Summarizing your research that highlights the practical application or impact of your research to a general public audience can be challenging for some. Below are some writing tips that can help you to frame your research that will be engaging and understandable for a general reader.
WRITING TIPS:
- Your research paper description should be written in business style using Canadian English and as much as possible, following the Canadian Press Writing Style.
- Avoid using jargon that may not be understood by a general public audience. If jargon cannot be avoided, provide an explanation or definition.
- Use subheads to help readers identify areas of interest within your research and to break up your content into shorter sections.
- Titles should be short and punchy and framed to demonstrate impact of your research.
- Summarize the main issues and research findings that practitioners would be interested in.
- Our target audience includes practitioners, alumni, donors, the professions, and potentially students. Hence, your research paper description should be drafted where a general audience with minimal prior knowledge of the research issue or academic research can understand.
- The article should explain the research and the findings of your research. It should also explain what prompted the research and address how practitioners’ benefit (main takeaways) from the research.
- This is where you want to highlight the impact of your research and how your research can potentially be applied by practitioners or the professions.
- Your explanation should help stimulate interest in and understanding of the topic or research focus.
- Some questions to ask yourself to help frame your research description and it's impact:
- Why is this research important to the general public?
- What is it about your research that would be important for the general public to know?
- How does this research affect/impact the way practitioners do their jobs?
- How does this research impact the profession(s) as a whole?
- Can the findings and/or results of this research be immediately applied to current practice?
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