Subject Guides: Research: Writing

Academic Writing

Effective academic writing [Learning Services Guide]
Includes a range of phrases to use in academic writing.
Linking words and phrases [Learning Services Guide]
Important words and phrases that help clarify the relationship between elements in your writing - basically how to make your writing flow.
Academic Writing - an introduction
Activities from Learning Services to help you understand what is meant by academic writing.
Academic writing - evidence based
Activities from Learning Services focussing on what evidence-based academic writing looks like.
Academic Writing - formal style
Activities from Learning Services focussing on what formal academic writing looks like.
Academic writing- structure
Activities focussing on best practice to structure your academic writing from our own Learning Services
Effective academic writing - citing secondary sources
Examples of effective phrases when citing secondary sources in your assignments.
Academic Phrasebank: University of Manchester
Academic writing is heavily populated with phrases that need to be understood. The AP is a freely available online resource of over 3000 useful generic academic phrases for you to refer to.
Signposting
Signposting is using phrases and words to guide the reader through the
content of your essay/dissertation.
Writing about your research
One of the chapters from "Social science research in New Zealand" (2018)
Reporting and discussing your findings
This webpage from Monash University presents how to tell the story that has emerged from your findings.
Paragraphs
A guided pathway from Learning Services to help you structure good paragraphs.
How to avoid run on sentences: Victoria University
Run–on sentences give no indication of where one idea ends and the next begins. This printable PDF tells you how to avoid them.
Using sources in your writing
How to introduce outside source material into your writing.
Verbs for Referring to Sources: University of Toronto
You can indicate your attitude to the sources you cite by choosing specific verbs to refer to them. This is a great guide on how.
How to paraphrase
How to re-write someone else's text in your own words while retaining the original meaning of the source - an important skill to avoid plagiarism.
Writing introductions
A resource from Monash University which also provides a good example of an introduction.
Writing the conclusion
A resource from Monash University which also provides a good example of a conclusion.

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation

Regardless of how good your research is, poor spelling and/or grammatical and punctuation errors can ruin coherency and reduce marks. Here are some resources to review to help you in this area.

Spelling and punctuation
A guided pathway from Learning Services to help you learn about spelling and punctuation.
Grammar
A guided pathway from Learning Services to help you improve your grammar skills.
Improving sentence clarity
Strategies for improving the clarity of your sentences and your research
Making subjects and verbs agree
Guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.
Sentence fragments
These are incomplete sentences. This page shows you how to fix them.
Verb - tense consistency
Explains how to keep your "tenses' consistent. Includes exercises at the bottom of the page.

Fun ways to increase your writing skills!

Image: Pixabay

Apostrophes quiz
Commas quiz
Punctuation quiz
Semicolons and colons quiz
English Vocabulary exercises
This website features gap-fill exercises to learn and review items of general and academic vocabulary.
Spelling exercises
These exercises help you practice getting common spelling mistakes correct - such as affect Vs effect.

Editing/proofreading your work

Image: Pixabay

Best Tip: Read your work aloud to others. What you are saying in your head may be very different to what you have on paper.

Editing and proofreading: Ara
A guided pathway from Learning Services to help you learn about editing and proofreading.
Proofreading tips: Ara
A printable PDF
The art of editing: University of Leicester
This guide addresses the process of editing an extended document.
Editing checklist
A handy editing checklist from Victoria University.
Editing and proofreading: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Read through these great guidelines and then review the webpage to see if you can find the errors they have added on purpose.
The "Hit parade of errors" from the University of Toronto
This guide describes the ways to avoid the most common errors that tutors find in grammar, punctuation, and style.

Proofreading

Research: Writing

Introduction

Academic Writing

Grammar, spelling, and punctuation

Fun ways to increase your writing skills!

Editing/proofreading your work