Academic Writing

Agus Wijayanto
Muhammadiyah University of
Surakarta
 Basic Competence:

Students are able to develope

scientific writing (journal article)
and research proposal.
 Framework of a journal article
(1) Title/writer/abstract
(2) Introduction/background
(2) Literature review
(3) Methods
(4) Findings and discussion
(5) Conclusion
(6) Bibliography
(7) Acknowledgement/appendix (if
any)
 Title should be catchy and reflect
the content (10 words)
Abstract (200 words) contains:
(1) background
(2) the purpose/aims of the study
(3) the questions to be discussed
(4) method: participant, data collection
(5) general findings
Introduction/background (1000
words)
(1) general overview on the topic
(2) previous study
(3) the niche
(4) why important?
(5) problems to be investigated
 Literature Review (1000-1500
words)
(1) Relates the theory and previous
studies to the research questions
(2) Brief review on the topic
(3) Discuss what have been done by
previous researchers
(4) Follow a certain citation system, e.g.
A.P.A
(5) No Plagiarism
 Method (500-700 words)
(1) Participants : numbers of sample,
who they are, proficiency, age,
gender etc.
(2) Data collection: detail description of
the instrument(s) used to collect the
data.
(3) Data Analysis: how you analyse the
data (technique or procedures)
 Findings and discussion (2000-3500
words)
(1) Don't present all the findings, select the
most interesting/important ones.
(2) What is new to related topic?
(3) Discuss NOT summarize: relate the
findings to theories and previous studies.
(are there any differences/similarities?,
supporting/confirming?, refuting?)
(4) Discuss=WHY?
 Conclusion (400-600 words)
(1) the implication based on the findings
(2) not repetition of the findings, but what do
the findings mean?
(3) recommendation for further research
Bibliography
(1) adhere to a recommended system
(2) include the ones you cited OR
(3) make sure you include all which you cited
 Details
* Write briefly and to the point. (avoid
unnecessary words or phrases)
*You do not have to try to impress people
by using words most people have never
heard of.
*Avoid colloquial speech and slang words.
*Avoid using contractions, e.g. "don't"
"isn't" etc.
*Use the past tense when referring to the
work that you did.
*Use the past tense when referring to the
work of others that you quote/cite or use
present tense when you agree other's
proposition.
*Use present tense to express argumentation
or opinion.
*Limit the use of first person construction
(i.e., " I (or we) conducted this study....),
although it's acceptable in acknowledgement
or introduction.
Long direct quotation is not commonly
practised - simply restate the author's
ideas or findings in your own words.

Avoid plagiarism: the use of others words,

ideas, images, etc. without citation, or
they were used as if they were yours.
 Citation
This guide provides a basic introduction to the APA (American
Psychological Association) citation style. It is based on the 2010 (2009)
publication.

One author
In most cases, providing the author's last name and the publication year
are sufficient:
Smith (1997) compared reaction times...

Within a paragraph, you need not include the year in subsequent

references.

Smith (1997) compared reaction times. Smith also found that...

Two authors
If there are two authors, include the last name of each
and the publication year:
...as James and Ryerson (1999) demonstrated...
...as has been shown (James and Ryerson, 1999)...
3 - 5 authors
if there are three to five authors, cite all authors the
first time; in subsequent citations, include only the last
name of the first author followed by "et al." and the
year:
Williams, Jones, Smith, Bradner, and Torrington
(1983) found...
Williams et al. (1983) also noticed that...
 Corporate authors
The names of groups that serve as authors
(e.g. corporations, associations, government
agencies, and study groups) are usually
spelled out each time they appear in a text
citation. If it will not cause confusion for the
reader, names may be abbreviated thereafter:

First citation: (National Institute of Mental

Health [NIMH], 1999)
Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 1999)
Citing specific parts
(pages, sections, & paragraphs)

To cite a specific part of a source, indicate the page,

in the text:

(Czapiewski & Ruby, 1995: 10)

For electronic sources that do not provide page

numbers, use the paragraph number, if available,
preceded by the symbol or abbreviation paragraph. If
neither is visible, cite the heading and the number of
the paragraph following it to direct the reader to the
quoted material.
(Myers, 2000, 5)
(Beutler, 2000, Conclusion section, para. 1)
 Indirect citations

When citing a work which is discussed in

another work, include the original author's
name in an explanatory sentence, and then
include the source you actually consulted in
your parenthetical reference and in your
reference list.

Smith argued that...(as cited in Andrews,

2007)
 Short direct quotations

Quotations of less than 40 words should be

incorporated in the text and enclosed with double
quotation marks. Provide the author, publication year
and a page number.

She stated, "The 'placebo effect,' ...disappeared when

behaviors were studied in this manner" (Miele,
1993:276), but he did not clarify which behaviors were
studied.
Miele (1993) found that "the 'placebo effect,' which
had been verified in previous studies, disappeared
when [only the first group's] behaviors were studied in
this manner" (p 276).
 Long direct quotations

When making a quotation of more than 40 words,

use a free-standing "block quotation" on a new line,
indented five spaces and omit quotation marks.

Miele (1993) found the following:

The "placebo effect," which had been verified in
previous studies, disappeared when behaviors were
studied in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviors
were never exhibited, even when reel [sic] drugs were
administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in
attributing the results to a placebo effect. (p. 276)
Paraphrasing
Extracting other's opinion/sentences/
paragraphs/chapters using the writers' own
words.
 Bibliography List
Ellis, Rod. (1985). Understanding Second Language Acquisition.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Fraser, Bruce. (2010). Pragmatic competence: The case of

Hedging, in Kaltenbck, G., Mihatsch, W., and Schneider, S. (eds.).
Studies in Pragmatics 9: New Approaches to Hedging. Bingley:
Emerald Group Publishing Ltd, 15-34.

Saito, Hidetoshi and Beecken, Masako. (1997). An Approach to

instruction of pragmatic aspects: Implications of pragmatic transfer
by American learners of Japanese. The Modern Language Journal,
Vol. 81(3): 363-377. Provided by JESTOR:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/329311. Accessed: 30/01/2009.
 Assignment
(1) Write a journal article based on your
undergraduate thesis/skripsi (5000-7000
words)

(2) Present your article in 10-20 power point

presentation.
 Midterm test
Write a journal article based on others'
thesis (5000-7000 words)

You present your article in 10-20 power

point presentation.
 THANK YOU

agus.abdn@gmail.com
agus_wijayanto@ums.ac.id