Academic Writing: A Guide to Tertiary

Level Writing
Academic writing is the art of writing students papers from high school, mid-level

colleges, universities and postgraduate levels. Academic writing like other forms of writing has

its uniqueness; it requires specific formatting structure as well as language structure. The two

major structures are essay and report formats. Other formats include term papers, research

papers, movie review, article critique, annotated bibliography, case studies, reaction papers and

reflection papers.

Academic writing papers

Here is a list of several papers that you will likely come across in your career as an academic

writer.

 Term paper – this is an end of semester assignment that can either be in form of an essay

or a report

 Research paper- Entails researching on a certain area or topic, ie cancer..takes the form of

a report

 Movie review- analyzing a film, utilizing IMDB

 Article critique – reviewing an article,

 Reaction paper- analyzing, reviewing, critiquing as well as giving a response on issues

articulated in a certain provided article

 Reflection paper- reporting learnt aspects

  Proposal- written to propose an idea for a research that is to be conducted (thesis); it is

written in form of a report

 Dissertation/ thesis- this is a research report that involves collection of data to prove an

idea (a thesis); It’s in form of a report

 Concept papers- this is like a proposal written to ask for a grant written in form of

a report

The structure of basic essay and report formats

Introduction

An introduction should have three components. The first component is introducing the topic

to the reader through providing some of its background information ie definition, descriptions,

statistics etc. The next component is stating the objectives of your paper. This component is

derived from the questions provided by the client..I.e. the paper discusses the common causes

of cancer..Also, the paper highlights the health implications of cancer..etc. The last

component is a thesis statement. Do you know about thesis statement? It’s a PROPOSITION;

Main idea of the essay, summarizing the whole point of the essay. NOTE A thesis statement is

only used in essays.

Example

Essay topic: Do the advertisements targeting speeding drivers work?

Thesis: Although the number of speeding drivers will never be reduced to zero, the

advertisements targeting them are having a positive effect because people are taking notice of the

gruesome consequences of excessive speed.

Sample introduction

Every teenager is thrilled at the prospect of sitting behind the driver’s wheel of a car. At

some stage, though, the excitement turns into complacency and bad habits are often formed.

Many of these bad habits have little effect on safety. A few, however, such as drunk driving and

speeding, are dangerous and a great deal of time and effort is put into getting people out of these

habits. Many campaigns, though, are not successful because they are easily ignored. This has not

been the case with the campaign against speeding drivers. The paper seeks to affirm that

advertisements targeting speeding drivers work. Although the number of speeding drivers will

never be reduced to zero, the advertisements targeting them are having a positive effect

because people are taking notice of the gruesome consequences of excessive speed.

Body

Each paragraph should develop one idea only – referred to as the controlling idea. This

idea SHOULD be summarised in a topic sentence, which is the first sentence of every paragraph.

The controlling idea should be developed in the rest of the paragraph with relevant factual

details, examples, explanations, defi nitions, or research data. Try to ensure that you have no less

than five sentences per paragraph. Sentences within the paragraph should be well linked so

connections between them are obvious. Be careful to avoid sentences that may be too long.

Ideally, a sentence should be no longer than two lines. Paragraphs should be arranged in a
logical sequence and should also be well linked. Connections can be made between sentences

and between paragraphs by using signposts or transitional words and phrases to indicate

change, comparison, or agreement.

Highlighting a point

Importantly….Indeed … In fact … Furthermore, more so, … Moreover, …

Changing direction and creating comparisons

However … In contrast … Conversely …Nevertheless … contrary … Unfortunately …Rather…

Compared to… In comparison,..

Adding another point

Additionally…Also …

Adding a similar point

Similarly … Likewise … Again …

Summarizing

Finally …Lastly … In conclusion …

• Signposts tell the reader:

- What is going to be said, what is being said, and what has been said.

- How the main ideas support the thesis.

- How each group of ideas follows from the one before.

• Signposts make your writing flow more smoothly and make it easier to follow.

Example

Incorporation offers several advantages to businesses and their owners. Ownership is

easy to transfer. The business is able to maintain a continuous existence even when the original

owners are no longer involved. Additionally, the stockholders of a corporation are not held

responsible for the business’s debts. If the XYZ Corporation defaults on a $1 million loan, for

example, its investors will not be held responsible for paying that liability. Incorporation also

enables a business to obtain professional managers with centralized authority and responsibility;

therefore, the business can be run more efficiently. Finally, incorporation gives a business

certain legal rights. For example, it can enter into contracts, owning property, and borrowing

money.

Conclusions

Conclusions round off your essay. They remind the reader of all your main points and explain

the significance of your argument.

• The concluding paragraph of an essay should include:

- A restatement of the proposition or thesis statement (a paraphrase, don’t just lift the thesis).

- A brief summary of the main points made in the essay.

- A final, broad statement on the significance of the argument, and, if appropriate, its

implications.

• Your conclusion should not just be a list of the points you have made.
Example

In conclusion, teachers need to inform themselves and the rest of the school community so that

together they can develop a policy to discourage bullying. By educating themselves about

bullying, teachers and parents have the knowledge to set up effective programmes and structures

both within the classroom and for the whole school. Furthermore, by removing the opportunity

for children to bully, providing children with a stimulating environment and giving them the

tools to deal with conflict appropriately, teachers can reduce children’s inclination to bully.

Although bullying will never be fully eradicated and must be dealt with as soon as it occurs,

increasing awareness of the problem is making schools a safer and more enjoyable

environment in which children can learn.

References

Having referred to sources by author in the body of your assignment, you will also need

to provide a detailed list of these sources at the end of your assignment. If you are using APA

conventions, then this is referred to as a Reference List and is headed up References, HAVARD;

Bibliography, MLA; Works cited and CHICAGO; Bibliography.

References are in alphabetical order according to the first author’s surname

• With two or more publications by the same author, list the earliest dated publication first.

• The second line of each reference (and thereafter) is indented by about 5 spaces. This can be

formatted automatically by using the “Hanging” feature under “Indentation” within the “Indents
and Spacing” section within the “Paragraph” option of the “Format” column of the menu bar,

found in the Microsoft Word

The Process of Revision

Revising occurs when you have finished your draft. It is a good idea to take reasonable breaks in-

between drafts, so you can look at your assignment with fresh eyes.

• Here is a revision checklist for essays, which can be adapted for other assignments.

Key question Have I answered the question posed by my topic?

Introduction Is my opening broad and interesting?

Have I provided the objectives of the paper?

Is my thesis statement clear?

Body Does each paragraph have a topic sentence?

Have I kept to one main idea per paragraph?

Are my ideas fully developed?

Conclusion Is there a clear re-statement of my proposition?

Have I summed up my argument effectively?

Have I given the essay a sense of completion?

Referencing Are all references cited?

Are citations accurate?

Are references justified as relevant to the topic?

Is the formatting correct?

Are the references arranged alphabetically and hanged?

Presentation Is my essay professionally presented?

Content Have I answered all parts of the essay question?

Is there any information in the wrong section?

Do the points I am making agree with each other?

The following 10 easy steps are to guide you so as to have an easy time writing these papers.

With a good understanding of these 10 easy steps, your work will never fail.

The steps in detail

Here we go

1) Analyze the question and make sure you understand the requirements

2) Make an outline and distribute the words per section of the essay or report you are

writing

3) Start writing as you research, you can research from websites or any other sources you is

confident with; simply, Google research is the best. If you have lecture notes give them

first priority.
 4) Start citing your work using peer-reviewed journals from google scholar as well as other

academic databases such as EBSCO, PROQUEST among others. You can use books

occasionally but refrain from using websites unless they are legitimate (e.g. .gov

and .org) or company websites if the order requires you to.

5) Review your work with Microsoft word spelling and grammar tool.

6) Now proofread your work manually as you confirm that each paragraph has at least one

citation.

7) Make sure the words are enough

8) Upload the work in Turnitin

9) Upload the document in Grammarly and edit inside the website then download the final

copy.

10) Once you are done recheck Turnitin percentage if its 1% or below submit the document.

Points to note

 Reports are mainly written in the legal format and must have a table of content and an

executive summary or an abstract.

 Generally, essays contain no charts or tables; in reference to formatting, they are of two

types i.e. block essays and subheading essays. With block essays being the most popular

they have no subheadings except for the title; the introduction is the first paragraph and

the last paragraph is considered the conclusion. The second case, are essays with sub

headings these especially are long essays.

 Reports, on the other hand, require tables, figures and many charts as evidence of the

research being conducted.

  Whereas Executive summary forms part of the word count the abstract does not

 Abstract and executive summary are different; an abstract is an overview of the whole

work while the executive summary is a summary of the work touching on the question

the report tackles and the answer generated.

 To reference and cite always use peer-reviewed journal articles (which are not older

than 7 years i.e. 2010-2017) where other sources are required make sure journals make

80% of the references. Also, the references should be hanged and arranged in

alphabetical order.

 In case the work has no instructions on number of sources always give one reference per

200 words (e.g. for a 1000 word essay 5 references)

 Word count in the executive summary, introduction, and conclusion are equal. However

sometimes the executive summary may have fewer words especially in regard to a

lengthy report

Regards