A sense of perspective in research articles

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) comparative analysis of research articles describes the main features to consider in the process of writing academically. Not only do researchers require specific field knowledge but expertise competences in composing as well, to be accepted in academic settings when writing about scientific findings and explorations. This paper aims at considering important aspects of composing through the examination of two research articles from the educational and medical fields.
The structure of research articles involves particular components like the Introduction, the Literature review and the Methods section (Pintos & Crimi, 2010). Introductions pose a challenge to readers; the goal is to keep reader interested by providing a general outline of the main ideas of the piece of writing (Pintos & Crimi, 2010), to introduce the topic.
The Literature review section delineates the theoretical framework that supports the study issue. This part suggests a double purpose: to inform and help the reader understand what studies have been established on a certain topic and to develop critical thinking –i.e.: analysis of research studies findings, grounding further research on the same topic.
The Methods section contains detailed information about the methodological approach of the study case; about how the research has been conducted. Thus, it includes sub-headings that explain procedures, participants involved, materials and type of design used in the experiment. The objective is to allow researchers to replicate the scientific test.
Swales and Feak (1994) proposed structuring introductions in a pattern arranged according to Create a Research Space Model (C.A.R.S.) (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010). Three moves or cycles allow main ideas to flow from the general to the particular: Move 1 settles the study context framed by previous research work; Move 2, underlines the interest of the study; Move 3, determines the study aims and may expand on findings description.
For example, in Loucky’s (2007) article, moves analysis reveals use of present tense in Move 1; i.e.: “Learners from non-European language backgrounds are at a…” (para.1, Introduction section), signaling present issue information. It could be suggested that citation patterns are excluded from the first move because the author has opted to include them in the Literature review section (Pintos and Crimi, 2010), following the American Psychology Association guidelines (as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.37).
Move 2 –linked to Move 1- exhibits use of negatives; i.e.: “…, since they have no cognates…” (para.1, Introduction section). There is light mention of the gap, the motivation of the study. It seems that the author has embedded the gap in the statement in the previous move. Moreover, Move 3 requirements are fulfilled: past tense is used in reference to study type and it states the study purposes; i.e.: “This study examined…which can be of particular help to” (para.1, Introduction section).
The Method section provides a complete description of the procedure, including materials employed and participants involved –number, level of knowledge, gender, course details like time frame for instance. The setting of the experiment is also mentioned. Linguistic features like used of passive voice can also be noted. The title of the section is centered at its start (Swales, 1990; Swales & Feak, 1994; OWL, 2008 as cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.34).
On comparing the preceding educational article with Norman’s (2008) research report from the medicine field, many differences can be observed. For instance, though the structure presents an abstract, key words section, a body, Acknowledgements and Conflict of interest sections and many appendixes, aspects that indicate similarities between the two research articles, no Introduction section can be clearly identified in the medicine paper. It could be the case that Norman (2008) has used another manuscript formatting style.
The main body of the paper consists of a group of paragraphs involving a moves-step structure, which certainly reflect the main characteristics of moves; i.e.: present tense is used to pose the current issue, “tobacco control is at a crossroads” (para.1). Further use of present perfect tense marks areas of inquiry (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.29); i.e.: “…where tobacco companies have focused their marketing efforts” (para.3).
The article presents no theoretical background; there are no obligatory citation patterns and no literature review embedded in the body of the paper (Pintos & Crimi, 2010). There is neither Methods section that could explain the research work carried nor description of the participants involved. The article focuses mainly on promoting the advantages of the study and the materials used in it; i.e.: cell phones and other mobile devices. Conceivably, medical research reports tend to follow different manuscript presentation styles than those from the educational field.
To conclude, comparative analysis of both articles showed that only the educational one fulfills academic requirements for composing papers as regards format, linguistic features and moves-structure according to Swales and Feak’s (1994) perspective (cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010). One possible explanation of the case could be that, in general, medical papers tend to follow a different methodological type of research that requires its own manuscript presentation style. In competitive academic settings, writers should commit themselves more to achieve composing goals in order to gain acceptance and to be able to provide useful insights about their research work.








References
Norman, C. (2008). Web-Assisted Tobacco Interventions: Empowering Change in the Global Fight for the Public’s (e) Health.10(5), 48. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from: http://www.jmir.org/2008/5/e48/HTML
Loucky, J.P. (2007). Improving online reading and vocabulary development. KASELE Bulletin, 35, 181-188. Retrieved February 22, 2010, from: http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2010). Unit 2: The Research Article: Introduction, Literature Review and Methods Section. Universidad CAECE: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from: http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4691