Tag Archives: writing style
Secondary referencing (and the problem with aphorisms)
Secondary referencing is considered to be poor academic practice. It is important to find the original papers and cite them, or explain in a footnote why the original papers are no longer available or accessible. Merely mentioning that someone else has … Continue reading
How to decide on active or passive voice
A common problem in writing is deciding on whether to use active or passive voice. There is a general feeling among authors that writing in the third person is somehow better than writing in the first person. But that is … Continue reading
Posted in Guidance, Style, Writing
Tagged active voice, passive voice, writing style
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Salami-slicing
Salami-slicing is the practice of reporting one piece of research many times in different papers, each time with a slightly different spin, often to different journals. I came across this today (again), when the editor of another journal invited me … Continue reading
Posted in Content, Writing
Tagged Academic Papers, Paper, Salami slicing, Social Sciences, writing style
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How to write an informative and helpful covering letter
The primary purpose of the covering letter is to explain what the paper is about, why it is important and how the research was done, with particular reference to the aims and scope of the journal. The Editor’s first decision … Continue reading
Posted in Content, Guidance, Research papers, Writing
Tagged covering letter, covering letters, sycophancy, writing style
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Author guidelines
Like many journal editors, when I was involved with Construction Management and Economics, we were constantly thinking about how we explain, concisely, our expectations for the style in which papers are written. All journal editors struggle with this. There are … Continue reading
Reviewing past research: notes from a frustrated editor
Nearly every paper that crosses my desk these days seems to need comment on how the literature review has been reported. Too many authors simply string sentences together that they have picked up from other authors, and then stick the … Continue reading
Effective writing
There are many good books about effective writing. They are generally an enjoyable read, because they are written so well. I recommend Kirkman, H and Turk, C (1988) Effective Writing: Improving Scientific, Technical and Business Communication, 2nd ed, Taylor & … Continue reading
Writing style in a literature review
The style of writing in a literature review is very important. There is a lot of sloppy practice in the research literature. These guidelines and suggestions might help to overcome some issues that are commonly found in the way that … Continue reading
Structure of a paper
Scientific papers generally follow a pattern. It is important that the style of writing is clear and appropriate. Equally, it is important that the argument follows a logical structure, from the introduction to the conclusions. Papers are sometimes rejected because … Continue reading
Management and Economics in Construction 