To be fair, is it much more difficult for liberal arts to send papers than for science?

First, the connection and difference between liberal arts papers and science papers

It is often said that science papers are difficult to write; Liberal arts papers are easy to write, and liberal arts is "a big copy of the world's articles." In the liberal arts (and I take the Chinese department as an example), the language feeling is similar to that of mathematics, and the spread and popularity of language can be roughly summarized by the same formula, so I despise literature; In literature, classical literature feels that it has the longest history and is the backbone of Chinese studies, and looks down on modern and contemporary literature with short history; Modern and contemporary literature thinks that we are mother-tongue literature, and looks down on foreign literature that can't be so familiar with foreign countries. All this is a misunderstanding.

What is research? We should first make clear the nature and significance of this research. The so-called research is not what I think of, but on the basis of previous theories or experiments, the authenticity and objectivity of the research object are pushed forward. Our research is only a part of the whole research, which is a relay movement with people in front and people behind.

Some people think that only one laboratory is needed for scientific research, and there is no need to look at previous literature. In fact, before entering the experiment and after entering the laboratory, the dependence of science on literature is the same as that of liberal arts, and it is equally indispensable.

Liberal arts papers should reveal the inherent laws of things on the basis of a large number of investigations and statistics. It is not a liberal arts paper that says that flowers are "beautiful or not" (some people misunderstand that this is a liberal arts paper); Liberal arts papers should study what color flowers are and why they are this color. For example, maple leaves gradually turn red in autumn. Why do maple leaves turn red in autumn? What does this have to do with anthocyanins? What is the relationship between the change of anthocyanin and soil, climate and temperature? Literary research is an exploratory research. It should not only be separated from history and philosophy, but also intersect with geography, astronomy, biology and environment.

In fact, many studies have potential "research chains". For example, we start from the road of "chemistry", from "inorganic chemistry" to "organic chemistry"; Then from "organic chemistry" to "life science", at this time, people and human brain are the core of "life science", and the "consciousness" produced by human brain is the strangest and most precious magical thing in "life science", and its complexity can be comparable to that of the earth and the outer universe; Literature is one of the most beautiful flowers in human consciousness. Studying "literature" means studying the unique "flower of consciousness" of human beings, which is not only interesting, but also in the same "research chain" as "inorganic chemistry". From this perspective, liberal arts and science are disciplines with different division of labor.

As far as science is concerned, liberal arts papers and science papers should be the same. The paper really researched should have strong objectivity.

Second, the principles and methods of writing liberal arts papers

The four most important words in writing a thesis, especially a dissertation, are "seeking truth from facts", which is both an attitude and a method.

Teacher Wang Yunxi told us that in the past, Mr. Guo Shaoyu wrote The History of China's Literary Criticism. With his profound knowledge, he only wrote poems that he was familiar with. Don't write novels, don't write operas. Later, Zhou Yang insisted that he write. If he can write a little, he will ask Mr. Zhao, who specializes in novels and operas, to read it. Finally, he will let Mr. Zhao check it before he dares to take it out.

Seeking truth from facts is also manifested in the attitude towards the research object. Because there are "people" and "feelings" in literary research, it is easy to regard the research object as the object of worship. The correct attitude should be to regard the research object as the object of investigation and as the object of anatomy.

Ancient poets and writers were often belittled, and we often sided with them. Because we like his poems or literary works, we think that the poet has been framed and feel sorry for him. In fact, we should look at the problem realistically from the law at that time. It is necessary to distinguish between two different problems, one is framed, and the other is that economic or other mistakes have been really made.

For example, Su Dongpo's economic problems, Xin Qiji's economic problems and being too rude to subordinates. For example, Fan Zhongyan wrote in Yueyang Tower that Teng was demoted to Baling County only because of his corruption. Fan Zhongyan's article has his good words, and so on. We should also treat it realistically. This attitude and method of seeking truth from facts is a traditional rational spirit. In order to seek the truth, researchers of the Gan school sometimes even criticize their father's articles and say, "It is wrong for the family to say so." This spirit is the first condition for research to achieve creative results.

Seeking truth from facts is bound to be highly scientific and objective. In the Qing Dynasty, Gu pointed out in the Record of the Sun that his research was "mountain casting copper", that is, mining ore from deep mountains and refining refined copper for casting Ding Yi or coins. This sentence has been quoted by many scholars. In the Qing Dynasty, Wang Niansun and Wang, the father and son of Gaoyou, summed up their research in one sentence: that is, the research of future generations cannot be separated from their achievements. Because their research is very scientific and objective, this is also the reason why the "two kings" are not forgotten and proud. Later generations must start to move forward on their basis, so that the cause will be new and the research will be valuable.

As latecomers, we should inherit all the outstanding achievements of our predecessors, including research methods and concepts, so as to create a new atmosphere and a new situation. In addition to attaching importance to materials, meticulous and realistic methods and styles like the "Kyoto School" in Japan, we should also inject new ideas and new spirit of the times. Mr. Cheng said: Academics, like sports, are also recorded; As a scholar, we should not only break the "academic record" of our predecessors, but also create a "new academic record"; We should also break our academic records, which is the historical responsibility entrusted to us by the times. Training graduate students should not only practice, but also accumulate fire and pass on salary.

Scientific papers are often worldwide. Liberal arts papers should also be worldwide. With the mutual infiltration and integration of different countries and nations in ideology, psychological characteristics and cultural methods around the world, the spiritual wealth of any country and nation is rapidly globalizing, and the study of China literature has become a part of world culture. China literature research is no longer the patent of China scholars. Therefore, in today's world, the study of China literature, once regarded as a national quintessence, should be carried out on the platform of "Chinese character cultural circle" and under the background of world sinology. This kind of open research is in common with the scientific spirit.

Third, before writing a paper, ask a few why.

For a paper, first ask yourself several reasons: First, why do you want to write this paper? Second, what problems did this paper solve? Third, to what extent have you solved this problem? Is it reliable to solve? What is the significance of writing this paper?

The author has participated in doctoral thesis defense or won prizes for many times. The above points are the criteria and questions that judges should put forward when evaluating excellent papers.

Writing a liberal arts paper is like doing a geometry problem; Know what? Prove what? The known conditions are the documents you collect, and your conclusion is the problem to be proved in the paper. When doing geometry problems, we should have major premise, minor premise and inference; Reasoning should be logical and the conclusions drawn should be reliable. Therefore, every qualified liberal arts paper must have three components: first, "what is it" (what is it); The second is "why"; Third, what is the significance of this article? Be clear.

Fourth, the topic selection of liberal arts papers

When I was in Fudan University, my tutor Professor Wang Yunxi repeatedly told us that the first step in writing a liberal arts thesis (taking the Chinese Department as an example) was to choose a topic. When the topic is chosen, the paper is half successful.

Thesis topics vary in size; There are macro and micro points; There is a difference between raw and cooked. As a beginner, my hope for graduate students is that the topic should be smaller, microscopic and healthier first; See the big from the small, first micro, then macro.

There are many types of topics, such as writers and works research; The study of a certain literary trend of thought; Research on writers and literary groups: study a genre, theme, theme and type; Special book research; Study on the category, concept, terminology and image of literary theory: comparative study (with or without influence); Interdisciplinary research (such as history and literature, geography and literature, astronomy and literature, philology and literature, linguistics and literature, philosophical aesthetics and literature, etc.). ).

Choosing a topic should be based on your own characteristics and what you are good at. Some people are good at literature research, while others are good at theoretical analysis. When choosing a topic, you can foster strengths and avoid weaknesses and write a good paper.

The source of the topic can be the tutor's class, and you suddenly have an experience and inspiration. The best way is to delimit a reading range, accumulate reading experience, take reading notes, then sort out notes and write papers. When writing, don't write comprehensively, but write your own opinions. What others have said and written, there is no need to write. The skills of setting topics can not be ignored. You should put the ideas and the most wonderful ideas in your paper in the title of the paper, and the expression should be novel and unfamiliar, which will make people shine.

Fifth, the method of collecting data for liberal arts papers.

It is very important to write a liberal arts paper and collect materials. Some people collect materials easily, while others find it difficult. What is the reason? The question is whether you can use reference books. Have you learned to look up all kinds of information on the Internet?

Reference books are divided into several categories: such as edition, bibliography, such as bibliographic problem solving, comprehensive chronology, paper index, generic books, local chronicles, genealogy, etc. There are all kinds of books and periodicals on the Internet. The periodical network of liberal arts and the school library are basically bought. You can connect to the school library network to find the information you want.

Collecting materials is also learned: when collecting materials, you can't collect a certain material alone, but pay attention to the "connection" between materials. Pay attention to the relationship between a writer's works and other works and works of different genres; Pay attention to the relationship between a writer and other writers, especially friends, teachers and students, relatives, etc. If you collect Bai Juyi's materials, you should also pay attention to Yuan Zhen's materials; When studying Xie Lingyun, we should also pay attention to Yan Yannian's materials. Studying Su Shi depends on the information of their father and son. Pay attention to the material between works and contemporary reviews; Need to read the works and theories at that time; Read each other's literature, history and philosophy; Read the materials unearthed underground with paper documents. Pay attention to the relationship between writers and works and the society, atmosphere of the times and aesthetic consciousness at that time; Pay attention to the relationship between times and history. For example, the connection with writers, works and theories in the previous and later times.

We often feel that our papers are very thin and have no thickness and depth, just because you didn't notice the above connection when collecting materials.

Six, the establishment of their own materials "base"

When real scholars collect materials, there is another trick, that is, to establish their own material base. Previous experience is that you are familiar with a book, and a lot of your knowledge is related to that book. You can always go back to that book and find the information you want.

Although Chen Yinque is proficient in Chinese and western classics, he is most familiar with the new and old Tang books. Many of his important research achievements are related to the New and Old Tang Books. Until Chen was blind in his later years, when he was writing articles and studying, he often told his daughter that there was a passage in the Second Book of Tang Dynasty, and asked her to help proofread it.

Yang Shuda is familiar with Hanshu and takes Hanshu as the basis of his study. He wrote The Analects of Confucius (Han people's views on The Analects) and An Examination of Marriage Customs (Han people's marriage customs). Go a long way. His nephew Yang Bojun was also inspired by Yang Shuda's reading method. He completed a series of works such as The Analects of Confucius and Mencius.

A familiar book is not necessarily a rare book, but an ordinary book. However, books on the road of learning, or history, or philosophy, or literature, are best books with rich information and a combination of literature, history and philosophy. Therefore, Yu Jiaxi said, "read ordinary books." The western proverb says, "Pay attention to those who read a book deeply."

Seven, the material should be read correctly.

Read the collected data correctly and pay attention to whether it is reliable. We should pay attention to the books corrected by our predecessors. Both Twenty-five History and Sikuquanshu have special books to correct and analyze, and the latter corrects the mistakes of the former. So are foreign materials. For example, Hegel's aesthetics is authoritative, but in Germany, works that dialectically supplement the mistakes in Hegel's books have become classics. Read Hegel, to understand this situation, read a dialectical book. Of course, it is also possible that these books are still in German without translation. Another example is the American theorist Weneck Warren, who wrote Principles of Literature. There are several mistakes, which he has revised in the second book Poetics. If you don't pay attention to his poetics, you won't know where he is wrong. Poetics hasn't been translated yet. It depends on the original English version. Therefore, the academic research of liberal arts is also a difficult job. Some people only look at the translation of foreign literary theories and China classics, so it is really dangerous to make a comparative study. Conditional students try to read the original, at least check the original.

Eight, innovative thinking and literature demonstration

To write a good paper, the first effort is to try to find new materials and make them speak as much as possible; The second kind of kung fu is to use new thinking to make ordinary materials speak and old materials create new ideas. Exploring new materials and relying on philology; Finding and solving problems in ordinary materials depends on innovative thinking; This is the dialectics of the old and the new. While collecting materials by philology, liberal arts papers should also learn new theories, especially foreign philosophy and aesthetics. In the 20th century, Wang Guowei studied China's Ci with the theories of Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and invented the "double evidence law" of mutual evidence between underground excavation and ancient records. Chen's "Proving History with Poetry" and "Proving Poetry with History" are both models of innovative thinking and literary argumentation. Recently, some people used Jung's prototype theory to study Cao Zhi's Ode to Luoshen, and others used Freud's Oedipus complex to study Peacock Flying Southeast, all of which were successful.

Nine, the language and technical problems of writing

The method of writing, especially when writing a paper for the first time, first set up an outline and then demonstrate it in sections; For the sake of clarity, at the end of each paragraph, you can summarize it in a few sentences. After a paper is finished, summarize it in a few words, just like filling in data and sentences after the experiment, which makes people look clear and prominent.

The language of the paper can be varied in style, and any language can be used. But it should be concise, clear, fluent and expressive. "Reaching" means "language in place", which is actually a high level of writing, which is difficult to achieve.

Writing scientific papers should pursue the logical meaning of the papers, without making too many changes in the text; It is good to have literary talent, but don't use literary talent to damage the meaning; The most taboo is to say simple truth in very "abstruse" language so that people can't understand it.

The citation of the paper should be reliable and standardized; Use first-hand information as much as possible; If you use second-hand information, you must check the original text, which is in line with academic norms.

Finally, pay attention to the "ten elements": (1) era or country; (2) the author; (3) Translator; (4) titles of books and periodicals; (5) the number of volumes; (6) chapter; (7) place of publication; (8) Publishing entity; (9) Time of publication; (10) Page number.

From this, you know that it is as difficult to write a liberal arts paper as it is for science to draw conclusions in the laboratory. Although the methods and means of scientific research are different, liberal arts don't go into the laboratory, and science goes into the laboratory, but society is also a big laboratory for liberal arts, because both liberal arts and social sciences study social problems. In research, cultivating students' scientific research ability and innovation ability is the same in liberal arts and science and engineering. Finally, the writing of the paper is the result of experimental reports and research, a summary of predecessors and a new development. Through the writing of dissertations, the acquired knowledge is further sublimated and grown into excellent talents useful to the country and society.