Corpus analysis as an investment in your writing skills

Every semester the Academic Writing Center offers new programs to HSE researchers. However, there are also courses that have been on our curriculum for some time and that still attract applicants and receive favorable feedback.

One of these courses is "Targeting Your Writing to the Journal Requirements: Preparatory Stage." The program was developed by the trainer Varvara Sosedova specially for HSE faculty. During this unique course, participants collect a corpus of research articles in their fields, learn to analyze it using AI tools, and come to an understanding of writing conventions that they should comply with to publish an article. In addition, participants choose a journal fitting for their research and annotate articles for a literature review. 

Some feedback from this year’s participants:  

• “AntCorp program is a fascinating tool that I think will be really useful for me.”
• "Now I have a clear idea of how a journal for publication should be selected. I have learned there are electronic tools to organize your references and I'm going to start using them from now on. Generally, I feel more confident now about writing for academic journals."
• “Marvelous teacher whose great communication skills make you feel a part of the group and encourage participation. I want to thank Varvara heartily for her detailed explanations, very patient, efficient, and rapid communication with the group, and cool exercises.”

We appreciate participants’ feedback as it helps us to see what works and what needs to be changed in courses and workshops.

Does the idea of a new tool in your writer’s toolkit sound promising? We are looking forward to seeing you among next year’s course participants!