ACADEMIC WRITING

1. INTRODUCTION
Principally, most scientific papers are subdivided into the following sections:
Title ,
Authors and Affiliation ,
Abstract ,
Introduction ,
Methods ,
Results ,
Discussion ,
Acknowledgments , and
Reference .
What did I do? The answer is the Abstract.
What is the problem studied? The answer is the Introduction.
o! did I sol"e the problem# o! !as the problem studied? The answer is the
Methods and Materials.
What !ere the $i%di%&s? The answer is the Results.
What do these $i%di%&s mea%? The answer is the iscussion.
Who helped me out? The answer is in the Ac!nowledgement "if applicable#.
Whose !or' did I re$er to? The answer is in $iterature cited.
What E(tra I%$ormatio% is %eeded to )ommu%i)ate *our ideas e$$e)ti"el*? The
answer is in Appendices.
Tips $or !riti%&
I%"ite *our o!% )riti+ue
o
Run your own %mini&review% process by obtaining feedbac! from others in
your department or institute.
o
Include someone in your own specialty, someone in an unrelated specialty,
and someone who is a good editor for language.
Thi%' about prese%tatio%
o
'utline and organi(e your thoughts before you write. )e concise* chec! the
proceeding+s instructions to authors, and stic! to the criteria for length and
format for submitted papers.
o
Always aim to !eep your writing succinct and to the point.
,eep *our re"ie!ers i% mi%d
o
A reviewer who en,oys reading your paper will li!ely see the science more
clearly and come away with a more generally positive opinion. This may also
help them offer more constructive criticism of your wor! than if they had
been obliged to struggle through poorly presented arguments. )efore
submitting, as! yourself what else you would li!e to see if you were
1
reviewing the manuscript. Is the paper clearly written* does the message come
across well-
,eep *our readers i% mi%d
o
A clear introduction is always important.
o
Try not to assume specialist !nowledge on the part of the reader: Although it
is not always possible to e.plain every basic concept when introducing your
wor!, do so where possible.
o
'utline the larger conte.t of your wor!, and articulate why your study offers a
ma,or advance. This is especially important in the abstract of the paper.
A"oid o"er-i%terpretatio%
o
/re0uently, papers don+t do as well as they might at review because, although
the data may be correct, the claims of the authors have been stretched.
o
1here interpretations are made, !eep the language moderate and avoid wild
claims of novelty in your writing.
Term o$ A))epta%)e
Article may be accepted based on the following conditions:
An article must not be published elsewhere
It should genuinely belong to the authors and affiliates
The article submitted must comply with all technical re0uirement.
Abbreviations should comply with the standard use. They should be given in full
format at the first place they are used.
.. WRITING AN ARTIC/E
A. Title
A good title should not e.ceed 23 words and must be precise.
The title should be a brief phrase describing the content of the paper.
Arti)les !ritte% i% 0ahasa Mela*u should pro"ide a% E%&lish "ersio% o$ the title.
The title of the paper should be centred at the top of the page.
The page should also contain the author4s name, affiliation, phone number, fa.
number and e&mail address.
0. Writi%& a% Abstra)t
An abstract is a single paragraph summary of completed wor! or wor! in progress.
The abstract should be informative and completely self&e.planatory, briefly present
the topic, state the scope of the wor!, indicate significant data, and point out ma,or
findings and conclusions.
The abstract should be 235&655 words in length.
7omplete sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the
abstract should be written in the past tense. 8o literature should be cited.
An abstract should include the following seven elements:
2
9lement 2: The abstract has to start with a brief theme sentence to orientate the
reader about the overall issue addressed in the article. This sentence should grab
the reader4s attention.
9lement 6: Indicate the main aim or purpose of the study.
9lement :: The academic and;or practical importance of the study should be
e.plained.
9lement <: The methodology used in the study should also be briefly described.
9lement 3: The main findings of the study should be summari(ed.
9lement =: A statement of conclusions should indicate the contribution made by
the study in filling gaps in the literature.
9lement >: The practical or managerial implications of the study4s findings
should be highlighted where appropriate.
C. ,e*!ords
A ma.imum of 3 words should be included in the article directly after the
abstract.
The !eywords serve as hoo!s that draw the attention of potential readers and are
also used to locate articles in an electronic database.
The !eywords should preferably reflect the discipline, sub&discipline, theme,
research design and conte.t of the study.
The !eywords should be typed in sentence case and in italics.
D. I%trodu)tio%
The opening statements. The first tas! of the article is to introduce the bac!ground
and nature of the problem being investigated.
The introduction can be described as ?an e.ecutive summary that gives the reader
an overview of the article.
The introduction must attract the reader4s attention by stimulating interest, desire
and action.
The recommended length is between 355 @ A55 words.
9lements that are generally included in an introduction are:
9lement 2: The theme or topic of the study
9lement 6: The e.planation of its academics and practical importance
9lement :: summaries of literature and citation of the most important previous
studies that are relevant to the current studies.
9lement <: indications of the important gaps, inconsistencies or controversies
address by the current studies and e.planation of the main contribution that
benefit the reader.
9lement 3: provide a clear indication of:
o the core research problem;0uestion to be addressed in the study
o the specific research ob,ectives
o the conte.t in which the study will be conducted
o the units analysis of the study
9lement =: provide the reader with an outline of the structure of the rest of
the article
3
Bome of the aforementioned elements or sub&elements may be combined.
E. /iterature Re"ie!
The literature review represents the theoretical core of an article.
The recommended length is between 2555&2655 words.
A literature review provides bac!ground and ,ustification to the ob,ectives and
hypotheses that guide the research.
Aspects that are included:
A brief discussion of where the specific topic under consideration fits into the overall
academic discipline
7onceptual definitions of all the !ey concepts;constructs included in the study
A focused and synthesi(ed discussion of relevant previous research findings
involving the constructs;concepts relevant to the study.
Previous research may indicate:
Possible relationships between the chosen constructs
Possible mediating and;or moderating variables that influence the relationship
between the chosen constructs
Possible differences between groups on the chosen constructs
The conte.t in which the constructs and the relationships have previously been
tested
Possible gaps, inconsistencies, controversies and;or unanswered 0uestions in the
literature that could form the basis of a new study
The results of previous hypothesis tests involving the selected constructs;concepts
or relationships
Possible untested hypotheses or propositions involving the chosen constructs
Provide a summary of e.isting approaches to the measurement of the relevant
constructs "i.e.: e.planation on how other researchers have measured the constructs
that the study intend to measure#
Provide sufficient theoretical support for the hypotheses to be tested in the study
Ceneral structure of literature review
It is structured through the use of headings, sub&headings and sub&subheadings
Deadings should be descriptive and informative "i.e. It should tell the reader what
is to be covered in the section to follow.
1. Methodolo&*
The purpose of this section is to describe how the results were obtained.
The recommended length of this section is between 355 @ A55 words
Provide a brief ,ustification for the research methods used so that the reader can see
that your choices are appropriate and scientifically sound.
The methodology section typically has the following sub&sections*
Bample
4
Bampling
A description of and ,ustification for the specific sampling method used.
A description of how sampling units were selected.
The response rate "i.e., realised sample E the number of 0uestionnaires
handed out or respondents approached#, and
The number of usable 0uestionnaires that were analysed "realised sample
si(e @ any 0uestionnaires e.cluded from data analysis because of a high
incidence missing responses#.
Respondent profile
Provide a demographic and;or behavioral profile of the respondents who
participated in the study.
Present evidence that the sample si(e is sufficiently large and that the
respondents are representative of the target population "if applicable#.
ata collection
)riefly describe how the data collection instrument was pre&tested and the
method used.
escribe how the data was collected.
A clear description of and ,ustification for the data collection method
used,
A cross&reference to the final data collection instrument "e.g. survey
0uestionaire or discussion schedule# included as an anne.ure to the
article,
A description of how the data were collected "i.e. of the data collection
process#,
An indication of the time period during which the data were collected.
Measures
escribe the measurement scales and 0uestions used in the 0uestionnaires in a
systematic order.
Cuidelines when compiling the section on measurement:
$imit the description to the scales used to measure the main
constructs;concepts in your study.
$ist the demographic and grouping variables that are being measured.
Include the following information in the description "where applicable#:
A clear indication of the basic scale design used "e.g., a li!ert, semantic
differential or multiple&choice single response scale#,
The number of scale items and scale points in a multiple item rating scale,
An indication of how scale points or response options were
labelled;worded,
The number of sub&dimensions in a multiple&item rating scale and the
aspects being measured by each sub&dimension,
An indication of what a high or low score on the particular scale means in
terms of the construct being measured,
A cross&reference to the relevant 0uestion numberr in the 0uestionnaire,
A reference to the literature source from which the scale was ta!en or
adapted,
5
An indication of how an e.isting scale, ta!en from the literature, was
changed,
An indication of which items in a scale were reverse scored,
An indication of the method "i.e., averaging or summing# used to calculate
composite "summated;total# scale scores,
An indication of the internal consistency reliability "i.e., cronbach4s alpha#
of multiple item rating scales. Include and interpret the reliability analysis
output tables generated by BPBB in an anne.ure to your article.
If multiple item measures are develop, the process involved has to be
described to indicate that the scale has face and content validity. "e.g
reliability test#
G. Results
Results should be presented with clarity and precision.
escription of the findings should be written in past tense.
Results should be e.plained without referring to the literature.
iscussion, speculation and detailed interpretation of data should not be included in
this discussion section.
The recommended length of this section is between 2555&2655 words.
Bummarise the data collected for a study in the form of statistics and also reports the
results of relevant inferential statistical analyses "e.g, hypothesis tests# conducted on
the data.
The results and discussion in short articles of single empirical studies are sometimes
combined.
Ge%eral &uideli%es $or reporti%& resear)h results
/indings should be as concise as possible and still provide enough detail to
properly ,ustify the conclusions, as well as enable the reader to understand e.actly
what the study did it in terms of data analysis and why.
It is not necessary to discuss basic statistical procedures in detail, but advanced
multivariate statistical methods need to be e.plained in non technical terms " e.g.
A8'FA, multiple regression analysis and factor analysis#.
/igures and tables should be in a clear and concise manner.
Gse tables to present detailed findings.
' 8'T repeat the same information in a table and a figure.
Information presented in a table or figure should always be summarised and
discussed in the te.t .
Always provide clear cross&references to tables and figures in the te.t. These
cross&references should always precede the specific table or figure.
Cuide the reader through a figure or table by pointing out the results of interest:
. Dis)ussio%
The discussion should interpret the findings in view of the results obtained in this
and past studies on the topic. Btate the conclusion in a few sentences at the end of
the paper. The results and discussion section can include sub&headings and when
appropriate, both sections can be combined.
6
Cuideline for writing the discussion section are as follows:
Restate the study4s main purpose
Reaffirm the importance of the study by restating its main contributions
Bummari(e the results in relation to each stated research ob,ective or hypothesis
without introducing new materials
Relate the findings bac! to the literature and to the results reported by other
researchers
Provide possible e.planations for une.pected or non significant findings
Implications and irection for /uture Research
o iscuss insightful "i.e. non&obvious# directions or opportunities for future
research on the topic
o iscuss the practical implications of the study
o Dighlight the main limitations of the study that could influence its internal
and e.ternal validity
2. A)'%o!led&eme%t
If applicable.
,. Re$ere%)es
The list of references must comply with all the general re0uirement and specific
guideline.
A sample stru)ture o$ a% a)ademi) arti)le o$ a +ua%titati"e stud*
Title A & 26 words
Abstract 235 & 655 words
Heywords <&3 !eywords
Introduction 355 & A55 words
$iterature Review "bac!ground, conceptual development or
conceptual framewor!#
2555 & 2:55 words
Methodology
Bampling
- Target population and research conte.t
- Bampling
- Respondent profile
ata 7ollection
- ata collection methods
Measurement

355 & A55 words
Results "/indings#
7
escriptive statistics "preliminary analysis#
Dypothesis testing "inferential statistics#
2555 @ 2655 words
iscussion
Bummary of findings
Practical;managerial implications
irections for future research
2555 @ 2655 words
Total I<555 @ I3555 words
8