Adina-Roxana
Academic Writing Resources for Young Researchers

Academic writing is a foundational skill for any aspiring scholar. Whether you’re preparing a journal article, a thesis, or a conference paper, strong writing can make your research clearer, more impactful, and more likely to be published. We’ve gathered a set of practical resources and tips to help you develop your writing style, structure your arguments, and follow academic standards effectively.

We highly recommend joining an academic writing course specifically designed for young researchers. While self-study is useful, participating in a group setting greatly enhances the speed and depth of learning. Interacting with peers, receiving feedback, and working through examples together fosters confidence and faster progress in mastering complex writing tasks.

Image credit: Ivan Samkov on Pexels
1. Structuring Your Academic Paper

Learn how to organise your research logically. From the abstract to the conclusion, every part of your paper plays a vital role. Make sure your methodology, literature review, and results are clearly laid out to guide readers smoothly through your work.

2. Argumentation and Critical Thinking

Academic writing is more than reporting facts. It requires building a strong argument, supported by evidence and clear reasoning. Learn how to anticipate counterarguments and improve the persuasiveness of your work, ensuring your conclusions are robust and well-defended.

3. Referencing Styles and Tools

Correct citation is essential to maintain academic integrity. We recommend learning the differences between APA, MLA, and Chicago styles and knowing when each is typically used. Beyond formatting, use digital tools like Mendeley, Zotero, and EndNote to automate your referencing process, store source metadata, and generate bibliographies effortlessly—saving valuable time and reducing manual errors.

4. Common Mistakes to Avoid

Many young researchers struggle with issues such as plagiarism, incoherent structure, improper referencing, or excessive passive voice. Understanding and recognising these pitfalls early will help you develop clean, confident, and publishable writing. Practical examples and peer-reviewed feedback—especially in workshops—can be instrumental in overcoming these challenges quickly.

5. Recommended Reading Materials

To help you start your journey, we will provide a curated list of reading materials covering academic style, structure, and publishing expectations. These resources are carefully selected to match the needs of early-career researchers and support self-paced learning alongside workshops.

Looking to practice and get feedback?
Check out our Academic Writing Mastery Series to join a supportive group of young researchers working together to improve their writing.

9:33 AM 17Apr, 2025
Adina-Roxana
New Academic Writing Programme for Young Researchers

We’re excited to launch a new opportunity for early-career scholars! In collaboration with SEA Open Research, we introduce the Academic Writing Mastery Series for Young Researchers—a practical programme designed to strengthen essential writing skills.

This four-week series invites participants to dedicate just two hours per week to focused, hands-on workshops. Each session addresses a critical component of academic writing, helping researchers prepare stronger manuscripts for publication.

The topics covered include:

  • Crafting a Methodological Framework – Learn to design and explain your research methodology with clarity and precision.
  • Mastering the Art of Argumentation – Improve your ability to build logical, persuasive arguments that support your findings.
  • Handling Referencing Styles – Apply citation styles like APA, MLA, or Chicago accurately and efficiently. Discover tools that streamline the process.
  • Putting Hypotheses to the Test – Develop and test research hypotheses using well-structured approaches and sound reasoning.

This programme suits postgraduate students and researchers who want to grow their writing confidence and competence. By joining a group of peers, participants benefit from a supportive environment where collaborative learning accelerates skill development.

In addition, I am pleased to announce that in partnership with the UNESCO Chair Engineering for Society  a free, shortened version of this course is available. This special edition is exclusively dedicated to students of Politehnica University of Bucharest. To enrol, please register with your institutional email address here.

Want to explore more? Visit our Research Resources page for useful tools, tips, and recommendations.

Whether you’re submitting your first article or refining a thesis, this programme –Academic Writing Mastery Series – will guide you in building stronger, clearer academic writing.

7:41 PM 13Nov, 2024
Adina-Roxana
Excel for Research

Data Analysis with Excel

DATA ANALYSIS – Workshop Agenda

  • Data analysis: process steps
  • Data clean-up : tables, functions
  • Data analysis: functions
  • Results display: charts, dashboards

Participants: 12

Time: 3 h

Date: negociated with those interested (use this form) 

This is a workshop, meaning that more than 70% of the time will be spent solving Excel exercises. The focus will be on how to use excel to work with data, data clean-up, presenting data. Really useful for your research projects as well 😉

Modelling with Excel

MODELING – Workshop Agenda

  • What is a good model?
  • How is a model constructed?
  • Checks & validations
  • How can we implement a model using Excel?

Participants: 12

Time: 3 h

Date: negociated with those interested (use this form) 

We shall explore all the questions mentioned in the agenda using a predefined set of data. Participants will receive files, work in teams and construct a model.

This is a workshop, meaning that more than 70% of the time will be spent solving Excel exercises.

Should you choose to attend any of the workshops:

  • be mindful that the workshop will be held in Romanian (if enough English speakers announce their interest, there will be an English training as well)
  • confirm your attendance to the email invite you will receive 
  • you will bring your own laptop with Excel installed
  • Your instructor will use Microsoft 365
  • fell free to bring your own snacks & water

Questions? send an email to adina.munteanu[at]upb.ro

10:54 AM 7Mar, 2024