Assignment on Understanding Scholarly Writing

        There are different writing styles available to write different pieces of writing, and each style has its own elements. One of the major writing styles is scholarly writing, which is quite different from many other writing styles. The name given to scholarly writing is academic wiring, which is actually relevant to the research and academic field. It is important to understand that scholarly writing is not that common amongst pubic, as various other writing categories are. That’s why most people find it a bit difficult to write because there are certain technicalities involved with scholarly writing. For many, it is quite unfamiliar, because they have never done it before. But when an individual is involved in higher-level studies, he/she will have to face the essence of scholarly wiring. The students of different fields have to produce academic content and papers, which are under the category of scholarly writing. This writing style gets more crucial when students are studying in higher education like doing their Ph.D. (Clark & Murray, 2012)

Different Essentials of Scholarly Writing

       It is important to understand that there are various essential rules associated with the scholarly writing style, and if these rules are not met, then a paper will not be considered scholarly in style. The first important thing in a scholarly paper is the “introduction”. This portion gives the rationale of the study as well as provides an outline. This introduction part also talks about the context of the study. Then the next important section of the scholarly paper is to write aims & objectives. The author has to explain his/her purpose of research along with relevant research questions, which are going to be explored to find considerable answers. One of the most important parts of scholarly paper is “literature review”. It is done to see what else has been researched in that particular field, and what findings were made by the previous researchers. The literature review is quite crucial to get an idea about a topic of research so that the future course of action can be selected. Then a scholarly paper will have to talk about research design and methodology, explaining the research style, how it will be conducted. Will it be an empirical research study, or it will base its findings on existing research. If it is an empirical research study, then data collection method as well as analysis method will also be explained. Then results will be discussed, and a considerable conclusion will be made in the end. These are some of the essential parts of every scholarly writing (Kaiser & Presmeg, 2019)

         There are a few more things to keep in mind while wiring a scholarly paper. It is important to understand that scholarly paper cannot be biased. It means that the author will never be biased in his/her approach; rather he/she will have to remain unbiased while writing discussion and deriving conclusions. The other important factor to keep in mind is the incorporation of evidence. A scholarly paper cannot be written on mere assumptions or perceptions, rather it will have a hypothesis, and then it is tested on the basis of evidence. An argument is carried throughout the paper, which is then proved right or wrong with the help of evidence. It is vital to know that an author can’t state things without providing any reference. It means that when any relevant argument will be made, it will provide a citation for the actual resource, otherwise content will be considered plagiarized (Perneger & Hudelson, 2004). Moreover, the first-person tone cannot be used in the scholarly research paper, so the third-person tone will always be used. In addition to that, the language of scholarly paper should always be very formal and structured. One cannot use slang words and informal language in scholarly writing. The meaningless statements and sentences should also be avoided in the scholarly paper (Edmunds & Waldrop, 2018)

Understanding the Features of Reference Management Systems

           It has been mentioned earlier that scholarly paper will always need citations and references for its authenticity and validity. It means that when any point will be taken from the work of other researchers, then he/she will be given credit for his/her information by citing his/her works in the paper. It also helps the reader in so many ways. So, there are various ways to manage citations and references, because it can be a complex thing to handle sometimes. Then things got better for researchers because citation and reference management systems started to develop during the era of the 1980s, which made the process easier for the researchers. Currently, there are varieties of reference management systems available, which can be used to get citations and bibliographies. Some of them are more popular than others and few famous reference management systems are Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote, and RefWorks. The purpose of each reference management system is the same, but they are also different from each other in terms of various features. The EndNote system was introduced in 1988, and it was launched as a commercial product. In 2001, the first version of RefWorks was released for the users. Zotero’s system was first released in 2006, whereas Mendeley was also launched during the same period of time (Ivey & Crum, 2018)

        It is a fact that each reference management system is useful for the users, but they are a bit different in their features. EndNote is available on Windows and Mac platforms, and it can be used with different browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, etc. It also has browser plug-ins for different browsers. The system has a mobile application only for iOS users. Mendeley is a system that is available on platforms such as Windows, Mac & Linux. It is also available in browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, along with browser plug-ins. The good thing about Mendeley is that its mobile application is available for both iOS and Android users. On the other hand, RefWorks is only a web-based reference management system, so it is only available on browsers such as IE, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It also comes with browser plug-ins. It is important to mention here that RefWorks does not have any mobile application, and it just has a site, which is mobile friendly. Zotero is also available on platforms such as Windows, Mac & Linux. Same as other systems, it is also used on different browsers with browser plug-ins. Again, Zotero does not have any mobile application, and it also has a website, which is considered mobile-friendly. Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote system come with offline usage, but offline availability of RefWorks is only linked with Dropbox (Ivey & Crum, 2018)

      It is vital to mention here that all four reference management systems are useful for a variety of users, but it depends on the personal choice and requirement of the user that which one is considered favorable. Looking at various other usability features of all four referencing systems, it was found that Zotero was more useful and easy to use reference management system. It provides so much ease and convenience for its users. The great thing about Zotero is that when any source is provided to Zotero, it can automatically import the required information for citation. The sources from newspaper websites, commercial websites, as well as web-based databases,  can be taken and used in Zotero to get an automatic citation. Varieties of styles are available with Zotero, which users can use in the free options. It has been observed that among all systems, accurate bibliographical data was generated by Zotero, which shows its capability to provide benefits to its users. The browser plug-in provided by Zotero is easier and convenient to use as compared to other browser plug-ins (Trinoskey, Brahmi, & Gall, 2009)

Conclusion of Understanding Scholarly Writing

    After looking at a variety of information, it is concluded that scholarly writing is different from other writing categories, and this difference can be prevalent in so many ways. The scholarly writing style has its own essential elements, which should always be considered. The good thing for users is that there are different reference management systems are available in the market, which can be used for citation and referencing. Some of the famous ones are Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote, and RefWorks. When different features and usability aspects of these systems were analyzed in detail, it was found that Zotero is best among these systems for a variety of reasons.

References of Understanding Scholarly Writing

Clark, J. L., & Murray, K. E. (2012). Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution (2nd Edition ed.). Carolina Academic Press.

Edmunds, M. W., & Waldrop, J. (2018). What is Scholarly Writing? JNP , 14 (8), A11–A12.

Ivey, C., & Crum, J. (2018). Choosing the Right Citation Management Tool: Endnote, Mendeley, Refworks, or Zotero. Journal of Medical Library Association , 106 (3), 399–403.

Kaiser, G., & Presmeg, N. (2019). Compendium for Early Career Researchers in Mathematics Education. Springer.

Perneger, T. V., & Hudelson, P. M. (2004). Writing a research article: advice to beginners. International Journal for Quality in Health Care , 16 (3), 191–192.

Trinoskey, J., Brahmi, F. A., & Gall, C. (2009). Zotero: A Product Review. Journal of Electronic Resources in Medical Libraries , 6 (3), 224-229.