ONLINE WRITING WORKSHOP
Writing a scietnfici paer in a foreign language is tough work. When the time comes to write it, however, many PhD students feel left to their own devices. But experience shows that most of the writing problems are technical in nature.
Objectives
This writing workshop aims to help PhD students find patterns and meaningful ways to organise their writing process from the initial chaos of ideas towards a structured text.
An interactive method
The workshop is project-based: participatnts write on their own research projects. Concrete exercises support structuring of ideas and formulating the main questions. Revision techniques help to create coherence, clarity and precision.
Content:
1. Overcome writer’s block
- Five writing techniques to start the writing process
- One technique to focus on the essentials
- Time boxing : a technique to curb procrastination
- One method to create a morning routine to start your day actively
2. Select your target journal
- The journal’s scope
- The target audience
- The visibility of the journal
- The publication delay
- The board members
3. Prepare your article
- Four main mistakes why submitted papers are refused – and how to avoid them
- Fourteen questions to prepare an attractive paper
- One technique to visualize your outline
- One technique to summarize your writing project in 7 steps
- Actions to undertake when writing with co-authors and/or supervisors
4. Organise the writing process in six steps
- One techique for collecting ideas and activating passive knowledge
- One technique for structuring your thoughts
- Eight tips for quickly writing the first draft
- One technique to avoid plagiarism
- Twenty questions to revise the content of your paper
5. Elements of style for scientific papers
- Constructing effective paragraphs
- Strategies for efficient sentences
- Conciseness: methods of eliminating wordiness
- Phraseological tools for the main sections of a research paper
6. Catch your reader’s attention
- Eight rules for writing an attractive title
- Seven key sentences to write a good abstract
- How to structure your literature review
- What to write in the introduction
- What to write in the conclusion
7. Read your own text critically
- Gain distance from your own text
- Step into your reader’s shoes
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of your own text
- Give and take constructive feedback
3. Home office organization
- Developing a working routine: How do you start the day actively?
- Preparing your day: How do you determine the next working steps?
- Coaching each other: accountability partners & writing groups
- Set up your home office – structure time and space
- Thesis, Family & Job: How to stay on the ball
Requirements
- You need a concrete project to write
- You have enough results to sart to write your paper
- A good level in oral and writing (minimal level : TOEIC® Listening and Reading)
Leraning outcomes: at the end of this course, you have started to write your paper. You have built your outilne and you have a clear thesis statement. You have elaborated your own writing strategy and know how to show your own position in your scientific community.
You know how to organize your time in order to curb procrastination and to use efficiently the time available for writing your paper.
You know techniques to create working groups and partnerships to stay on the ball.
Methodology: this course is project-based. You will work on your own paper project.