On April 11th, Liu Haitao, a Qiushi Distinguished Professor at Zhejiang University, gave a lecture at NIT on the writing, citation, and publication of academic papers. Professor Lius audience consisted of teachers from the School of Foreign Language Studies. The lecture was initiated by a series of rather heated discussions on the subject of academic papers that had occurred in March.
Since Professor Liu was employed as a professor in the ;9211 project – an academic and cooperative exchange between Zhejiang University and the Ningbo government – he has been actively involved in fostering the academic growth of young teachers.
In his lecture, Liu discussed how to write a good academic essay, both theoretically and practically. He used examples from international journals to provide guidance on topic selection and development, logical form and structure, and writing style. In addition, he stressed the importance of paying attention to details that are often overlooked, such as writing an abstract, including keywords, and so on. Liu also indicated that such details are often the determining factor in whether or not essays are accepted for publication in professional journals.
Professor Liu spoke in some detail about the four main international retrieval systems for publications in the natural sciences, the humanities, and social sciences: SCI, SSCI, EI, and A&HCI. He then explained the importance of online resources such as the Web of Science and JCR in searching for and publishing academic papers.
Liu believes that scholars should actively engage in academic discussions and exchanges, especially in the liberal arts. They should also be aware of the range of topics currently being researched in the humanities, the social sciences, as well as in the fields of regional policy, economy and culture, both in China and internationally. He advised that brilliant ideas often flash through our minds, but one must develop the habit of writing them down, sorting them out, and reflecting upon them at length. Only in this way can one truly do excellent research.
To conclude his lecture, Professor Liu offered a brief survey of the research currently being conducted by foreign language teachers in Chinese colleges and universities. He highlighted the significance of research in foreign language teaching, learning, and related sciences.
After the lecture, Professor Liu offered one-on-one instruction and advice to several NIT teachers and kindly offered his ongoing assistance as an advisor for their research projects.
