is everything clear?
Would a different structure work better?
Should anything be cut?
Redrafting
Prioritize the biggest changes
Reformulate arguments
Reorder information
Make cuts and additions
Editing
Fix grammatical errors
Improve sentence structure
Clarify ambiguities
Remove redundancies
Avoid repetition
Proofreading
Spelling errors
Missing words
Confused word choices
Punctuation errors
Missing or excess spaces
Stylistic consistency (e.g. capitalization,
formatting, referencing)
Citations and References
References
You must give references to all the information that you
obtain from books, papers in journals, and other sources.
Different reference styles are used in different filed of
studies.
The most dominant ones are the American Psychological
Association (APA), IEEE and the Harvard style.
The IEEE referencing style is decided to be adopted in our
department
IEEE references format
Journal article
[Ref number] Author’s initials. Author’s Surname, “Title of
article,” Title of journal abbreviated in Italics, vol. number, issue
number, page numbers, Abbreviated Month Year.
[4] F. Yan, Y. Gu, Y. Wang, C. M. Wang, X. Y. Hu, H. X. Peng, et al.,
"Study on the interaction mechanism between laser and rock
during perforation," Optics and Laser Technology, vol. 54, pp.
303-308, Dec 2013.
Conference papers
[Ref number] Author’s initials. Author’s Surname, “Title of
paper,” in Name of Conference, Location, Year, pp. xxx.
[6] S. Adachi, T. Horio, T. Suzuki. "Intense vacuum-ultraviolet
single-order harmonic pulse by a deep-ultraviolet driving laser,"
in Conf. Lasers and Electro-Optics, San Jose, CA, 2012,
pp.2118-2120.
Book
[Ref number] Author’s initials. Author’s Surname, Book
Title, edition (if not first). Place of publication: Publisher,
Year.
[1] I.A. Glover and P.M. Grant, Digital Communications,
3rd ed. Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2009.
IEEE Text in citation
Here are some examples of IEEE style citation:
“... as shown by Brown [4], as previously stated.”
"The theory was first put forward in 1987 [1]."
“For example, see [7].”
"Several recent studies [3, 4, 15, 16] have suggested
that..." The example above may also be formatted as:“ Several recent
studies [3], [4], [15], [16] have suggested
that…”
Good Presentation Skills
Ways to Improve Your Presentation Skills.
Practice
Transform Nervous Energy Into Enthusiasm.
Attend Other Presentations.
Arrive Early.
Adjust to Your Surroundings.
Meet and Greet.
Use Positive Visualization.
Remember That Most Audiences Are Sympathetic.
Take Deep Breaths.
Smile.
Exercise.
Don’t Try to Cover Too Much Material.
Actively Engage the Audience.
Be Entertaining.
Admit You Don’t Have All the Answers.
Drink Water.