- •1. Establishing why your topic (X) is important
- •2. Outlining the past-present history of the study of X (no direct references to the literature)
- •3. Outlining the possible future of X
- •4. Indicating the gap in knowledge and possible limitations
- •5. Stating the aim of your paper and its contribution
- •6. Explaining the key terminology in your field
- •7. Explaining how you will use terminology and acronyms in your paper
- •10. Reviewing past literature
- •11. Reviewing subsequent and more recent literature
- •8. Giving the structure of paper - what is and is not included
- •9. Giving general panorama of past-to-present literature
- •12. Reporting what specific authors of have said
- •13. Mentioning positive aspects of others’ work
- •14. Highlighting limitations of previous studies - authors not mentioned by name
- •15. Highlighting limitations of previous studies - authors mentioned by name
- •16. Using the opinions of others to justify your criticism of someone’s work
- •17. Describing purpose of testing / methods used
- •18. Outlining similarities with other authors’ models, systems etc.
- •19. Describing the apparatus and materials used and their source
- •20. Reporting software used
- •21. Reporting customizations performed
- •22. Formulating equations, theories and theorems
- •23. Explaining why you chose your specific method, model, equipment, sample etc.
- •24. Explaining the preparation of samples, solutions etc.
- •25. Outlining selection procedure for samples, surveys etc.
- •26. Indicating the time frame (past tenses)
- •27. Indicating the time frame in a general process (present tenses)
- •28. Indicating that care must be taken
- •29. Describing benefits of your method, equipment etc.
- •30. Outlining alternative approaches
- •31. Explaining how you got your results
- •32. Reporting results from questionnaires and interviews
- •33. Stating what you found
- •34. Stating what you did not find
- •35. Highlighting significant results and achievements
- •36. Stating that your results confirm previous evidence
- •37. Stating that your results are in contrast with previous evidence
- •38. Stating and justifying the acceptability of your results
- •39. Expressing caution regarding the interpretation of results
- •40. Outlining undesired or unexpected results
- •41. Admitting limitations
- •42. Explaining and justifying undesired or unexpected results
- •43. Minimizing undesired or unexpected results
- •44. Expressing opinions and probabilities
- •45. Announcing your conclusions and summarizing content
- •46. Restating the results (Conclusions section)
- •47. Highlighting achievements (Conclusions section)
- •48. Highlighting limitations (Conclusions section)
- •49. Outlining possible applications and implications of your work
- •50. Future work already underway or planned by the authors
- •51. Future work proposed for third parties to carry out
- •52. Acknowledgements
- •53. Referring to tables and figures, and to their implications
- •54. Making transitions, focusing on a new topic
- •55. Referring backwards and forwards in the paper
- •56. Referring back to your research aim
- •57. Referring outside the paper
12. Reporting what specific authors of have said
In her analysis / review / overview / critique of X, Bertram [2] questions the need for …
In his introduction to / seminal article on / investigation into X, Schneider [3] shows that …
Dee [4] developed / reported on a new method for X and concluded that …
Southern’s group [5] calls into question some past assumptions / hypotheses / theories about X.
Burgess [6], an authority on X, notes / mentions / highlights / states / affirms that …
She questions / wonders / considers / investigates whether [or not] X can …
He traces the advances in / development of / history of / evolution of X
They draw our attention to / focus on X.
They make / draw a distinction between …
He claims / argues / maintains / suggests / points out / underlines that …
She concludes / comes to the conclusion / reaches the conclusion that …
She lists / outlines / describes / provides several reasons for …
Her theory / solution / proposal / method / approach is based on …
13. Mentioning positive aspects of others’ work
Smith’s [22] use of X is fully justified / very plausible / endorsed by experience.
Kamos’s [23] assumptions seem to be realistic / well-founded / well-grounded / plausible /reasonable / acceptable.
The equations given in [24] are accurate / comprehensive …
It has been suggested [25] that … and this seems to be a reliable / useful / innovative approach …
14. Highlighting limitations of previous studies - authors not mentioned by name
Research has tended to focus on X rather than Y. An additional problem is that / Moreover X is …
The main limitation / downside / disadvantage / pitfall / shortfall of X is …
One of the major drawbacks to adopting / using / exploiting this system is …
This is something of a pitfall / disadvantage …
A well-known / major / serious criticism of X is …
A key problem with much of the literature on / regarding / in relation to X is that …
This raises many questions about / as to / regarding whether X should be used for …
One question / issue that needs to be asked / raised is …
Unfortunately, it does not / fails to / neglects to explain why …
This method suffers from a number / series / plethora of pitfalls.
There is still considerable ambiguity / disagreement / uncertainty with regard to …
Many experts contend, however / instead / on the other hand, that this evidence is not conclusive.
A related hypothesis holds / maintains that X is equal to Y, suggesting / indicating that …
Other observations indicate / would seem to suggest that this explanation is insufficient …
15. Highlighting limitations of previous studies - authors mentioned by name
Peng [31] claimed / contended that X is … but she failed to provide adequate proof of this finding.
Peng’s findings do not seem / appear to support his conclusions.
This has led authors such as / for example / for instance Mithran [32], Yasmin [34] and Hai [35] to investigate ..
The shortcomings / pitfalls / flaws of their method have been clearly recognized.
A serious weakness / limitation / drawback with this argument, however, is that …
Their approach is not well suited to / appropriate for / suitable for …
The main weakness in their study is that they make no attempt to … / offer no explanation for … / they overlook …
Their experiments were marred / flawed / undermined by X.
X is the major flaw in / drawback to / disadvantage of their experiments.
The major defect in their experiments is that they entail tedious / repetitive / time-consuming / laborious / labor-intensive calculations with regard to …
Such an unreasonable / unjustified / inappropriate / unsuitable / misleading assumption can lead to serious / grave consequences with regard to …
Their claims seem to be somewhat exaggerated / inaccurate / unreliable / speculative / superficial …
In our view, their findings are only conjectures / speculations based on unjustified / implausible / unsatisfactory / ambivalent / unsubstantiated assumptions.
Their paper / work / study / research / approach / findings / results might have been more interesting / innovative / useful / convincing / persuasive if …
Their attempts to do X are cumbersome / unnecessarily complicated / financially unfeasible …
Their explanations are superficial / impenetrable / doubtful / confusing / misleading / irrelevant …
Another / An additional weakness is …
An even greater source of concern / issue / problem is …