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THREE Quick Tips on How Researchers Can Handle Lack of Literature in Original Research

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  Have you ever been unable to find any literature relevant to your research topic? Is that to say you're doing something completely new that no one has ever dreamed of, let alone attempted, and so never reported on? It feels like a win when you identify a research gap, that said though, literature review is also a very important section in writing a research paper. In the case where there are no/ very little reports on a topic, what goes in the literature chapter? How do you make up for limited evidence? Below are 3 quick tips to help you:   1. Go into details of what is available Having a limited number of resources can be an advantage as well! You could consider discussing relevant papers in greater detail. This is almost impossible when there are thousands of articles to screen from and you need to be much more selective.   2. Look at who has cited these articles Find out who else has cited these articles in the few relevant papers. You may or may not be able to locat...

HANDLING THE DISCUSSION SECTION

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  75% of academic writing-related anxieties are about the discussion section. The discussion section of a manuscript is the heart of the creative endeavor: it’s where you have to be MOST original. Even if you don’t have a section in your thesis called ‘discussion’ (specific to a journal), there will still be places in your manuscript where you must explicitly make new knowledge in relation to the data you have collected and your analysis. Unfortunately, I have seen a lot of papers where this section is a repeat of ‘results’ which calls for rejection of papers at worst or major revision at best. So, what should the discussion section look like? Each discipline is different. It’s important to base your moves on what is socially acceptable for your community, but here is a simple list of basic moves that every discussion section needs to have: ·           Restate Results (don’t repeat them) ·          Comm...

BOOSTING YOUR ACADEMIC PROFILE THROUGH GOOGLE SCHOLAR

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Much of the activity around the world now takes place online. Researchers store data online, communicate via e-mail, and of course, read scholarly articles published online. But there is more online than just one’s data. As with any other job, it’s very important for researchers to control their own online presence. When someone enters your name into Google, what will they find? What do you want them to find? A s a researcher, it is important to learn how to promote yourself and build up a network around your research since y our research only becomes valuable when it is presented at a conference or published through a journal.    A Google Scholar profile is a very simple way of collating your publications (and citations to them) so that others can find your work and often find an accessible copy that they can read. Once you have set up the profile, you can choose automatic updates so you don't need to spend a lot of time updating your publications list. If you creat...

TIPS TO SAVE YOU FROM JOURNAL REJECTION

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  HAPPY 2564! While a journal's decision-making  is complex and involves multiple layers of screening, there are few tips that should help you tip the verdict in your favor.  Below is an infographic adapted from  https://www.enago.com/academy/  ...brief and conc ise tips that  will enhance the paper and increase its chances of publication :

WRITING A WINNING ABSTRACT (AND STAYING WITHIN THE WORD LIMIT)

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                                                    An abstract is a self-contained, short, and powerful statement covering the main points of a piece of writing. In contrast to executive summaries written for non-specialist audiences, abstracts use the same level of technical language and expertise as the article itself. And unlike general summaries, which can be adapted in many ways to meet the needs of different readers and writers, the abstracts are typically 150–250 words and have a fairly standard format. An abstract may be written for a variety of reasons, but the two most important ones are: Selection – to help readers (including journals) decide if they want to read your article and Indexing – for quick recovery and cross-reference. Many abstracts are published in abstract journals or in online databases without a complete ...

HOW TO DEVELOP RESEARCH GAP (ANALYSIS) FROM LITERATURE REVIEWS

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  Seeing the invisible -   While all research is, to some extent, useful, we’ve seen a lot of research that does not have the expected impact. That means wasted time, wasted money, under-served clients, and frustration on multiple levels. A big part of that problem is that directions for research are often chosen intuitively; in a sort of improvised process. While the intuition of experts  is deeply respected , that kind of process is not very accurate. This post aims to help you  identify the missing pieces in any study, literature review, or program analysis so that you are able to better target your research in a more cost-effective way to fill those knowledge gaps to develop more effective theories, plans, and evaluations (via a link :)) There are really three basic kinds of gaps for you to find: relevance/meaning, logic/structure, and data/evidence.  Happy reading the below link! Source (Please take your time to read this article) :  https://www.resear...

AUDIOBOOKS, SHORT VIDEOS & DEVELOPING HEALTHY ACADEMIC WRITING HABITS

  Audiobooks can be a wonderful tool for ESL (English as a Second Language) writers including academicians. Listening to books develops all four essential skills in learning a second language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These books can serve as sources of “comprehensible input,” - Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require a tedious drill. The acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.... 'Comprehensible input' is crucial and necessary ingredient for the acquisition of language as linguist Stephen Krashen puts it. He maintains that the acquisition of a language requires plenty of meaningful interaction in the target language. The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety ...