Writing and Research Center is about to help and guide students in the writing process. The trained and knowledgeable specialists provide support, help students in building confidence, and independently complete their writing projects and assignments.

Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University (PMU) Learning Resource Center (LRC) services and resources are focus to facilitate students and provide instructional support in the writing process from Pre-writing to academic peer-reviewed research articles.

LRC is organizing workshops on various instructional topics that help students in their academic careers.

Remote Tutoring:

During Pandemic, LRC offering virtual tutoring where you can request writing instruction sessions. Those who want a virtual session should complete the Request the Virtual Tutoring form

Mission

The writing and research center of PMU is aimed to facilitate, serve and help all students to understand the mode of teaching and enable them to improve their English writing and research skills. The WRC is just not to be improve their English writing skills to be successed in PMU but also enhace the research skills which enable students to achieve the success in local and international job market. The WRC expect to train and guide students to overcome their English writing imperfections, be an efficient and perfect communicator in English language.

Objective

The Writing Center has the following objectives:

1. To provide feedback to students on various writing assignments and to improve their written work in accordance with the assignment’s requirements and the instructor’s or professor’s expectations.
2. To offer tutorials and workshops on writing in English.
3. To offer editing services to faculty members interested in publishing their research, to Master students defending their dissertations, to the administration of the PMU, and to the community outside the university.

Concisely, research skills help us find answers to questions.
Research skills are the ability to search for, find, collect, analyses, interpret, and evaluate information that is relevant to the subject being studied.
Research shapes the future, it teaches us new things and helps us adapt and evolve. Without research, we would not have cars, smartphones, or the internet (or this website for that matter!)

Everyone is a researcher

All are doing research, even some don’t know it.
The use of the internet and find required information through search engines is one way of researching. Whether you are looking for cheap clothing brands, flights, or restaurants. This is research!

Companies, Institutions, Government agencies, and other departments love to do research. Research is one of the important parts that every profit and non-profit organization likely to do for the sake of sharping their future and it helps companies:

• To identify and monitor their competitors
• Develop and create new products and ideas.
• To identify and find customers needs and behavior
• To develop and keep accepting new technology

Research skills enable profit and non-profit organizations to inaugurate new ideas.

Research saves money

Research identifies and concludes that the new product will buy someone? Launching a new product and idea without research is expensive and risky.

How can you improve your research skills?

The research skills can be improved by using the below-mentioned tools and methods:

• Studies
• The internet
• Experiments
• Surveys
• Books
• Articles
• Interviews
• Journal

How can you determine your research skills?

In your study career, you might engage with a lot of research! For example:

• Your dissertation
• Experiments
• Group projects
• Assignments

Show what you know

Identify and explain research skills that support the theoretical and empirical standards. It will help you to identify the company or industry where you want to work. The more you have research skills the more chance to get a good job.

Add your research skills to your CV

The research-oriented jobs, which require research skills, must look for such skills that foster the future of research activities. Your CV well demonstrates the skills that help you to secure a good job.

Some core research skills

Some research skills that should be mentioned in your CV :

• Data collection
• Report writing
• Information and data analysis by using different sources
• Searching required information from the internet
• Planning and scheduling
• Critical thinking
• Critical analysis
• Interviewing

The careers that most need research skills.

Research skills that are needed in several careers. For example:

• Marketing
• Report writing
• History
• Science
• Food
• Consumer goods

Most of the academic papers have a similar format like an introductory paragraph followed by a literature review, analysis than a conclusion. These three paragraphs are standard of the basics of research.

• The introductory paragraph mainly presents the topic and the academic paper statement.
  • A statement that clearly explains the goals, objectives of the study to the readers.
  • Subtopics that describe the body of knowledge and support the idea of the academic papers.
  • The language is using for academic paper writing is normally an active voice.
• Supporting paragraphs is expain the subtopics and so the the beginning of the conversion sentence that familiarizes a subtopic.
  • Each objective/subtopic explains in-depth, and the data and ideas and that supporting the objectives would explain in detail.
• The concluding and last paragraph iterates your academic paper and summarizes primary supporting data.

6 standard styles of academic papers

Students are encouraged to write academic papers and motivate to improve research skills. Normally students to write academic papers adopt the six standard styles.

1. Cause and Effect Essay

   This kind of easy student highlights the cause or effect of the phenomenon. Students take interest in this kind of academic writing.

2. Divergence and Comparison Essay

   Two or more phenomena and subjects are considered to explore in which students can find similarities and differences. Students elaborate on the similarities and differences by using the Venn diagram to show the overlapping and independent circle areas.

3. Definition Essay

   A paper that defines the process, issues, problem, phenomenon, or idea. Students get a thorough understanding of the topic and explain the definition of the problem.

4. Description Essay

   An elegantly composed depiction article utilizes distinctive, meticulous statements to conclude the subject. Essay writing is an experience, a feeling, an article, or an individual or group of people understanding. This kind of essay writing requires the author to make a particular impression with words. This style has a more inventive opportunity than in any others.

5. Persuasive Essay

   The persuasive essay requires the writers to persuade the readers to convince with an expressed contention. Regardless of whether you are given a subject to guard or are approached to pick one, you should take a solid position on an issue. You will likely legitimately introduce data on the side of that position
   
   This type of essay writing convinces the reader to agree with the topic statement. The author needs to have a strong understanding of a topic to build a strong stance on the topic. Explain the topic logically and provide information that supports the topic idea.

6. Process Analysis Essay

   It is somehow the same as a description essay, this type of essay or paper's writing explains a cycle from start till end. This type of reader can conclude with a better understanding of how an essay works. A thorough understanding of each step is essential, so pick the subject area that you understand well to conduct appropriate research.
   
   Language should help the reader visualize the process. Use transitional words to delineate steps, such as “next” or “then.” Your essay should flow logically from beginning to end, detailing each step along the way. Different processes have differing complexities, but you should explain three steps at a minimum. You may instruct the reader directly or illustrate a complete process.

It has commonly seen the instructor offers help and gives directions that demonstrate the objective of the papers. Alternatively, the students are intending to choose their topic. This is a daunting task, but students need to check their interests and knowledge, which can help in bringing the writing to life. The student could answer the below questions:

1. Are you interested in a particular, subject area that you feel you can do easily and having good command and understanding of it?
2. For further investigation, do you collect and compile a list of keywords?
3. In your particular interesting area, are there sufficient resources available?
4. Are you aware of the PMU Learning Resources Center digital resources? and explore your research interest in E-journals and E-books?
5. If you are particularly interested in an area that is so broader? Are you interested to narrow down to summarize adequately?

Once you or your instructor select the research topic, it is very important to sketch the research outline. This sketch can make the research workflow more smoothly. Draw a research framework, identify the subtopics, and organize your plan which leads to complete the research work in time.

Are you thinking the first draft of your research paper is the best of your efforts? The best approach is to revise and rewrite until your manuscript represents your thoughts and idea.
The revision, editing, and rewriting of a research paper should be in a particular order; rather start to work at once with all manuscript sessions.

1. Drafting and revisions begin from a research topic
   1. Does the research idea address a particular issue and fulfill the needs of your assignments?
   2. Does the research paper consistently on track with drafting and editing requirements?
2. Reconsider and check your research paper statement again.
3. Review and rewrite your introduction.
4. Give more time in reviewing and improving the supporting paragraphs.
5. Like other sessions, you need to spend more time on supporting paragraphs to review and editing.
6. Check and review the evidence of the research that supports the main and sub-objective of the research
7. Check intext citations and references. Are they according to the given style guide?
8. Lastly, evaluate and study your conclusion.

After going through the big review and editing, some of the nitty-gritty editings make the research paper more appealing.

• Resolve the grammatical errors, check punctuation, and spelling of the paper. For this purpose get help from the Grammarly application.

There are many accepted citation styles are available, different universities are proposing different citation style. As a large American Philosophical Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) citation style are using. PMU accepted style is the American Philosophical Association (APA). According to APA, the citation should be given intext, and the reference of the citation given at the last of the manuscript.

PMU LRC supporting research activities and holding a large number of resources collection available in E-book, E-journals, and physical form.

Students and faculty are allowed to borrow APA and MLA publication manual to make their research project aligned with citation style.

Book Image	Book detail
	Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 6th ed. Author American Psychological Association. Call number BF76.7 .P83 2016 Publisher Edition Pub date 2010
	APA handbook of nonverbal communication First edition. Author Matsumoto, David Ricky. Call number BF637.N66 .A63 2016 Publisher Edition Pub date 2016
	Concise rules of APA style Sixth edition. Author American Psychological Association. Call number BF76.7 .C66 2010 Publisher Edition Pub date 2010
	MLA handbook for writers of research papers eighth edition. Author Modern Language Association of America. Call number LB2369 .M52 2016 Publisher Edition Pub date 2016

Workshop Schedule

LRC offered 50-minute training, workshop, and hands-on notes on several topics. Topics include citation management, technical writing, technical presentation, research software, and many more.

1. Technical Writing
2. Technical Presentations
   
   

1. Technical Writing

“Technical writing conveys specific information about a technical subject to a specific audience for a specific purpose…The words and graphics of technical writing are meant to be practical: that is, to communicate a body of factual information that will help an audience understand a subject or carry out a task.”-Michael H. Markel, Boise State University.

2. Technical Presentations

The technical presentation is slightly different from the average presentation. The main goal and approach that need to be considered are to convey specific information that is either serving engineering purposes or high tech in nature. As a general technical presentation serves two purposes. 1. to inform with updated knowledge on a particular topic. 2. To encourage the audience to accept the information and data design and evaluation process.