GRASP Graduate Research Advanced Skills Program RESEARCH WRITING

GRASP - Graduate Research Advanced Skills Program RESEARCH WRITING SERIES 7 Editing and proofreading your journal paper Adherence to the processes of continuous editing and final, meticulous proofreading of your journal paper optimizes the chance of it being accepted for publication. This workshop offers guidance and practice in both these important aspects of successful research writing.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper AIMS OF TODAY’S CLASS By the end of the workshop, participants will • be aware of publication and writing advice available from major academic publishers • understand the differences between editing and proofreading • appreciate the importance of closely following a particular journal’s editorial and formatting guidelines • understand be able to apply different levels of editing • know that editing at the various levels is a continuous process • have practiced editing and proofreading an excerpt from an article, and or an excerpt from their own writing

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BEFORE YOU WRITE – SOME GOOD ADVICE FROM A MAJOR PUBLISHER (TAYLOR & FRANCIS) https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=fx. YVy. L_s 3 P 0

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper Elsevier’s ‘Researcher Academy’ Elsevier Researcher Academy - Unlock your research potential

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper Before thinking about editing, consider some good advice on “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) 202 -209. “In this article, we discuss how to improve one’s success rate when submitting manuscripts to major journals. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal article Editing at the level of title, abstract, keywords • Does the title make you excited to read the manuscript? • Is the abstract clear, concise and jargon-free? • Do the key words capture the essence of your topic/contribution, and allow your work to be easily found by other researchers using the key data bases? (Adapted from The Learning Centre, Curtin University. 2012. “Editing Checklist”. ) See also: Tara Brabazon: (You Tube) “Vlog 43 – Journal titles, keywords and abstracts https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=0 FYxr 4 b. IKe 4

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) p. 204. Three main objectives for a good Introduction to a manuscript (i) “Focus the reader on the research question or purpose of the manuscript. ” (ii) “Establish the proper frame of reference for the reader. ” (historical development, current state of knowledge, theoretical orientation. ) (iii) “Identify the manuscript’s contribution to the field. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) p. 205. Guidelines for preparing hypotheses 1. “Avoid obvious hypotheses. ” 2. “Ensure each hypothesis focuses on a single, testable item. ” 3. “Limit the number of hypotheses in a single manuscript. ” 4. “Link hypotheses to theoretical development in the manuscript. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) p. 207. Consider the possible benefits of ‘methodological pluralism’. “Cross-fertilization from other disciplines is a good thing in boosting methodological and analytical rigor…. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) p. 207. Do not confuse ‘findings’, ‘interpretation’ and ‘discussion’. • The research findings section must be associated with qualitative and quantitative research reported on earlier in the manuscript. • In a review article or theoretical article, no findings section is required. • A true ‘Findings’ section should not have any interpretations or conclusions.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals” Peter La. Placa et. al. Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) p. 208. Writing an effective conclusion • “…present global and specific conclusions in relation to the objectives of [the] research. ” • “…show the research question has been responded to and what is the contribution to knowledge. ” DO NOT: - summarize the contents of the manuscript - overstate the significance of the research

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper EDITING IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS It broadly occurs at three levels Macro • • the significance and clarity of the research question or hypothesis the efficacy of the methodology and methods the coherence and cogency of the overall argument the description, interpretation and discussion of findings Intermediate • logical and coherent organization of sections, sub-sections and paragraphs Micro • syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper Editing at the sentence level (Adapted from: ‘Editing Checklist’. The Learning Centre 2012. Curtin University) • Are sentences too long and/or complex? • Are sentences varied in length? • Have you used a combination of simple, complex and compound sentences? • Is punctuation correct? • Is your writing concise? Revise your knowedege of sentences http: //studyskills. curtin. edu. au/better-sentences/

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper Editing at the sentence level Try to avoid - redundancies (e. g. ‘small in size’, ‘black in colour’) - tautologies (e. g. ‘a terrible catastrophe’) - unclear expression (e. g. ‘it should be noted’) - vague expressions (e. g. ‘some’, ‘a few’) - informal language /colloquialisms (‘can’t’, ‘they’ll’) Adapted from: ‘Editing Checklist’. The Learning Centre 2012. Curtin University

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper The Paragraph level § The basic ‘logic’ of the paragraph is easily understood: inductive, deductive, mixed. § Topic sentences can be easily identified. § Transitional signals within and between paragraphs allow for smooth flow. See ‘Better Paragraphs in Research Writing’ Graduate Research Advanced Skills Program - Library

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper The Paragraph level Two main kinds of paragraph in scholarly writing: INDUCTIVE PARAGRAPH Begins with specific data, evidence or observations which will support the conclusion/claim at the end of the paragraph. DEDUCTIVE PARAGRAPH Begins with the central claim, which is then elaborated and supported by the data and evidence in the remainder of the paragraph.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper Editing for good grammar • Parallel construction – applied, compared, evaluated • Articles – a, an, the • Verb tense – keep it consistent – shows, reveals, applies, depends • Prepositions – of time, place, etc. – in, on, for, under Tip: remember the prepositional phrase as a whole.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper ENSURE THAT The Level of the Section § The sections follow the prescribed/suggested format of the journal. § The sections link together to form a convincing narrative/story. § The content is in the appropriate section (e. g. separate, findings, interpretation and discussion.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BASIC WRITING ERRORS (BWE) & HOW TO FIX THEM (Rosenwasser D and Jill Stephen. 2009/2012. Writing analytically. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. Pp. 309 -325. ) BWE 1 Sentence Fragments – where a group of words is only part of a sentence • It lacks a subject or predicate OR is a subordinate (dependent) clause ERROR “An interesting and provocative hypothesis. ” (lacks a predicate/verb about the subject) CORRECTION “An interesting and provocative hypothesis was presented. ” ERROR “The findings of the project were challenged by leading researchers in the field. Although this is not widely known. (a dependent clause - cannot be a sentence) CORRECTION “The findings of the project were challenged by leading researchers in the field, although this is not widely known. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 2 Comma Splice and Run-On Sentences • Comma Splice - where two independent clauses are connected (‘spliced’) with a comma ERROR “The results were inconclusive, they could not be accepted. ” CORRECTION “Because the results were inconclusive, they could not be accepted” “The results were inconclusive; they could not be accepted. ” • Run-On Sentence - combines two independent clauses without conjunction or punctuation ERROR “The sample population included a number of varieties the analysis needs to take this into account. ” CORRECTION “The sample population included a number of varieties. The analysis needs to take this into account. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 3 Errors in subject-verb agreement • Subject-verb agreement: the subject and verb must agree in number - singular with singular, plural with plural. ERROR “Another aspect of territoriality that differentiates humans from animals are their possession of ideas and objects. ” CORRECTION “Another aspect of territoriality that differentiates humans from animals is their possession of ideas and objects. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 4 Shifts in sentence structure – faulty predication affects meaning • “An error of ‘illogical mismatch’ between subject and predicate. ” ERROR “In 1992, the dissemination of the research results became available. ” CORRECTION “In 1992, the research results became available for dissemination. ” NOTE: The subject is changed from ‘dissemination’ to ‘research results’.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 5 Errors in pronoun reference With this error, it is unclear who or what is being referred to by the pronoun. Three kinds of error: • Pronoun- antecedent (dis)agreement – A pronoun must agree in number and gender with the noun or noun-phrase which it refers to. “It is wasteful if a researcher, after completing a project, refuses to share their findings. • Ambiguous reference - It should not be possible for a pronoun to conceivably refer to more than one noun. “Researchers are treated differently to politicians because they are not clear about their goals. ” • Broad reference – A pronoun refers loosely and broadly to a number of nouns in preceding clauses or sentences. “ Regardless of whether the experimental design and methods is confidential or widely known, they should be based soundly on established scientific principles. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 6 Misplaced modifier • Misplaced Modifier - modifiers qualify, limit or explain another element in a sentence. A misplaced modifier appears to modify the wrong word or words. ERROR “The research team designed the experiment with an innovative approach. ” CORRECTION “Using an innovative approach, the research team designed the experiment. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 7 Errors in using possessive apostrophes ERROR “Various scholars have discussed the results, and the interpretation’s differences are as marked as their similarities. ” CORRECTION “Various scholars have discussed the results, and the interpretations’ differences are as marked as their similarities. ” ERROR “ The supervisory committee finalised it’s recommendations. ” CORRECTION “ The supervisory committee finalised its recommendations. ”

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 8 Comma errors Commas are not meant to simply signify a pause, but rather to “distinguish the main clause from dependent elements such as subordinate clauses and long prepositional phrases. ” (Rosenwasser & Stephen, 2012, p. 321) ERROR Following the data collection the analysis was delayed due to technical problems with the software. CORRECTION Following the data collection, the analysis was delayed due to technical problems with the software. ERROR Most academics regardless of position are passionate about their research. CORRECTION Most academics, regardless of position, are passionate about their research.

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper BWE 9 Spelling/diction errors that interfere with meaning • Spelling and diction errors not only change meanings, but also show the reader that you are careless with details. EXAMPLES: Its / It’s affect / effect their / there / they’re then / than

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper TEN KEY POINTS TO KEEP IN MIND! (Wallwork, 2016, p. 364. ) • Prepare well before you write. Read many papers from your chosen journal. • Keep the referees and readers in mind. Write for them – not for yourself! • Reduce redundancy wherever you can (words, sentences, paragraphs, sections). • Keep it simple. Clarity is more important than a fancy style. • Visually arrange text, table and figures to enhance the reader experience. • Take care in the use of pronouns and synonyms. • Ensure the reader can easily locate your key findings. Don’t obscure or bury them. • Be sure to mention limitations; be modest in declaring the importance of your claims. • If possible, show where your work could be applied in other fields/in further research • Triple check everything!

7 Editing & proofreading your journal paper REFERENCES La. Placa, P. et. al. 2018. “How to write really good articles for premier academic journals. ” Industrial Marketing Management. 68 (2018) 202 -209. Rosenwasser D, and Stephen J 2009/2012. Writing analytically. Boston: Thomson Wadsworth. The Learning Centre, Curtin University. 2012. “Editing Checklist”. Wallwork, A. 2016. English for writing research papers. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.