This course introduces first-year graduate students to the basic research techniques and the fundamentals of academic writing. Research methods, including bibliographies, professional handbooks, journals, computer-assisted systems of information retrieval, as well as internet resources, will be introduced and demonstrated. In addition to these technical aspects, this course aims to familiarize students with the process of producing an academic paper, which involves searching for a topic, doing research on the chosen topic, analyzing the found materials, formulating the outline and argument of the paper, and writing down the paper in correct format. Students will be given opportunities to go through this process. The outlines and arguments of their research papers will be shared and discussed in class. Besides, selected academic papers will also be read as examples to show different styles in academic writing and various critical approaches that can be adopted in academic research.