Expert profile:

Lin Chongde, a professor at Beijing Normal University, is a national model worker and teacher's morality.

Ren Dingcheng, Professor and Doctoral Supervisor of Peking University Science and Social Research Center.

Hu Zhifeng is a professor and doctoral supervisor at China Communication University.

Choose a suitable topic for the paper.

Lin Chongde said that a good topic selection is half the success of their thesis, whether undergraduate, master or doctoral students. I advocate that my graduate students should not always follow my topic and my research direction to choose thesis topics. There are two issues that need attention. First of all, we should consider the basis of student research: what research work students have done and what their academic interests are; Second, the topic of the paper should be groundbreaking and have certain theoretical and practical significance. After such consideration, the topic is decided and we can enter the opening topic.

Ren Dingcheng reminded that some graduate students have big topics when writing papers, but they will find it difficult to control them in the process of writing. Therefore, when writing a thesis, we must learn to focus on the big picture, start with small things, do closed research, such as statistical analysis of some data, and do some in-depth practical investigation and research.

Hu Zhifeng pointed out that a suitable thesis topic should be of moderate size, and generally several points should be paid attention to: First, the topic should reflect professionalism and meet the requirements and norms of this major; Second, the topic size is moderate; Third, we must have a sense of problems, so that the paper can be targeted and targeted; The fourth is to have academic awareness. It will be of academic significance to analyze the degree of academic research on this issue and find a new breakthrough point on the basis of their research. Fifth, it is also important to communicate with instructors and experienced people.

When writing a paper, you should highlight your own work.

Ren Dingcheng said that every kind of paper has its own specific specifications. As long as the research is done well and solidly, the paper will be easy to write. The pressure of science students to write papers comes from publishing papers in high-level international journals, which will have a certain impact. The pressure of liberal arts students stems from their ignorance of international academic norms, and some master students and doctoral students are still writing their graduation thesis with the standard of college entrance examination composition. If you want to write a graduation thesis well, you should mainly spend time and energy to find out the problems that can be better studied, then determine the appropriate research methods and find out the results through hard and meticulous work. In this process, we must pay attention to our own work and clearly express our understanding and views on the problem in order to be a qualified academic paper.

Rational use of reference materials

When writing a paper, you often need to quote materials. Many students, especially undergraduates, are puzzled: to what extent does citing materials count as "plagiarism"? How to use materials reasonably? In the process of reading the materials, I found that I was easily "taken away" by the materials, which led to frequent changes in topics. What is the reason?

Professor Hu Zhifeng said that an important criterion to define citation and plagiarism is whether you have your own opinions on the whole, whether you have your own arguments, and whether other people's literature is a supplement and citation to your own opinions. If you don't form your own opinions and judgments, just moving other people's things around will inevitably lead to plagiarism. If you have your own opinion, information is a footnote to your opinion and a reasonable quotation.

Hu Zhifeng explained that it is normal for undergraduates to be "taken away" by materials and change the topic, because the undergraduate stage is also a process of learning from others, and they cannot form their own things. The fundamental reason is that the students who are "led" lack a kind of determination and have not formed their own basic positions and viewpoints. How to prevent others from taking it away? The best way is not to lose your original problem, but to have your own judgment and understand what you are concerned about and interested in.

Learn to make second-hand literature list and work list.

Lin Chongde said that literature review is both subjective and objective. It is objective, because it reflects the relevant research data of a certain discipline and the research results of others and predecessors; Subjective abstract is a summary of the achievements of predecessors and others, and whether the abstract is accurate is the most important part of literature review. I demand that my postgraduate literature review must adhere to two standards: first, there must be basic theories of psychology; Second, it must cover the academic achievements at home and abroad in the past five years. Advocate reading new literature, so that you can understand the research trends at home and abroad, grasp the whole research trends, and the paper will have a certain foundation. Don't write a paper or do research without a good literature review.

Ren Dingcheng said that the conditions for doing research and writing papers are very good, the library is rich in materials, and e-books and the Internet are convenient to use. As long as we make full use of it, the research information will continue, providing a good foundation for research. When doing research, you should learn the norms of doing research and writing academic papers. Learn to make a second-hand literature list, learn to write a work list, learn to collect information for indexing, and fully learn the research done by others. Only on the basis of other people's research, can our own research be solid, the paper be scientific and rigorous, and further innovation be possible.

Students should take the initiative to strengthen communication with their tutors.

Some people report that the level of students' papers is declining year by year, and even some students only spend a day or two writing papers and do things hastily.

Hu Zhifeng said that tutors should also be responsible for the low level of students. Although the tutor has a heavy burden and great pressure, since he has recruited students, he should take responsibility, supervise and urge them to do a good job in the thesis.

Lin Chongde said that tutors should grasp every detail in students' thesis writing. My graduate students started this project in the second semester (Grade One). I think opening the topic early can make students start the research of the paper early, which is convenient for the guidance of the next paper. Tutors should also grasp the inner dynamics of students and understand their practical difficulties. The quality of students' thesis depends on the requirements and guidance of the tutor.

Scientific arrangement can disperse the pressure.

Hu Zhifeng brought many graduate students by himself. He found that it is really not easy for young people nowadays, facing a lot of pressures such as work, study, feelings and life. Therefore, he suggested that students learn to arrange time scientifically, plan ahead and have the consciousness of arranging problems in advance in this fierce competition.

Hu Zhifeng summed up his experience in teaching graduate students, saying, first of all, students should draw a "big blueprint" for three or two years when they enter the door, and make a good plan, telling them how much time it may take for study, internship, job hunting and personal life problems. Second, carry out regular inspections to urge students to do what they should do at this stage and what they should do at the next stage. Third, arrange some things in advance, such as internships. You can't be busy with internships, jobs and papers when you graduate. Some students have unscientific arrangements. I was idle for the first two years, and then I started working together in the last year, which put a lot of pressure on myself.

How to successfully pass the defense

How to prepare before the defense and how to introduce your thesis is the best?

Hu Zhifeng said that thesis defense is a comprehensive test of students' level, ability and personality. Generally speaking, the most important thing is level+attitude+focus. My experience is to ask students to close their own papers, put them aside, and think of themselves as a judge to ask questions about this paper and answer three questions: "What", "Why" and "How". In fact, the defense is not to repeat the content of the paper, but to put the paper on a big plate to see its significance and value. If you want to achieve good results in introducing the paper, you should also closely focus on these three issues and don't digress.

The most important points of the defense teacher

Lin Chongde said that the judges will focus on three aspects: first, the theoretical basis, that is, the basic knowledge of the discipline; The second is creativity; Finally, see if the article is completed independently.

Hu Zhifeng said that the judges will first look at the importance of the topic. The value of topic selection accounts for almost half of the success or failure of the paper. Theoretical and practical significance can be used as a criterion to judge the quality of the selected topic, and whether the paper has new discoveries in theory and academia, and whether it has reference and guiding significance for practice in a certain field. Second, look at the logic of the structure. Whether the structure of the whole paper is logical or not, and whether the logic between chapters is strict or not, can show the research level and research ability of students. Third, see if the literature is rich and there are any major omissions. See if all the important documents in the fields involved in the paper are covered, so as to judge whether the reading volume is enough. Fourth, look at the author's writing level. See whether the written expression is clear and smooth and whether the concept definition is clear.

The easiest mistake to make in defense

Hu Zhifeng reminded that the most common mistakes and problems in students' defense are as follows:

First, the concept is unclear: copy the concept casually, don't understand it or make it up yourself;

Second, the expression is not in place: what you do, say and write is not the same thing as what you think;

Third, generalize from the partial: unable to grasp the main points and main problems;

Fourth, logical confusion: there is a lack of organic connection between concepts and viewpoints.