In order to further implement the quality management of postgraduate dissertations in the School of Law of Southeast University, the School of Law organized a series of dissertation writing training lectures.2023 At 14:00 on November 11, Mr. Guo Haiqing, a full-time editor of the core journal of law, and Mr. Tan Binglin, an assistant to the editor-in-chief of the Research on Law and Business and a reviewer of the editor-in-chief of the Research on Legal and Business Studies, were invited to the School of Law of Southeast University, where they successively brought a lecture titled How to write a dissertation on law? How to Write Topics and Abstracts for Law Dissertations? and How to Argue and Line a Law Dissertation? and How to Argue and Line a Law Dissertation? The lecture was hosted by Mr. Yu Lixin, professor and doctoral supervisor of Southeast University Law School, and Mr. Liu Qichuan, professor, doctoral supervisor and secretary of the Party Committee of Southeast University Law School, and Mr. Xiong Zhanglin, professor and doctoral supervisor of Southeast University Law School, were the speakers. The lecture was conducted in a combination of online and offline, which attracted hundreds of law teachers and students from different schools and regions to participate in this study, and the response was enthusiastic. Before the formal start of the lecture, Prof. Yu Lixin of the Law School of Southeast University introduced the two teachers and expressed his warm welcome to them, and Mr. Guo Haiqing and Mr. Tan Binglin also expressed their great pleasure to share their experiences and lessons with the students and teachers.

The lecture was divided into two parts, the first part of which was carried out by Mr. Guo Haiqing, who focused on the topic of How to write a title and abstract for a law dissertation. Firstly, Mr. Guo introduced the role of title and abstract. Mr. Guo pointed out that in order to understand the whole picture of a dissertation in the shortest possible time, it is often necessary to read the title and abstract first. The title and abstract allow readers to understand what issues the author has raised, what the core ideas are, the main arguments and logical levels, etc., before reading the main text, so as to judge the academic value of the article in a shorter period of time. The title and abstract are the essence of an article's research results and deserve to be emphasized in academic research. Accurately recognizing the functions of title and abstract is important for improving the quality of the paper and increasing the success rate of submission.

Next, Mr. Guo Haiqing emphasized the importance of clarifying the relationship between the title, abstract and text. Mr. Guo pointed out that after clarifying the functions of the title and abstract, in addition to writing a qualified abstract, it is also necessary to understand the relationship between the two and the main text. There is a solid study of the full text first before the title and abstract have a foundation. In terms of timing, the first drafts of the title and abstract can precede the formal dissertation, can be synchronized with the dissertation, or can follow the completion of the main text. In terms of content, the title and abstract are both an important part of the academic paper and can also exist independently of the paper.

Finally, Mr. Guo Haiqing introduced how to write a title and abstract. Mr. Guo pointed out that the title should be concise and accurate, and should not be long and vague. The title should directly reflect the core idea of the article and the research question of the article. The abstract should be based on the argumentative structure of the article, i.e., the primary and secondary headings should be the main line, which should refine the main points of the article and reflect the key contents of the article.

In the talk session, Prof. Yu Lixin talked about his own feelings about his first dissertation experience during his postgraduate studies, and he highly praised and expressed his gratitude to Mr. Guo Haiqing for the content he shared.

In the second part of the lecture, Ms. Tan Binglin focused on the topic of Argumentation Mode of Law Dissertation. First of all, Ms. Tan Binglin introduced the topic with the question What is an argument?. Mr. Tan Binglin introduced the topic with the question What is an argument?. Ms. Tan Binglin pointed out that the strategic goal of argumentation is to prove the thesis, and the tactical goal of argumentation is to prove the argument. Argumentation is reasoning rather than preaching, and it emphasizes the importance of convincing people with reason, clarifying the reasons for a viewpoint or position, and reaching the level of beyond reasonable doubt. Argumentation should be based on evidence, avoid self-talk, be factual, textually accurate, have reliable data, and stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us to study the problem.

Next, Ms. Tan Binglin introduced the structure of argumentation, argumentation method, expression and document design. According to Mr. Tan Binglin, the key to argument structure is logic. In terms of argumentation structure, he introduced us to three typical forms of argumentation structure: the three-part argumentation structure, the deep argumentation structure and the umbrella argumentation structure. The three-paragraph argumentative structure is the structure that raises the question, analyzes the question, solves the problem and enhances the theme. The deep argumentative structure is to ask questions and push forward layer by layer, which is suitable for discursive essays, or legal explanations, case studies, and historical evidence essays. The umbrella argumentative structure is the structure that puts forward the analytical framework and unfolds them one by one to accomplish the writing purpose.

In terms of argumentation methods, Ms. Tan Binglin introduced textual/normative argumentation, systematic argumentation, historical/purpose argumentation, social science argumentation, and common misunderstandings of argumentation. Ms. Tan Binglin pointed out that when writing an essay, one must start from the legal articles, collect and cite all kinds of legal materials and authoritative opinions extensively, and at the same time choose appropriate argumentation methods in order to write a good essay.

Mr. Tan Binglin pointed out that the rigor of expression should be paid great attention to. The terminology of the paper must be precise, and the use of clear expressions on empirical method should be standardized. Do not easily imitate everyone's style of writing when you are not sure enough, and strive to be concise in language. In addition, in terms of document design, Ms. Tan Binglin pointed out that attention should be paid to the annotation style, improve the navigation pane and pay attention to the aesthetics of typography.

In the talk session, Prof. Yu Lixin summarized the sharing of the two teachers - they rationally and elegantly pointed out the common problem in the current law thesis writing: there are quite a lot of methods but they are a bit messy. Prof. Yu Lixhen emphasized that law, as a social science, must have rules and regulations when researching, and the arguments must be powerful and logical. Encourage students must be after the lecture to understand the teacher's experience, in the study of more practice, more practice.

In the question and answer session, students both online and offline actively participated. Some students raised the question of how to avoid the repetition of abstract and conclusion in writing. The two teachers combined their rich working experience to give a patient answer: First of all, we need to make it clear that the abstract is not part of the main text, but the abstract is closely related to the logic of the main text, and needs to refine the main points of the main text. And the conclusion is a response to the issues raised in the introduction, which is in the main text. In addition, students also asked how to submit more efficient, cross-disciplinary paper submission whether there are risks and other technical issues of submission, the teachers responded one by one.

After the questions, Prof. Yu expressed his sincere thanks to Mr. Guo Haiqing and Mr. Tan Binglin again. At the end of the seminar, a group photo was taken with all the teachers participating in the seminar.