Writing the Empirical Journal Article

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the report of an empirical study, but the general writing suggestions apply as well to the theoretical articles, literature reviews, and methodological contributions that also appear in journals. The conventional view of the research process is that the people first derive a set of hypotheses from a theory, design and conduct a study to test these hypotheses, analyze the data to see if they were confirmed or discontinued, and then chronicle this sequence of events in the journal article. The primary criteria for good scientific writing are accuracy and clarity. Scientific journals are published for specialized audiences who share a common background of substantive knowledge and methodological expertise. Inexperienced writers often substitute synonyms for recurring words and vary their sentence structure in the mistaken belief that this is more creative, stylish, and interesting.

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