THE WRITING PROCESS

Md Aftabur Rahman, Ph.D., M. ASCE

Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology
Chattogram-4349, Bangladesh
Email: [email protected]
 BACKGROUND TO WRITING
• To report on a piece of research the writer has conducted

• To answer a question the writer has been given or chosen

• To discuss a subject of common interest and give the writer’s view

• To synthesise research done by others on a topic

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 KEY QUESTIONS
• Whatever the purpose, it is helpful to think of your probable reader ??

• How can you explain your ideas to them effectively?

There is no fixed standard of academic writing, though it is different

from the written style of newspapers or novels

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 COMMON TYPES OF ACADEMIC WRITING
• Notes

• Report

• Project

• Essay

• Dissertation/Thesis

• Paper (academic)

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 FORMAT OF WRITING TASKS
Short Essays
• Introduction
• Main Body
• Conclusion

Longer Essays/Reports
• Introduction
• Main Body
Literature Review
Case Study
Discussion
• Conclusion
• References
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• Appendices
 FORMAT OF WRITING TASKS
Dissertation/Journal
• Abstract
• List of Contents
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• Main Body
Literature Review
Case Study
Findings
Discussion
• Conclusion
• acknowledgements

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KEY FEATURES OF AN ACADEMIC WRITING
• Be understandable to everyone who is likely to read it
• Clearly communicate relevant information
• Be concisely written
• Be focused on providing information and presenting facts
• Analyze the findings of the research
• Include objective reflection
• Present different points of view considering that each view is supported by
research
• Avoid broad, sweeping or generalized statements
• Acknowledge sources

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 FORMAT OF WRITING TASKS

Getting
Writing the Reviewing Editing and
started on Submission
draft the draft Proofreading
the draft

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 GETTING STARTED ON THE
DRAFT

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 EFFECTIVE READING SKILL
1. Previewing
2. Skimming
3. Scanning
4. Detailed Reading

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 PREVIEWING & SKIMMING
Previewing is getting a sense of what's in a given piece of work without
reading the body of the text

Skimming is reading small amounts from throughout the text. It is different

from previewing because you're reading the body of the text. The chief benefit
of skimming is in being able to pick up the key ideas quickly.

How to skim
If the introduction is short, read it in full. If long, read the first sentence of
each paragraph. Then read the first sentence of each subsequent
paragraph until you find the topic sentence (usually the first or second
sentence). This will give you an overview of the content of the passage. It
can also be helpful to read the concluding paragraph in full.
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 SCANNING
Scanning
You scan when looking for specific information

When Should You Scan

You may need to find specific details on a topic for an assignment or a task
that your lecturer has set. There is little point in skimming a whole book for
this purpose. You should scan the text for words related to the topic. You can
run your eyes down the page looking for these expressions - in chapter
headings or sub-headings or in the text itself.

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 DETAILED READING
Detailed Reading is intensive reading that focuses on the essential parts -
key chapters, books, poems, and pages. This is when you are likely to take
detailed notes.

When Should You Read in Detail

• Intensive reading is usually the final step - after you've previewed, scanned
and skimmed when you know it is worth reading the full text.
• In every unit of study, there will be critical sources or texts that you will
need to read carefully.
• Expect to read these more than once and to take notes on important
material.

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 CRITICAL THINKING
As you read, you should ask yourself the following questions:
• What are the key ideas in this?

• Does the argument of the writer develop logically, step by step?

• Are the examples given helpful? Would other examples be better?
• Does the author have any bias (leaning to one side)?
• Does the evidence presented seem reliable, in my experience and
using common sense?
• Do I agree with the writer’s views?
• Is the writing a fact or opinion?

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 BRAINSTORMING
• It is often helpful to start thinking about a topic by writing down the ideas
you have, in any order
• Avoid criticizing any of the ideas put forth, particularly if brainstorming as
part of a group
• Attempt to combine or improve upon previously generated ideas
• Encourage the generation of wild or novel ideas (think outside the box)

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 SOURCES OF INFORMATIONS

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HOW TO EVALUATE INFORMATION SOURCES?
• Is this information reliable?
• Is this a fact, a theory, an opinion or a suggestion?
• Is this information up-to-date?
• Are the ideas backed-up by research and are they widely accepted?
• Is this information just a popular notion that may be unsubstantiated

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ASSESSING INTERNET SOURCE CRITICALLY
Internet sources are plentiful and convenient, but you need to address the
following questions before trusting any online source:
• Is this a reputable website, for example, with .ac in the URL?

• Is the name of the author given, and is he or she well-known in the

field?

• Is the language of the text in a suitable academic style?

• Are there any obvious errors in the text (e.g., spelling mistakes, which

suggest a careless approach)?

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 WRITING THE DRAFT

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 SUMMARISING & PARAPHASING
Summarising aims to reduce information to a suitable length, allowing the
writer to condense lengthy sources into a concise form
While,
Paraphrasing means changing the wording of a text so that it is significantly
different from the original source, without changing the meaning.

• Summarising is a flexible tool

• Generally, a summary focuses on the main ideas and excludes examples or
supporting information

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 PARAPHRASING
An effective paraphrase usually
• Has a different structure to the original
• Has mainly different vocabulary
• Retains the same meaning
• Keeps some phrases from the original that are in common use

Techniques for Paraphrasing

Changing vocabulary by using synonyms
Changing word class
Changing word order

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 EXAMPLE OF PARAPHRASING

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 WRITING AN ABSTRACT
Abstracts are typically found in peer-reviewed journal articles, where they are
a kind of summary to allow researchers to decide if it is worth reading the full
article.

Abstracts normally have a standard structure:

• Background
• Aim of paper
• Method of research
• Results of research

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 EXAMPLE OF AN ABSTRACT

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 WRITING AN INTRODUCTION
An effective introduction explains the purpose and scope of the
paper to the reader
• Usually no more than about 10 percent of the total length of the paper
Introduction structure
Definition of key terms, if needed
Relevant background information
Review of work by other writers on the topic
Purpose or aim of the paper
Research methods
Any limitations you imposed
An outline of your paper

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 WRITING A LITERATURE REVIEW
A literature review surveys books, scholarly articles, and any other sources
relevant to a particular issue, area of research, or theory, and by so doing,
provides a description, summary, and critical evaluation of these works in
relation to the research problem being investigated.

Literature reviews are designed to provide an overview of sources you have

explored while researching a particular topic and to demonstrate to your
readers how your research fits within a larger field of study

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 LITERATURE REVIEW: PURPOSE
• Place each work in the context of its contribution to understanding the
research problem being studied.
• Describe the relationship of each work to the others under consideration.
• Identify new ways to interpret prior research.
• Reveal any gaps that exist in the literature.
• Resolve conflicts amongst seemingly contradictory previous studies.
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication of effort.
• Point the way in fulfilling a need for additional research.
• Locate your own research within the context of existing literature [very
important]

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 WRITING A METHODOLOGY
The methods section describes actions to be taken to investigate a research
problem and the rationale for the application of specific procedures or
techniques used to identify, select, process, and analyze information applied to
understanding the problem, thereby, allowing the reader to critically evaluate a
study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology section of a research
paper answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated?
And, how was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and always
written in the past tense.

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 WRITING RESULTS

The results section is where you report the findings of your study based upon
the methodology [or methodologies] you applied to gather information. The
results section should state the findings of the research arranged in a logical
sequence without bias or interpretation. A section describing results is
particularly necessary if your paper includes data generated from your own
research.

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 WRITING A DISCUSSION
The purpose of the discussion is to interpret and describe the significance of
your findings in light of what was already known about the research problem
being investigated and to explain any new understanding or insights that
emerged as a result of your study of the problem. The discussion will always
connect to the introduction by way of the research questions or hypotheses
you posed and the literature you reviewed, but the discussion does not simply
repeat or rearrange the first parts of your paper; the discussion clearly explain
how your study advanced the reader's understanding of the research problem
from where you left them at the end of your review of prior research.

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 WRITING A CONCLUSION
The conclusion should provide a clear answer to any question asked
in the title, as well as summarize the main points.

• A statement showing how your aim has been achieved

• A discussion of the implications of your research
• Some new information on the topic not mentioned before
• A short review of the main points of the study
• Some suggestions for further research
• The limitations of the study
• Comparison with the results of similar studies
• A quotation that appears to sum up your work

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 REWRITING THE DRAFT
Although it is tempting to think that the first draft of an essay is good enough,
it almost certainly can be improved. After completing your first draft, you
should leave it for a day and then reread it, asking yourself the following
questions:

• Does this fully answer the question (s) in the title?

• Do the different sections of the paper have the right weight?
• Does the argument or discussion develop clearly and logically?
• Have I forgotten any important points that would support the
development?

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 PROOFREADING
Proofreading is the act of searching for errors before you hand in the your

research paper. Errors can be both grammatical and typographical in nature,

but they can also include identifying problems with the narrative flow of your

paper [i.e., the logical sequence of thoughts and ideas], problems with concise

writing [i.e., wordiness], and finding any word processing errors [e.g., different

font types, indented paragraphs, line spacing, uneven margins, etc.]

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 PROOFREADING
Revise the larger aspects of the text. Don't proofread for the purpose of
making corrections at the sentence and word level [the act of editing] if you
still need to work on the overall focus, development, and organization of the
paper or you need to re-arrange or change specific sections [the act of
revising].

Set your paper aside between writing and proofreading. Give yourself
a day or so between the writing of your paper and proofreading it. This will
help you identify mistakes more easily. This is also a reason why you shouldn't
wait until the last minute to draft your paper because it won't provide the
time needed to step away before proofreading.

Eliminate unnecessary words before looking for mistakes.

Throughout your paper, you should try to avoid using inflated diction if a
more concise phrase works equally well. Simple, precise language is easier to
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proofread than overly complex sentence constructions and vocabulary. At the
 PROOFREADING

Know what to look for. Make a mental note of the mistakes you need to
watch for based on comments from your professor on previous drafts of the
paper or that you have received about papers written in other classes. This will
help you to identify repeated patterns of mistakes more readily.

Review your list of references. Review the sources mentioned in your

paper and make sure you have properly cited them in your bibliography. Also
make sure that the titles cited in your bibliography are mentioned in the text.
Any omissions should be resolved before you begin proofreading your paper.

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 PLAGIARISM: AN IMPORTANT TERM
Plagiarism means taking ideas or words from a source (book /
journal) without giving credit (acknowledgment) to the author

• A kind of theft and is considered to be an academic crime

There are several reasons why students must avoid Plagiarism

• To show that they understand the rules of the academic community
• Copying the work of others will not help them develop their own
understanding
• Plagiarism is easily detected by teachers and computer software
• Plagiarism may lead to failing a course or even having to leave college

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 AVOID BY ACKNOWLEDGING SOURCES
: CITATION

A way of acknowledging and giving credit for

someone`s thinking, writing, and research

• Ethical Reason
• An intellectual property issue
• Intellectual integrity

In academia, you have to give credit to the author(s) for every piece of
material you use from the concerned research.

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 BENEFITS OF CITATION

Your Benefit
• Your argument is justified
• Credibility to your information

Readers Benefit
• Understand the context of your work
• Allow the reader to track down your research

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 WHEN IS CITATION NECESSARY ??

• Theories
• Fact/background
• Outcomes/statistics/studies
• Direct quotes
• Paraphrases
• Plan, ideas, or anything that was simulated by others

But,
Don’t reference common knowledge ! ! !

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 COMMON KNOWLEDGE

• That you know prior to start of your research

Landslide is one of the devastating geotechnical hazards, specially

in mountainous region
…It’s a common knowledge

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 EXAMPLE OF CITATION

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 CITE AN ARTICLE, HOW?

• Many conventions

• Not a fixed style: vary with university, country,

publisher, research area etc.

• Even vary within same publisher

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 BASICS OF CITATION
• Acknowledge within the text
• Desirable as closely as possible to the
point

• List of reference should be provided at the end of the article

The list of references given at the end of the article is called

BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Should include all details about the sources in your list
• Sources are: Journals, Conference Proceedings, Books/Book
Chapter, Report, Technical Notes, Website, Personal
Communication

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 CITATION STYLE
• APA (American Psychological Association) Citation Style
• MLA (Modern Language Association) Citation Style
• Chicago/Turabian Citation Style
• IEEE Style

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 EXAMPLE OF CITATION: APA STYLE
Earthquake-induced long-lasting geotechnical hazard is responsible for the destruction and
damage of infrastructures all over the world. Among different hazards, liquefaction is one of the
devastating consequence of earthquake and cause severe damage to infrastructures and human
lives. Earthquake records of different times revealed the destructive damage by liquefaction and
reported in many technical writings (Cubrinovski et al., 2011; Huang & Yu, 2013; Kasai &
Maison, 1997; Kuribayashi & Tatsuoka, 1975; Tohno & Yasuda, 1981; Tokimatsu, Kojima,
Kuwayama, Abe, & Midorikawa, 1994; Towhata, 2014). Since the term coined after the 1964
Niigata earthquake, researchers in the field of geotechnical engineering devoted their effort to
analyze liquefaction severity. The dynamic nature of liquefaction makes it complicated and yet
an exact procedure for the determination of liquefaction severity is a scratching issue. However,
to analyze the hazard and possible future damage, the simplified procedure has been developed
and updated progressively (Chang, Kuo, Shau, & Hsu, 2011).

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY: APA STYLE
Chang, M., Kuo, C. ping, Shau, S. hui, & Hsu, R. eeh. (2011). Comparison of SPT-N-based analysis methods in
evaluation of liquefaction potential during the 1999 Chi-chi earthquake in Taiwan. Computers and Geotechnics,
38(3), 393–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2011.01.003
Cubrinovski, M., Bray, J. D., Taylor, M., Giorgini, S., Bradley, B., Wotherspoon, L., & Zupan, J. (2011). Soil liquefaction
effects in the central business district during the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Seismological
Research Letters, 82(6), 893–904. https://doi.org/10.1785/gssrl
Huang, Y., & Yu, M. (2013). Review of soil liquefaction characteristics during major earthquakes of the twenty-first
century. Natural Hazards, 65(3), 2375–2384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0433-9
Kasai, K., & Maison, B. F. (1997). Building pounding damage during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Engineering
Structures, 19(3), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-0296(96)00082-X
Kuribayashi, E., & Tatsuoka, F. (1975). Brief review of liquefaction during earthquakes in Japan. Soils and
Foundations, 15(4), 81–92.
Tohno, I., & Yasuda, S. (1981). Liquefaction of the ground during the 1978 Miyagiken-Oki earthquake. Soils and
Foundations, 21(3), 18–34. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.21.3_18
Tokimatsu, K., Kojima, H., Kuwayama, S., Abe, A., & Midorikawa, S. (1994). Liquefaction-induced damage to
buildings in 1990 Luzon earthquake, 120(2), 290–307.
Towhata, I. (2014). Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. International Journal for Numerical and Analytical
Methods in Geomechanics. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/
978-3-540-35783-4

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 WHAT IF WE WRITE CITATION MANUALLY

Probably, you do not have any time to play FIFA ! ! !

Advancement of technology allows us to make our

activity much easier

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 AVOID BY SUMMARIZING AND PARAPHRASING

• Paraphrasing involves rewriting a text so that the language is significantly

different while the content stays the same

• Summarizing means reducing the length of a text but retaining the main

points

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 AVOID BY GOOD STUDY HABITS
• Plan your work carefully so you do not have to write the essay at the last

minute

• Take care to make notes in your own words, not copying from the source

• Keep a record of all the sources you use

• Make sure all your in-text citations are included in the list of references

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 WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

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 RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The goal of a research proposal is two fold: to present and justify the need to
study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed
study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting
research are governed by standards of the predominant discipline in which the
problem resides, therefore, the guidelines for research proposals are more exacting
and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain
extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need
exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal
describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with
requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated
outcomes and/or benefits derived from the study's completion.

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 FUNDAMENTALS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
What do you plan to accomplish? Be clear and succinct in defining the
research problem and what it is you are proposing to research.
Why do you want to do the research? In addition to detailing your research
design, you also must conduct a thorough review of the literature and provide
convincing evidence that it is a topic worthy of in-depth investigation. Be sure to
answer the "So What?" question.
How are you going to conduct the research? Be sure that what you
propose is doable. If you're having difficulty formulating a research problem to propose
investigating, go here for strategies in developing a problem to study.

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 BASIC ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Failure to be concise. A research proposal must be focused and not be "all over the
map" or diverge into on unrelated tangents without a clear sense of purpose.
Failure to cite landmark works in your literature review. Proposals
should be grounded in foundational research that lays a foundation for understanding the
development and scope of the issue.
Failure to delimit the contextual boundaries of your research [e.g.,
time, place, people, etc.]. As with any research paper, your proposed study must
inform the reader how and in what ways the study will examine the problem.
Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the
proposed research. This is critical. In many workplace settings, the research proposal is
intended to argue for why a study should be funded.
Sloppy or imprecise writing, or poor grammar. Although a research proposal
does not represent a completed research study, there is still an expectation that it is well-written
and follows the style and rules of good academic writing.
Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major
issues. Your proposal should focus on only a few key research questions in order to support
the argument that the research needs to be conducted. Minor issues, even if valid, can be
mentioned but they should not dominate the overall narrative.

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 STRUCTURE OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
• Introduction

• Background & Significance

• Literature Review

• Research Design & Methods

• Preliminary Suppositions and Implications

• Conclusions

• Citations

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 Thank You Very Much! !

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