RESEARCH BACK UP

1.0 INTRODUCTION The importance of the citation and reference tradition in science is underlined by devoting two study units to 'Citing and Arranging References.' In order to ensure that you have learned the fundamental issues as thoroughly as possible, the salient points of the first two parts of Module 3 Unit 2 are summarised as the first component of this unit. Thus, you are expected to regard Module 3 Unit 3 as essentially a continuation of Module 3 Unit 2, the one helping to reinforce the other in your learning process. Two important 'systems' of citing works and arranging them logically and consistently are described for you in parts two and three of this unit. They are described essentially as alternatives to the 'name and year system’ described in Module 3 Unit 2. In other words, only one of the three alternative systems may be used in citing and arranging references in any type of scientific writing. It is always wrong to switch from one system to anoth...

1.0 INTRODUCTION In preparing a title for a technical report, you would do well to remember one salient fact: That title will be read by scores, possibly hundreds, of people. Perhaps few people, if any, will read the entire report, but many people will read the title for various reasons and at different points in time. Therefore, all words in the title of your report should be chosen with great care, and their association with one another must be carefully managed. The most common error in defective titles, and certainly the most damaging in terms of comprehension, is faulty syntax (word order). What is a good title? You may define it as the fewest possible words that adequately describe the contents of a technical report, of a scientific paper, thesis, dissertation or a book. You will learn all about how to select and prepare a good title in this unit. This unit is divided into five parts. The first part shows you how to write short, rather than long titles. The second commends s...

1.0 INTRODUCTION The contents of Module 1 Unit 1 to Module 3 Unit 3 emphasise the characteristics of 'technical report writing and then, gradually, almost imperceptably, incorporate major elements of writing for publication in a scientific journal. This approach enables you to learn all that you need to know about technical report writing, as well as prepare you for writing a scientific paper, the ultimate goal of scientific research. It is now time for you to learn, formally, what it takes to write for publication in a scientific journal. You should also find this unit helpful in rewriting a technical report, or parts thereof, for publication in a scientific journal. The unit is presented in five parts. Part one describes how a comprehensive -evolved, definition of a scientific paper has and explains why it is important for you to get familiar with all aspects of the definition in order to appreciate the definitive transition from writing a technical report to writing a scient...

1.0 INTRODUCTION In the first section of your technical report or paper, the Introduction, you stated (or should have) the methodology employed in the study: If necessary, you also defended the reasons for your choice of a particular method over competing methods. Now in Materials and Methods, you must give the full details. The main purpose of the Materials and Methods section is to provide enough detail that a competent worker can repeat the experiments or field surveys. Many (probably most) readers of your paper or report will skip this section, because they already know (from the Introduction) the general methods you used and they probably have no interest in the experimental detail. However, careful writing of this section is critically important because the cornerstone of the scientific method requires that your results or findings, to be of scientific merit, must be reproducible. And, for the results to be adjudged reproducible, you must provide the basis...

1.0 INTRODUCTION For most readers of technical reportsthe Findings section ranks second in importance only to the Executive Summary (see Module 1 Unit 2). For experienced readers of scientific papers, however, the Findings or Results section is considered by far the most important, even more important than the Abstract (see Module 3 Unit 4). The reason for this is quite simple: the reader learns what is new in the work, and how well the new material has been handled by the author, typically in the Findings section. In other words, it is the Findings section that sells your technical report to its target audience, or commends/condemns it in the eyes of the established international community of scientists. Because English is not the mother tongue of the vast majority of scientists who do and write science in developing countries, their handling of the Findings section of scientific papers often presents them with much difficulty. And since such difficulty revolves ar...

1.0 INTRODUCTION The 'Discussion' is harder to define than the other sections of a technical report or scientific paper. As a result, it is usually the hardest section to write. And, whether you are aware of it or not, many technical reports and many scientific papers fail to register the authors' desired impact on readers because of a faulty discussion. Indeed, it is quite common to have valid and interesting data in a scientific paper that is rejected by a good journal, solely on account of its poor discussion. Even more likely, the true meaning of the data may be completely obscured by the interpretation presented in the discussion, again resulting in rejection. When this happens in respect of a technical report, the author may not be given a second chance, as several journals often do. Many, perhaps most, discussions are too long and verbose. The most common explanation for such faulty writing is that the author is doubtful about his facts (Results or Findings...