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How will the cube help you when writing your publication?


You have your research results ready and you want to write something based on them – a book, a chapter, an article. But your topic is being actively discussed by other scientists in your field, so you are worried that your publication will be «lost» among others. Check out this post by science blogger Pat Thomson where she describes an interesting way of writing a publication – cubing or «looking at a topic and findings from a slightly different angle».

Cubing is a strategy which encourages you to rethink. Imagine you are holding a cube. It could be a child’s building block or a Rubik’s cube. Hold it in your hand. Describe it. Now twist it about 30 degrees to the right. Again, describe what you see. Turn it so that you can see what was previously hidden underneath. Describe it. Turn it so that you reveal what was at the back. Spin the cube slowly – what do you see? What surprised you when you moved the cube around? If its a Rubiks’ cube you’re holding, then you can also twist it beyond its basic cube shape. The trick with cubing is to not dwell on any particular view, but to move quickly.

The cubing strategy can be used loosely. Using the example above as the model, see your current research results as the equivalent of the straight-on view of the cube. So now turn the results. Shift your view so that you can see some of what is underneath. Turn your results so that you reveal what was hidden. What happens if you think of your results as being in motion. Where have they been and where are they going? Were any of these views of your results a little surprising? Do any of these surprises give you an insight about how you might write your book, paper or chapter to show something that other papers, chapters and books haven’t?

But you may find this approach a little waffly and open-ended. So try a more structured approach. Use these six questions about your research results, focussing on description, association, connection, comparison, application, argument:

  1. How can you describe your results – what do they sound like, look like, smell like, taste like? How would you categorise them? Can you break these results up into smaller stand-alone pieces?
  2. If your results were an image what would it be? If these results were a meme what is it? If they were a billboard? A poster? What do your results remind you of? What popular cultural text or artefact, literary text or work of art might you associate with your results?
  3. How do these results connect with your previous research? What experiences have you had that connect with these research results?
  4. How are your research results different from other work in the field?
  5. How and where could your results be used? Who uses it, where, how and why?
  6. If someone disagreed with your results what would they say? How would you substantiate your case? What are the pros and cons of their counter-argument?

Cubing can also be used to generate new perspectives on a research topic too, particularly one which is already often researched. So, cubing is helpful for developing research bids and research proposals. And cubing is very often used to support reading and interpretation. Readers are asked to write about their text using six prompts (six sides of the cube) – description, comparison, association, analysis, application, argumentation.

Why not give cubing a go? Try cubing next time you are stuck looking at what to write about a set of research results besides the completely obvious.

Source: https://patthomson.net/2022/01/10/trouble-finding-a-writing-angle-try-cubing/

Other interesting publication manuscript preparation strategies from Pat Thomson, which you can check out on our PC TECHNOLOGY CENTER website:

– Manuscript preparation: four citation mistakes

– Revising your manuscript? Try a four-step approach

– Academic writing skills: the «make it better» exercise

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