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Dos and Donts of Academic Writing

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Dos and don’ts of academic writing
|Aspect |Do this |Don’t do this |
|Position |Be even-handed, considering all sides of |Show bias, looking at only one viewpoint. |
| |question. | |
|Statement of position |Use a thesis statement to introduce the |Jump straight into argument without creating a |
| |direction you will take. |context for that argument. |
|Statement of scope |Clarify what issues are to be covered, and what |Avoid statement of scope. |
| |will not be covered. | |
|Terminology |Define terms; if technical terms need to be |Avoid defining terms; switch between normal and |
| |used, explain them in first instance. |technical language without notice. |
|Exposition of argument |Clearly set out paragraphs; use headings where |Avoid clear topic changes with paragraphing; use |
| |appropriate; use topic sentences; link ideas to |inappropriate or confusing headings; use no of few|
| |reinforce unfolding argument. |topic sentences; confuse reader with choppy |
| | |exposition and development. |
|Structural integrity |In conclusion, recapitulate issues, showing how |Don’t provide a clear recapitulation of ideas in |
| |the topic question has been answered. |the conclusion; end without reference to topic |
| | |question; introduce new material at the end. |
|Research |Use old and new material; show preference for |Use out-of-date material; use only popular |
| |reputable, peer-reviewed material; handle |material (such as journalism) and Internet sources|
| |popular and Internet sources with care; show |of problematic quality; show no evidence of |
| |evidence of understanding and synthesis of |understanding and synthesis of sources. |
| |sources. | |
|Quotation |Cite sources legitimately (i.e. don’t quote |Selectively quote sources to give false |
| |selectively); lead into quotes with appropriate |impressions; insert quotes without (or with |
| |introductory text, matching grammatical |inappropriate) introductory text; ignoring |
| |structure of lead-in text with quoted material; |matching grammatical structure of lead-in text |
| |if quoting, give page numbers; avoid plagiarism.|with quoted material; if quoting, don’t give page |
| | |numbers; plagiarize. |
|Original thought |Try to demonstrate original views. |Simply rehash the views of others, never stating |
| | |your own. |
|Professional style |Use appropriate academic language; avoid waffle |Use slang, sarcasm and waffle to increase word |
| |and padding. |count. |
|Referencing |Use appropriate referencing conventions; always |Mix up referencing styles; forget to include all |
| |cite source by in text and in the reference |source details; list references out of |
| |section |alphabetical order; don’t refer to sources by |
| | |citing, only put them in the bibliography. |
|Layout |Use simple, clear layout; use fonts |Adopt confused, cluttered layout; use fonts |
| |consistently; include graphics where appropriate|inconsistently; omit graphics where they would |
| | |help clarify; use confusing graphics or include |
| | |graphics where none required. |

Source: B. Eunson, Communicating in the 21st century, John Wiley and Sons, pp. 252-3, 2008.

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