Chapter One

Introduction
• 1. Why engage in academic research?
• 2. Basic types of academic papers
• 3. Structure of an academic paper
• 4. Characteristics of academic
writing
• 5. Comparison with style of English
papers on the Arts and Science
• 6. Procedures of academic writing
 1. Reasons to Engage in
Scientific Research
• Personal interest to explore the
world
• Solving practical problems
• Career development
• Technological development
• Academic exchanges
• Academic evaluation
• Being forced to
 2. Basic Types of
Academic Papers
• Papers can be classified according to different
criteria. In terms of disciplines, they can be
divided into three large categories: philosophy,
natural science and social science. Then, under
these categories are professional papers in
smaller disciplines such as economics, physics, etc.
In accordance with the nature of disciplines, they
can be divided into basic subject papers and
applied technical papers. In the same academic
subjects, they can be divided into basic theory or
application papers.
• In accordance with the reasoning, academic papers
can be divided into research papers and reports.
Research papers can be divided into argument,
refutation, review, verification, and explanatory
papers. Reports can be divided into investigation,
inspection, research and experimental reports.
According to the content, they can be divided into
thematic and comprehensive papers. In accordance
with research purposes, they can be divided into
academic journal articles, academic conference
papers, term papers, theses and dissertations and so
on. In accordance with the research content and
research methods, there are theoretical,
experimental, and descriptive papers.
• The classification above is in one
dimensional, and does not reflect the
essence of academic papers.
• By integrating the content, research
areas, targets, methods and writing
practices and other factors of
research papers, the authors
categorize academic papers into four
types: (1) Argumentative, (2)
Descriptive, (3) Academic
Meeting/Research Reviews and (4)
Book Reviews.
• (1) Argumentative Papers
• Based on a certain point,
argumentative papers illustrate the
author's views or opinions on an issue
by discussions or descriptions, etc.
They emphasize reasoning and strict
logic; this necessitates the use of
concepts, analysis, synthesis,
judgment, logic to analyze the
problem, to reason and argue in order
to clarify the point of view or reach a
conclusion.
• According to the manner of
argumentation, argumentative papers
can be divided into two categories:
argument and refutation papers. As
the name suggests, the argument
papers directly put forward and
certify their own views. This
framework is suitable for writing
self-contained papers. Refutation
papers prove the correctness of their
own arguments by rejecting those of
others.
• Generally speaking, argumentative
papers are mainly found in the
humanities and social sciences
because they are more subjective,
theoretical, argumentative, and
emphasize logic.
What Is a Dissertation?
• Essentially a dissertation is a research paper,
it’s a argumentative research paper. It is
different from a course paper or an ordinary
essay, which usually demonstrates common
knowledge, a personal interpretation or
understanding of a course, theory, subject,
condition, and/or the writer's experience. A
research paper presents information gathered
systematically through the researcher's
literature survey in the library or through
direct investigation, observation and
experimentation.
• It is also different from a course paper
in function, structure, length, and style
in that:
• Course papers are usually evaluated by
the relevant course teachers for a
specific course and would be given
chances for resit if a student fails it,
and it relates to one semester's work or
credit points, while dissertations usually
require the approval of a group of
readers and an oral defense or
justification.
• And the approval of the procedures and
conclusions before readers and other
faculties of a department community,
according to which and the other
university academic work fulfillment a
degree is granted. It is relevant to the
entire academic years of a student's
university life.
• Course papers or essays are simpler ,
shorter, and usually casually-styled,
however, dissertations are conventional
fixed, lengthy, and formal.
• (2) Descriptive Papers
• Descriptive papers are also known as
expository papers, which are mainly
used to describe a natural phenomenon
or social phenomenon. For example,
the formation mechanism of lightning,
the causes and effects of certain
ideas, and so on, can be the object of
analysis, description and explanation.
• Descriptive papers are widely used in
the social and natural sciences, but
they have differing characteristics in
different fields. Descriptive papers in
social sciences focus on data
collection, sorting, identification,
description and explanation.
Descriptive papers in natural sciences
mainly describe the experimental
process and results, such as
experiment and materials preparation,
the relevant apparatus, methodology
and results of the study.
• (3) Academic Meeting/Research
Reviews
• Review papers include academic
conference, seminar and research
reviews; the academic conference and
seminar reviews are based on records
of conference exchanges and academic
symposium while research reviews are
based on published literature. The
review papers explored in this book
refer to the research reviews of
published literature.
• Review papers mainly summarize the
results of research on a certain topic,
in which the authors can add their
own presentations and comments and
express their personal views. The
fundamental purpose is to introduce
the latest developments in disciplines
and provide the latest academic
information and systemic academic
materials, thus having their own
academic value.
• Authors of review papers are usually
experts in their areas. Because they
are familiar with the international
developments and information about
their subjects, they can summarize
the academic achievements,
experience and problems of their
subjects in a certain stage, suggest
directions for further development
and point out existing problems and
solutions and so on.
• Review articles require a
comprehensive and systematic
accumulation of academic knowledge,
broad experience, possession of a
large number of documents and
materials, strong analytic and
synthesizing abilities, and excellent
language skills. That is to say, they
are usually difficult to write because
the demands are high.
• (4) Book Reviews
• The comments that we are usually
familiar with include reviews,
comments a/ analysis, etc., involving
books, articles, art, perspectives,
characters, events, results scientific
research and so on. However, in
academic journals book reviews are
al1 common.
• Book reviews introduce the main
content of certain books and evaluate
th strengths and weaknesses. They
usually analyze, interpret and
evaluate the main poii1 viewpoints and
methods of the book, making use of
certain methods and perspecti the
fundamental purpose of which is to
promote new books and provide
object assessment for reference.
 3. Structure of an
Academic Paper
• To explore the composition of a paper, one
must first understand the type of paper.
Broadly speaking, papers can be divided
into library research, experimental
research, or case study papers.
• In accordance with the Modern Language
Association (MLA) format, library research
papers consist of title page, outline,
abstract, main body, notes (optional),
appendix, and references.
• Experimental research papers are
made up of title, abstract,
introduction, methods and materials,
analysis of results, discussion,
conclusions and references.
• The components of case study paper
are title, abstract, introduction,
reports, discussions, conclusions and
references.
• Experimental research papers are
made up of title, abstract,
introduction, methods and materials,
analysis of results, discussion,
conclusions and references.
• The components of case study paper
are title, abstract, introduction,
reports, discussions, conclusions and
references.
• The structure of papers published in China
include:
• Chinese and English titles, Chinese and
English abstract, Chinese and English
keywords, The body, References, Appendix,
Information about the author.

• The papers contributed for publication

outside China include:
• Title, Abstract, Introduction, The body,
Conclusions and recommendations,
Acknowledgement, References, Appendix.
• Comparing the two, there are no great
differences between the papers
published inside and outside China, but
the minor differences are: for Chinese
papers, there are two versions of the
title, abstract and key words, one in
Chinese, the other in English. For
English papers, there is only the
English version. The introduction,
body, conclusions and
recommendations of the English
papers are equivalent to the body of
the Chinese papers.
 4. Characteristics of
Academic Writing
• English for science and technology
(EST) refers to the style used in
scientific or technological activities;
their features are:
• • Objectivity
• • Clarity
• • Coherence
• • Accuracy
• The language's plainness and precision
distinguish it from other discourse
types and is reflected in the following
two respects:
• 1 Features on the lexical level
• (1) Terminology
• Technical terms abound in EST, for
example, "fungus" and "glycan".
• (2) Nominalization
• Abstract nouns are frequently used
for clarity, for example, "ammonia" is
substituted with "refrigeration".
• (3) Abbreviation
• Short forms and abbreviations are
often found in EST for economy and
brevity, e.g. "radar" and "AIDS".
• (4) Use of single verbs
• Single verbs are used instead of
verbal phrases for formality and
precision, e.g. "investigate" for "look
into", "eliminate" for "get rid of ".
• 2 Features on the syntactical level

• (1) Long complex sentence

• Long complex sentences are used for
accuracy to explain complicated ideas
clearly and precisely.
• (2) Simple -present tense
• Simple-present tense describes natural
phenomena, processes and rules and
makes explanation vivid and "timeless".
• (3) Passive voice
• Passive voice is frequently used to convince
the reader of the objectivity of the
description, e.g.: "Using a simplified input-
output (I-O) framework, the aggregate
economic output of the non-energy sector
(Yt) can be formulated as the sum of value-
added in the non-energy sector (VAne,t)
and inter-industry payments for energy and
transport services." (Hirton, 2008: 1756)
• (4) Non-finite verbs
• Participles, infinitives and gerunds
are frequently used in EST, e.g.:
"Traveling at the speed of light, it
takes two million years to reach the
nearest galaxy."
5. The Distinction Between English
Papers on the Arts and Science
• In short, they share the following
similar characteristics:
• (1) Large-scale use of the passive voice
• The passive voice can fulfill the
following functions: the paper's theme
is highlighted with the facts; the
sentences are more concise with actors
omitted; the tone is more euphemistic;
more objective and accurate with more
academic flavor.
• The passive voice is widely used in the
research methods as well as the abstract. It
is also widely used in other parts of the
paper such as the introduction.

• (2) Extensive use of long, complex sentences

• Too many short sentences seem monotonous
and fragmented and tend to weaken the
intellectual style of academic papers. Long
and complex sentences indicate greater
erudition and are more precise while
increasing diversity to the paper.
• Though English arts and scientific
papers share some similar
characteristics, there are some
differences between them:
• (1) Low originality vs. high originality
• Compared with scientific papers, English
papers of arts enjoy less originality
than their counterparts. They usually
interpret others' works, summarize
what others say about something or just
express personal views.
• On the contrary, originality is the basic
characteristics of scientific papers. It
requires that the paper describe new
discoveries, inventions and creations on
the basis of research. These papers
reveal either the law of nature,
theoretical breakthroughs, or new
technical inventions. In short, the
essence of scientific papers lies in their
increasing human knowledge, rather
than simply interpretational summaries
or imitation of human knowledge.
• (2) Primary vs. secondary sources
• Generally speaking, papers on the arts
rely more on secondary sources while
scientific papers employ more primary
sources. Papers on the arts usually
review and comment on others' works,
thus the library is often used. On the
other hand, scientific papers aim to find
the principles of the nature; so, field
work and scientific experiments are
usually performed.
• In terms of methodology, scientific
papers are more "scientific" not only in
the choice of research subjects but also
in research content and methodology.
• The topics of scientific papers center
on certain scientific or technical fields.
Research methodology, such as data
collection and interpretation, must
adhere to scientific principles and be
replicable, that is, others must be able
to verify or replicate the research
results.
• In addition, scientific writing must
uphold the spirit of science.
Conclusions must be based on solid
argumentation.
• Subjective interpretations, random
selection of materials and data, data
tampering, or data forgery are
unacceptable in academic writing.
• (3) Argumentation vs. description
• English papers on the arts are largely
argumentations which include a thesis
statement, supporting details and a
conclusion. In contrast, scientific
papers are mainly descriptions which
usually include the title, abstract,
introduction, research methods,
findings and discussion, conclusions,
recommendations and references.
• This framework is in line with logic,
that is, the questions are asked first
and followed by assumptions and
experiments. Lastly, the findings,
discussion and conclusions are
presented.
• (4) Subjectivity vs. objectivity
• By comparison, papers on the arts are
more subjective while scientific papers are
more objective. That is because papers on
the arts employ many modifiers and
emotive words to express personal ideas or
interpretation of objects or facts. On the
contrary, the essence of scientific writing
lies in the accurate reporting of research
findings, which cannot be semantically
ambiguous, let alone fraudulent. This is the
most basic quality of professional ethics
and integrity.
• In addition, "Brevity is the soul of
wit." Fewer modifiers and no
unnecessary words, vague or
subjective phrases are used in order
to be objective and without rhetorical
pretense.
 6. Procedures of
Academic writing
• In academic writing, the following
steps are often employed:

• Step 1: Choice of Topic

• Choose a general topic
• Write a rough proposal
• Limit the topic to a plausible one
• Step 2: Collection and Evaluation of Data
• Collect books, journals and research
articles Evaluate data collected
Photocopy data
• Prepare notes and bibliography cards

• Step 3: Development of Outline

• Decide on organization of paper
Arrange notes by subheadings
• Develop paper outline
• Step 4: Writing
• Study and follow outline for first draft
• Make adjustments as needed

• Step 5: Revision, Editing and References

Revise content and organization Adjust
style and tone
• Correct diction, spelling, grammar,
punctuation as necessary Document all
the sources quoted
• Step 6: Preparation of Abstract
• Observe abstract word limit
• Ensure accuracy, brevity and clarity
Highly signaled

• Step 7: Preparation of Final Details

• Assemble all parts
• Make final revision
• Prepare References section
• Write acknowledgements
• Task : Preliminary Research
• Suppose you are expected to write an
academic paper of 6,000 to 8,000 won in
English. The only purpose is to get it
published in a famous journal in your fie
of research. Choose an academic area
that interests you and start reading in
the direction. Discuss your ideas with
your classmates and teacher. Then write
a research proposal for further
discussion.