How to write at university

1. How to write at university

2. Today’s session Features of academic writing Academic writing conventions Developing an academic writing style The essay writing process

3. Why do I need academic writing? • It’s not just for university... • Professional development • Evidence based practice • Communication • Lifelong learning

4. Examples of writing In small groups consider the writing that has been circulated on the handouts. What makes the examples good or bad? Are they formal? How does the composition flow? Are there any grammatical problems?

5. Features of academic writing Impersonal – in the third person, no opinion. Formal – varied, balanced vocabulary. Provides evidence – referencing, evidence. Accurate and precise – spelling, grammar, etc.

6. Impersonal • Avoid using the first person (‘I’, ‘you’ or ‘we’). • In this paper I investigate… • This paper investigates… • You can treat heart disease by… • Heart disease can be treated by… • We can assume from the evidence… • This evidence builds an argument that...

7. Impersonal Neutral/objective – avoid personal opinions unless they are backed up with evidence e.g.  Most people when they are born into one class, end up staying in that class for their whole lives.  Some authors share the view that most people when they are born into one class, remain in that class for their whole lives (Jones 1998; Smith 2005).

8. Formal Avoid abbreviations such as ‘didn’t’ – use ‘did not’. Spell out any acronyms that you use e.g. needle stick injuries (NSIs). Avoid colloquialisms or slang – ‘dead easy’. Consider the formal style other authors use.

9. Formal

10. Providing evidence Use references to support your opinion or build an argument. While it has been argued that marijuana is less addictive than alcohol and nicotine (ref), and that it has important medical uses (ref), there are a number of reasons why marijuana should not be legalised. Firstly, as argued by Bloggs (2008), marijuana acts as a ‘gateway’ to other drugs, encouraging people to experiment with harder drugs. Secondly, legalisation of marijuana could lead to an increase in drug related illnesses, injuries and accidents (Bloggs 2002). For example…..

11. Providing evidence • If you use an author’s idea or opinion you must give a reference, e.g.: • It has been argued that breast feeding babies is more beneficial to babies than bottle feeding (Bloggs, 1960). • If you use statistical information, you must show where it came from, e.g.: • In 2001, 60% of elderly people in Britain were reported to be living with a long-term illness (National Statistics, 2001). • If you refer to any knowledge from published evidence (e.g. research study) you must reference it, e.g.: • There is an association between increased age and the occurrence of multi-pathologies (Akker et al, 1998) .

12. Developing an academic writing style How would you use the following text in an essay?

13. Between 0.6% and 3.6% of smokers who received an unsolicited mailing about the New York State Smokers’ Quitline responded to the advertisement by calling the quitline. The response rates were similar for the two different postcard messages that were compared. Quitline callers who received the mailed advertisement were more likely to request the free starter kit of nicotine medication that was mentioned on the postcard. The cost per call generated by the direct mail advertisement appears to be competitive with estimates of the cost of quitline promotions in published literature. As a result, we recommend that quitlines consider utilizing direct mail promotions as one means of informing smokers about their services. O’Connor, R., Carline-Menter, S., Celestino, P., Bax, P., Brown, A., Cummings, K. & Bauer, J, (2008) ‘Using Direct Mail to Prompt Smokers to Call a Quitline’, Health Promotion Practice, 9, pp. 262-269

14. Developing an academic writing style • O’Connor et al (2008) undertook research to examine the effect of a postal promotion of services to help people stop smoking. They argued the mailings were cost effective given the number of responses that were generated. They suggested other services should use them as a means of advertising themselves. • Others have argued there is value in posting unsolicited mail to smokers to advertise services that could help them to stop smoking. For example, Connor et al concluded: ‘we recommend that quitlines consider utilizing direct mail promotions as one means of informing smokers about their services’ (2008, pp. 268-269).

15. Developing an academic writing style  According to O’Connor et al (2008) between 0.6% and 3.6% of smokers who were sent unsolicited mail about a quitline, responded to the advert by using the quitline. The cost per call produced by the advertising seems to be competitive with estimates of the cost of other types of quitline promotions.

16. The Essay Writing Process • Clarify the task – analyse the question. • Collect and record information. • Organise and plan. • Write outline plan and first draft. • Edit, redraft and proofread. • Adapted from S Cottrell (2008)

17. 1. Clarify the task Make sure you answer the question that has been set! e.g. Discuss the role of the nurse in the promotion of oral health. Broad topic = oral health Focus = role of the nurse in oral health promotion.

18. 2. Collect and record information • Find appropriate resources. • Gather information and evidence. • Answer the questions you asked in picking the title apart. • Note where you got your information from.

19. 3. Organise and plan • Decide on sub-topics – how do they link? • Spread out your notes and group them by topic. Is your research distributed evenly? • Start to put your groups of notes together by writing paragraphs for each.

20. 4. Write outline plan and first draft • Always write a plan before you begin (you could use a bulleted list, paragraph plan or mind map). • Use your plan to arrange your ideas. • Change the order of your points and paragraphs to improve how it reads.

21. 5. Edit, proof-read and re-draft • Does it make sense? • Is information in order? How long are paragraphs? • Have you backed up the points you have raised? • Are your quotations and references accurate? • Is it easy to read? Too chatty? Too complex? • Have you written in sentences? • Is it neat and easy to read?

22. How to write at university