how to do research

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Q&A ABOUT

HOW TO DO RESEARCH FOR THE BEGINNERS By Joey Zhouyuan Li Translated and Edited by Frances Siqi Zhang, Chao Zhang, Yixuan Zhang, and ‘LingoCloud’

Dedicated to the little companions.

• This booklet is not officially published and follows the copyright agreement as the Creative Commons. • All volunteers for revising, proofreading, and assisting publishing would be very welcome. Please contact the author for advising and the potential collaboration by the bio info in the end of the booklet. • We DON’T recommend printing this book considering the environmental cost. Acquisition skills relies on hard working in systematical thinking, memorizing, and adequate practices, rather than the hard-copy.

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms. Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. Non Commercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. No Derivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.

BEIJING 2018.2

SUMMARY Research skills are the transferrable career skills. In this booklet, we systematically presented the skills and knowledge of how to do research for the beginners using 50 frequently asked questions. The opinions included (1) data processing and analysis, (2) literature searching and reading, (3) and academic writing. According to the general regulation of mastering the academic skills, a series of novel and practical methods were summarized, like hierarchy searching, speed-change reading, and symmetrical writing. The booklet will promote selfstudy and training students, and advise the scientific staff at entry level.

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners

Preface “Id, ego and super-ego.” —S. Freud

This question-and-answer booklet is the accumulation and crystallization of the author and his little companions on the way to study in these years. There is always a voice in my heart: one day earlier to give the reader, one more person to benefit from sharing, a little inspiration, a little change, as time builds up, according to the theory of the "butterfly effect", the remote and complex future can have a big effect by the touch of such little difference, so-called "Make a difference". As I was preparing for my PhD defense, I wrote down the three self-actualizations of the human for the preface for my dear readers.

* * * The psychologist A. H. Maslow was best known for creating his Hierarchy of Needs. In his later years he proposed transcending the highest level of self-actualization, reaching the level of forgetting-self (superego). Einstein said that "The beauty of things is in the pursuit of things." These summaries showed the basic understandings of the experience and self- actualization in the course of life. I want to briefly summarize the Three General Situations in which people achieve self-actualization, 1) the creative one, 2) the ideological one, and 3) the relational one. 1. The Creative Self-actualization. This kind of self-actualization refers to the creation. It was done through labor and effort in the human society to create a certain consumer value, to be universally recognized with some real works. Whether it was a song, a movie, an article, an artwork, a design, a game, a dish..., they were the fruits of intelligence, and need to be based on talent and hard work, seizing the opportunity and making use of the resources to be achieved from inspiration to reality. These hard-won creations have shaped the circle of knowledge, technology, art, sports for the arena of human civilization. This type of selfactualization requires historical chance, with the shining creation often being at the top of the social pyramid for the minority of people. 2. The Ideological Self-actualization. This kind of self-actualization refers to the kind that does not aim at completing any specific works while outputs values and ideas to others and society by the transaction processing, to realize individual value. For instance, through the administration, management, finance and other aspects of the work, the pursuit of this kind of actualization constitutes the circles of business and political in the society. A considerable number of people work with creative people to cooperate with each other and move up the social ladder, and to exert influence. 3. The Relational Self-realization. This kind of self-actualization is special, with a sense of self-sacrifice and altruism in it. Such actualization differs from the above two kinds. K. Marx said, "Man is the sum of social relations." The relational self-actualization comes indirectly from people close to us, such as our parents, children, Page | I

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners siblings, friends, supervisors, colleagues, teachers, classmates, and couple etc. We feel proud of their achievements, as their achievements are equal to our achievements. We alone are the most ordinary beings, but the only ones that matter most to each other. We are the unified ones. We sacrifice and contribute to each other, in order to achieve a common goal and maximize the overall benefits. This type of fulfilment seeks to be satisfied with the experience of strong relationships and life participation. These three kinds of self-actualization, which do not exist in isolation. They exist simultaneously and permeate each other. They have equal value and no orders, and compose together to direct the society from the individual to the whole as we move forward with history. Only do we need position ourselves according to the situation where we stand by. Hopefully, these insights will shed some light on the reader.

* * * This booklet is dedicated to the senior and the junior peers. I wish to build up a way station and signpost for them in their long way of scientific research. At here, through the echo of the air-time dialogue, their perplexity is answered; their minds are given rest; their strength is replenished; they can see the vast vision in the imaginable future. As adults, we have received the higher education, and join the more fierce competition of information and intelligence, and until one day we had to consider how to lead the next generation of students to continue to survive in academic jungles and to climb the scientific peaks like the former generations. May this thin booklet help more people and carry more people's aspirations and stories. At last, based on a Tang poem by Li Shangyin, I rewrote it as a little poem that contains the research stories about myself with my little companions in recent years. Fifty questions, for best years; Chaos and butterfly, goose and swallow fly; Riding, hiking, and boating; The past goes, the future comes.

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Acknowledgement “It is More Blessed to Give than to Receive.” —Acts 20:35

The author would like to thank: The faculty of College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing Forestry University The faculty of the School of Environment, Tsinghua University dr. Song Liu, prof. Yanhong Liu, prof. Yingmei Liang & prof. Chengming Tian prof. Shihua Zhao and prof. Yuan prof. Xuehua Liu and prof. Xiaoming Shao prof. Brian Fath prof. ‘Jake’ Jiang Zhang dr. Yinuo Li Deputy Head, prof. Aihong Fan, and Ms. Yuan Wang, from Library of Tsinghua University dr. Rose Yun Li and the former colleagues Journal of Young Investigators, Alex, Kevin, Hellen, and Mati. Qingyu Shang Pearl Zhu Zeng, and Alex Truelove from the University of Michigan Yanjie, Zezhong, Wenzhao, Kai, Tianxiao, Saige, Tianlin, Yunyang, Mengchan, Bojie, Junhui, Yi Liu, Luyi, Liangyu, Jun Cao, Lan Zhang, Caiying, Xinru, Simon, Qi Cai, Liwei, Xin Sun, Mimi, Jiuxiao, Yue Cao, Jielin, Ruoyun, Chenyu, Xiaoyu, Peiyuan, Rong Cao, Chao Zhang, Shaohua, Yanjun, Chendi, Huafeng, Yujia, Haon, Brian Yokley, Matthew Wilfong & Brandon Wilfong, Casey Bartoe, … All my loves. 2016-12-5 Tsinghua Campus, Beijing, China

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CONTENTS 1. What is the general paradigm of scientific research?

2. What is induction, and deduction?

3. What is the mathematical model and the physical landscape?

4. What are the usually used mathematical methods?

5. What are the algebraic methods?

6. What are the mathematical analysis methods?

7. What are the statistical methods?

8. What are the geometric and geographical analysis methods?

9. What is the system dynamics?

10. What is the key purpose of the multivariable statistical analysis?

11. What is the network analysis?

12. What are the spatial analysis methods?

13. What should I find – How to determine the key word?

14. How to break down research theme and thoughts?

15. How to extend research theme and ideas?

16. How to combine and test key words when searching references?

17. Where can I find them – What and where are the reference databases?

18. What are the abstract and indexing databases?

19. What are the full-text databases?

20. What are other academic retrieval resources besides abstract and full-text databases?

21. What is the Hierarchical Search?

22. How to use resources like JCR to do discipline research?

23. What is the principle of literature management by establish literature databases?

24. What are basic document databases?

25. What are cited document database?

CONTENTS 26. How to read academic literature effectively?

27. How to read fast (scanning and screening)?

28. How to read in varying speed (skipping)?

29. How to read intensively and interactively?

30. Why share is important during reading?

31. How to join in study groups and share reading?

32. How to cite academic literatures?

33. How to determine it is high relevant or not？

34. Why it is important to cite latest literatures?

35. How to understand the influence of academic achievements?

36. Why should we be good at writing?

37. What is Symmetrical Writing?

38. What is the Introduction section in an paper?

39. How to write an Introduction for an paper?

40. What is the Discussion section in an paper?

41. How to write an Discussion for an paper?

42. What is the Methods & Materials and Results section in an paper?

43. How to write the Methods & Materials and Results for an paper?

44. How to deal with the figures and tables in an paper?

45. What need to be noticed in data visualization?

46. What are Abstract and Conclusion?

47. What is the difference between Abstract and Conclusion?

48. How to 49. How to write the write the Abstract section? Conclusion section?

50. What is the general sequence during academic writing?

PART I DATA 1. What is the general paradigm of scientific research?

2. What is induction, and deduction?

3. What is the mathematical model and the physical landscape?

4. What are the usually used mathematical methods?

5. What are the algebraic methods?

6. What are the mathematical analysis methods?

7. What are the statistical methods?

8. What are the geometric and geographical analysis methods?

9. What is the system dynamics?

10. What is the key purpose of the multivariable statistical analysis?

11. What is the network analysis?

12. What are the spatial analysis methods?

“Is God a mathematician?”

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 1.

What is the general paradigm of scientific research?

In general, starting from the objective and perceptual observation of natural or social phenomena, we apply the method of statistical induction to the phenomenon, identify the characteristics and laws, and subjectively abstract and summarize a set of principle hypotheses based on rational logical judgment to construct a systematic structure, determine System parameters and simulate system behavior. Either the simulation behavior and observation of the phenomenon of information achieving the consistency, the hypothesis verified or overthrown, or rational knowledge consistent with perceptual knowledge can be called the practice of the general paradigm of scientific research.

2.

What is induction, and deduction?

Inductive method refers to a methodology that draws conclusions by generalizing observation and collection of phenomenological information through statistical description of the character of the research object and generalizing its essential physical laws in a macroscopic way. Deductive law refers to the method from the research object , the relationship of variables derived by us through constructing the indication system structure from the logical relations and the relationship of these variables can be described in algebraic or geometric math languages. Then, the physical picture can be showed in accordance with the actual situation through the simulation of dynamics. Induction and deduction are the basic methods of scientific research. Usually, a thorough understanding of one thing requires the simultaneous use of both approaches.

3.

What is the mathematical model and the physical landscape?

Mathematical model, a method of a profound understanding of the phenomenon, abstracts the phenomenon, and uses mathematical (algebraic or geometric) language to Page | 1

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners describe, quantify and calculate the analysis, the result restored to a language conclusion. See the picture above.

4.

What are the usually used mathematical methods?

Algebra, Mathematical Analysis, Probability and Mathematical Statistics, Geometry and Spatial Analysis, common mathematical methods and tools, should be applied by crossing each other and overlapping.

5.

What are the algebraic methods?

The basics include linear algebra and discrete mathematics. Its applications include network analysis, game theory, graph theory, cryptography and operations research (optimization). Commonly used analysis software (or computing platform) consists of EcoNet, Lingo, Matlab, R.

6.

What are the mathematical analysis methods?

The basic knowledge includes calculus, differential equation, wave function and so on. The main application branches include plural analysis, real analysis, numerical analysis (computational mathematics), system dynamics, dynamical systems and chaos, Fourier analysis, wavelet analysis, time series analysis (stochastic process) and so on. Commonly used analysis software (or computing platform) contains Matlab, R, STELLA, Vensim, Origin, NetLogo.

7.

What are the statistical methods?

The basic knowledge includes the principle of probability theory and descriptive statistics. The main application branches include statistical analysis techniques, which include difference test, parameter estimation, regression analysis, clustering and sorting. According to the analysis variables, they can be divided into one or more statistical analysis. Commonly used analysis software (or computing platform) such as R, SAS, SPSS, CANOCO, Origin, EXCEL.

8.

What are the geometric and geographical analysis methods?

It is important to point out that geometry and geo-spatial analysis are homology disciplines, as indicated by the root geo-; similarly topological and topographical analyzes are also homological disciplines, as indicated by the stem topo-. The basic knowledge of this method includes plane geometry, multi-dimensional, geometry, topology and non-Euclidean geometry, and the main application of the branches include space and geographic analysis, digital graphics image processing, data visualization, topographic analysis, fractal geometry. Page | 2

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners Commonly used analysis software (or computing platform) consists of ArcGIS, ERDAS, ENVI, R, Matlab, java, python, Fragstat. More commonly used data visualization applications include illustrator, Inkscape, Powerpoint, Photoshop and so on.

9.

What is the system dynamics?

System dynamics is a popular theory that analyzes and studies the interactive process of system feedback. It is also a comprehensive discipline for understanding and solving system problems. From the system theory point of view, system dynamics is a structural approach, a functional approach, and a historical approach. Based on system theory, it absorbs the essence of cybernetics and information theory, and it is a discipline that has developed basing on natural science and computer simulation. System dynamics uses the systematic science thought of "where system has structure and system structure determines system function (behavior)". According to the internal causality feedback of each component, we can find out the origin of the problem from the internal structure of system and reveal the nature of system behavior.

The Metaphors and Inspirations of Systemic Dynamics of water flow in Nature: Flows and Stocks; The four basic types of the system behavior.

10. What is the key purpose of the multivariable statistical analysis? The central goal of multivariate statistical analysis is to simplify the data structure (dimensionality reduction), to let complex data contact each other through different variables and project high-dimensional data to low-dimensional space (with reduced problems and less information loss). The multi-variable statistical analysis include the branches like principal component analysis, factor analysis, classification cluster analysis, regression analysis, Page | 3

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners canonical correlation analysis, multivariate statistical inference, parameter estimation, and hypothetical test, etc.

The process of dimensional reduction in Multivariate Statistical Analysis seems to fall in autumn: the "branch" (environmental effect factor) affects the distribution of "leaves" (classification elements). (Metaphor from the discussion with Chen Yu)

11. What is the network analysis? The network analysis method is a mathematical analysis method that depicts and analyzes the objective relationship between things and forms the network structure. This method can quantitatively analyze the state and process of stock and flow of nodes in the network structure based on matrix calculation. The main types of network analysis include ecological network analysis, topology network analysis, social network analysis and so on.

12. What are the spatial analysis methods? Spatial analysis is mainly based on the principles of geometry and topology, and simplifies and abstracts the real space objects into geometric space objects that can be measured directly, such as points, lines, planes, space body and so on, carrying out mathematical processing and analysis. The basic contents of spatial analysis include the processing and analysis of the spatial location, spatial distribution, spatial form, spatial distance, spatial relationship and so on. Specifically, it can refer to the spatial location, with the help of the spatial coordinate system to transfer the location information of the spatial object basing on the study of the spatial object representation, called as projection and conversion theory; spatial distribution, the same spatial object group positioning information, including distribution, trends, contrast, etc., spatial form, geometric form of spatial object, spatial distance, proximity of spatial objects, spatial relations of spatial objects, including topology, orientation, similarity, correlation and so on. The main spatial analysis techniques include: spatial information measurement and calculation analysis (center of gravity calculation, geometric calculation, shape calculation), spatial information classification analysis, such as buffer analysis, overlay analysis, network analysis, spatial model analysis, and spatial statistical analysis. Page | 4

PART II SEARCHING and READING 13. What should I find – How to determine the key word?

14. How to break down research theme and thoughts?

15. How to extend research theme and ideas?

16. How to combine and test key words when searching references?

17. Where can I find them – What and where are the reference databases?

18. What are the abstract and indexing databases?

19. What are the full-text databases?

20. What are other academic retrieval resources besides abstract and full-text databases?

21. What is the Hierarchical Search?

22. How to use resources like JCR to do discipline research?

23. What is the principle of literature management by establish literature databases?

24. What are basic document databases?

25. What are cited document database?

26. How to read academic literature effectively?

27. How to read fast (scanning and screening)?

28. How to read in varying speed (skipping)?

29. How to read intensively and interactively?

30. Why share is important during reading?

31. How to join in study groups and share reading?

32. How to cite academic literatures?

33. How to determine it is high relevant or not？

34. Why it is important to cite latest literatures?

35. How to understand the influence of academic achievements?

“Yo, que me figuraba el Paraíso, Bajo la especiede una biblioteca” (I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.) ——Jorge Luis Borges

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 13. What should I find – How to determine the key word? The key words of literature retrieving is like a key to the knowledge box hidden in the literature family. Key words need to be repeatedly extracted and tested, which is also a necessary process in project establishment. Extension and a thorough understanding of the project theme penetrates through the whole research. It is vital to follow the proper sequence and ensure the accuracy of key words. Key words extraction follows the pattern of loop iteration: Break down>>Extend>>Reorganize>>Test>>Whether you have collected enough information needed?>>No!>>Extend>>Reorganize>>Test>>... ...>> Whether you have collected enough information needed?>>Yes!>>Stop data retrieving and start collecting.

14. How to break down research theme and thoughts? Next, we are going to take the project “Ecological restoration and climate change in Yellow River Source Region based on remote sensing approach” as an example: “Ecological restoration and climate change in Yellow River Source Region based on remote sensing approach” ＝（Yellow River Source Region＋ecological restoration）＋（ Yellow River Source Region ＋ climate change ）＋（ Ecological restoration and climate change）＋（Remote sensing approach） We have to separate clearly these key elements: research subject, research scope (time range and space range) and research methods.

15. How to extend research theme and ideas? Still, we use the example of “Ecological restoration and climate change in Yellow River Source Region based on remote sensing approach”: Research scope: Yellow River Source Region/ Madoi County/ Three River Source Region/ Tibetan Plateau Research subject A: Ecological restoration/ Ecological repair/ Ecological conservation/ Ecological degradation/ Grassland degradation/ Wetland atrophy/ Land cover change Research subject B: Climate change/ Raining/ Temperature/Evapotranspiration/ Radiation Research subject C: Relationship between ecological restoration and climate change/ Feedback from ecosystem to climate/ Vegetation/ Food chain/ Land surface action/ Underlying surface Research methods: Remote sensing/ Remote sensing classification/ Remote sensing quantitative retrieval The key to extension is to diverge within the appropriate limit. You can further extend your Page | 5

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners ideas based on the key words just separated and reorganized. When diverging, try following three levels to find relevant information: category refinement (lower level), category generalization (upper level). Within the same level, you can find some synonyms and antonyms. You need not only logic but also accumulation to grasp the keys to word extension. Repeatedly extending, reorganizing and retesting is very essential in data retrieving

16. How to combine and test key words when searching references? Again, the example of “Ecological restoration and climate change in Yellow River Source Region based on remote sensing approach”: Yellow River Sources Region AND Ecological restoration Yellow River Sources Region AND Climate change Tibetan Plateau AND (Feedback OR Land surface action) (Three Rivers Sources Region NOT The Yangtze River Sources Region) AND Vegetation Remote sensing AND Evapotranspiration ... But beware! Reorganization is not a simple realignment of all the word extensions. You have to pick out the most important and common combination according to experience and put them to test. Type your key words with proper order and logical relations into your search engine. You can set your key words in specific field: theme, title, abstract or the whole full text. You can narrow it down by setting the field in either title or abstract. If the search results are not entirely satisfactory, then you have to keep extending and reorganizing. All the searching engines and databases have roughly the same interface, but you can always use Advanced Search if you want a systematic search on a certain type of literature. Search results must be evaluated. Generally speaking, search engines used by literature databases such as CNKI all have sort functions. You can try sort the results and select the preferred collection: most relevant, recently updated and most influential (most cited, high Journal Impact Factor). In this way, you can determine the value of a certain result or document, whether it’s worth your time downloading, sharing or even citing.

17. Where can I find them – What and where are the reference databases? When preparing for data retrieving, you have to bear in mind not only what you are looking for, but also where to find the information you need. We are going to provide you with a series of databases for electronic literature resources searching from different levels (not including libraries). Most professional literature databases are not free to use, either searching or downloading the full text. You have to access them through institutions which have purchased Page | 6

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners them. If you are not sure about it, you can always contact the librarian in your institution or simply search online. The following is a list of different databases: 1)

Abstracts index database

2)

Full text database supported by publishing houses

3)

Full text database supported by academic bodies

4)

Independent magazine websites

5)

Search engines and free academic resources

18. What are the abstract and indexing databases? An abstract and indexing database enjoys a wide range of data collection from all sorts of publications. It has a complete field but only provides abstracts, instead of full texts. It is normally used for scientific measurements and evaluations. Here are some of the databases: 1)

Web of Science（SCI、SSCI）

2)

Chinese Science Citation Index（CSCD）

3)

EI Village（EI）

4)

Scopus（biggest database for abstract and indexing）

5)

ProQuest（including dissertations）

6)

Wanfang Data and Resources system

19. What are the full-text databases? A full-text database provides one with the complete academic paper but with limitation and has a relatively small amount of collections. It is free to use and search for books and journals in most cases. Publishing houses are in control of many journals in various subjects. They set the standards for editing, distributing, publishing, submitting and reviewing and strive to maintain them. Here is a list of the full-text databases supported by publishing houses most commonly seen: 1) Elsevier Science Direct (full-text database) 2) Springer Link (electronic journals and books) 3) Wiley Online Library (electronic journals and books) 4) Taylor & Francis (electronic journals) 5) Cambridge Journals 6) Oxford Journals 7) Cell Press Journals 8) Science Online 9) Nature 10) JSTOR (mostly back serials) 11) CNKI (all types of full-text papers) Page | 7

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 12) Wanfang Data and Resources system (all types of resources, full-text journals available) Here is a list of the full-text databases supported by professional academic bodies most commonly seen: 1) America Chemistry Society, ACS 2) Ecology Society of America, ESA 3) Intentional Water Association, IWA 4) IEL(IEEE/IET) (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 5) SIAM (Symposium on Discrete Algorithms) 6) ACM (International Collegiate Programming) 7) AIP (American Institute of Physics) 8) AIAA (Aircraft Industries Association of America) 9) AGU (American Geophysical Union) 10) AMS (American Meteorological Society) 11) ASM (American Society for Microbiology) 12) AMS (American Mathematical Society) 13) APS (American Physical Society) 14) EMS (The European Mathematical Society) 15) RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) 16) IOP (Institute of Physics) 17) NRC (National Research Council of Canada) 18) OnePetro (Society of Petroleum Engineers)

20. What are other academic retrieval resources besides abstract and full-text databases? 1) 2)

Independent journal database like: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States (PNAS) Search engines and free academic resources, such as: a) Google Scholar b) Wikipedia.org c) PubMed d) Academia e) ResearchGate f) ArXiv.org (World’s biggest pre-printing system, mainly on STEM subjects) g) PloSOne

21. What is the Hierarchical Search? A “hierarchal” search is like a pyramid, which helps to build the idea of a hierarchal literature structure. This will assist you in locating the information. 1) Find a database Page | 8


2) 3)

Which database should I go to, one supported by publishing houses, or academic bodies, or simply an independent one? Narrow down to a field Which field or fields should I focus on? Locate the information Which journal should I go to? How to locate the database after making up your mind about the project?

Once you have started and project and determined the theme, how to choose the appropriate database? Ask yourself the following questions if you’re not sure: Judging from your current phase and potential target of your research: 1) Is it at the theory front, or an engineering application? 2) Is it new and trend, or is it a classical question? 3) Do you just want to touch on the surface in a short time, or do you plan to fight a long and tedious battle? 4) What’s more, how’s your ability to search and locate information? – some of the previously mentioned databases need to be paid by professional institutions. Do you have access to them? Of course, you could also take full advantage of free search engines and databases like Elsevier Science Direct, CNKI, Google Scholar, Academia and ResearchGate to accomplish your research and data collection.

22. How to use resources like JCR to do discipline research? Journal Citation Reports is an annual publication accounting for the statistics cited by more than 3,800 core journals and others (disc and online version) included in SCI, and also does evaluation based on operation. With the help of JCR, we could accomplish a lot of things: We could catalogue all the journals and periodicals according to different fields and do a more efficient search; we could get a table of the aforementioned search results, which is ranked either alphabetically or by the Impact Factor; we could also have a clear grasp of how these citations are working out for the papers or journals. Meanwhile, we could have an overall understanding of the development of a certain subject branch by attaining and analyzing the quantitative information mentioned before.

23. What is the principle of literature management by establish literature databases? A project database could be divided into a basic document database and a citation database. The key to establishing a project database is to make sure that you store and use the data in an orderly way. A systematical categorization and ranking will largely boost your efficiency and will help you greatly in academic writing and literature sharing within the same field. You can also manage your project information more systematically in this way. Page | 9


24. What are basic document databases? A basic document database keeps in store the background information of the project and the relevant literature for future citation or intensive reading. It is a knowledge warehouse for you to scan and screen. When you are visiting a basic document database, make sure the documents are downloaded into specific folders with the right name. For example, you could name the folder in this way: year-author-theme, which will offer easier access. Once you have enough amount of documents, then you should have the conscious to sort existing documents into smaller and finer units, like themes, importance or sources. You should gradually pin down the key documents through scanning and screening, then find time to do a more intensive reading. Some journal databases offer batch downloads, which is very efficient in dealing with documents sharing a certain thing in common. For example, with Elsevier Science Direct, you can click “Download Multiple PDFs” and choose all the PDFs you want.

25. What are cited document database? Certain literature may come more important and relevant compared to others in a massive basic document database, and you may need to cite them in your paper or book. These documents then form the citation database. In a citation database, apart from keeping a standard format of naming like we do with the basic document database, we also recommend a “Three-in-One” managing style, which proved to be very successful: 1)

Under the folder of citation, make sure your original PDF has the same name with documents whose file extensions are: .ris, .enw, .txt, BibTex;

2)

Import the citation and the documents into reference management software like Endnote and Mendeley for cataloguing;

Here, we will demonstrate with Endnote. Choose the insertion location and corresponding information after categorization. It will then automatically generate or update the references in the end.

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Three-in-one: point#1 Under the citation folder, make sure your original PDF has the same name with documents whose file extensions are: .ris, .enw, .txt, BibTex

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Three-in-one: point#2 Import the citation.pdf and the documents ending with .ris/ .enw/ .txt into reference management software like Endnote for cataloguing

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Three-in-one: point#3 Choose the insertion location and corresponding information after categorization. It will then automatically generate or update the references in the end.

Though editing references and citations is more or less an easy job, we need help of professional software when dealing with them in bulk. Due attention should be paid to the establishment of databases and citation process. Next, we are going to list some reference management software and online processing tools for document categorizing and reference editing, including NoteExpress, EndNote, Mendeley and the online version, EndNote Web and RefWorks, etc. You can always turn to Internet for reference formatting, such as Google Scholar, Baidu Scholar and CNKI, which all provide reference format for free download. What’s more, JabRef can also produce BibTex format (a standard format for LaTex files). You could use RSS feeds to add some of the Page | 13

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners database updates in cooperation with RefWorks, etc. There are many ways to make use of reference management software and online tools. We recommend beginners learn from practice and acquire skills according to individual need.

26. How to read academic literature effectively? The principles for an effective reading and information absorption are: 1)

Read with choice;

2)

Scan and skip with tools;

3)

Intensive reading.

27. How to read fast (scanning and screening)? When doing a fast reading, be sure to catch the following elements for getting as much information as possible: title, abstract, pictures, highlights, key works, high frequency words, charts, equations and references, in the same time, scan the name of the journal, writer and institution. Fast reading plays the role as a second filter for all the documents collected, aiming to find a couple of papers that are most relevant and of the highest quality.

28. How to read in varying speed (skipping)? When skip reading, you can start with key words and narrow it down to a certain paragraph or paragraphs before intensive reading. It is quite energy-saving and it can lead you directly to the key plots. Here, we will introduce a skipping skill in PDF reading. PDF has the Search function which can locate the contents which contain the words you want to find. Click the drop-down box in the tool bar and choose Open full reader search. It can help you position the key-word-related contents throughout the whole passage.

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29. How to read intensively and interactively? 1)

Sleeplike reading It stresses the importance of reading environment and mindset. You need to find a quiet place and with a comfortable posture to immerse in reading.

2)

Audio reading You could use Google Translation (or anything that has this function) and click the reading button to listen to the passage.

3)

Communicative reading This type of reading pays attention to the interaction in reading and hopes to deepen one’s comprehension and memory. The intrinsic value of communicative reading is critical thinking, transcending the barrier of space and time, achieving the effect of praising, arguing and correcting the author. This type of reading needs practicing, but it’s very helpful for future academic communication.

30. Why share is important during reading? Communication can impart knowledge with life. Sharing what you’ve learnt can be a very good stimulus to individual’s learning process. When shared, information is just like currency. Only then will it be valuable and meaningful.

31. How to join in study groups and share reading? There are many ways to share – within one’s team, within the classroom or meeting, write a book report on Goodreads, etc. Make a summary after each reading. Sometimes, a critical Page | 15

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners review might also help. Sharing your thoughts can improve the depth and breadth of your thinking.

32. How to cite academic literatures? Three criterion determine whether to cite or not: high relevance, recent update and big influence.

33. How to determine it is high relevant or not? Whether it’s intensive reading or citing, the most important screening criteria is to see how relevant it is: does the reading involve all the facts and views this project requires? If so, then cite; if not, then don’t.

34. Why it is important to cite latest literatures? Generally, latecomers will update science and technology and bring them to a higher level. Unless some part of your paper really needs to quote classical and insightful thoughts from its original source, then please try and cite from the lately published or updated.

35. How to understand the influence of academic achievements? A value of a work is judged by its influence. Given the relatively same relevance and time of publishing, people normally prefer to cite those that are distinct and innovative in viewpoints, or that are systematic and of high quality. These papers usually belong to the masters or prestigious teams. They are prudently selected and published on world-class journals with huge influence. To quote them appropriately shows justice and encouragement to their outstanding scientific research. In some fields, there appear to be “Matthew Effect”, which means the successful become more and more successful, with higher position and the not-sogood works are gradually outdated by time. Aging of literature and journals is itself an important concept in bibliometrics. But we need to point out that, even though there exists a clear relationship between the citation and quality of an academic paper, it doesn’t guarantee a sufficient and necessary condition between these two. In another word, don’t put too much emphasis on numbers! What’s more important is that you have to obtain an all-round understanding of what you are doing right now. Scientific community and our society applaud diversifying academic papers. Every one who’s doing their best deserves the same respect. The contribution and value of some subjects can never be judged simply on numbers like citation and Impact Factor. It is vital to embrace the diversity in academic circle that some people are willing to do basic research, while others Page | 16

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners prefer to explore new areas. Either way, they are doing their part in science for the brighter future of our society. “The mechanism of cooperation between organisms: direct reciprocity, indirect reciprocity, spatial gaming, group selection. and kinship selection. Cooperation is the third evolutionary principle after mutation and natural selection.”

— Super Cooperators: Altruism, Evolution, and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed, Martin Nowak, Roger Highfield, 2013

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PART III WRITING That speech was like cloth of Arras, opened and put abroad; whereby the imagery doth appear in figure; whereas in thoughts they lie but as in packs

——Of Friendship, 1601，Francis Bacon

36. Why should we be good at writing?

37. What is Symmetrical Writing?

38. What is the Introduction section in an paper?

39. How to write an Introduction for an paper?

40. What is the Discussion section in an paper?

41. How to write an Discussion for an paper?

42. What is the Methods & Materials and Results section in an paper?

43. How to write the Methods & Materials and Results for an paper?

44. How to deal with the figures and tables in an paper?

45. What need to be noticed in data visualization?

46. What are Abstract and Conclusion?

47. What is the difference between Abstract and Conclusion?

48. How to 49. How to write the write the Abstract section? Conclusion section?

50. What is the general sequence during academic writing?


36. Why should we be good at writing? There’s a part from one biography which says: “People used to be curious about the course design at MIT. Why require all the students majoring in Science and Technology to take professional writing courses? MIT responds by saying that their students, regardless of their majors, are going to be future leaders in their respective professions, and what most leaders directly deal with at work is writing.” We have to be good at writing, because the ability to write shows ability to lead. Writing also indicates your ability to induce and organize; it takes in the information and knowledge captured; it is a science as well as an art; it is the necessary path for you when you take control of all the abilities in life and rise from practice to theory. Human society can’t do without the entropy-decreasing in information. Entropydecreasing is everywhere. Apart from a deep and thorough understanding of your soon-tofinish academic work by studying thesis structures, we could also learn its functions from the intrinsic characteristics of research conducting and thesis writing. Put it in a simple way, all the works we do: collecting data, analyzing and reaching conclusive results, quoting previous research as theoretical basis and eventually, putting together a paper of our own, waiting to be cited by others, the whole process, is the combination of data and documentation flow.

37. What is Symmetrical Writing? Academic papers, with their simplicity and canonization, are the carriers of high-quality information communication. Once you understand that thesis papers are like a symmetrical hill, you will be able to produce excellent academic papers yourself. A research paper or a report is much like narrating a complete story, its structure being simple and fixed: causes, process, results, climax and ending, just like a hill. When climbing a hill, one has to start from the level ground and climbs to the peak, then back again to the plain earth, moving to the next hill. Therefore, every standard research paper should be symmetrical. Works cited are mainly distributed over the Introduction and Discussion parts, which serves as a theory jungle at mountain feet. The middle part should be Methods & Materials and Results, the key essence of practice and research with no subjective views. The Conclusion part is similar to Abstract in the beginning, both are highly concentrated and summarized, like an overall and reflection view of the “hill” without too much details being revealed. Symmetrical Academic Writing guidance provides the structure of composing a research paper as well as the symmetry in different longitudes and latitudes concerning academic writing in a broader perspective. Take an independent academic paper, we can easily spot its symmetrical structure from the narrative order previously discussed as well as its knowledge transition based on the massive amount of citations in the Introduction and Discussion parts and its literature review. In a broader sense, a good research paper correlates with multiple Page | 18

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners other goals such as: project application from, project tender, conclusion report, basic study for a new subject, a PPT as a speech draft, and so on. Properly refined and extended, it could be a dissertation and when a hugely innovative dissertation of great importance emerges, it marks the birth of a new branch of a certain subject.

The end of a thing is better than its start, and a gentle spirit is better than pride. ——Ecclesiastes 7:8

38. What is the Introduction section in an paper? The Introduction part acts as a statement bringing forward your specific research details from a broader perspective. The essential function of an Introduction part is to deduce, following the rules of deduction and paying attention to the continuity of logic. We need to be careful about the speed we move along from crudeness to delicacy, taking into consideration the pace and every step along the way. The Introduction part is itself a mini-review, which provides the necessary theories before taking on the field work. The review should cut to the chase as quickly as possible and always stick to the key words and points of your research (research subjects, research methods and scientific issues), with some background information in the beginning. This will help the readers see a big picture. Whether the Introduction part is complete and attractive enough depends greatly on whether you can properly understand and cite the facts and viewpoints from previous studies published and whether you can successfully paraphrase them and systematically apply them into your paper. The key to a good introductory paragraph lies in your literature accumulation and digestion, and your adeptness in reconstructing them. Page | 19

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 39. How to write an Introduction for an paper? Take a few papers you’ve read and ask yourself the following questions if you want to write a good Introduction: 1) What’s the universality of the problem being researched? ---- What does it belong to in a bigger sense? Has it ever aroused any wide discussion? 2) Is the research problem of any necessity and urgency? ---- Can it provide any meaningful discussion and research for us? 3) What are the bases for this research? ---- Are there any relative studies already carried out? What are some of the crucial and essential hypotheses and verification already conducted? 4) What’s lacking in the research? ---- Some of the shortages in the research like lack of understanding, lack of depth, etc. 5) What’s the key scientific issue being dealt with in the research? ---- Whether we can make up for the shortages in the research; how to make up; how is the main hypothesis; where is the creativity? (Careful! New concepts and important terms are usually provided in the Introduction part but not the results or the conclusions.)

40. What is the Discussion section in an paper? Following the former Results section, the Discussion part is also a mini-review. First of all, there are strict distinctions between the subjects in Discussion and that in the Results section. The differences among the sections of Introduction, Discussion, and Results are shown in the table below. Introduction Discussions Results Location First section Following the results, Core section the one before the last section of Conclusion Literature needed Yes, a mini-review Yes, a mini-review No Objective facts No Yes, but more than Yes, strictly based based on your with suggestions, on the direct results findings inferring, hypothesis/guess, predictions, and recommendations. Subjective ideas No Yes, based on your No findings

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50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 41. How to write an Discussion for an paper? Similarly, we can help learners write this part through self-questioning. 1) Which one do you want to discuss about: research methods or research results? 2) Discussion on research methods ---- discussion on the overall methods (models and structures, experiment design) or on particular parts of the methods (model parameter, practice details)? Compared with other similar research, what are the breakthroughs and restrictions? 3) Discussion on research results ---- Are there any parts in the results that require further analysis or any inferring? What deductions, conclusions and suggestions can we make from the results? How to relate a series of side-by-side results? Compared with other similar researches, do they have the same results, or different results? What causes the unison and the diversion? How to read and retrieve literature and mini-review in a most effective way? Here, we present you with a principle of guidance: Scan extensively through literature, focus on a few ones and cite literature with prudence. Put it in another way, it’s to have control! Normally, before we start, we usually store all the literature and take inventory, then we make a blueprint of what we plan to write, just like a professional buyer who carefully slot the supporting documents into each part to play their roles. This way will make a really high-quality paragraph in a short time. Writing and reading are interdependent. We will talk about how to effectively read and cite literature in later chapters.

42. What is the Methods & Materials and Results section in an paper? Methods & Materials and Results are the core of a research paper, the very essence of your research. Generally speaking, the M&M part will cite some professional papers as supporting evidence. Methods, Materials and Results should make sure that they are related from one to another to remain logical and also avoid repetition of each other. The differences between Introduction, Discussion and Results are listed in the above table X-1.

43. How to write the Methods & Materials and Results for an paper? Great diversions arise in the structures and logic in the M&M and Results sections according to different subjects and branches. Specific forms in writing the M&M part including citing those frequently quoted and recently published papers in relevant fields. It will be of great help if you can try to do it for a couple of times. The technique to good M&M and Results parts is to keep stepping in other’s shoes: think what the readers think, and write what the readers need. In this way, we can both keep the all-roundness of the information we need and avoid further abundance. Whether it’s the descriptions, tables and figures in the M&M or in the Results section, the goal is the same—to pass information in a precise and efficient way. Just like a Chinese old saying once says ”When a piece of writing reaches the acme of perfection, it Page | 21

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners is not because it contains some miraculous ingredient, but because it is written in exactly the right way.” (“The Caigentan”, Hong Zicheng, 1590) When a piece of writing reaches the acme of perfection, it is not because it contains some miraculous ingredient, but because it is written in exactly the right way. When a man refines his moral character to the point of perfection, he does so not with the aid of any magic formula, but by letting his pure inborn nature shine forth. ——Ming Dynasty, Hong Zicheng, (appr. 1572-1620), "Tending the Roots of Wisdom" Translated by Paul White et al.(2000)

44. How to deal with the figures and tables in an paper? Tables shown in the M&M and Results sections are a key way to integrate important figures and express them in an efficient way. “One figure means thousands of words.” After you have inserted a table in the Results part, ask yourself the following questions to check: 1) Have you make a detailed description on the important findings and distinctive laws? And have you been as brief as possible when it comes to the regular and recurring information? 2) Have you made it possible for readers who are interested in specific details to further consult relevant tables or supplements? 3) Have you avoided being overgeneralized or too sophisticated for readers to approach? For beginners, it is not easy to keep the balance of being comprehensive and brief at the same time. The preferences of reviewers will sometimes influence the article as well. So what we should do is to read more and try to learn from the good examples.

45. What need to be noticed in data visualization? Tables contain a variety of important information. The ability to reflect research findings in a clear, comprehensive and direct manner need be to cultivated delicately. Here, we offer you a few websites in data visualization: http://d3js.org/, http://www.creativebloq.com/designtools/data-visualization-712402 . With the continuous development in software technology and computer linguistics, data visualization has evolved into a creative subject. Here, we provide you with a series of questions with regard to the table designs in an academic paper: 1) Is the table overloaded with information? Is there any repetition or redundancy in data? 2) Is the design agreeable and appropriate? 3) Have you edited the sizes and colors of the references and symbols? Do they help to better understand the data? 4) Are the data reliable? ---- Some international journals have urged writers to provide the initial data and table in their article published online like inserting an interactive graph. Page | 22

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 5) Can the set of tables answer the scientific question in a direct way instead of just appearing for the sake of data visualization? 6) Has appropriate guidance been provided when it comes to important findings and laws? 7) What’s the quality of the pictures? Do they fit in with the article and the journal? Have you edited the titles and captions of the table and make necessary references? ---Can readers get a general idea without reading the paragraphs? 8) In the end, make sure there are no inappropriate combinations that might lead to misunderstanding or confusion.

46. What are Abstract and Conclusion? An Abstract is a condensed version of the paper, whereas conclusion is the essence of it. They are very much alike ---- some research papers even states that “the articles published in this journal doesn’t contain any ‘conclusion’, please make certain changes”, in order to avoid repetition. Of course, there are some papers that combine the Discussion with Results, making conclusions while discussing or extending the results, discussing them before running to a conclusion. Nowadays, more and more journals ask writers to provide a few independent sentences to describe the highlights of the article, which, in a large extent, covers the conclusion part. Conclusions are very much like Abstracts, except that they are in the end of a paper and as a sum-up, reflection and retrospect.

47. What is the difference between Abstract and Conclusion? How to tell Abstracts and Conclusions apart? Compared with Conclusions, Abstracts focus more on the key findings, like some important quantitative numbers, and inform the readers as soon as possible what the findings are. Conclusions, on the other hand, sum up the process, determine the nature and make a comprehensive judgment. When the story is done, the language style in the Conclusion part can ease down a little bit. What’s more, despite having similar contents and symmetrical structure, it’s important to bear in mind that Abstracts don’t belong to the main body of the article, while conclusions are a part of it.

48. How to write the Abstract section? A normal abstract can be constructed according to the following structure: 1) What’s the research background? (Please finish in one sentence)； 2) What are the research methods and materials? (Please use one to two sentences to describe)； 3) What are the key findings? (Please finish in no more than two sentences, using either forward style or symmetrical style); 4) What is the main conclusion? (Use one sentence to finish); 5) What are the significance and implication during the research process and the conclusions? (Wrap it up in one sentence) Page | 23

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners If some publication or meeting abstracts have specific requirements to include the following elements: research background, methods and materials, results, conclusions and make each one of them into independent long abstracts, then you need to extend it, like a miniarticle. An easier way would be to finish the whole paper first and then to leave out some details.

49. How to write the Conclusion section? Conclusions are basically the same as abstracts, but in different words and sentences. In conclusion, you don’t have to repeat research background and the influences, which have already appeared in the Introduction and Discussion part. Answer and following questions and sum them up for conclusions: What have you done? How did you do it? What important findings have you come to?

50. What is the general sequence during academic writing? Generally speaking, there are no absolute suggestions to the writing orders in an academic paper. It all depends. Normally, you can follow the steps given below, which act like a little sum up of what we’ve talked about: 1) First lay the outline, then build a framework, which is more than necessary. You can write down a title first, then revise and rewrite it along the way； 2) Start with where you are most familiar, the Methods & Materials and Results sections; describe them while in the main time design and insert tables, revise and improve until the descriptions and the tables are in unison； 3) Check the literature you previously saved and start doing a mini-review – write the Introduction and Discussion parts – revolving around facts and views. Keep in mind: Use deduction in the Introduction section to bring forward your research question and draw comparison using induction in the Discussion section; 4) After you have finished all the four parts, take a reflection and draw the final conclusions; 5) In the end, go to the very front and write the abstracts, with appropriate and trendy tags – keywords and titles.

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INDEX 1.

What is the general paradigm of scientific research? ................................................................... 1

2.

What is induction, and deduction? ............................................................................................. 1

3.

What is the mathematical model and the physical landscape? ..................................................... 1

4.

What are the usually used mathematical methods? ..................................................................... 2

5.

What are the algebraic methods? .............................................................................................. 2

6.

What are the mathematical analysis methods? ........................................................................... 2

7.

What are the statistical methods? .............................................................................................. 2

8.

What are the geometric and geographical analysis methods? ...................................................... 2

9.

What is the system dynamics? .................................................................................................. 3

10.

What is the key purpose of the multivariable statistical analysis? .............................................. 3

11.

What is the network analysis? ................................................................................................... 4

12.

What are the spatial analysis methods? ................................................................................. 4

13.

What should I find – How to determine the key word? ............................................................. 5

14.

How to break down research theme and thoughts? ................................................................. 5

15.

How to extend research theme and ideas? ............................................................................ 5

16.

How to combine and test key words when searching references? ............................................ 6

17.

Where can I find them – What and where are the reference databases? ................................... 6

18.

What are the abstract and indexing databases? ..................................................................... 7

19.

What are the full-text databases? .......................................................................................... 7

20.

What are other academic retrieval resources besides abstract and full-text databases? ............. 8

21.

What is the Hierarchical Search? .......................................................................................... 8

22.

How to use resources like JCR to do discipline research? ....................................................... 9

23.

What is the principle of literature management by establish literature databases? ...................... 9

24.

What are basic document databases? ................................................................................. 10

25.

What are cited document database? ................................................................................... 10

26.

How to read academic literature effectively?......................................................................... 14

27.

How to read fast (scanning and screening)?......................................................................... 14

28.

How to read in varying speed (skipping)?............................................................................. 14

29.

How to read intensively and interactively? ............................................................................ 15

30.

Why share is important during reading? ............................................................................... 15 Page | 25

50 Q&A about How To Do Research: For the Beginners 31.

How to join in study groups and share reading?.................................................................... 15

32.

How to cite academic literatures? ........................................................................................ 16

33.

How to determine it is high relevant or not? .......................................................................... 16

34.

Why it is important to cite latest literatures?.......................................................................... 16

35.

How to understand the influence of academic achievements?................................................ 16

36.

Why should we be good at writing? ..................................................................................... 18

37.

What is Symmetrical Writing? ............................................................................................. 18

38.

What is the Introduction section in an paper? ....................................................................... 19

39.

How to write an Introduction for an paper? ........................................................................... 20

40.

What is the Discussion section in an paper? ........................................................................ 20

41.

How to write an Discussion for an paper? ............................................................................ 21

42.

What is the Methods & Materials and Results section in an paper? ........................................ 21

43.

How to write the Methods & Materials and Results for an paper? ........................................... 21

44.

How to deal with the figures and tables in an paper? ............................................................. 22

45.

What need to be noticed in data visualization? ..................................................................... 22

46.

What are Abstract and Conclusion?..................................................................................... 23

47.

What is the difference between Abstract and Conclusion? ..................................................... 23

48.

How to write the Abstract section?....................................................................................... 23

49.

How to write the Conclusion section? .................................................................................. 24

50.

What is the general sequence during academic writing?........................................................ 24

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Biography About the author ‘Joey’ Zhouyuan Li: the PhD of Tsinghua University, the former Student Consultant at the Library of Tsinghua University. He is the Guest Researcher of ColorfulClouds AI Tech Ltd. Co., the Scientists of Swarma Club, and the Advisory Member of the International Society for Ecological Modeling. Email: [email protected]. G

R | G | in | f | t |

: please searching ‘Joey Zhouyuan Li’

About the translators and editors ‘Frances’ SIqi Zhang: The Bachelor of Department of Foreign Languages, Tsinghua University. Chao Zhang: The Master of Shanghai Normal University, the visiting graduate student of Tsinghua University. Yixuan Zhang: The Master of the University of Sheffield. LingoClouds: The artificial intelligence translation application and web plug-in produced by ColofulClouds AI Tech Ltd. Co.

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Andō Hiroshige, Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi bridge and Atake 1857

Vincent van Gogh, Brug in de regen 1887

Joey Zhouyuan Li, copy (oil painting), 2018