Academic writingAcademic writingAcademic writingAcademic writingTaken from DITS`Taken from DITS`HandbookHandbook

for for HigherHigher

Education StudyEducation Study

Introduction The step up from second to third level writing is a

daunting experience for many students.It is very important for all third level students to

understand the importance of following the standards principals and guidelines which are common to many third level institutions.

The following is a guide through academic writing. It is hopped that it will help student gain some insight into how to structure essays, report, assignment and how respond to questions.

There are generally two types of writing involved in study

projects1. Personal writing recounts, tells a personal story

it uses non-technical vocabulary. It has ‘I’ at the centre, information comes from the writer’s experience, personal feelings and views are expressed.

2. Academic writing comments, evaluates, analyses uses subject-specific vocabulary uses ‘I’ as the observer and commentator only. Information comes from a range of sources, and refers to what others say gives evidence and argument

They can be combined1. It is, of course, possible to have both personal

and academic writing styles in the same piece of academic writing. However, the skill is in knowing how to use your voice as a writer, and to be absolutely clear that you are consciously aware of when you are in a personal mode or in an academic/analytical

mode.2. Do not be afraid to ask questions seek support

and most of all practice.

There are 3 main purposes or type of academic writing. Type: 1. Exposition/Informative Purpose: To give complete

and accurate information on a specific topic/issue, which may1. explain a process2. explain cause/effect3. compare/contrast4. Analyse5. Interpret6. Show problem/solution

Type: 2. Persuasive Purpose: To convince the reader of the worth of your particular argument or point of view.

Type: 3. Narrative Purpose: to outline the linear development, or story, of a subject, or event, or idea.

The basics of writing and punctuation marks

In your writing you are likely to use basic punctuation marks such as commas, full stop, colon, semi-colon, dash, hyphen, brackets, and apostrophe. The use of each is explained by looking up the following link.

DIThttp://studyskills.dit.ie/Survival%20Guide/Survival%20Guide/library/Study%20Skills%20and%20IT%20Handbook%202009.doc

StructuringThe structure of a piece of writing is the order of the

parts and the relationship between them.Most pieces of writing, regardless of their length, have:1. a beginning /introduction;2. a middle /main body;3. an ending /conclusion ParagraphsThere may be several paragraphs/chapters in the main body,

each of which has a different purpose.• The group of sentences in the paragraph should develop

the main idea and progress it to the next stage.

Introduction The introduction generally has a specific

function1. It gives an indication of the purpose of the

piece of writing;2. defines terms used in the title;3. indicates how the piece is structured;4. indicates the writer’s position in relation to the

topic.

Main Body and conclusion

The main body of the written assignment presents the argument and supports points with research.

The conclusion brings together the main points made and justifies the arguments. It should give a sense of closure to the piece. The tone should confirm that the purpose of the piece has been attained and that the writer has done what he/she set out to do.

Cohesion and coherence1. In general, cohesion means that elements relate to each

other and fit together in a plausible way for the reader.2. Coherence refers to the acceptability of the argument

being presented in so far as it makes sense to the reader, and can be clearly understood

Connecting ideas, sentences and paragraphs• Ideas in your writing will be cohesive and coherent when

there are obvious connections drawn by you, the writer.

SummarisingSummarising is presenting the ideas of

another writer in a reduced manner, capturing the essential ideas and presenting them in the same voice and style as the original writer.

1. A summary is generally about a quarter the length of the original.

2. To summarise successfully you need to understand the original writing very well. You need to stay objective about the content and keep your own opinion/judgement of the issues out of the summary.

ParaphrasingParaphrasing is representing your

understanding of a piece of text in your own words.

1. You should read the original piece several times and write your first version of the paraphrase without consulting the original. This will allow you to impose your own style of writing on the paraphrase and to incorporate it seamlessly into your own writing.

2. Then re-read the original to check that you have not misunderstood it, or misrepresented it.

Paraphrasing Continued3. Your paraphrase may be longer than the original as you

may need to contextualise it for the reader and cross reference it to other parts of your article/paper/thesis.

4. The skill of paraphrasing is an essential one in academic writing as it is pivotal in developing and supporting a scholarly argument. It is a key skill in writing an effective literature review.

Supporting your ideas with references from literature1. As both a reader and a writer you will get used to different

referencing styles. 2. The style of referencing you use will depend on your field of

study or academic discipline. 3. History writers use a different style to medics or scientists.

Referencing

Referencing is required whenever you directly quote, paraphrase or summarise another writers’ work. There are many styles of referencing, including APA (American Psychological Association) style.

A tutorial on APA referencing style is available at the Link blow.

http://www.apastyle.org/

Proof Reading You should read your writing out loud and apply the

following questions:

1. Is each sentence complete?2. Does the punctuation help or hinder understanding?3. Are there too-many ideas in each sentence, or should

short sentences be rolled into longer sentences for smoother reading?

4. Does each sentence connect with the sentence before it?

5. Does each sentence connect with the sentence after it?6. How are new themes introduced?7. How are connections made between ideas throughout

the piece?

Using Footnotes and

EndnotesFootnotes and endnotes are used for three main purposes:1. To greatly elaborate a point made in a scholarly article.2. To acknowledge a source in great detail.3. To give additional information which would not be

appropriate in the main text but which may be essential for particular readers to gain a full understanding of a context.

Please noteSome fields of academic study require extensive

footnoting/end noting. The convention in other areas of study such as education studies is to write sufficiently clearly in the main text to keep footnoting to a minimum.

Common knowledge, plagiarism, copyright and

ethics1. We can assume that all our ideas are informed from many

sources and that we rarely have an idea that is totally new! However, in academic writing we distinguish between common knowledge that is available from sources such as dictionaries, encyclopaedias, yearbooks etc. and specific knowledge that came from an identifiable source such as a report. In some cases a writer needs to make a judgement about whether to reference a source of common knowledge or not. The rule generally is: if you are in doubt, acknowledge the source!

2. But you MUST acknowledge distinctive ideas, sources of specific information, verbatim phrases, sources of original terms, sources of statistics.

Plagiarism what is it 1. Plagiarism means presenting the words of another writer

as if they were your own. This is a serious matter, and if it is detected in any of your writing submitted for assessment it may result in sanctions.

2. Using the ideas and information generated by another person, without acknowledging that usage, is generally regarded as plagiarism. Sometimes plagiarism is unintentional: simply a result of lack of skill in paraphrasing, summarising and quotation.

3. However, at higher education level it is expected that you could not unintentionally plagiarise, and that therefore, you are responsible for your actions.

4. In academia, plagiarism is a serious issue. It is so serious that a specific declaration of awareness is required in a thesis document.

ContinuedTo protect yourself from a possible accusation of plagiarism the

following conventions should be followed1. If you are summarising ideas you gleaned from a book/s,

you must acknowledge where you got them, by using the authors’ name/s and the date/s of publication. You must then list the books, with the full references, in your bibliography.

2. If the point you are summarising is particularly controversial or important, you should give the page number in the book where the original point is made.

3. All direct quotations in your text should be acknowledged with the page number of the source as well as the writer and date.

Tips an trick to avoid Plagiarism

1. The way to avoid plagiarism is very simple: always put quotation marks around someone else's words and credit the words to their proper source. If you also borrow ideas from another writer, say so and name the source. In this way you can also impress an examiner by showing that you have done some research!

2. Plagiarism could be regarded as a breach of copyright.3. Copyright, generally refers to ownership of products, ideas

or knowledge. In educational research and writing there might be copyright issues about the right to claim credit for research findings and for written material.

4. There are questions about ‘ownership’ wherever there is scholarship. Here we move into the realm of ethics. In educational research there are well developed ethical guidelines for both the conduct of research and the presentation of research findings.

Conventions for Bibliography and referencing

There are a number of different systems or referencing academic writing.

They can be unique to particular institutions but this is not always the case.

There are links on this cloud will bring you to many of them please take the time to familiarise your self with the main referencing conventions.

AcknowledgementsThe material in the proceeding slides is based upon the

Dublin Institute of Technology's Handbook for Higher Education Study.

AuthorsAnne Murphy and Pauline Rooney, also drawing from

materials written by Ken Lacey, Dolores McManus and Diana Mitchell

Available to all on the Dublin institute of technology Website

http://studyskills.dit.ie/Survival%20Guide/Survival%20Guide/Home/Homepage.html