Writing Academic Papers and Online Resources

Author: Tian Liping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-30
Features: Writing Academic Papers and Using Internet Resources is a highly practical book written entirely in English. It adheres to the principle that "the ultimate goal of learning English is to use it as a tool," and approaches academic writing from the perspective of intercultural reasoning (Intercultural Reasoning). It systematically introduces various aspects of academic writing, including the grammatical features of academic writing (Grammatical Features of Academic Writing), word choice (Word Choices), accuracy in sentence expression (Effective Sentences), topic selection for research papers (Research Writing—Question Positing), writing strategies (Writing Strategies), evaluating sources (Evaluating Sources), planning and drafting (Planning and Drafting), writing abstracts (Abstract Writing), document design (Document Design), tracking down relevant internet sources (Trackingdown Relevant Internet Sources), and online books, magazines, and libraries (Books, Magazines and Libraries Online). In the appendix, it also provides a glossary of internet terms (Glossary of Internet Terms).
In summary, the book has the following characteristics:
1. Written entirely in English, with concise, intuitive, and easy-to-understand language that progresses systematically and is clearly structured.
2. Highly practical, with numerous concrete examples used to illustrate each specific point. For instance, when discussing how to avoid overly broad (broad), bland (bland), or speculative (speculative) research topics, specific examples are provided for comparison, making it immediately clear to readers. Additionally, when discussing document design, sample emails (E-mail), resumes (resume), application letters (application letter), and research papers (research paper) are provided for reference. Exercises such as sentence revision and translation in English are also included at the end of the book to address the discussed topics. As a result, readers gain strong hands-on experience, ensuring they truly learn and benefit from the book.
3. Novel, emphasizing the importance of using internet resources, offering a fresh perspective. The book points out that research writing cannot be separated from research, and it is unimaginable for scholars living in the information age of the 21st century not to use the internet to gather information. It provides detailed explanations of how to use internet tools such as keywords (keyword), categories (category), and metasearch engines (metasearch engine) to find information, as well as the URLs and features of various websites, including online libraries, online journals, and renowned universities in the United States. It is believed that this will greatly benefit readers in utilizing internet resources.
4. The thinking process of academic writing in English. For example, it prefers a deductive approach, requiring the most important points to be presented first. It also emphasizes that the sentences in the text should be objective and provide accurate information. For instance, "The temperature is very high" is a grammatically correct English sentence, but it may be unacceptable in a scientific paper. Scientists would prefer a sentence like: "The temperature of the laboratory is 40 degrees centigrade."
5. Timeliness, with content that strives to be up-to-date and includes recent readings at the end of the book. For example, articles on topics such as "The WorldCom Accounting Scandal" (Accounting for Change: WorldCom), as well as readings from publications published in 2002.
6. Targeted, primarily aimed at upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, especially those in engineering fields. The knowledge provided in the book about all aspects of academic writing in English is well-suited to the needs of current students, teachers, researchers, or other scholars engaged in academic writing in English.
We hope that through studying this book, readers will align their thinking more closely with the requirements of academic writing in English, more effectively utilize internet resources for research, and achieve comprehensive improvement in their academic writing skills in English!