To further broaden the academic horizons of graduate students and enhance their writing skills and academic literacy, the "2024 Shanghai Jiao Tong University Graduate Academic Writing Forum" was successfully held on July 3, 2024, in the multifunctional hall of the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Minhang Campus. This forum was organized by the Graduate School and the Journal Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and hosted by the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering. Nearly 60 representatives of faculty and students, including Tan Yi, Director of the Journal Center, and Wang Hesheng, Deputy Dean of the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, attended the forum.
Tan Yi, Director of the Journal Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the forum. He emphasized that paper writing is a crucial skill that needs to be developed during the graduate stage. A good academic perspective must be presented through excellent writing style and logical structure. Currently, there are 78 journals managed or co-managed by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, providing a solid foundation and platform for faculty and students to enhance their academic literacy and publish high-level papers. The Journal Center will continue to build the "Graduate Academic Writing Forum" brand in the future, continuously assisting students in their academic and scholarly development. Wang Hesheng, Deputy Dean of the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, also remarked that paper writing is a significant aspect throughout an academic career. The forum offers a rich and professional curriculum, and he hopes that through today's learning, students will deeply understand the language habits of academic papers and improve their writing skills. In the future, students should be able to proficiently use academic language to express their scholarly ideas and further their studies to promote the development of their respective disciplines. Subsequently, Cai Yunze, Deputy Director of the Journal Center, presented a topic titled "Empowering Student Paper Writing through Journals," introducing the public elective course "Scientific Paper Writing" co-developed by the Graduate School and the Journal Center in recent years. She detailed the course's teaching team, curriculum design, and implementation, and explained the formation of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Medical-Engineering Interdisciplinary Journal Alliance and the deep cooperation between the Journal Center and other schools within the university. Cai Yunze expressed that the Journal Center will continue to care about students' growth and hopes that students' first papers will be published in SJTU journals.
After the opening ceremony, the forum proceeded to the lecture session, which was divided into two modules: "Exploration & Discovery" and "Standardization & Enhancement." Senior professors and frontline journal editors gave lectures in these modules. Professor Huang Xiaolin, with the topic "Thinking, Doubt, and Persistence during Graduate Studies," discussed how to cultivate research habits, establish research interests, and find research directions at the initial stage of scientific research. He shared valuable experiences and insights through rich examples from his study and work experiences. Editor Fu Lingxiao, with the topic "Norms and Techniques for Tables and Figures in Journal Papers," provided a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the norms for tables, common types of images and the drawing process, basic drawing norms and common errors, drawing techniques, and recommended software. Professor Tang Yincai, with the topic "Literary Statistical Programming in the Era of Big Data and Its Application in Academic Paper Writing," shared insights on literary statistical programming from his perspective as a seasoned statistics scholar engaged in teaching and research. He demonstrated the core elements of literary statistical programming through numerous examples and introduced excellent tools such as the R language for data statistical analysis and visualization, the lightweight markup language Markdown, and the exquisite book typesetting tool TeX, detailing their roles in efficient data processing and paper writing from a practical perspective. Professor Zhang Zhinan, with the topic "Exploration and Practice in Refining Innovative Achievements from Scientific Research," discussed how to identify research value, uncover potential innovation points, build solutions, refine innovative achievements, and select appropriate journals for submission through his work experiences and specific cases of guiding undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students.
The forum not only addressed macro issues such as how to refine innovative achievements and why to pursue an academic path but also provided detailed guidance on practical aspects such as literary statistical programming and paper tabulation, enhancing students' academic writing skills and standardization awareness. This laid a solid foundation for their future academic endeavors.
