*Written by: Hanaa Thabit Muhammad Al-Madad

Research is an attempt to discover, prospect, develop, examine, and verify knowledge with careful investigation and deep criticism, then present it in an integrated presentation with intelligence and awareness in order to march in the procession of global civilization and contribute to it a living and complete human contribution. Research is the search for truth, investigating it, and broadcasting it among people according to a method that the researcher follows to reach the al of his research subject. Every researcher who wants to write a research must through the following stages: 

Collecting scientific material : This material is collected from major books and publications from sources and references related to the research subject. If you want, for example, to write a topic in which you research a certain poet, you must collect the scientific material for this research from literary sources and references that deal with this poet throughout the history of literature, and we mention for example (the Book of Songs).

Preparing cards : It is preferable that the cards be cardboard or paper, and that they be numbered with a numbering that meets the requirements of the research. 

Arranging and coordinating scientific material : After reading the scientific material, the researcher must arrange the information he obtained according to his need for it and according to what the research requires.

Blackening process (Drafting) : Writing is not allowed unless the information is recorded in a sequential manner. After a full induction of news and texts and informing the supervising professor of these procedures and requesting permission from him to write, the researcher or student prepares the papers required for writing, prepares a smooth pen for writing, and carefully considers the plan that the supervisor described before him in order to use it to write the research, then begins writing except for the introduction? This is because the introduction may not be written until after finishing writing the research and reviewing what was written, and the reason for this is that the introduction reflects an integrated picture of the researcher's relationship with the research and paves the way for what the researcher has done. First of all, the researcher must be generous in using paper, so he should not write on both sides of the paper, for example, and he must leave spaces between lines and spaces in the margin and leave a footnote at the bottom, and he must not fill the paper completely because he may need to add a certain idea or rectify a certain thing or add another sentence, and all these things must be estimated by the writer, and he must also estimate the distances and take into account the calculation of the footnotes so as not to have to compress his writings on the paper and then these writings overlap with each other. 

If he is forced to add something important, there is no harm in sticking an additional snippet in the draft provided that it is finished in the fair copy.

After that, the researcher must take into account the writing of paragraphs, so he writes each paragraph separately? Because the paragraph is an integrated whole containing a specific content.

What the researcher must also do is respect punctuation marks, including the comma (,) which is recorded between short sentences .. and the semicolon ( ; ) which is recorded between long sentences, as well as the period ( . ) which is recorded at the end of sentences, as well as the two vertical dots ( : ) which are recorded after saying and said or after what is derived from them (i.e. what is in saying or said), as they are also recorded after the method of summary and detail .. for example, fingers of hands: thumb, index finger ..., as for the question mark ( ? ) it is recorded after the question method or the exclamation mark ( ! ) which is recorded after what is in the exclamation method whether it is standard or heard .. as well as the large brackets ( ), or small ones are used for evidence or sayings, and small double quotation marks (» (called in Arabic: the two double quotation marks)

They are placed around a literal quote, whether the quoted text is from the Noble Hadith, the Holy Quran, or any statement quoted literally.

It is not permissible for a researcher to take from a reference, source, or any author a phrase belonging to someone else and then attribute it to himself, nor does he need to mention titles and ranks when citing a statement of a writer.

It is preferable to divide the research into parts, chapters, subheadings, and partial ideas. It is not necessary for the chapters to be equal according to the subjects. Eulogy is different from ghazal, and pride is different from praise. Talking about Al-Razi's life and upbringing is completely different from talking about his method, style, or sciences. It is preferable not to use too many subheadings and punctuation marks. It is preferable, and indeed necessary, that the speech be logical and balanced, as you should not write an idea and come with its opposite in the second line.

The researcher may need to repeat the idea and this is possible provided that the repetition is brief with the necessity of indicating it with the phrase (as we mentioned above), for example, or (as mentioned above) and it is not permissible to repeat often because that makes the research lose its value.

The researcher must also take into account his personal judgments and opinions starting from the first lines of writing because he is in the stage of composing ideas and casting them in his own mold, and he must clarify his subjective opinion.

He must remember that not everything read is copied, and not everything copied is used in research. The researcher should exclude the first-person singular pronoun as much as possible, and can use the plural pronoun whether in the case of speakers or addresses. The researcher must avoid sarcasm, and be polite in his speech and words. He must also avoid definitive judgments such as saying: I see the following, and he should say (it seems to me, or I believe, or most likely, or perhaps). He should not cut off the chapter abruptly but rather make the chapters interconnected. In all cases, the research must include an introduction that paves the way for the subject, and a conclusion that sums up parts of the subject. He must stay away from boring elaboration and deficient brevity. His style should be clear, and his language sound so as not to distract others with his mistakes. He must cite evidence on condition of the following: 

- Correctness, i.e., that the evidence is correct.

- That it be attributed to its owner.

- That it be placed in its appropriate place.

It is not a matter of eloquence for the researcher to search for the strange (difficult words) or to complicate sentences or lengthen them, but he must seek clarity in choosing words and their positions, putting the appropriate word in the appropriate place, and there is no harm in using some vocabulary with the help of a small dictionary.

The researcher must also judge his mind while he writes, and set out to criticize himself and discover his errors before others discover them .. and finally the researcher must stay away from the e (arrogance) and self-pride so that he does not accept advice or guidance from anyone.

It is also preferable to leave the chapter he writes for days so that when he returns to it a second time he finds it open to criticism, and it is not a shame if he cooperates with one of his colleagues by exchanging benefits, by reading a book or chapter written by his colleague, and his colleague reading his writings.

The researcher should not resort to the fair copy until he finishes the draft process permanently. The researcher may need to advance or delay, and may have to delete. In addition, it is necessary for the research for the researcher to read it completely and put the evidence in its places to ensure tracking or sequence of sentences, clarity of performance, soundness of language, placing appropriate footnotes and dropping what is not important for the sake of drafting the construction tightly.

These are the most important observations that we thought the researcher should follow, and they are necessary for the research.

It is worth noting that some researchers transfer the draft to a second draft more polished and organized than the first draft .. and some of them resort to storing some ideas in their memory, and we rarely find a researcher writing for the first time without a draft. The researcher can reach this stage (writing without a draft) after much practice and training. The researcher (Omar Farroukh) is a model for this and the best representative of this method because he was writing in the direct way.

He was once seen printing research directly on the typewriter, with nothing in his hands but bullet points about the main ideas he should address, and this applies to improvised speakers and poets, they speak directly without prior preparation and this is due to talent. With all this, it is necessary for any researcher, whoever he may be, to return to what he wrote to ensure the correctness of the phrase, completeness of the sentence, appropriate punctuation, and freedom from errors. Perhaps it is a matter of course to convey to you Al-Jahiz's opinion and his most important books: Al-Bayan wa Al-Tabyin, Al-Hayawan, Al-Bukhalā' - on the necessity of revising publications. He says in his book (Al-Hayawan): (Whoever writes a book should only write it on the assumption that all people are his enemies, and they are all knowledgeable about matters to criticize this book, then he is not satisfied with that until he lets his book be rational (general, unclear), and he is not satisfied with a half-baked opinion, i.e., an immature opinion. For the beginning of a book has temptation and wonder, so when nature settles, motion calms down, humors retreat, and the soul returns abundantly to its stability, he stops at its chapters the stop of one whose desire for safety is less than his fear of defect «, meaning that he always prefers the completion of what was written and reaching an advanced stage in writing, and not to be accused of having an omission or flaw in his writings, meaning he wants his book to be complete and sound in order to preserve his safety, not for fear of people's criticism of him.

* Writer and researcher – Syria

References

Origins of Research - Dr. Muhammad Mustafa - University of Aleppo - 2007 .

Al-Kamil in Literary Criticism - 3rd Ed. - Kamal Abu Musleh - Modern Library - Beirut - 1967 .