VirtualMV/Research/Academic writing/Techniques

Overview

 * Write for the future – a proposal is about what you will be doing
 * Write for a non-expert
 * Get the facts right
 * Avoid
 * opinion (don’t use “I think..”)
 * Using time based word, the report may be read years in the future e.g. “current technology”, “today’s hardware”
 * Words like “above” or “below” – use previously or following (as the document may be reformatted)
 * Support statements from literature
 * Work progressively and to a plan
 * Be prepared to draft and re-draft
 * Discuss your report with others

The use of "I" and "We"

 * "I" or "we" can signal that you are expressing an opinion e.g. "I think that more females were ...". A research paper is based on what is found in literature or comments are supported by literature.
 * Many publications accept "I" and "we" if it describes a process or procedure you have doen e.g. "I then built a prototype system" - which is a fact.
 * 2013 http://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/personal-pronoun.html

Tense
"The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense."

When writing think how your paper will read in the future. A paper generally records what has happened (past tense).