Category Archives: argument

paper, thesis and book titles – think ‘key words’ and ‘the point’

Posted on February 18, 2016 by

We all know that it is now more important than ever to have searchable paper, (digital) thesis and book titles. So, as well as the key word list, titles need to use the kinds of words that will show up … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, James Hartley, keywords, the point, titles | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

taste the #acwri difference – recount, summary, argument

Posted on March 5, 2015 by

There are three major genres of academic writing that we use most of the time. It’s good to understand the differences between them and where they are used, and how. Recount A recount is a text which talks about what … Continue reading →

Posted in argument | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

writing course – common problems in the Results/Discussion Section

Posted on February 9, 2015 by

It’s always as well to know what can go wrong when writing a journal article. And there are multiple areas in any paper to think about. Just because there seem to be fewer conventions for the Results/Discussion section doesn’t mean … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, argument, contribution, discussion, headings, results | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

structuring research articles

Posted on December 8, 2014 by

There’s a lot of conventional wisdom out there about how to write a publishable journal article. What do I mean by an academic journal article? Well, I think of an academic journal article as a reasoned presentation of material gained … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, journal, logical structure, scholarly article | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

should I number my thesis?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by

I’ve just been in a university where doctoral researchers are issued with a thesis template. This automatically sets up the font, layers of headings and the section and subsection numbering systems. If doctoral researchers decide to use this template, and … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, epistemology, narrative, reader, thesis | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

connecting chapters/chapter introductions

Posted on January 16, 2014 by

Writing a thesis, or indeed an academic book, means constructing an extended argument. One common problem in writing a very long text is that it’s not hard in 80,000 to 100,000 words for the reader to get lost in between … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, chapter, coherence, flow, overview, thesis | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

six differences between thesis and book chapters

Posted on November 25, 2013 by

This post is in response to a question about chapters in books and dissertations. I do try to answer questions, although it sometimes takes a while! There ARE some key differences between a thesis and a book chapter – here … Continue reading →

Posted in argument, chapter, examiner, reader, signposts | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments