Andrea Boero

Academic
writing
Clear

Comprehensive

Avoid informal
language

Avoid
plagiarism

Important:
Show your
understanding of the
subject

Academic writing
What to do

What NOT to do

Write objectively

Do not use colloquial language

Write clearly

Use technical vocabulary of

your subject area

Use standard English
Use correct English
Use non-discriminatory
language

or slang
Do not use shortened forms of
words and phrases incorrectly
Avoid using personal language
Avoid using language that is
emotional
Avoid using unnecessary
words
Do not shift verb tense
unnecessarily
Do not use questions and
commands

Objective writing
using third person

Factual
Impersonal
Unemotional
Logical
Precise

rather than first or

second person (i.e.
avoid using I, we, you)
using standard English
(avoid clichs and
slang)
using academically
sound sources of
information to back up
your arguments

Write clearly
write a plan to organise your writing before you

start
write academic paragraphs correctly
write shorter sentences (no longer than a couple of
lines)
punctuate correctly (poor punctuation affects
clarity)
edit your writing for meaning

Do not use colloquial

vocabulary
Retirement is something most

of us must face sooner or later.

Retirement is inevitable.
At the end of the day, grammar
and punctuation still count in
your essay writing.
Lecturers expect students to
use correct grammar and
punctuation in their essays.
This exercise shows a couple of
things about formal writing.
This exercise demonstrates
some of the problems students
have with their formal writing.

Colloquial
expression

Formal
alternative

Reached a happy
medium

Reached an
acceptable
compromise

Get through it

Survive

Easier said than

done

More difficult in
practice

In recent years

Recently

Got out of hand

Was no longer
under control

Explore every
avenue

Investigated
alternatives

Shortened forms of words

and phrases
Do not use contractions at all.
Use acronyms correctly
The general rule is to write the name in full first time with
the acronym in brackets immediately after. For the rest of
the essay, use the acronym.
Be consistentonce you have written the acronym, use it
all of the time. DO NOT use full stops between the
abbreviated letters.
If you need to make an acronym into a plural, then add a
lower case 's' without using an apostrophe (e.g. PhDs, IQs).
If an abbreviation is commonly used as a word, you can use
it in the abbreviated form without writing it in full first.

Shortened forms of words

and phrases
Avoid using common abbreviations
e.g. (use for example instead)
etc. (use and so forth instead)
i.e. (use that is instead)
vs. (use versus instead)
& (use and instead)
If you do use these abbreviations, then they must be

placed inside brackets.

For example: The rules of plagiarism (i.e. copying

another's work inappropriately) were carefully

explained.

Personal
pronouns
Do not use personal
pronouns in your
formal writing, unless
you are asked to
discuss your personal
experiences.

Evaluate the effectiveness of plagiarism

training workshops for university students.

My observations of the literature on student
essay writing are that students who
participate in a training program on
plagiarism perform better in their assignment
tasks. Therefore, I think that all university
students should be trained in how to avoid
plagiarism.
A MORE APPROPRIATE STYLE
Studies (reference required) of student
performance on essay writing reveal that
students who receive training in plagiarism
avoidance are more likely to perform well in
their essay tasks. Therefore, training in
plagiarism avoidance is recommended for
university students.

Wordiness
Do not clog up

your writing with

words that dont
need to be there.

Wordy phrases

Using better English

It would appear that

Apparently

With the exception

of

Except

In connection with

About

A large majority of

Most

Are found to be in
agreement with

Agree

In the event that

If

Arrive a decision

Decide

For a further period of

ten years

For another ten

years

In the field of
education

In education

In the case of third

question

In the third question

At the present time,

overseas companies
are

Overseas companies
are now

Verb tense
Do not shift from one tense to another if the time

frame for each action or event is the same.

Many students experience (present tense) difficulties
with plagiarism until they were assisted (past tense)
to understand some basic rules.
SHOULD BE WRITTEN AS
Many students experience (present tense) difficulties
with plagiarism until they are assisted (present
tense) to understand some basic rules.
It is customary to write most academic papers in
the present tense.

Questions and commands

Question and command sentences are not required in formal

academic writing.
Question
Essay writing is an important skill for tertiary students. Don't
you see how many marks are given for this?
SHOULD BE WRITTEN AS A STATEMENT
Essay writing is an important skill for tertiary students.
Academic essays can attract a considerable proportion of
assessment marks in most degree programs.
Command
Now, let's discuss how to help students to stop plagiarising in
their academic essays.
SHOULD BE WRITTEN AS
The first issue is to find ways to assist students to avoid
plagiarising in their academic essays.

Plagiarism
turning in someone else's work as your own
copying words or ideas from someone else without

giving credit
failing to put a quotation in quotation marks
giving incorrect information about the source of a
quotation
changing words but copying the sentence structure of a
source without giving credit
copying so many words or ideas from a source that it
makes up the majority of your work, whether you give
credit or not.

WHY ARE WE SO CONCERNED

ABOUT PLAGIARISM?
All knowledge is built from previous knowledge.
As we read, study, perform experiments, and gather

perspectives, we are drawing on other peoples ideas.

Building on their ideas and experiences, we create our own.
When you put your ideas on paper, the reader needs to
distinguish between the building block ideas borrowed
from other people and your own newly reasoned
perspectives or conclusions.
You make these distinctions in a written paper by citing the
sources for your building block ideas.
Providing appropriate citations will also help readers who are
interested in your topic find additional, related material to
readin this way, they will be able to build on the work you
have done to find sources.

WHY ARE WE SO CONCERNED

ABOUT PLAGIARISM?

Show that you

have a clear
understanding
of the material
youve read.

Refer to your
sources to
support the
ideas you have
developed.

Distinguish your
analysis of what
youve read from
the authors
analyses.

Paraphrasing

Tip:
Take notes from your
reading with the book closed.
Doing so will make it easier
to put the ideas in your own
words.

Paraphrasing means taking another persons ideas

and putting those ideas in your own words.

Paraphrasing does NOT mean changing a word or
two in someone elses sentence, changing the
sentence structure while maintaining the original
words, or changing a few words to synonyms.
If you are tempted to rearrange a sentence in any of
these ways, you are writing too close to the original.

How can I avoid plagiarizing?

Step 1: Accentuate
the positive. Change
your attitude about
using citations.

Step 2: How can I

keep track of all this
information?
Improve your notetaking skills.

Step 3: So many
details, so little time!
Locate the
appropriate style
manual.

Positive attitude about

citations

Do you feel
that you use
too many
citations?
Too few?

Using citations allows you to show off your understanding of the

material and the assignment. And instead of showing what

you dont know, citing your sources provides evidence of what
you do know and of the authority behind your knowledge.
Just make sure that your paper has a point, main idea, or thesis that
is your own and that you organize the source material around that
point.
Are you worried that you have too few citations?
Do you have enough evidence or proof to support the ideas you put

forward? Why should the reader believe the points you have made?
Would adding another, expert voice strengthen your argument? Who
else agrees or disagrees with the ideas you have written?
Have you paraphrased ideas that you have read or heard? If so, you
need to cite them.
Have you referred to or relied on course material to develop your
ideas? If so, you need to cite it as well.

Improve your note-taking

skills
Start by carefully noting all the bibliographic information youll

need.
Next, try thinking about your notes as a kind of transitional space
between what youve read and what youre preparing to write.
What is the author trying to explain?
Why does s/he think these points are important?
How has s/he decided to construct the argument?
How does the structure of the argument affect the readers response
to the authors ideas?
How effective is the authors argument?

Finally, be careful to use quotation marks to distinguish the exact

words used by the author from your own words so that when you
return to your notes later in the writing process, you wont have to
guess which ideas are yours and which ones came directly from the
text.

Quoting Paraphrasing Summarizing

How to check for plagiarism

Cite properly

Paraphrase correctly
Inset quotes And dont over-quote
Reference accurately

Examples of plagiarism

Examples of plagiarism

Bibliography
University of New England. N.D. Academic Writing.

http://learninghub.une.edu.au/tlc/aso/asoonline/academic-writing/academic-style.php#dont
Birmingham City University. 2011. Study Guides:
Writing.
http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/writingguides/1.20.htm
The University of North Carolina. 2014. Plagiarism.
http://en.writecheck.com/blog/2013/05/09/how-to-checkfor-plagiarism
The University of Edinburgh. N.D. Tips for academic
writing and other formal writing.
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jbednar/writingtips.html

Thanks!