Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #academicWriting
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10 Tips for Jumpstarting Your Writing
Writing can be daunting, whether it's an academic paper or a blog post. Here are some tips to help you jump-start and sustain your writing process.
✍️🧵 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Writing can be daunting, whether it's an academic paper or a blog post. Here are some tips to help you jump-start and sustain your writing process.
✍️🧵 twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
🎯 Define Your Goal: Before you start writing, clearly define what you hope to accomplish with your piece. This gives you a clear direction and makes the writing process less overwhelming,
🗺️ Create an Outline: An outline is a roadmap for your writing. It helps you organize your thoughts, stay focused on your main points, and ensures you don't leave out any important information.
What Makes a Research Paper Truly "Academic"? 📚🔬
It took me 2 years to finally get this insight 🤔
🧵
It took me 2 years to finally get this insight 🤔
🧵
1/ Is it the use of formal words? 🤷
Business writings use formal words too.
Is it tables and tables of data? 📊
We get data reports all the time, but they aren't research papers.
Business writings use formal words too.
Is it tables and tables of data? 📊
We get data reports all the time, but they aren't research papers.
2/ 🗂️ What makes a research paper "academic" is the presence of Research Arguments. 🎓
❌ No, it is not about how researchers compete or argue about science.
❌ No, it is not about how researchers compete or argue about science.
Thesis Writing 101
I have edited 100,000+ words and tens of theses in science and history (more than I can keep track of!) over the last ten years.
Here are 17 insights from my experience that can help you improve the quality of your #AcademicWriting 🧵
I have edited 100,000+ words and tens of theses in science and history (more than I can keep track of!) over the last ten years.
Here are 17 insights from my experience that can help you improve the quality of your #AcademicWriting 🧵
1. Read aloud: Reading aloud helps to catch errors that were overlooked during silent reading. Find the 'Read Aloud' feature on MS Word under 'Review.'
2. Bring coherency: Make sure that each paragraph flows logically so that the overall #thesis structure is well-organized.
2. Bring coherency: Make sure that each paragraph flows logically so that the overall #thesis structure is well-organized.
3. Improve formatting: Format your #thesis according to your university's guidelines. Adjust the font type, size, header, and footer.
4. Use citation management tools: Using these tools (Mendeley, EndNote, etc.) can help you save time & avoid errors in writing your bibliography.
4. Use citation management tools: Using these tools (Mendeley, EndNote, etc.) can help you save time & avoid errors in writing your bibliography.
Beware 'persuasive communication devices' in academic writing !
In this brief #OpenAccess article published in @eLife, we encourage authors, reviewers, and editors to reflect on the (mis)use of persuasive communication devices in #academicwriting 1/ 🧵
elifesciences.org/articles/88654
In this brief #OpenAccess article published in @eLife, we encourage authors, reviewers, and editors to reflect on the (mis)use of persuasive communication devices in #academicwriting 1/ 🧵
elifesciences.org/articles/88654
The article identifies 22 such persuasive tools, organized in four categories :
“Mischaracterizing the state-of-the-art”
... misleads the reader about the novelty or strength of the research by making inaccurate statements about the current state of scientific knowledge 2/
“Mischaracterizing the state-of-the-art”
... misleads the reader about the novelty or strength of the research by making inaccurate statements about the current state of scientific knowledge 2/
“Overselling”
... inflates the perceived importance of the research 3/
... inflates the perceived importance of the research 3/
What makes a well-written book?📚
Check out the following #writing tips.
Suggestions from editors at McGill-Queen’s University Press (@McGillQueensUP), University of British Columbia Press (@UBCPress) & University of Toronto Press (@utpress).
Hope this is helpful! Thread: 🧵👇
Check out the following #writing tips.
Suggestions from editors at McGill-Queen’s University Press (@McGillQueensUP), University of British Columbia Press (@UBCPress) & University of Toronto Press (@utpress).
Hope this is helpful! Thread: 🧵👇
1/ Write clearly! Read Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, and follow that advice. Discussing complicated ideas does not necessarily mean complicated writing. (Randy Schmidt, @randyubcp) #ElementsofStyle
1/20: Enhancing research visibility is crucial for making an impact. Here's the first tip: consistently use the same version of your name and affiliation throughout your academic career. This ensures better traceability and recognition. #ResearchVisibility #AcademicImpact
2/20: Catch your readers' attention by repeating key phrases in the abstract. It improves the discoverability of your research and enhances its visibility. Don't underestimate the power of a well-crafted abstract! #ResearchTips #AcademicWriting
3/20: Boost the visibility of your research by assigning relevant keywords to your manuscript. This helps search engines and databases categorize your work accurately. Choose keywords wisely for optimal discoverability. #ResearchVisibility #Keywords
@momin_rayhan @AeaData While the verdict is still out on using ChatGPT or other AI tools for your manuscript, here are a few articles that can be of help... 🧵
#AcademicTwitter
#AcademicTwitter
@momin_rayhan @AeaData 1. Best Practices for Using AI When Writing Scientific Manuscripts: pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.10…
#AI #AcademicWriting
#AI #AcademicWriting
@momin_rayhan @AeaData 2. ChatGPT for Research Writing: Game Changer or Ethical Risk?: researcher.life/blog/article/c…
#ChatGPT #Research
#ChatGPT #Research
Introducing our all-new APA Citation Generator - the easiest way to generate reference entries for your sources! Our AI-powered Generator combines automatic data capture with inline editing, allowing you to generate accurate APA citations effortlessly⏱
👉 Here’s how it works:
1️⃣ Select the source material
2️⃣ Select the citation format
3️⃣ Add metadata by copy-pasting raw text, using the search bar to find the source by URL, DOI, or ISBN, or by inputting field values directly
4️⃣ Click ‘Generate Citation’ and voila! 💥
1️⃣ Select the source material
2️⃣ Select the citation format
3️⃣ Add metadata by copy-pasting raw text, using the search bar to find the source by URL, DOI, or ISBN, or by inputting field values directly
4️⃣ Click ‘Generate Citation’ and voila! 💥
Instantly generate up-to-date APA-formatted citations and reference entries — with no ads in sight! Plus, your citations will automatically be saved, so you don’t have to worry about losing your work. 🔒
I am a slow, slow writer. Or so I think.
I write linearly, each sentence and paragraph needs to be done before I can start the next and every morning I first rework what I wrote the day before.
For fun, I tracked myself. These are the results. 🧵
#ProgressTweet
I write linearly, each sentence and paragraph needs to be done before I can start the next and every morning I first rework what I wrote the day before.
For fun, I tracked myself. These are the results. 🧵
#ProgressTweet
First, with “tracking” I just mean I start every day with a fresh copy of my file. The new file gets its date changed, the old file goes into the “old versions” folder. This way, I can always undo pretty much anything, and I have a folder with all previous versions of my paper…
… yes, depending on the progress, this could mean hundreds of files.
📕A thread on #academicWriting
These months are marking the end of my experience as a Section Editor for the @ASCEpublishing @ASCE_EWRI Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. Here's a list of common issues I found in the papers I handled during the past years:
These months are marking the end of my experience as a Section Editor for the @ASCEpublishing @ASCE_EWRI Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. Here's a list of common issues I found in the papers I handled during the past years:
1. A VERY common issue I found were papers with a poor Introduction. What does that mean?
1.1 Weak or confusing description of the macro problem(s) addressed in the study ➡️ Make your problem statement clear, tangible, and accessible to a broad audience.
Failing to plan – is planning to fail.
Whether you start a PhD, secured a grant or have a project,
you'll probably make a plan.
As an ex-CEO I did a lot of planning.
Now I apply it to my PhD, here's how:
👇
#ScienceTwitter, #academicWriting
Whether you start a PhD, secured a grant or have a project,
you'll probably make a plan.
As an ex-CEO I did a lot of planning.
Now I apply it to my PhD, here's how:
👇
#ScienceTwitter, #academicWriting
The first step is to zoom out as far as you can.
See your strategy. See the end goal. See each milestone.
See your strategy. See the end goal. See each milestone.
Now zoom into your next milestone.
And make a new strategy on how to achieve just this.
Do the tasks seem doable?
Then it's time to use a board to organise yourself.
And make a new strategy on how to achieve just this.
Do the tasks seem doable?
Then it's time to use a board to organise yourself.
I have never seen so many anti-homework people in my life. I understand there should be some constraints around it and special cases but walking into a college campus with no preparation for how to manage your time, study on your own, organize, reflect,...🧵
is a disaster waiting to happen. Some of these students are the ones I teach and they are so lost that it breaks my heart. They are running underwater while some of their classmates run circles around them. Starting out behind the eight ball. #PurposefulProfessor #NoireSTEMinist
I feel that the main people saying this have never seen the other end and will blame the school and the professor when their "No having homework in high school kid" is failing out after their freshman year. 🧵#PurposefulProfessor
Ran a #LiteratureReview session with our wonderful Professional Doctorate candidates today. It's one of my favourite workshops because I get to (over-excitedly) share ideas/tools they might find useful. For all you #AcademicWriting fans out there, here you go:
🧵
🧵
The Academic Phrasebank. How I love thee.
Want to give reasons why a method was rejected? Want to signal a transition in your writing? Want to discuss your findings? BUT CANNOT FIND THE WORDS? The Academic Phraseback to the rescue!
phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk
Want to give reasons why a method was rejected? Want to signal a transition in your writing? Want to discuss your findings? BUT CANNOT FIND THE WORDS? The Academic Phraseback to the rescue!
phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk
The Conceptual Synthesis Excel Dump Technique as created by @raulpacheco
Using an Excel spreadsheet to map the literature - citation tracing, concept saturation, and results mind-mapping all in one. A joy!
raulpacheco.org/2016/06/synthe…
Using an Excel spreadsheet to map the literature - citation tracing, concept saturation, and results mind-mapping all in one. A joy!
raulpacheco.org/2016/06/synthe…
Some useful things to try to beat #writersblock in the #PhD and get back in flow. A 🧵
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
#phdchat #phdlife #phdtips #AcademicTwitter @OpenAcademics @PhDVoice @PhD_Genie #thesiswriting #academicwriting #researchwriting #phdthesis #postgrad #Dissertation
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
#phdchat #phdlife #phdtips #AcademicTwitter @OpenAcademics @PhDVoice @PhD_Genie #thesiswriting #academicwriting #researchwriting #phdthesis #postgrad #Dissertation
1/ first: don't sit there forcing yourself to get the motivation back. Nobody in the history of ever got motivated by telling themselves to feel motivated.
Instead, acknowledge you're not feeling it & shift focus instead. Read on... 👇🏼
Instead, acknowledge you're not feeling it & shift focus instead. Read on... 👇🏼
2/ Try reading something that usually gives you the academic equivalent of fanny flutters (!). Your favourite journo article, your fave writer, a section of your research journal, an interesting joy-giving bit of data.
That might spark some ideas to bring back into your writing
That might spark some ideas to bring back into your writing
#AcademicTwitter How do you manage academic writing, especially when English is not ur native language? Feel free to share your methods. You may help others in ways you cannot imagine.
@dissertology @PartoutProf @career_re @MasterAcademia_ @ThePhDPlace #academicWriting
@dissertology @PartoutProf @career_re @MasterAcademia_ @ThePhDPlace #academicWriting
Following @PartoutProf's post on bias against non-natives and @Misspoetry5's struggles regarding academic writing, I share my methods of managing academic writing. Hope some find them helpful.
#academicadvice #academicWriting
#academicadvice #academicWriting
I don't feel ashamed of using help, of course not paid ones, when I don't have any funding. But the following methods and tools helped me a lot.
#academicadvice #academicWriting
#academicadvice #academicWriting
We are live tweeting from the #GetCleanThinking event.
Today we are joined by @BenFranta, @schipper_lisa of @ClimDevJournal, @climateincolour & @LifeEarthEnvLSK.
Today we are joined by @BenFranta, @schipper_lisa of @ClimDevJournal, @climateincolour & @LifeEarthEnvLSK.
.@LifeEarthEnvLSK is proving insights on publishing trends in climate research.
By 2014 the top 5 countries publishing climate research were:
- US
- China
- UK
- Australia
- Germany
#GetCleanThinking
By 2014 the top 5 countries publishing climate research were:
- US
- China
- UK
- Australia
- Germany
#GetCleanThinking
What are the changes between 1979 and now?
- 90 papers in 1979
- 170k papers in 2020
And a much much diverse mix of fields.
- 90 papers in 1979
- 170k papers in 2020
And a much much diverse mix of fields.
This term I'm realizing a lot of students in the liberal arts aren't sure how to/aren't comfortable with reading academic articles, books, etc. But this is vital! So here's a thread. 1/10
I just want to start by saying I remember crying over my workload at Colgate because as a first generation student, and a chronically ill/disabled student, I was totally overwhelmed by the page counts I was expected to read. 2/10
Now I know that I should have been skimming. And I should have been taking thoughtful notes, using notetaking software, that I could use to build a personal archive of content. 3/10
At Publisher Pro, we advocate independent open access publishing, because over the last 40 years, we've watched commercial journal publishers extract free labor from academics, make obscene profits, and give almost nothing back. #AcademicChatter #academicwriting #phdlife ctd.
When the oldest of us completed our PhDs in the 1980s, journals were mainly published by departments, universities, or professional organizations. Subscriptions were cheap. Most scholars subscribed to a few journals, while libraries ordered those most useful to their users.
But academic funding tightened in the US and UK during the Reagan & Thatcher years. Many journals found themselves strapped. Publishers offered what seemed a ready solution: they would manage journals, pay editors, distribute & market, while journals kept control over content.
It's rare that an academic paper, particularly in STEM, contains florid and philosophical language. The way this author discusses the history of waste though is beautiful. A thread: #academicwriting #stem #waste #history #AcademicChatter #writing pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20817263/
"It is incredible how much history is found at the end of a sewage
system"
system"
"There is no more reliable source of customs and behaviour of a society than its waste products and this fact is beyond the perception of the civilization. A sociological analysis that is more truthful than the analysis of a wastewater does not exist."
(1/5)
Some tips for the next generation of reviewers.
(Because mine is doomed!)
Your work as a reviewer consists of answering only three questions:
#AcademicChatter #AcademicWriting
Some tips for the next generation of reviewers.
(Because mine is doomed!)
Your work as a reviewer consists of answering only three questions:
#AcademicChatter #AcademicWriting
(2/5)
1. Is the science sound, with a logical narrative and well-supported results and conclusions?
2. Is there enough info to allow verifying and reproducing the data?
3. Are there obscure passages that you (or a potential reader) can’t go through?
1. Is the science sound, with a logical narrative and well-supported results and conclusions?
2. Is there enough info to allow verifying and reproducing the data?
3. Are there obscure passages that you (or a potential reader) can’t go through?
(3/5)
Don’t play the publisher’s game of “this paper is top x% of the field.”
You likely don’t have enough info to judge and will let prejudice act.
Consider yourself a gatekeeper, avoiding intruders crashing into the party. You shouldn’t care whether the invitees are handsome.
Don’t play the publisher’s game of “this paper is top x% of the field.”
You likely don’t have enough info to judge and will let prejudice act.
Consider yourself a gatekeeper, avoiding intruders crashing into the party. You shouldn’t care whether the invitees are handsome.
#AcademicWriting PRO TIP:
Reading (a lot, broadly, deeply, widely) will make you a better writer.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
Reading (a lot, broadly, deeply, widely) will make you a better writer.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I feel EXACTLY the same kinds of stresses you all do:
"I have so much to WRITE I can't read!"
"I need to grade/write letters of reference/participate in this committee/peer review this article"
Make time for reading folks. Otherwise, you WILL fall behind for sure.
"I have so much to WRITE I can't read!"
"I need to grade/write letters of reference/participate in this committee/peer review this article"
Make time for reading folks. Otherwise, you WILL fall behind for sure.
If you need like you could use some help with how to strategize your reading, my Reading Strategies page links to plenty of blog posts that describe a repertoire of various approaches and levels of reading raulpacheco.org/resources/read…
Sharing some tips for improving the abstract section of medical papers! As an editor, I spend a lot of time on the abstract. It’s often the only part of a paper that readers see due to access limitations and paywalls. #MedTwitter #academicWriting #MedicalEducation 1/
Journals differ in how much space they give for abstracts and how they are structured. Rule one is to follow the journal’s instructions to authors, but it’s generally better to err on the side of more detail. The abstract should stand on its own. 2/
I’m making the assumptions here that this is an abstract for a primary research paper and that the abstract is more or less structured: there are sections with headers like Objective/Methods/Results/Conclusions, or it’s expected that those topics are included. 3/
I thought I would share my personal experience of how I realized I was dyslexic. Everything started when I first came to UK to do my A-levels. I always struggled with writing but never understood why. In Russia back in 2007-2009 dyslexia wasn’t recognized as widely.
So when I came to UK, teachers in my school assumed all my struggles were due to the English language barrier. I couldn’t understand why my spoken English was so good but my writing English didn’t match it. It was so strange for me.
Then my school provided me with English tutor, who couldn’t recognize my dyslexia either. I do understand why not because I was only in UK for a year at this point and as international student chances of me being dyslexic were low.
One of my side-projects is a website on how to write better papers, mostly for social scientists. howtowriteanacademicpaper.com/index.html Here is a thread with the posts you can find there #writingcommunity #academicwriting #postdoc #PhDthesis #AcademicTwitter #researchpapers #PhDChat /1
My most-viewed post is the one on how to write simply – how to cut the crap, that is. I was inspired by William Zinsser’s ‘On writing well’ (highly recommended!). A workbook accompanies the post with exercises on how to simplify your own text. howtowriteanacademicpaper.com/how-to-write-s… /2
I plan a series of posts on writing different parts of a paper: the abstract, the conclusions, etc. For now, here's a piece on how to get a nice title for your paper howtowriteanacademicpaper.com/getting-the-ti…. (Laughed out loud with the terrible titles academics, myself including, come up with..)/3
