- Before doing the work or while doing it, I read as many papers as I deem necessary. Once the work is done and I get results, I stop reading papers. During the process of writing , I prefer not to read any papers except when I am citing. This is to make sure that everything that I write , is my own idea or my own interpretation of an idea already proposed. If I happen to be reading papers while writing my own, there’s some chance that my writing may reflect the understanding of the authors that I am reading and that’s something not very cool.
- Before I begin writing my paper, I always jot down the paper outline over a piece of paper, i.e how I’d like the paper to flow. I enlist what figures or tables need to be included and what results need to be discussed. I always title my paper before I start writing it.
- We all have some words that we tend to use a lot in technical writing. I have identified some words that I use very often in my papers and i try to replace them with their synonyms as much as i can.
- I read and re-read my entire paper (or at least the current section ) after writing every paragraph so as to ensure that the paper transitions smoothly and remains comprehensive throughout.
- Finally when I am done, I proof read to remove spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
"Tabi Mir"Former assistant professor at National Institute of Technology, Srinagar(J&K) (2020-2021)