Writing a paper for publication

Activity

The following sample abstracts illustrate how different types of academic paper could be structured. Complete this activity to discover a structure you can use in your own work. Choose the paper type you're interested in from the accordions below then follow the instructions to complete the activity.

• Empirical paper abstract

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  (adapted from Richardson et al., 2016)

• Review paper abstract

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  (adapted from Shadiev & Sintawati, 2020)

• Modelling paper abstract

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  (adapted from Raamsdonk, 2018)

• 'Think piece' or Theoretical paper abstract

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  (adapted from Osberg & Biesta, 2010)

The writing stage is exciting! It’s where you can see your ideas coming to life. However, getting started and staying focused can be challenging. The following tips will help you to avoid procrastination and stay on track.

• Producing words
  • Set up systems to help you keep going, e.g. ‘write 300-1000 words a day five days a week’ or ‘complete at least 300 words before I do any reading or check emails’. Having a system, however modest, can sustain writing over time.
  • Try generative writing techniques, which involve writing continuously without correction or judgement for a short interval or writing to prompts, such as 'My key findings are...', to get your ideas flowing.
  • Try to avoid perfectionism – initially, getting the writing done is more important than getting it perfect. You might find that the act of writing offloads and clarifies your ideas and helps you structure them much better than thinking alone.
  • Consider approaching your colleagues or peers to set up a writing group that meets to work quietly for a set length of time, e.g. 25 minutes, then breaks for 5 minutes for a social discussion between writing blocks.
• Developing quality
  • Use read-to-write strategies: Look through some recent publications in your target journal to observe how they are put together – notice the typical structures, writing moves and terminology used. This awareness can help you to attune your paper to the journal’s expectations or deviate from them in an informed, justified way. Understanding the conventional way of writing in the journal also helps you to balance ‘convention and novelty’ (Patriotta, 2017) in joining and adding to the conversation.
  • Signpost your ideas throughout to help your readers navigate your writing. You can use the Academic Phrasebank to choose signposting expressions for different sections of your paper.
  • You may need to refine your paper multiple times, with a different focus each time: content, organisation and structure, writing style and language expression.
• Writing as a social practice
  • Writing can be a fun and social activity. Try to get support and feedback from trusted peers, supervisors, mentors or advisers during the writing process as this can boost your confidence and give you the reader’s perspective.
  • Connecting to other graduate researchers can also help you to shape and test your ideas through engaging in scholarly dialogue. When published, your ideas will be in the public domain and become public good.
  • As you write, imagine yourself as an authoritative writer speaking to your journal’s audience (Thomson & Kamler, 2013). This visualisation can help enhance your sense of authority and nurture a writer identity.
  • Find a writing mate or join a writing group to review one another’s papers. This will not only give you feedback on your paper but also the experience of being a reader-reviewer of others’ work. This informal peer review experience can help prepare you for the more formal peer review process of a journal.
  • If you’re co-authoring your paper, this can be a great opportunity to learn from others and become a collaborative writer. Setting clear parameters and establishing supportive relationships are key in co-authorship.
• Asking for feedback strategically

  When asking for feedback, you can guide the person giving you feedback using these suggestions from Thomson and Kamler (2013, p. 173) by asking them to:

  • Tell you their summary of your argument
  • Tell you what point they think the article is trying to make
  • Name two strengths of the paper
  • Identify the most important improvement you should make to achieve the biggest 'gains' excluding spelling and grammar points.