Questions tagged [academic-writing]
Writing texts in a scientific or educational setting: peer-reviewed articles, theses, text books, and others. Use the tag [scientific-publishing] in addition, if relevant.
430
questions
0
votes
0
answers
28
views
Can a topic sentence occur at the second sentence of a body paragraph in an essay?
Can I bring up my topic sentence at the second sentence of one of the body paragraphs when I write an essay?
1
vote
1
answer
111
views
Legality of screenshots from TV commercials
Screenshots from TV commercials.
I'm writing a book on costume design for students and I want to show an image from A TV commercial showing an example of advertising costuming style. Is it legal to ...
- 11
0
votes
0
answers
19
views
Can I shorten section names of articles for in text citations MLA?
My professor is requiring I include section names in my MLA in text citation. It’s fine for most of my sources since their section names are one word like “symptoms” and “causes”. But one of them uses ...
- 1
1
vote
1
answer
44
views
Abreviating "Emphasis mine" within author citations
I am using author citations along with a List of Abbreviations in order to cite the same works by the same author repeatedly throughout a book-length text. Often I add italics to point out specific ...
2
votes
2
answers
90
views
Writing from the First Person Singular vs. Plural
I encounter non-fiction books written by a single author who uses the first person plural to disclose findings:
"we found that this and that happened"
or
"we already discussed such and ...
2
votes
3
answers
65
views
Are there any books on academic paper writing?
I currently have a job doing research, but since writing was not a part of my education curriculum (I studied engineering and mathematics) no one really taught me how to write these sorts of papers, ...
- 23
2
votes
3
answers
56
views
Breaking up long paragraphs with multiple aspects
In scholarly writing, I'm often confronted with having produced a very long paragraph that has the structure with: a single topic sentence, then an internal list of sibling supporting points, with ...
- 23
4
votes
3
answers
140
views
Why are the bids for printing our book so high and what can we do to reduce costs?
I work for a US state DOT. We are trying to print our new standard specifications for construction. When we published in 2018, we got 1,000 copies for about $11/book. This time, we advertised for bids ...
- 141
2
votes
1
answer
239
views
How to rephrase and simplify a title? Need help with sentence structure
I have the following title:
Why drinking from a glass bottle is better than drinking from a glass
cup at work?
I meant to say that there are lots of benefits to drinking from a glass bottle such ...
- 303
0
votes
2
answers
50
views
Word order for adverbs in professional prose
I've been editing for my girlfriend, a non-native speaker, recently, and she asked me an interesting question, which we have modified to the following two questions:
Which sounds more natural?
Which ...
1
vote
5
answers
163
views
Combatting crippling perfectionism
I am attempting to begin writing a Substack newsletter, but I have hit a serious problem: I am a chronic, crippled perfectionist. I can't get through a sentence of any given post without freezing up ...
- 113
5
votes
1
answer
378
views
How do you write a scientific genus name in an already italicized text?
I am currently working on finishing up a thesis about my research in the field of biochemistry. The text that I am using to describe the figures is italicized. My question is: when I am trying to ...
- 51
0
votes
1
answer
90
views
I’m back in graduate school and I’m struggling with writing APA. What’s the best way to learn?
What is the best way of learning APA writing if you have never written in that format?
- 1
3
votes
1
answer
52
views
How do you structure a term paper that involves comparing journal articles?
As part of a course on statistics and stochastic processes, I have to read 3-4 journal articles and write a paper explaining and comparing them and explaining my learnings from them as they relate to ...
- 133
4
votes
1
answer
227
views
Handling alternate spellings of a personal name
I'm dealing with a text that mentions several times the architectural historian Siegfried Giedion. A number of Giedion's books feature his first name as "Sigfried" and others as "...
- 87
1
vote
0
answers
12
views
How to mention the Excel attachment under a form
I'm filling out a form and section A of the form refers to the content of the Excel attachment . (The Excel attachment and the form are combined together as PDF, they are one document)
Is this correct ...
- 11
-1
votes
1
answer
67
views
"morally dialectical" is this phrase usable?
I'm wondering if this phrase can be used to characterize two characters, one who is morally good and one who is bad. Specifically I am trying to say that "I want to examine character A and ...
0
votes
1
answer
71
views
When you write a book that seeks to inform people about some issue or some event, how do you structure your book?
Let's say I am writing a book about environment policy in China and how China managed to clean the air in its biggest cities drastically by going green, how would you structure a book like that? I ...
- 14.9k
0
votes
0
answers
44
views
How to detect if a research team is outsourcing writing to increase paper publishing?
I have suspicions of a situation where a Computational Science research group is using paid writing services (outsourcing, using AI or human services) to increase their publication ratio in scientific ...
- 101
0
votes
2
answers
82
views
Lower case or upper case letters at the beginning of rows and columns in tables?
On a recent review of an academic paper, a reviewer has pointed out that we sometimes use lower case letter at the start of expressions, and that we should check our tables in particular. True enough, ...
- 109
4
votes
1
answer
71
views
Is there a term describing two poems that start simultaneously or in succession?
I am studying a poem called Unbearable Weight of Staying by Warsan Shire. It includes regular type and then indented, italicised type e.g
I don't know when love became elusive.
My mother's laughter ...
2
votes
1
answer
63
views
Can I reference italics in academic writing?
I am analysing a poetry collection for college and one poem is 'Unbearable Weight of Staying' by Warsan Shire. She includes both regular and italicised type in the text, e.g:
I don't know when love ...
2
votes
3
answers
98
views
What is good introductory book to learn scientific academic writing and publishing process?
I would like some help to find a good reference or textbook that covers the following points regarding scientific academic writing :
What are the types of different publications and explaining their ...
4
votes
1
answer
428
views
Is "point out" appropriate in formal writing?
Is it acceptable to say something like "[person] pointed out [things] as [things] that [action]" in formal academic writing?
If not, what are some phrases with similar meaning that would be ...
- 181
3
votes
2
answers
157
views
Using "etc." at the end of list introduced by "e.g."
According to the Strunk & White's The Elements of Style (p. 46)
at the end of a list introduced by such as, for example, or any similar expression, etc. is incorrect.
However, I have seen "...
- 141
1
vote
2
answers
63
views
Can there be text in a section that isn't in a subsection?
Are there any recommendations against having text in a section when it's followed by subsections but that itself isn't in a subsection? For example, compare
Case A:
CHAPTER 1: Title of chapter 1
...
- 127
2
votes
2
answers
61
views
Referring to an earlier defined phrase so that it's not taken literally
Say I define a phrase like 'pen' or '10 miles'. Then when I refer to these defined phrases inline in the text, how should I refer to them to let the reader know that I am referring to the defined ...
- 21
1
vote
2
answers
145
views
Resources for beginner/intermediate writers
I'm an undergraduate student who's currently self-studying writing in quarantine. At present, I've read some books and browsed writing workshop websites on academic or technical writing. However, the ...
- 29
-2
votes
1
answer
68
views
This, that, these, those [closed]
English is not my first language. I am writing a more or less formal text (nonfiction).
When I am talking about something that I introduced in a previous paragraph or sentence, is it correct to always ...
4
votes
1
answer
121
views
After submitting a "complete" manuscript, what role does the author take?
After many years of work, I'm ready to send the manuscript of my textbook to a university publisher. This is a very professional publisher, with a large team, who publishes dozens of books quarterly.
...
- 343
0
votes
3
answers
181
views
What's the solution for "language being subjective" affecting readability? To write more concisely or what?
What's the solution for "language being subjective" affecting readability? To write more concisely or what?
To me it seems like knowing how to make a "well understood" text seems ...
- 165
1
vote
2
answers
133
views
Is using non-sentences bad writing?
Consider the following extract of text (content not important, only sentence structure):
When the jump is made, from seeing a subject as vocational, to worthy
of study for the sake of knowledge alone,...
- 113
0
votes
2
answers
86
views
Avoiding two sentences ending with same word?
How can I avoid that these two sentences end up with medical system? I do not want to use a synonym for medical system to avoid ambiguity. I further do not want to change the word order of sentence ...
1
vote
0
answers
40
views
Relapse or relapses?
I'm writing an academic paper on the topic of substance use relapse. I am wondering when it is appropriate to use 'relapse' without a preposition when used as a noun in a singular form. Two examples ...
- 11
2
votes
2
answers
85
views
Good techniques to keep track of error-freeness without ending up having to proof-read all of a long finished text?
Good techniques to keep track of error-freeness without ending up having to proof-read all of a long finished text?
This is a problem that I've had, but I assume that it's in fact quite common problem....
- 165
2
votes
3
answers
86
views
How to refer to a definition that might not be standard but will be used in an article?
Let's say that for some math article there's a concept that is used many times, but the author does not know a standard name for this concept, if it exists. The author creates a name for this concept. ...
1
vote
5
answers
141
views
Are there techniques that would minimize need to proof-read?
Are there techniques that would minimize need to proof-read?
This puzzles me, because I find that it's difficult to get things right "while one writes" (because the flow is different, one ...
- 165
1
vote
2
answers
76
views
How do you develop an observation into a thesis?
I'm having major issues with this. I'm working on papers for some literature classes I'm taking at Uni, and my professors are...less than helpful (it has been a wild two years, I can't blame them. ...
1
vote
0
answers
20
views
Help linking ideas for a literature review together [closed]
I would like to construct a literature review for an academic paper. I am stating what each paper presents, what their contribution was, and the strength of their argument is.
3 Reading Tea Leaves: ...
- 111
2
votes
1
answer
140
views
Effort equivalence between video course and written course
If 1 page of a technical course is worth 1 point, how many points is 1 hour of a technical video course worth, creation effort-wise?
Background and context:
I work in academia in a technical field (...
- 37
0
votes
1
answer
158
views
Can I use a quote from a fictional character in a scientific essay? [duplicate]
I want to use the quote about the law of equivalent exchange from Fullmetal Alchemist and relate it to our chemistry lesson as an introduction for my essay. If it's possible, how can I use it?
- 1
0
votes
2
answers
54
views
Citation throughout my book rather than at the end as a bibliography
My book is a health/ wellness/ diet book/ metabolic issues etc. Throughout my book which I am 3/4 of the way through I have added in the website links after a piece of evidence. I have used 95% of my ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
63
views
Punctuating consecutive usage of "and"
What should a transcriptionist do if the speakers utters,
"You need to accept the consequences and deal with the problem and focus more on growth."
Be informed that transcription ...
0
votes
1
answer
53
views
A question on comma usage
I was proofreading an article when I stumbled upon the following sentence:
"The truth is, basically we haven't laid the foundation of the medical infrastructure in our country."
I know that ...
3
votes
2
answers
49
views
Referring to one of the coauthors--should I simply use his or her name?
For example, Wang and Zimmermann are writing a research paper together. In their paper, they want to refer to Zimmermann's previous work (possibly with other coauthors).
Should they write "In the ...
- 31
2
votes
2
answers
369
views
Are "floating quotations" to be avoided in academic writing?
I am finishing my dissertation, and my advisor was highly critical of my use of "floating quotations" or "stand-alone quotations." She directed me to a University of North Carolina ...
- 21
0
votes
1
answer
68
views
How to shorten the sentence with parallel words?
Today I want to write a sentence with the full version is:
"We use the same set of control variables as in our main regression that is controlling for firm-fixed effects and industry*year fixed ...
- 105
0
votes
1
answer
69
views
How should we use possessive form in an academic paper?
In daily writing, I normally use the possessive form as "shareholders' wealth" or "firms' cash holding", but it seems that in research, I did not see people use the " ' " ...
- 105
0
votes
1
answer
83
views
Providing examples for the sake of it
I am writing an academic text about linguistics. I have managed to obtain examples from endangered languages that are rarely included in research (one in particular has less than 500 speakers ...
0
votes
1
answer
88
views
Capitalizing the name of a specific Theorem
What is the standard criteria of capitalizing the theorem names when writing a paper? Consider, for example, the Unique Games Conjecture. There are the following three possibilities of writing it (or ...
- 113