How do college students write academic papers
-1996 10 academic lecture in a university.
Writing academic papers for college students is not only an exercise of their abilities of collecting information, sorting out information, analyzing problems, solving problems and writing, but also a comprehensive test and inspection of their knowledge level and professional level. The level of college students' academic papers reflects whether college students' academic thoughts grasp the key point of the problem, whether the knowledge field is relatively deep and extensive, whether the design scheme is rigorous and meticulous, whether the research methods and means are advanced, whether the arguments are justified, whether the inference is logical, whether the semantic expression has been tested and so on.
As early as 196 1, Comrade Zhou Yang emphasized: "Liberal arts students must have basic theoretical knowledge, basic historical knowledge and basic skills training. I think these basic things must be indispensable. If you don't have basic knowledge and skills, how will you serve the people? " "The so-called basic skills are mainly the training of liberal arts writing ability. The training of basic skills should have strict requirements. Liberal arts students don't understand grammar and rhetoric, their writing is not smooth, and they can't graduate. " These words of Comrade Zhou Yang 35 years ago were only the most basic requirements for liberal arts students at that time. Although the times have changed and great changes have taken place in all aspects of our society, the times and reality have put forward higher and newer requirements for cross-century college students, but the basic requirements put forward by Comrade Zhou Yang are still applicable to college students now, and should and must be achieved. The writing ability of college students is not only reflected in the writing of practical writing and literary works, but also in the writing of academic papers. Without solid basic theory, basic knowledge and well-trained basic skills, it is impossible to write a decent academic paper. So we say that writing academic papers by college students is a more comprehensive test of what they have learned.
First, the basic link of writing academic papers
Due to the different nature of disciplines and research objects, people engaged in different majors have different specific methods to write academic papers. In this regard, writing academic papers is "uncertain". However, no matter which major's academic papers, they all have strong academic meaning, which is their * * * nature. In this regard, there is also a recognized method of writing academic papers, which is what religion calls "returning to teaching". Generally speaking, writing an academic paper must go through the following links-
(A) choose a good topic
Thesis topic selection is the key to the successful completion of thesis writing. Good topic selection can encourage the author to work actively around the topic, and the whole working process will be full of fun; Otherwise, not only the work around the topic is not smooth, but also it may directly lead to the failure of thesis writing. Therefore, the topic itself is a test for the author of the paper. A good topic, with accurate questions, strong generalization, novel angle and theoretical depth, is very attractive at first glance. Generally speaking, a good topic should meet the following requirements:
1, which should have academic value (value principle)
The so-called subject with academic value refers to:
(1) Problems that have been studied but not fully studied;
(2) The controversial but inconclusive issues in academic circles;
(3) Problems that have been studied but the conclusions are wrong;
(4) It has never been studied, but it is an urgent problem to be solved in this discipline.
In short, valuable topics refer to new research on old problems, or opening up new topics in a certain subject field to fill the gaps in scientific research. If the topic you choose has already been written by others, and it is too wonderful to compare with all your talents, then you should be smart and don't touch it.
2, suitable for their own professional expertise (professional principles)
Professional knowledge is the basis of scientific research. Only with solid professional basic knowledge can we find the truth and make achievements in scientific research. Then, when choosing a topic, we should give full consideration to our professional expertise. If you don't have a solid professional foundation in a certain subject, even don't understand the most basic knowledge and theory, but choosing this topic is tantamount to mocking yourself. For example, if you study history and your major is the modern history of China, you should choose a topic around the modern history of China. If you choose the ancient history of China where you are weak, it shows that you lack understanding of your major.
3. I am interested in my own problems (interest principle)
This is related to the principle of professionalism. Only those who are interested in a certain major can maintain a strong research enthusiasm and promote business growth and knowledge accumulation, and continuous understanding and knowledge accumulation of the major will stimulate their interest in professional knowledge. Only when you have a strong interest in the topic can you have a strong desire for research and produce results. I can't imagine that a person who lacks interest in the topic will accumulate this problem in peacetime, study it with a positive attitude and write a successful paper. We should avoid choosing topics to join in the fun and follow the fashion. When we see others studying a problem, we are not interested in it, and we have no accumulation and understanding, but we are just rushing to it.
4. The difficulty should be moderate (moderate principle)
The difficulty of the topic should be moderate, that is to say, the topic should not be too difficult or too easy. It's too difficult, too special, beyond one's own ability, not only difficult to complete, but also makes people lose confidence, just like a high jumper who chooses too high for the first time and fails. Don't choose the topic with too low difficulty. The difficulty is low, which not only can't reflect your academic level, but also probably has no academic value.
The size of the topic should be moderate, that is to say, the topic should be specific and concentrated to avoid being too wide and too narrow. Generally speaking, if the topic is too broad, it is difficult to write, and it is too narrow. It is easy to write, but what's the point? Judging from the size of the topic, the common mistake is that the topic chosen is too big and too broad, so the result of the topic selection is: the tiger has no claws and feels that it can't be written; Even if it is barely written, it is only a passing, superficial and unfathomable. For example, a candidate's topic is "Lu Xun Studies", which is surprisingly large. Even a few long masterpieces can't be finished, not to mention articles of thousands of words! Lu Xun is a cultural giant, an ideological giant, a great writer, thinker and revolutionary in the modern history of China. From which angle did you write it? Even if you write from the perspective of a "writer", should you write his works or his literary thoughts? Writing works, but with so many works, you can't write all his novels, essays, plays and poems into an article with only a few thousand words. To write a paper of several thousand words, the topic is bigger than the sky. In fact, I am determined to embarrass myself and make up my mind not to write a good article!
(2) Collecting information
After choosing a specific topic with experience, foundation, appropriate difficulty and considerable significance, we should conduct a detailed and thorough investigation and study on this issue, that is, collect information extensively around the topic.
The so-called extensive collection of information is to know as much as possible about the views expressed by predecessors on this issue. These views can enlighten us. What they have achieved can be absorbed and inherited, and what is wrong can be criticized and corrected. Sometimes their conclusions are right, but the examples are improper or the arguments are illogical; Sometimes the cited examples are vivid and appropriate, the arguments are logical, but the conclusions are wrong; Sometimes the cited examples, argumentation process and conclusion are all wrong. There may be wrong views in their correct system and reasonable factors in their wrong system. We should try our best to collect all kinds of information. This method of grasping all the information of a problem is the method of "fishing with exhausted resources". Only after "fishing after exhaustion" will the paper have a solid foundation and be invincible, which has important academic value. However, sometimes it is not easy to obtain the information of 100% due to the limitation of conditions. However, important and representative materials must be read and checked. Marx wrote Das Kapital and read all the information about economics in western countries at that time. Lenin wrote criticism of materialism and empiricism, and also read hundreds of books and papers about philosophy and physics in the West at that time. To write a paper of six or seven thousand words, you have to read at least three or four hundred thousand words. It is inconceivable to write a high-quality paper without reading, collecting and recording a lot of information.
When collecting data, we should also pay attention to:
(1) Don't be satisfied with third-hand and second-hand data, but try to collect first-hand data, that is, original data. Because second-hand and third-hand information may be wrong, and first-hand information is more reliable without being changed by others.
(2) The collected data should be both emotional and rational, with theoretical views and typical examples, figures, charts and other things related to the topic.
(3) The topic you selected has never been studied by others, and there is no information about it at all. What should you collect? If you want to comment on a new novel that others have just published but haven't commented on, how can you collect information? Then it is necessary to look at the author's other works, understand the author's situation, understand the publishing background of this work, the real life reflected by the work, how to reflect the thoughts and feelings, what characteristics and social significance it has, and so on.
(4) The collected materials are not only the materials corresponding to the subject, but also the materials of other subjects related to the subject. You should write a thesis on figures of speech, not only to collect information about this figure of speech, but also to collect information about philosophy, psychology, logic, aesthetics, culturology, literature and art related to the analysis of this figure of speech. Only in this way can the paper be written thoroughly and profoundly.
(3) refining materials
Every paper author, before writing, is often worried that he knows nothing or little about this problem, fearing that he can't write much. However, after collecting information, I am worried that there are too many materials to get together, and it is difficult to decide whether to choose or not, so I can't extract my own arguments. At this time, it is necessary to withdraw from Bo, from more to less, which is another leap. This leap is more difficult than the original leap from scratch, from less to more, from appointment to blog. At this time, the author's common fault is that he is reluctant to give up what he loves, thinking that these materials are collected by himself, and it is a pity to give up now! However, there are gains and losses, and there are some omissions and omissions. A piece of wool is precious inch by inch. If you can't cut it off, you can't sew the right clothes. For ready-made clothes, unnecessary parts must be cut off. The same is true for writing papers. If you don't select and refine the materials, you can't form an argument, and you can't write a clear and prominent article.
The usefulness of a piece of material depends on whether it is related to the center of your article. If it is closely related to the thesis center, take it; Otherwise, give up without stint. The process of refining materials is the process of researching, screening and processing a large number of materials, from the outside to the inside, from coarse to fine, from false to true. Therefore, one of the basic methods of refining materials is to relate materials to each other and compare them: whether the comparison is correct, comprehensive, detailed, comparative angle, comparative depth and so on. The process of comparison is also the process of analysis and judgment. Through comparative analysis, we have inherited the correct, comprehensive, detailed, profound and appropriate aspects of others, but we don't ignore the wrong, one-sided, too brief, inappropriate and superficial aspects. On the contrary, the theme of the article is often extracted from these aspects: either prepare to criticize a wrong viewpoint, or prepare to correct a one-sided viewpoint, or prepare to supplement and enrich the outline. Or prepare to discuss a problem from an appropriate angle that can reveal its essence, or want to explain its superficial statement profoundly, or agree with other people's views, but have their own unique feelings, or find that all the materials do not involve a certain problem or a certain aspect, and want to fill this gap. With these ideas, the theme is actually refined.
Sometimes, when you compare a lot of collected data, seek differences in similarities, seek common ground in differences, from the outside to the inside, discard the false and retain the true, you are even more delighted to find that there are several questions on the same topic that can be written into an article. Then, you should write one by one in a planned way, so that the articles written are a series of articles with a bigger theme.
(4) Write an outline
After collecting materials, connecting, comparing and refining, one or more topics or arguments are gradually formed. At this time, it is necessary to further sort out these arguments and materials and form an outline of the paper. It is very important for the author of the paper, especially for those who write the paper for the first time. It can help us to establish the overall concept, clear our thinking, arrange materials, form a reasonable structure, and so on. In the process of writing an outline, in order to form a theoretical system with clear hierarchy and tight logical relationship, it is necessary not only to select, edit, delete and adjust a large number of materials, but also to consider the layout of the whole paper, the arrangement of viewpoints and materials, the arrangement of minor arguments and the logical development of argumentation. Therefore. Before writing a thesis, drafting an outline is a very important link.
The items in the outline basically include topics, arguments and executive summaries.
There are two themes (titles):
(1) big topic, that is, the topic of the full text, the general topic.
2 small topics, that is, the next topic of the big topic, the next topic and so on.
There are two kinds of statements:
(1) big argument, that is, the full text of the general argument.
(2) Small arguments, that is, small arguments put forward to demonstrate the general argument, or subordinate arguments and subordinate arguments of the general argument.
What I want to explain here is the relationship between the topic and the argument. The topics and arguments of some articles overlap, and the topic itself is an argument, which is expressed in the same language form, regardless of big topics, small topics, big arguments and small arguments. For example, Anna's tragedy is a social tragedy, which shows that the argument coincides with the topic. The titles and arguments of some articles are not exactly the same thing, that is, the titles do not directly reveal the arguments, but only reveal the theme of the paper, or reveal which aspect of the problem studied in this paper. For example, On Anna's Tragedy does not directly reveal the arguments, and the arguments may also be "Anna's tragedy is a social tragedy/personality tragedy/love tragedy".
There are two other situations in the executive summary:
(1) Summary of the full text, that is, an overview of the full text.
(2) Summarizing the contents of chapters, that is, summarizing the main contents of this part under the general theory. There is an organic connection between the contents of each sub-part, which is closely related to each other, discusses all aspects and touches the core of the article.
The executive summary should be arranged in hierarchical order, such as:
Title: XXXXXX
1， 1233 ...
2、①②③……
3、①②③……
……
(2) 1, 1233 ...
2、①②③……
3、①②③……
……
(3) ...
In this outline, what are the topics or arguments at each level, what are the arguments (rational and emotional), what to say first, what to say later, what is primary and what is secondary, and so on. , should be roughly described.
Of course, some people don't resort to words, but only set up an outline in their minds.
(5) Writing and revision
Once the outline is determined, the first draft should be written.
Judging from the basic style of the paper, it is generally divided into three stages: introduction, theory and conclusion.
Introduction mainly explains the reasons and significance of studying this topic, raises questions, and sometimes simply writes a little historical review, as well as the methods used in this topic research.
This part is the main body of the paper, and it is the part that launches the topic and publishes one's own opinions and achievements. This part should be written with substantive viewpoints and materials. Of course, the most important thinking method is dialectics, and the most important logical method is deduction, induction and analogy. Common writing methods are (1) bamboo shoot peeling method (2) positive and negative comparison method (3) cross method (4) multi-faceted networking method (5) macro association method and so on.
The conclusion part is mainly about the results of the argument, which comprehensively summarizes the problems raised in the introduction and analyzed and demonstrated in this theory, and draws the basic viewpoints and answers.
Of course, not all papers are written in three paragraphs. Some papers come straight to the point at the beginning, put forward arguments, and then demonstrate. When the argument is over, the article is finished.
The outline of paper is only the outline of design, just like the basic skeleton of human body. Only the skeleton is not really alive. Only by attaching muscles to this skeleton, injecting flowing and energetic blood and generating souls can we live. It is impossible to consider every small part carefully and perfectly in the outline of the paper. When writing, along with the surging tide of writing, it is likely that the original outline has improperly designed details such as arguments, examples and argumentation steps, and should be revised and adjusted at this time; It is found that some arguments, examples and arguments are not accurate for the time being, so we should check them again, think, consider and refine them.
When writing, don't take up precious space to talk nonsense: say something you can't say, say something off topic, say something that is well known, and say that you have nothing new to say about it. Of course, you should write fluently and beautifully. In order to highlight key points and pour feelings with rhetorical devices such as parallelism and repeated emphasis, it is necessary to be ingenious and make readers feel special, or not to be stingy with pen and ink. In short, the long is long and the short is short; Generally speaking, it is better to be brief, but not absolute. Short is not necessarily good, long is not necessarily bad; We should tailor clothes according to our own needs. The length of the article should start from the content and serve the content. The basic principle of writing is that sentences are not empty and words are not wasted.
After the first draft is written, although I feel very tired and don't want to move any more, I still have to revise it repeatedly to check whether it meets the requirements. Because people's understanding is not completed at one time, it is difficult to reach a perfect and appropriate level at one time. After careful examination and repeated revision, we will always find some shortcomings, such as whether the problem is clear and to the point, whether the arguments and examples are convincing, whether the writing is accurate, and whether the structural level is rigorous and reasonable; As small as the modification and processing of words, it depends on whether there is nonsense, whether the language is accurate, vivid and vivid, whether punctuation is used properly and so on. In short, you will find many problems not seen in the outline and problems not estimated before. Sometimes the first draft is revised as soon as it is completed, and it is not easy to find problems. At this time, you can put it aside and calm down before making changes. Sometimes, there is a long time between the first draft and the revised draft, some months or even more than a year.
When we talk about revision, we don't just mean revising ourselves, but also asking colleagues to revise and experts to express their opinions, because what we write is often unable to be discovered by ourselves because of limited information or self-preservation, and others are likely to read it accurately. When others put forward different opinions or suggestions, after careful consideration, they think that they are really reasonable and should be adopted, which will make the article better. When you feel that you can't revise it, you can finalize it, copy it carefully and publish it. Of course, after a while, with the improvement of your level or the collection of new materials, you may find new problems, and then you can modify them, but that's another story.
The above five points are the basic links or processes of thesis writing, which are feasible in both natural science and social science. Of course, the actual process of thesis writing is much more complicated than what we said above, and people who often write papers have a deep understanding of this.
Second, the usual points to pay attention to
In addition, if you want to write high-quality academic papers, you must pay great attention to the following points:
1, learn professional basic knowledge and basic theory, because this is the basis to ensure your scientific research ability.
2, extensively involved in related disciplines, because this can open up your academic ideas and deepen your academic understanding.
3, in extensive reading, in-depth thinking, constantly questioning. Only in this way can we invent new problems and produce new ideas. People with rigid ideas can't write original papers.
4, always pay attention to collect information, because writing a paper without information is equivalent to Gai Lou without bricks and cement.
5. Pay attention to new academic trends at any time and cultivate a strong sense of academic information. Only in this way can we understand the academic market, choose the topic of the thesis and aim at the discussion angle.
6. Sensible materials should be promoted to rational things through selection, synthesis, induction and analysis, and cannot stop at listing materials. Because only in this way can the articles written reflect the essential laws of things, which have theoretical and high academic value.
7. Don't be superstitious about authorities, celebrities and experts, but dare to challenge them with a serious scientific attitude, because this can cultivate our academic courage to stick to the truth and criticize mistakes.
8. Have a rigorous and meticulous learning attitude, and develop a good habit of asking questions with an open mind. Because science is honest knowledge, there can be no hypocrisy or pride.
9. Pay attention to novelty and creativity, which is the soul of academic papers. Yao Yao, a famous literary historian, divides academic articles into several realms: first, it is universally recognized and becomes a final conclusion; Second, it is justified and justified; Although March is biased, there is no lack of originality; Fourth, people talk like clouds, all empty talk. The so-called new ideas can't all be new. It is good to have some new ideas in an article. There is no lack of originality, even if it is biased, it is still a good article. As for the whole article "passive without words", it is said by others, which is a well-known cliche, or what is the value and soul of your article? ! Although we emphasize innovation, we should not understand innovation as being unconventional and pursuing fashion, nor should we dismiss what is recognized as correct as outdated. The way of thinking and unhealthy trends that blindly pursue novelty and ignore scientific basis will lead scientific research astray. We pay attention to scientific research innovation because it shines the light of scientific development, not anything else.