GUIDE TO ESSAY WRITING AND REFERENCING

 

 GUIDE TO ESSAY WRITING AND REFERENCING*

 

 

 

* These notes apply to essay writing in the course 1001IBA  Students should always consult with their convenors for other courses as different academic disciplines may have different essay writing and referencing requirements.

 

TOPIC INDEX

 

1:         WHY DOES THE UNIVERSITY REQUIRE STUDENTS TO WRITE ESSAYS

 

2:         SOME COMMON FAULTS IN ACADEMIC ESSAYS

 

3:         CHOOSING THE ESSAY TOPIC

 

4:         RESEARCHING THE TOPIC

 

·         What sources should I consult

·         Can I use web-based materials

·         Can I use lecture/tutorial notes

·         Are encyclopaedias acceptable sources for academic work

·         Can I use “hear-say” and “common knowledge”

 

5:         UNPACKING THE QUESTION

               

·         What Is the question asking me to do

 

6:         WRITING THE ESSAY

 

·         The first draft

 

7:         STRUCTURING THE ESSAY

 

·         Introduction

·         Main body of essay

·         Conclusion

 

8:            COMMON TERMS USED IN ESSAY QUESTIONS

 

·         Critical

·         Analysis

·         Description

 

9:            GRAMMAR

 

 

10:        REFERENCING

 

·         Why are references necessary

·         When do I reference my sources

·         Referencing internet sources

11:          PLAGIARISM

 

12:          WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE ESSAY HAS BEEN RETURNED

 

               

·         Reviewing the marker’s comments

·         Learning from feedback

 

13:        ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR ESSAY WRITING:

 

 

 

1:         WHY DOES THE UNIVERSITY REQUIRE STUDENTS TO WRITE ESSAYS

 

 

The ability to set down your ideas and arguments in a coherent, intelligent and logical way, is a skill that is essential to your future career regardless of which field you ultimately gain employment in.  Similarly, the ability to assess, evaluate and critically analyse the ideas, theories and arguments of other authors is essential to your ability to successfully complete a university education, and to your future career.

 

Essay writing is therefore an important element in your academic learning as it helps develop skills in many areas, for example:

 

·         Academic writing

·         Structuring an internally consistent and coherent argument

·         Evaluating evidence; particularly the ideas and theories of other authors

·         Developing independent ideas

 

However, essay writing is an art, and for most people the necessary skills have to be learned. The more essays you write, the more these skills will develop.

 

 

2: SOME COMMON FAULTS IN UNDER-GRADUATE ACADEMIC ESSAYS

 

 

• Failure to answer the question

• Lack of clear introduction, well structured body and/or appropriate conclusion

• Essay reads like a list of unconnected pieces of information with little argument tying them together

• Direct quotes used inappropriately and/or too often

• Wishy-washy style: In order to answer the question it seems to me it might be necessary to first …

• Plagiarism

• Poor, insufficient references

• Superficial argument: too much description not enough argument or analysis

• Poor proofreading

·         Inappropriate choice of vocabulary

• Poor syntax, grammar, punctuation and/or spelling

• Inadequate or “padded” bibliography

• Poor presentation

• Lack of title page

• Lack of page numbers

• Lack of adequate margins

• Single-line spacing rather than double-line spacing

 

 

 

3:         CHOOSING THE ESSAY TOPIC

 

           

Where you are given a choice, you should select a topic of interest to you.  In those cases where you are given the opportunity to construct your own question, it is imperative to ensure that there is adequate resource material available to allow you to satisfactorily research the topic. Do NOT make the mistake of choosing a question on the basis of how “easy” it may look compared to other questions.  In academic work you will always find that even the most simply worded questions end up being complex.

 

 

 

 

4:         RESEARCHING THE TOPIC

 

                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                    

4.1  WHAT AND HOW MUCH SHOULD I READ:

                                                                                                                                    

·         You should begin by reading broadly on the topic and then narrowing down your reading to focus on material that is directly relevant to your argument.

 

·         “How much should I read? Students often ask this question. They are likely to get two kinds of answer: As much as is necessary, or as much as you want to read.  Both seem unhelpful, but they do reflect two different approaches.  When you are working to a deadline and an essay of a certain type and length must be produced, you have to be focused.  A certain amount of time should be spent skimming and browsing, and then you should get down to business….One way of deciding whether you have read enough for a particular essay is to ask yourself if you now understand the question and the concepts it is drawing on.  If you feel you can talk about the concepts and ideas involved with reasonable confidence, you probably have read enough to write your first draft.

 

But often students have a different goal in mind when they ask about reading. The subject they are studying intrigues them. They want to master it not just to get good marks, but so they can feel that they have fully entered into a new area of knowledge. They want to be able to understand how their world works more comprehensively than they did before. When you ask the question with this goal in mind you get the answer: As much as you want to read, but you must want with some passion”.

 

Source: Betts, K. and Seitz, A., 1994, Writing Essays and Research Reports in the Social Sciences (2nd Ed.), Nelson, Melbourne, p. 18

 

You must READ WITH A PURPOSE.  Asking yourself the following questions will help focus your reading:

 

 

·         “what is this author’s argument (theory, theme, point of view)?

·         Am I convinced by it?

·         If yes, why? (Or if no, why not?)” (Ibid, p. 37)

 

In order to be able to readily reference your sources, you should also get into the habit of making the following notes when reading:

 

·         Author’s full name

·         Title of book/journal article

·         Publisher

·         Year of publication

·         City of publication

·         If it is a journal article, the volume and number of the journal

·         If it is a journal article, the pages covered by the article (eg pp. 6-40)

·         Is it an edited text?

·         Is it a second, third……edition?

 

When noting ideas, quotes etc. from texts in the course of your research, BE SURE TO WRITE DOWN THE ACTUAL PAGE NUMBER/S THE IDEA/QUOTE APPEARED ON AS YOU WILL NEED TO REFERENCE THAT IN THE ESSAY

 

·         Web-based materials can be used, but judiciously.  Be careful of bias or journalistic sensationalism in web-based material.  It is NOT permissible to submit an essay that has been researched solely, or even primarily, via web-based sources.

 

·         Lecture/tutorial/web notes are not regarded as academic sources and should not be used for the purpose of essay writing.

 

·         Encyclopaedias are useful sources for gaining a background understanding of issues, terms, concepts etc., but should not be used for the purpose of essay writing.

 

·         Arguments in academic essays require supporting evidence.  Therefore, “hear-say” which, by definition, is not supported by evidence, should not be used in essay writing.  On the other hand, “common sense” and “common knowledge” is acceptable, but be sure that what you are saying IS “common sense” or “common knowledge”.

 

 

 

5:         UNPACKING THE QUESTION

 

 

One of the greatest failures of beginning students is that they waste a lot of research time concentrating on issues not central to the main question. Below is a set of questions that will help you focus on exactly what the assignment topic is asking you to do:

 

Stage A:

·         What is the directive word precisely asking you to do?

·         What assumptions are made by the question?

·         What are the key concepts and which need to be defined?

·         What limits should I place on the scope of my inquiry?

·         What exactly is the question asking me to focus on?

·         What should be the major focus of the essay?

·         What should I take care not to focus on?

·         What approach should I take?

 

 

Stage B:

 

·         What do I know about the topic already?

·         What is my next step?

 

 

EXAMPLE QUESTION

 

 

What in your opinion are the principal causes of War in international relations?

 

 

·         What assumptions are made by the Question? (i.e., that something causes war and that “something” can be identified)

·         What are the key concepts used in the question and do any need to be defined? (i.e., war, international relations, principal causes)

·         What limits should I place on the scope of my inquiry? (i.e., you would not, for example, look at the causes of civil wars or at peripheral causes of international wars)

·         What is the question asking me to focus on? (i.e., principal causes of international war)

·         What approach should I take? (i.e., what disciplinary approach will I take, e.g., economic, sociological, environmental, political etc.) (i.e., as this is a Political Science course, you would focus on information derived from that discipline. However, it may well be that the insights on other disciplines will also provide useful information)

 

Stage C: Moving to the next phase of writing the essay

 

·         What do I know about the subject already?

·         What is my first step now? (Engaging in further research on the topic area)

 

 

6.       WRITING THE ESSAY

 

 

6.1         The First Draft

 

The first draft is a generally rough work in which you set out the main ideas/theories of the authors you have consulted, and your own preliminary arguments. Do you agree with all of the authors you have consulted, with some of them?  Why? Do you disagree. Why? On completion of the first draft, you will need to review your argument and begin

to refine both the argument and the structure of the essay.

 

 

 

7.         STRUCTURING AN ACADEMIC ESSAY

 

           

 

An academic essay has three main parts:

           

1:         INTRODUCTION 2:         BODY

3:         CONCLUSION

 

Part 1: THE INTRODUCTION

 

            The introduction should contain:

 

·         Necessary background

·         Outline of problem/question

·         Outline of thesis statement

·         Key issues in literature

·         Structure of essay to follow

·         Important evidence

·         Necessary definitions

 

Another way of saying this is to state that the Introduction will include (Using the example question above)

 

1:   Outline of Problem: Restatement of question in your own words to highlight the specific problem you are attempting to answer

2:   Thesis statement: The principal causes of war are a, b, c, and d and why…

3:   Necessary definitions: define war

4:   Issues in literature

5:   Significance of the problem: War is an important phenomenon to study because….

 

Your introduction will:

 

·         Introduce topic and response

·         Provide some general background to the topic area

·         Provide a thesis statement (i.e., a statement of what your argument will be. NEVER begin an essay with a thesis statement. The thesis statement generally comes in the last section of the introduction after you have broadly introduced the topic)

·         Indicate overall plan of the essay to follow

·         Arouse interest of the reader

 

 

 

EXAMPLE INTRODUCTION:

 

Question:      What in your opinion are the principal causes of war in

international relations?

 

 

 

 

            EXAMPLE No. 1 (THE WRONG WAY TO INTRODUCE A TOPIC)

 

The main cause of war is human nature.  Human nature is inherently greedy. That means that the leaders of states are also greedy and want more power for their state, and they therefore go to war with other states and make sure that they keep their power.  Some people say there are other causes of war too, but I am only going to analyse human nature in this essay because I believe it is the main reason why war happens.

 

           

            EXAMPLE NO. 2 (A BETTER WAY TO INTRODUCE A TOPIC)

 

War has been a constant companion of humankind throughout its recorded history.  While war has sometimes been necessary to prevent a greater evil occurring, it is more often the case that war has led to unnecessary death and destruction.  In light of that consequence, alongside the reality of war in human history has been an attempt on the part of scholars to understand the causes of war and thereby help to control, if not eliminate its presence in future human history.  The purpose of this essay is to identify a number of factors that have been said to be causes of war and to evaluate which, if any of those causes, can be said to be the 'principal' reason why wars occur.  In the discussion to follow, human nature, power asymmetries, and domestic ideology as causes of war will be analysed, and it will be concluded that no single cause can be assumed to be the 'principal' cause of war.  Instead it will be argued that all wars emerge for complex reasons that may or may not include the three factors discussed.

 

Part 2:  BODY OF THE ESSAY

 

            The main body of the essay aims to:

 

·         Put flesh on the bones on the argument identified in the Introduction Flesh out your argument.

·         Provide evidence/example/reasoning for your argument stated in your introduction

 

Common faults:

 

·         Lack of logic and coherent links between sections

·         Writing too much

·         Drifting off the topic

·         Not continually relating the evidence back to the thesis statement

·         Too descriptive

·         Unbalanced, i.e., too much attention given to one aspect of the argument to the relative neglect of other aspects. As a general rule, if there are three parts to the question, then you should allocate approximately one third of the main body of the essay to each of those parts.

·         Too many quotations from other authors

 

Part 3:  THE CONCLUSION

 

·         Summary of argument

·         Summary of most important evidence/rationale

·         Suggestions for further study

·         You should never begin discussion issues in your conclusion that were not mentioned in the main body of the essay.

·         Be sure that the conclusions you arrive at are supported by the argument and evidence provided in the main body of the essay

·         Your conclusion should be brief

 

EXAMPLE CONCLUSION

 

            Example No. 1 – (A very poor conclusion)

 

War isn't caused by any one reason.  I have proved that human nature is certainly not the main reason why war happens, and I have also proved that ideology is not a reason either. But, if I were to write a longer essay, it would be possible to show that other reasons, apart from the ones I have discussed, might be the principal causes of war.  Some of those reasons might be the anarchical nature of the state system or misperception.  The anarchical nature of the state system means that there is no world government, so states have to look after themselves and that means that they will fight if they think they have to in order to protect themselves.  Misperception just means that states go to war because they misunderstand other states. In conclusion, I think that international anarchy is probably the major cause of war, and the way to end war therefore is to have a world government.

 

 

            Example No. 2 (A much better conclusion)

 

This essay has evaluated human nature, power asymmetries and domestic ideologies as potential 'principal' causes of war.  The evidence provided in the analysis clearly demonstrates that while all three factors can be identified as causes of wars, none can be said to be the 'principal' cause of war.  On the contrary, it has been shown that each and every war is unique, both in terms of its causes and its nature. Hence, while the three factors investigated in this essay may be present to a greater or lesser degree in some wars, they are not necessarily factors in any particular war.

 

 

 

8. COMMON TERMS USED IN ESSAY QUESTIONS

 

 

Essay questions will often ask you to critically assess, critically evaluate or critically analyse some particular issue. 

 

1)     Critical assessment, evaluation etc., requires you to think critically about what you are reading and about what you are writing.  To do that you will need to:

 

·         Ask questions about what you read

 

1:         What evidence does the author provide for their viewpoint?

2:         What assumptions does the author make?

3:         What alternative viewpoints exist?

3:         What is the relative strength of conflicting or contending viewpoints?

 

·         Never take what you read for granted.  Always question the validity of authors' arguments and viewpoints.

·         After engaging in critical thinking and analysis, you then come to your own conclusions and provide evidence to support that viewpoint.

 

 

2)    Many students make the mistake of presenting descriptive rather than analytical essays. While most essay topics will require the provision of some descriptive material, essays must ALWAYS be analytical.

Description is telling the reader what happened. Analysis (i.e., critical analysis) is telling the reader why it happened. 

 

For example (using the essay question example provided above), a very poor essay (and one that would almost certainly be failed) would merely describe what other authors have said about the causes of international war. 

 

On the other hand a critical analysis would review the academic literature and state what the general views are, but it would then evaluate the validity and relevance of those viewpoints and arrive at a conclusion based both on the work conducted by other authors and, importantly, on the individual thinking (supported by evidence) of the student authoring the essay.

 

 

9.         GRAMMAR

 

 

It is essential that all essays be grammatically correct. That means adhering to the proper rules of writing, including the proper use of punctuation. 

 

If you are unsure of correct grammar or punctuation, you should consult any one of the numerous reference texts concerning essay writing that are available in the library.

 

Note: It’s means “it is”.  If you are referring (for instance) to a state’s territory you would not say it’s territory (i.e., it is territory), but its territory.

 

 

 

10:        REFERENCING

 

 

One of the distinguishing marks of academic and scholarly writing is that it acknowledges the source of information and ideas.  Such acknowledgment is a part of academic honesty; it also enables later researchers to follow ideas and information from their original sources.

 

This process of acknowledgment is known as citation and can be done by means of footnotes or textnotes.  Briefly, a footnote is a number in the text of an essay that refers to an extended comment at the foot of the page on which it occurs.  A textnote is a brief reference in the text that refers to a bibliography at the end of the essay.  Both systems are equally valid, but each has its advantages and disadvantages, which you should weigh up in your decision on which one to use.  You should seek advice from the faculty staff on which system is more appropriate for any particular essay.  Remember, however, that you must be consistent: the two systems should not be mixed in the same essay.

 

 

There are two circumstances under which you must use citations:

 

1.         To refer to the source of a quotation used in the text of your essay;

 

2.         To refer to the source of interpretations, information or ideas in your essay but not actually quoted.  It is not easy to give exact guidelines on what information and ideas should be provided with citations and what can be assumed to be general knowledge.

 

In general, statistical information and detailed descriptions of events, situations or peoples’ opinions should be given a citation.  So should points of argument which appear to you to be novel or particularly perceptive.  One citation per paragraph is not excessive.  One per sentence generally is.

 

You may also use footnotes (but not textnotes) to provide an elaboration of your argument, extra information, a discussion of sources, or any other material, which does not fit conveniently into the text.  Although footnotes and textnotes should not be mixed when making citations in the same essay, it is permissible to use such substantive footnotes in conjunction with textnotes.

 

TEXTNOTES

 

There are a number of valid conventions for the presentation of the textnote. While there are a variety of acceptable styles it is necessary that you are consistent throughout your assignment. We suggest here though that you use the Faculty preferred style: Author’s surname/s, year published: page number.

 

Below is a brief summary of possible styles for textnotes using the preferred Faculty style:

 

·      (1992: 88)  — single author

 

·      ( 1992: 88) — two authors

 

·      (1992: 88) — more than two authors

 

·       (1992: 88-9) —info. over two pages

 

·       (1992a: 88) — when you are using more than one article from the same author published in the same year

 

·       ( 1962: 1973: 16) — using a quote used by another author in their own text)

 

·       (1868) — where a general idea that you are referencing pervades a book eg evolution.

 

·       (2000:25) – when referencing from an author who has authored a chapter in a book edited by another author.

 

·        When there is no clear author (eg. newspaper or government institution) you should use the name of the institution as the author.

 

• ( 24 Jan., 1987: 19); 1990a: 46); ( 1982: 19)

 

 

 

The particular referencing method you adopt will also influence the bibliographical citation method to be used.

 

When you use the textnote referencing system, your bibliography style should be as follows

 

 

(1992) Unlocking Australia's Language Potential, AGPO, Canberra.

 

(1962) "Pacific Signposts 2: How to live in the East and West", Meanjin, vol. 27, no. 2.

 

 (1968) "Living in Context", in Little, B. and Proud, E., (eds) Cross Cultural Living, Penguin, Melbourne.

 

 (1984) “Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy” in Bottomore, T., and Rubel, P. (eds) Karl Marx: Selected Readings in Sociology and Philosophy, Penguin, London.

 

 

Footnotes

 

Like textnotes there are a variety of formats that are acceptable for the presentations of footnotes. Below are the basic requirements for the footnote in an academic essay.

 

Surname, initial, Book Title, Publisher, where published, year published, page.

 

Unlocking Australia's Language Potential, AGPO, Canberra, 1992, pp.54-5.

 

 "Pacific Signposts 2: How to live in the East and West", Meanjin, winter 1962, vol. 27, no. 2, pp.78-9.

 

 (1984) “Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy” (hereafter The Preface) in Bottomore, T., and Rubel (eds) Karl Marx: Selected Readings in Sociology and Philosophy, Penguin, London p.68.

 

The Preface, p.64.

 

 

When you use footnotes your bibliography style should be as follows:

 

Unlocking Australia's Language Potential, AGPO, Canberra, 1992.

 

, "Pacific Signposts 2: How to live in the East and West", 1962, vol. 27, no. 2, pp.242-76.

 

 "Living in Context", in Little, B. and Proud, E., (eds) Cross Cultural Living Penguin, Melbourne, 1968.

 

(1984) “Preface to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy” in  (eds) Karl Marx: Selected Readings in Sociology and Philosophy, Penguin, London.

 

Bibliographies

 

An academic essay is not complete until the sources cited are collated into a bibliography. The important issues here are that:

 

• the references are presented alphabetically

• the style is consistent (important)

• for essays presented in 1001AIS, students must include all books, journals, newspapers, etc. consulted in the course of your research for the essay, whether or not you have actually referenced those sources in the body of your essay.

 

 

(1984). Study Abroad: A Manual for Asian Students. Longman, Kuala Lumpur.

 

(1988). The Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press, Berkeley.

 (1985). The Schooling of China. Longman, Melbourne.

 

(1962). A concept of critical thinking. In Harvard Educational Review 23(11), pp. 81–111.

 

 (1991). Scripture, Canon and Commentary. Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

 

 (1992). Problems and methods in research — a course for the beginning researcher in the social sciences. In O. Zuber-Skerritt (ed.), Starting Research — Supervision and Training. TEDI, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

(1996). A History of Reading. Harper Collins, London.

(1990) Teaching Critical Thinking. Routledge, New York.

 (1969). On teaching to be critical. In Richard Peters (ed.), The Concept of Education. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.

 

(1979). Education in Modern China. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.

 

 

REFERENCING WEB-BASED MATERIAL

 

There is no universal method for referencing web-based material.  The following is recommended:

 

1:     Referencing in the text of the essay

 

1.1          The textnote method

 

If you know the name of the author and the date or year of publication:

 

            (.)

 

If the information has come from an organisational site with no specific author:

 

(World Health Organisation, (date accessed, e.g., 24.5.2003), http://www.who.org/………   Be sure to provide the full web address)

 

1.2          The footnote method

 

Essentially the same as for the textnote method.

 

 

1.3          Bibliography

 

If you have the author’s name, place the reference in alphabetical order repeating the information provided in the textnote/footnote BUT ALSO INCLUDING THE NAME OF THE ARTICLE (in those cases where a title is provided).

 

For example, you may have referenced as (20.3.2001, http://www.warviews.com.) in the main body of the essay, but in the bibliography you would be required to reference:

 

 20.3.2001, “ The Causes of War in the 20th Century,” http://www.warviews.com

 

THE IMPORTANT POINT IS TO BE CONSISTENT AND PROVIDE SUFFICIENT INFORMATION SO THAT THE READER CAN READILY ACCESS THE SITE.

 

BE ABSOLUTELY SURE TO PROVIDE THE CORRECT WEB ADDRESS

 

 

 

11.       PLAGIARISM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember: To use another's words or ideas without proper attribution is plagiarism and is one of the gravest sins a student can commit in the

university community.

 

 

Plagiarism

 

 

Plagiarism is the name given to describe the practise of using another writer’s work without giving sufficient (or any!) acknowledgement. When you rely on an original source for information to use in an essay, you must acknowledge the source. Not to do so constitutes plagiarism and it is considered a serious academic offence. As the above quote suggests you will be rewarded for the effective use of other people’s work — in fact in most cases this is exactly what you are supposed to do — it just has to be acknowledged in the appropriate manner.

 

As a student, you must document a source when you:

 

·         incorporate a direct quotation in an essay

·         paraphrase the original material (you re-produce the material in your own words)

·         copy any tables, charts, diagrams from a source

·         take any specific idea/s from other authors

·         take any data taken from another source is used to construct tables,

·         graphs or diagrams

·         take any statistics, examples or information from a source to provide evidence for any claims you make in your essay

 

The following examples demonstrate what plagiarism is and how to avoid it

 

Original version

 

“Deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions affect an individual’s behaviour when ill.” (Roper et al., 1990:46)

 

Version A presented by student:

 

Deep-rooted cultural beliefs or traditions affect the individual’s behaviour during illness.

 

This is plagiarism in its worst form. The student does not indicate in the text or in a footnote that the words and ideas belong to Roper et al (1990:46), and so asks the readers to believe that the words and ideas are his or her own. The words and ideas appear on page 46 of the 1990 publication by Roper and other co-authors (et al is Latin for ‘ et alii’, meaning ‘ and others’). By hiding the borrowing by changing or omitting an occasional word, the student has committed plagiarism.

 

Version B presented by student

 

Roper et al (1990:46) claim that deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions affect an individual’s behaviour when ill.

 

This is also plagiarism, even though the student acknowledges the source in his or her text. Obviously, the original has been copied almost word for word, yet the student has supplied no quotation marks to indicate the extent of the borrowing.

 

Version C presented by student

 

Roper et al (1990:46) have noted the importance of identifying and taking into account the “deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions” which typically underlie the behaviour of individuals who are ill.

 

Version D presented by student

 

Roper et al (1990:46) suggest that, during illness, the behaviour of an individual is affected by “deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions”.

 

Version E presented by student

 

Our own research supports Roper’s argument (Roper et al, 1990:46) that, when an individual is ill, “deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions affect... behaviour”.

 

Version F presented by student

 

Many environmental and experiential factors influence our behaviour when we are ill. Roper et al. (1990:46) emphasise the particular influence of “deep-rooted cultural beliefs and traditions” on our behaviour during illness.

 

These last four versions show some of the ways a student may use the source material correctly – notice the different emphasis that the student has created in each of the four different versions. Yet, in all four versions, the student has clearly identified the precise source of the ideas and the words that have been used. The student has paraphrased some of Roper’s words and quoted others, making it perfectly clear to the reader which words are the student’s and which belong to Roper (ie., the words within quotation marks “……….”).

 

 

NOTE: Ideas etc. which are common knowledge do not have to be referenced in academic work.  For instance, if your essay includes reference to the fact that Koffi Annan is Secretary General of the United Nations, or that the Second World War began in 1939, you do not need to reference the source of that information.

 

 

 

 

12.       WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE MARKER RETURNS MY ESSAY

 

 

 

When your essay is returned, you should take time to carefully read the marker’s comments.  Comments are written in order to alert you to ways in which your essay might have been improved.  This is an important means of improving your essay writing skills. The tutors in this course are always willing to meet with you personally to discuss your essay result should you so wish.

 

REMEMBER: There is no provision to re-write and re-submit an

essay in 1001IBA, so be sure that your essay complies with the

                           requirements set out above and in the 1001IBA course outline         

 

 

IF YOU ARE NOT CLEAR ABOUT WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU, ALWAYS ASK YOUR TUTOR OR THE COURSE CONVENOR BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY.

 

 

 

 

 

13:                        ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR ESSAY WRITING

 

 

 

1991, Essay Writing for Students : a practical guide,

(2nd Ed.), Longman Cheshire, Melbourne

 

1997, The Student Guide for Writing and Studying Effectively at University: the world of ideas and the world of text, QUT, Faculty of Arts, Brisbane.

 

 1994, Writing Essays and Research Reports in the Social Sciences (2nd Ed.), Nelson, Melbourne

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