2 THE MARKET-Who are your readers? Your market is your readers.Put yourself in their shoes:what,if you were they,would you wish to find? The readers of your thesis are your examiners.They expect details of all relevant parts of your research:why you did it,its background,your thinking,what you did,your conclusions and your views on where it is going.They don't want the irrelevant parts-details of how standard equipment works,for instance.Find out as much as you can about content and format from your supervisor and other students,and look at some recent(successful)theses to get a feel for the product this market expects. A paper is read by one or more skilled referees,and,if accepted,by a scientifically- informed audience.This manual focuses on writing papers.The pages that follow explain how this market should be addressed. A research proposal usually addresses two markets.One is the funding agency:the EPSRC,the EU,another Government Agencies,or a Charity.They will look for a match between their priorities and yours.The other is the referees that the funding agency will use; they are charged with judging quality,promise and relevance. Hardest to write is a popular article,addressing an audience who is intelligent-one should always assume that-but who may know nothing of your subject.Here style,always important,must be fine-tuned to meet their needs.More on style in Section 8. Make no mistake.Write poorly and you'll bore,exasperate and ultimately lose your readers.Write well,and they'll respond in the way you plan. Table 1:Markets for technical writing What writing？ Who are the readers？ How will they use it？ Thesis Examiners To judge and rank your work Paper Referees To check originality.quality,suitability Scientifically-literate public To extract information To judge if your aims match the priorities of the Research proposal The funding body and... funding body Its referees To judge quality and promise of the work Popular article Intelligent but un-informed To be introduced to a new field public To be entertained How to write a paper MFA,16/08/11How to write a paper 4 MFA, 16/08/11 2 THE MARKET –Who are your readers? Your market is your readers. Put yourself in their shoes: what, if you were they, would you wish to find? The readers of your thesis are your examiners. They expect details of all relevant parts of your research: why you did it, its background, your thinking, what you did, your conclusions and your views on where it is going. They don’t want the irrelevant parts – details of how standard equipment works, for instance. Find out as much as you can about content and format from your supervisor and other students, and look at some recent (successful) theses to get a feel for the product this market expects. A paper is read by one or more skilled referees, and, if accepted, by a scientifically￾informed audience. This manual focuses on writing papers. The pages that follow explain how this market should be addressed. A research proposal usually addresses two markets. One is the funding agency: the EPSRC, the EU, another Government Agencies, or a Charity. They will look for a match between their priorities and yours. The other is the referees that the funding agency will use; they are charged with judging quality, promise and relevance. Hardest to write is a popular article, addressing an audience who is intelligent – one should always assume that – but who may know nothing of your subject. Here style, always important, must be fine-tuned to meet their needs. More on style in Section 8. Make no mistake. Write poorly and you’ll bore, exasperate and ultimately lose your readers. Write well, and they’ll respond in the way you plan. Table 1: Markets for technical writing What writing ? Who are the readers ? How will they use it ? Thesis Examiners To judge and rank your work Paper Referees Scientifically-literate public To check originality, quality, suitability To extract information Research proposal The funding body and … Its referees To judge if your aims match the priorities of the funding body To judge quality and promise of the work Popular article Intelligent but un-informed public To be introduced to a new field To be entertained