Coursera - English for Research Publication Purposes Specialization by Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

Academic Literacy
This is the first course of the English for Research Publication Purposes Specialization. The course is an introduction to what you need to know about academic discourse. You’ll gain important critical reading skills to help you develop as a self-critical scientific writer. You will learn practical tools and effective strategies for increasing your academic vocabulary and grammar so that you will write well-structured coherent academic texts.

Scholarly Communication
Scholarly Communication is a concise but comprehensive course on how to write research papers in English. The course will help the candidates gain a better understanding of the rhetorical conventions of English and the common challenges the candidates may face as an academic writer. The course provides instruction, exercises, structure, and deadlines needed to create a publishable paper.

The aim of the course is to improve competence in scholarly communications by deepening knowledge of the core features of the scientific writing style. It presents and analyzes the unwritten rules of scientific writing, the ones candidates most likely never learned in academic writing. The course will enable the candidates to write clear, detailed and well-structured scientific texts appropriate to a suitable academic journal. In particular, they will develop an awareness of fundamental concepts of academic writing, such as contrastive rhetoric, logical organization, and argumentation. In addition, they will develop skills for self-editing and revision techniques, including editing for precision and clarity. They will also gain a deeper understanding of how to prepare a scientific paper using the IMRAD format. Finally, the candidates will develop an enhanced understanding of the concept of academic integrity and the ethics of scientific writing. The candidates will be able to overcome anxiety about academic publishing and get their research papers published in international journals.

Grant Proposal
The course provides guidance on developing a strong application that will allow reviewers to better evaluate the science and merit of your proposal. You will learn how to put your ideas into proper words, arrange a clear and concise paper and search grant market for potential funder. You will also learn how to react to negative feedback from reviewers and resubmit your proposal. The course focuses on useful project management tools and possible budget pitfalls.

Technical Writing
The course develops technical writing skills necessary to communicate information gained through a process of technical or experimental work. The course highlights the factors that determine the degree of technicality of the language and concepts involved. You will learn how to write different technical reports, e.g., laboratory reports, research reports, design and feasibility reports, progress reports, consulting reports, etc. The course also approaches several language, structure, style, and content issues that you can encounter while reporting the results of your research.