Research Papers: A Medium for Knowledge Transmition

‘Academic writing is a product of many considerations: audience, purpose, organization, style, flow, and presentation’ (Swales and Feak, 2001, p. 7).  Through academic writing, researchers communicate their findings; which, in turn, are expressed in Research Papers (RP). The main purpose is to persuade the reader that the research paper is worth reading, that is to say “the language of scientific text is also the language of rhetoric and persuasion.” (Hartley, 2008, p. 8).

Hartley (2008) states that ‘writing is often characterized as a hierarchically organized, goal-directed, problem-solving process’’ (p.10).  In general, researchers follow a pattern of organization when writing their papers. Researchers, commonly, encounter a problem or questions which have not been answered yet, these interrogants are the purpose for their investigations.

Moreover, RP are also  the medium for recognition in the field (Hartley,2008). In other words, the writer also looks for a sense of belonging in the discourse community. This idea of recognition is also considered by Swales and Feak (2001). The authors explain that research paper authors are not only concerned with showing that their questions for research are interesting but also they are concerned with ‘positioning’ in the field.

Especially interesting is the process of sharing and transmitting knowledge in a research paper. ‘Information is presented to readers in a structured format’ (Swales and Feak, 2001, p.10). Research articles in the educational field sometimes follow organizational patterns.  One of these patters is presenting the paper in terms of problem –solutions (Swales and Feak, 2001). These patterns allow the reader to follow the information in a smooth and understandable manner.

All in all, Research Papers (RP), in education, are a medium to express, share and discuss critical points in the educational field as well as a medium for belonging and positioning in the field. It is very probable that a research paper may become the starting point for others research papers. Mainly because, in education as in other social sciences, the results may be accurate for a particular context, problem or situation.  Generalization can be only made as regards formats of papers and linguistics characteristics, but not on results. 

References

Hartley, J. (2008). Academic writing and Publishing. A practical Handbook. NY: Routledge.

Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students:  Essential tasks and skills. Ann Harbour, MI: The University of Michigan Press