Truro Consulting strives to improve the way research is undertaken and communicated. As part of our commitment to improving research outputs, a series of short posts is available to help you improve your develop, edit and present your written content.
The importance of writing well
There are clear benefits of writing well. This is particularly the case in academia – careers depend on it. Not only that, both in teaching and research, we have an inherent responsibility to communicate knowledge clearly and respectfully to others. How you communicate says a lot about you and your…
Keep readingPresentation matters
How you present content can affect whether (and how) someone reads your work. Just like cooking a meal, presentation can affect whether someone wants to consume your work (the meal) and what they think of it overall. Ultimately, you are aiming for a professional looking document where: (1) the presentation…
Keep readingRemoving clutter
There are two forms of clutter – macro and micro. What I call macro clutter is content that does not contribute to the point you are making. When you review content ask yourself, does this add to the argument? If in doubt, cut it out. BUT save it first -…
Keep readingStyle Guides (Part 1)
Every publication has it’s own style – in terms of writing, format and content. Most organisations (including universities) and journals have a Style Guide to help authors understand what is required for publication. Style Guides cover many things; they may include requirements about structure, length, headings, citation/reference style, writing style…
Keep readingLet’s talk about decimal alignment
When producing any form of content, it needs to be ‘easy on the eye’; i.e. easy to navigate and absorb the information on the page. This is particularly the case for large amounts of numerical data presented in tables – especially when accompanied by minus signs (post to follow on…
Keep readingTables
Tables are a useful way to present data – in both numerical and text format. Every publication has it’s own style when presenting tables. By that I mean font type and size (often smaller than the body text), which lines/borders appear (horizontal, vertical), the format of notes (both the symbols…
Keep readingFigures and Charts
I attended a workshop delivered by a colleague Assoc Prof David Bedford at UTS on data visualisation. Figures are not often used in academic papers – or theses for that matter – so admittedly have slipped off my radar. Why? Maybe, because we don’t know how to use them properly.…
Keep readingUseful references
Everyone has their favourite references. A few of my favourites: Books: Websites: Training: Academic writing resources: If your favourite is missing, let me know and I will add it to the list.
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