Questions tagged [research]
Questions about how to conduct research, and how to incorporate your research into your writing.
173
questions
8
votes
1answer
2k views
Steven Johnson's DevonThink writing workflow: is creating & accumulating 50-500 word snippets worth the effort?
Steven Berlin Johnson talks in this much cited article about his research workflow using DevonThink. In short, he advocates for creating 50-500 word focused text snippets from your research readings ...
4
votes
2answers
2k views
Structure for computer science research paper
I'm writing my first undergraduate research paper for computer science and I think my lack of experience is starting to get on my supervisor's nerves. I've written a program that collects video ...
1
vote
4answers
103 views
Do I include the method of my research in the title?
For my Masters Thesis, I am trying to find an appropriate title. The field of the research is in Forestry and Geographic Information Science (GIS).
Currently my title is the following:
"Determining ...
1
vote
1answer
115 views
Find Information For Describing A Nuclear Power Plant
I want to start my story connecting the government flaws to the main characters life before he was even born. I thought since the settings a somewhat Communist United Soviet United government, A ...
6
votes
3answers
654 views
Troubles with unfamiliar locations and settings based in the real world
I have a question: is it hard to write about a foreign country/place?
I know that Dostoevsky was Russian, his themes and settings were inspired or entirely based by Russia/the Russian culture.
But I ...
7
votes
1answer
257 views
Researching sensitive subjects
How do you research subjects for a novel that might be sensitive? Both cultural and jurisdictional.
Example: I usually try to "research" the setting and characters for my texts from real life. When I ...
2
votes
3answers
358 views
Self-contained software environment for authoring research papers
Does a self-contained environment for authoring research papers exist? Clearly, the concept might be a little unclear, so here's an attempt to better define what I mean:
All sources used would be ...
6
votes
1answer
307 views
How to do literature review
We often hear that literature review (LR) is not mere summarizing the writings of other, rather it is scrutinizing finding the material relevant to one's own research and the gaps to be filled.
Can ...
7
votes
2answers
4k views
How to convert DOI to citation information
The DOI website will redirect to the article webpage on the journal official website. Is there is a public automated system to translate DOI to citation information?
This can be beneficial for ...
7
votes
1answer
142 views
Are there online research resources that cater to writers?
I tend to run into a bunch of domain-specific questions when I'm writing, such as:
What happens to a jet flying at low altitude, at super-sonic speeds, when its cockpit gets breached?
What's the ...
1
vote
1answer
229 views
Can anyone direct me to writers' resources on AI or robotic ethics? [closed]
I am in the process of writing a science fiction novel that will involve a large quantity and variety of synthetic life forms. I have been highly influenced by the works of Asimov, and while I may ...
5
votes
3answers
324 views
Should I research what my protagonist’s job would involve, or just create it all from my imagination?
My protagonist works in a pharma company and I really don't have a clue about how they work, what kind of a life they live and all.
It is required for the plot to make him work in a company which ...
3
votes
3answers
489 views
Picture-based Identification Dictionary
A long time ago, I dropped by a session of a creative writing course where the teacher brought a lot of reference books. One of them was a lovely picture/sketch-based identification dictionary. There ...
-2
votes
1answer
209 views
How to write an academic paper?
I'm looking for resources on how to write an academic paper. The Web really lacks of those.
Edit: Standback's and A. Martin's answers perfectly illustrates what I expect.
5
votes
2answers
582 views
How do you come up with a fictional character name in a historical era/region?
How do you research to find character names? Especially when it's long ago, not European, and the culture was totally different from what the region has now. For example, how would you generate names ...
4
votes
4answers
695 views
How credible is wikipedia? [duplicate]
I understand that this question relates more to wikipedia than it does writing but...
If I was going to use wikipedia for a source for a research project (for example) would the information be ...
1
vote
0answers
118 views
Looking for story that deliberately overused “get” [closed]
It was in Writer's Digest, probably the early 1980s, when I saw this. One of the regular columnists (or was it an irregular columnist?) went on a brief rant about careless writers overusing the word "...
14
votes
7answers
2k views
Should you read your own genre?
In terms of novel writing, I tend to avoid my own genre, at least for the most part. Some of the reasons why:
Genre Blindness / Genre Trap:
Too much reading of your own genre blinds you to the ...
15
votes
5answers
3k views
What is a good methodology for researching a historical novel?
I'm having difficulty with the research aspect of my historical novel. This question was originally going to be "how much research should one do to write a historical novel?" to which, answering my ...
2
votes
2answers
179 views
What help is there for a technical reseacher/writer that can't edit?
I've got a personal professional goal - I want to write a thesis, build a system, change the world. That's my way of saying that my thesis needs to be something I can develop into a functional system, ...
5
votes
2answers
1k views
How do I find good interview subjects?
I have an idea for a series of science articles, but I don't have a strong background in the particular field.
What's a good way to identify experts who I could interview to shore up the details and ...
10
votes
7answers
308 views
How deeply should I study the background of a community before writing about it?
By "background", I mean the dialects, habits and culture of the community. Also, I wonder if it is even possible to write about a community without being a part of it?
I am only asking this in terms ...
17
votes
2answers
9k views
Citing parts of a thesis or dissertation using IEEE referencing
I've found myself extensively referencing parts of theses and dissertations for my own research paper. The IEEE editorial style manual suggests that they should be referenced in the following form:
...
