User:Pitricknyambeh/sandbox/Academic Paper Writing

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS STUDIES TIPS ON ACADEMIC PAPER WRITING FOR FIRST YEAR STUDENTS 1.0. INTRODUCTION: Writing academic papers is a very demanding and taxing exercise. For beginners it is often a frustrating, exasperating and confusing process. Yet it is unavoidably necessary especially for you students pursuing one form of academic qualification or the other at tertiary level of education. It is a requirement! Therefore, all that you need is to know the steps involved in writing academic papers. And once the whole process of writing papers is understood, the exercise (of writing papers) becomes exciting, fulfilling and less daunting. This write up offers some useful hints on academic paper writing. It intends to encourage and assist you chart ways of producing academic essays of acceptable quality and standard. In this regard, it starts by acknowledging the reality that there is a myriad of styles of writing academic papers out there. Different institutions of learning (i.e., colleges and universities) adopt different styles of writing and insist that their students write accordingly. In some cases even individual departments, sections, and disciplines though of the same institution demand specific requirements as regards the manner in which the papers / essays must be presented. Inspite of this, however, the essence of academic papers is the same. Essay writing skills extend beyond the walls of the education system into later life. Contrary to popular belief, essays are not some form of perverse initiation ritual designed to make life hard for students. Many jobs require you to write letter, memos, reports and information sheets for clients, all of which to greater and lesser degrees require research, referencing and organizational writing skills. The tertiary essay is therefore the training ground for future life and employment skills. It is a tool for communicating your knowledge and your understanding. Most importantly, essay writing teaches you to think by giving you the skills to analyse a topic in a logical way. 2.0. THE ACADEMIC ESSAY/ PAPER There are various types of academic works that you must be familiar with in order to avoid unnecessary mishaps. Each type of academic work has certain requirements. The following, therefore, are some of the types of academic papers that you may be required to do at one time or the other in your academic life: Essays, Term papers, Thesis papers, Dissertations, Assignments, Reports, and Projects. 2.1. Skills in Writing an Academic Paper Academic papers or essays written at tertiary level of education differ greatly from what you were exposed to while in secondary school. At college or university level as opposed to secondary level, for instance, you are expected to do the following:  read widely in order to review critically the field of literature on a topic (Copying information from single book is not acceptable);  write analytical essays which are not just descriptive, but attempt to explain issues often via the use of theories  support the points raised by supplying evidence  source the content of your essay by some form of referencing system which shows where you got the information from Above all the tertiary academic paper is based on the following skills:  Independent thinking (this means that the student should not expect to be told exactly what to do by their lecturers or any other)  Finding, selecting, organizing and referencing information  Analyzing information from competing explanations and sources  Answering a question in a given time period and word limit (including what type and size of font to use) 2.2.When to Start Writing a Paper: There are a number of reasons why it is important for you to start your essay as early as possible. It is important that you put a lot of thought into the essay before committing it to writing. This is because the essay is your answer to a specific question or issue. You, therefore, need to consult a wide range of written literature to become acquainted with information, research, concepts, theories and criticisms. All of this takes time. A piece of advice to you is to write, write and write! Practice writing. Writing is a skill that improves with practice. By writing one draft after another you find out sooner than later that your expressions and essay structures become clearer and more concise and better each time. You should learn to be patient when it comes to writing academic papers. This means allowing enough time to produce at least three drafts of the essay before the final one is produced. Hence, you should take time to do the following: plan the essay; find information; understand the materials you are reading from; and put information in your own words and link it logically. 2.3. Intended Audience of the Essay It is always advisable for you to realize that the essay you write is for an intended audience (in this case the lecturer of a subject area must be considered as an audience). You must be sure to write essays containing the information, concepts, theories and debates relevant to the subject and discipline. For example, if you are doing subjects like Employee Relations and Economics you should not try to rehash you Employee Relations materials for your Economics essay unless it is particularly relevant. Although it is true that many topics cross over discipline boundaries, it is much simpler to stick to identified books and journal articles within the one subject area texts. For an Economics subject, for instance, you are better off using Economics texts and books. In other words, you must always write for your intended audience. This is the only way to ensure that you have covered the material relevant to the topic. One writer said that “an essay is like a game”. A game has certain rules which one has to follow in order to play and have a chance of winning. Once one has learnt the rules, one has a good chance of success. In the same token, an essay is supposed to be written according to the set rules. And when marking a student’s essay a tutor/ lecturer will take these rules into account when awarding marks. You (as a student) are thus advised strongly to keep to the rules of the game - that is, to follow a conventional or accepted format. The tertiary level academic paper / essay is expected to have the following:  An introduction, body of evidence, and conclusion (have you answered the question?)  Logical flow  Clear argument  Appropriate length  Referencing and bibliography  Correct grammar and spellingsbecome clearer and more concise and better each time. You should learn to be patient when it comes to writing academic papers. This means allowing enough time to produce at least three drafts of the essay before the final one is produced. Hence, you should take time to do the following: plan the essay; find information; understand the materials you are reading from; and put information in your own words and link it logically. 2.3. Intended Audience of the Essay It is always advisable for you to realize that the essay you write is for an intended audience (in this case the lecturer of a subject area must be considered as an audience). You must be sure to write essays containing the information, concepts, theories and debates relevant to the subject and discipline. For example, if you are doing subjects like Employee Relations and Economics you should not try to rehash you Employee Relations materials for your Economics essay unless it is particularly relevant. Although it is true that many topics cross over discipline boundaries, it is much simpler to stick to identified books and journal articles within the one subject area texts. For an Economics subject, for instance, you are better off using Economics texts and books. In other words, you must always write for your intended audience. This is the only way to ensure that you have covered the material relevant to the topic. One writer said that “an essay is like a game”. A game has certain rules which one has to follow in order to play and have a chance of winning. Once one has learnt the rules, one has a good chance of success. In the same token, an essay is supposed to be written according to the set rules. And when marking a student’s essay a tutor/ lecturer will take these rules into account when awarding marks. You (as a student) are thus advised strongly to keep to the rules of the game - that is, to follow a conventional or accepted format. The tertiary level academic paper / essay is expected to have the following:  An introduction, body of evidence, and conclusion (have you answered the question?)  Logical flow  Clear argument  Appropriate length  Referencing and bibliography  Correct grammar and spellings