Writing
This note is about writing as a form of academic expression, including writing by reserach students.
Cf.
General Principles
The Art of Writing: From Research Data and What’s in Your Head to an Influential Publication, some good general thoughts on how to go about writing in academia.
- make it engaging (create a sense of drama)
- persuade the reader
- ask the why question (see the world as bizarre)
Dry but good thoughts at the start and end plus a balanced, pragmatic approach to grammar and syntax, based on recent research.
Pinker, Steven. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. New York: Penguin, 2015.
Abbreviations
Do not use abbreviations unless necessary.
Alienating the Audience: How Abbreviations Hamper Scientific Communication
Writing as Structured Production
Related to the literature and ideas on the "learning object" ontologies. An approach that aims to create modular and reusable learning content.
On the forms of structure, see Ontology.
Principles
Think about writing as software development or engineering.
Think about your writing tools as your integrated development environment (IDE).
This is NOT about automation, it is about consistency, findability, coping with complexity.
Manual work is necessary and friction is beneficial as a way to generate ideas, cross-check for consistency, etc.
All variables defined, all used in the same way (think terminology, key concepts, key methods).
All objects have standard interfaces: something goes in something goes out.
You want to be able to move, link, check all with as little friction as possible.
You can come up with typical object types: thesis, child - chapter, child - section, child - argument point, same level: description, same level: evidence, etc.
You want it to be easy to parse, well commented, easy to check for errors, easy to refactor.
Structure it for production, not just for presentation.
Typical Entities
Constants
Definition (software analogy: class definition).
Technical term. Refer to a definition of provide a definition at first mention and use consistently. Maintain a list of all technical terms in a separate document. Benefit: consistency, easy of refactoring, ensures that the writer introduced the terms at first mentions, encourages background research and reflection of what terms to use.
Variables
Concepts. Like a class. Has a definition but can have many properties, functions, inputs, and outputs.
Functions
Argument points. Takes input, does some work, produces and output.
Tools
The tools are not that relevant here, it is about the production of academic writing.
As with software programming, many approaches, and languages are possible. Often, development environments with more flexibility and a large user base win.
Scrivener | Literature & Latte (literatureandlatte.com) is a program that supports modules and some types such as characters. Not flexible enough.
Dendron is a program that supports many types, modules, refactoring but is not intended for long-form writing and is better for note-taking.
Tutorials
Technical Writing | Google Developers
Note Taking and Building
Ahrens, Sönke. How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking. 2nd ed. 2017. Reprint, North Charleston: CreateSpace, 2022.
Credits
Systems for crediting and describing contributions of multiple authors include:
PhD Writing
Rodgers, Paul A., and Joyce Yee, eds. The Routledge Companion to Design Research. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Murray, Rowena. How to Write a Thesis: Develop Good Writing Habits, Overcome Writer’s Block, Understand the Assessment Process, Get the Most from Your Supervisor. 3rd ed. 2002. Reprint, Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2011.
Leavy, Patricia. The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Creswell, John W. Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2009.
Holliday, Adrian. Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. London: Sage, 2007.
By Publication
Smith, Susan. PhD by Published Work: A Practical Guide for Success. New York: Palgrave, 2015.
Peacock, Susi. “The PhD by Publication.” International Journal of Doctoral Studies 12 (2017): 123–35. https://doi.org/10/gjhzfk.
Durling, David. “Understanding the PhD by Publication.” In Design Learning for Tomorrow: Booklet of the 2nd International Conference for Design Education Researchers, edited by Janne Beate Reitan, Ingvild Digranes, and Liv Merete Nielsen, 1–12. Oslo: HiOA, 2013.
Paltridge, Brian, and Sue Starfield. “The PhD by Publication in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Cross Country Analysis.” Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2023, 1–12. https://doi.org/10/gshdkj.
Reviews
See Review
Torraco, Richard J. “Writing Integrative Literature Reviews: Using the Past and Present to Explore the Future.” Human Resource Development Review 15, no. 4 (2016): 404–28. https://doi.org/10/f9fps8.
Articles
Murray, Rowena. Writing for Academic Journals. 3rd ed. 2005. Reprint, Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2013.
Perneger, Thomas V., and Patricia M. Hudelson. “Writing a Research Article: Advice to Beginners.” International Journal for Quality in Health Care 16, no. 3 (June 1, 2004): 191–92. https://doi.org/10/cnk3cb.
Turbek, Sheela P., Taylor M. Chock, Kyle Donahue, Caroline A. Havrilla, Angela M. Oliverio, Stephanie K. Polutchko, Lauren G. Shoemaker, and Lara Vimercati. “Scientific Writing Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Undergraduate Writing in the Biological Sciences.” The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 97, no. 4 (2016): 417–26. https://doi.org/10/ggbp7v.
Belcher, Wendy Laura. Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. California: Sage, 2009.
Books
Cf. Books
References
This is a good overview to read for all, no need to agree with everything. Uses contemporary grammatical notions and common sense.
Pinker, Steven. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century. New York: Penguin, 2015.
Mensh, Brett, and Konrad Kording. ‘Ten Simple Rules for Structuring Papers’. PLOS Computational Biology 13, no. 9 (2017): e1005619. https://doi.org/10/ckqp.
Nelson, Ada L. ‘Structured Writing: A Systems Engineering Approach’. In IPCC 91 Proceedings The Engineered Communication, 1:162–68. IEEE, 1991. https://doi.org/10/ddcz75.
Horn, Robert E. ‘Structured Writing as a Paradigm’. In Instructional Development: State of the Art, edited by Alexander Romiszowski and Charles Dills, 22. Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications, 1998.
Verbert, Katrien, Jelena Jovanovic, Erik Duval, Dragan Gasevic, and Michael Meire. ‘Ontology-Based Learning Content Repurposing: The ALOCoM Framework’. International Journal on E-Learning 5, no. 1 (2006): 67–74.
Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.
Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing About Art. 11th ed. Always Learning. 1988. Reprint, Boston: Pearson, 2015.
Gardiner, Maria, and Hugh Kearns. “Turbocharge Your Writing Today.” Nature 475, no. 7354 (July 2011): 129–30. https://doi.org/10/ftrk4n.
Subnotes