GOLDEN EAGLE COMMERCE ACADEMIC WRITING GUIDE
GOLDEN EAGLE COMMERCE
Academic Writing Guide
Introduction -
The learning center is essentially a guide, which would help to get a clear understanding of the nitty-gritty of academic writing. The learning center works as a quick guide to help someone understand the expectations and complications of an academic writer. One can expect to get expert guidance with handy tips in this guide as this has been prepared by people who have a considerable amount of relevant experience in this field. The guide would also give insights into various mistakes that people generally make and some wrong assumptions that make this profession difficult to sustain. At the same time, some quick tips are given to learn the art of referencing and formatting.
What is academic writing -
Academic writing is a form of writing that allows the expert to fulfill the requirements of an assessment that is provided by a college or a university for a particular course. To define it broadly, it means any assignment given to the students in an academic institution. This is a form of writing that requires more technical aspects and understanding rather than a creative bent. The content is to be organized and structured keeping in mind the specific academic requirements.
Why is academic Research important -
Academic research is a multi-step process aimed at finding the answers to the research question. It involves careful study of a particular subject, field, or issue using correct methodologies and eventually coming to a probable recommendation or suggestion for the problem being studied. Academic Research increases your knowledge, giving you an opportunity to build arguments for or against a topic and draw appropriate conclusions pertaining to a particular assignment.
The below-mentioned points will give a brief idea of the benefits that one can gain from a good academic
Enhances knowledge
The basic purpose of academic research is to gather answers to a specified research question or case study. Research helps you in building blocks of knowledge that you can easily use as the base for producing an impressive assignment that worthy of impressing the professors and peers in college/university.
Strengthens research skills
While researching for your assignments, your research skills also get enhanced and enriched. It helps you to sharpen your knowledge about the different fields of academics. You become adept at finding the right kind of information, suitable for your assignment, and accordingly support your ideas with the help of appropriate references.
Provides practical approach
Research helps you to apply all your theoretical knowledge to the real-time problems in life. It empowers you to think critically while dealing with your assignments. Research lends knowledge a fresh breath of air, which is difficult to achieve during classroom discussions and examinations.
Selection of Sources
It is extremely crucial to select the right and reliable sources for your research. Selecting the right sources strongly backs up your research and helps in arriving at appropriate conclusions. On the contrary, if the selection of sources is done in an inattentive manner, the entire research is likely to fall flat and all your hard work behind the designing of the research can go in vain. Hence, the researcher must pay extra attention while selecting the sources of information for his research work.
The sources for academic research can be Journal Articles, Newspapers, Books and World Wide Web. The researcher should keep in mind that the sources used are the most recent and relevant ones. The sources, which are cited for the research, should not be older than five years.
The various sources of academic research are as follows:
Journals
Journals are a set of collected articles written by scholars hailing from a particular professional or academic field. You can refer to peer-reviewed journal articles while conducting academic researches and find out what has already been studied regarding the topic of research. You should pay special attention to the peer-reviewed journals, which reflect the authenticity of the sources. Peer reviewed journals go through a series of filters which rejects the journals that are not suitable enough to be used as sources for academic research. Hence, it is always advised that you refer to the peer-reviewed journals.
Advantage of using journals:
Academic scholars check and inspect the peer-reviewed articles. Hence, the information is authentic and reliable. Journals are a great source of information when the researcher is in need of a more recent source of information. They provide deep insights into the subject, giving the writer a close view of the scenario that he is studying. Referring to journal articles is an effective way of linking your studies to the past researches, because it provides potential information related to your study with the help of research and statistical data.
Books
Books cover a wide variety of topics, be it fact or fiction. While conducting a research, you need to look for books that embody all the related topics related to the research in one book to back the particular thesis or argument. Books are the most substantial sources of information and easily accessible to the researchers. Books contain original research that may embody multiple researches over a span of many years.
Advantage of using books:
Books provide descriptive theoretical background on a subject with the help of which the writer can get himself acquainted with the conceptual framework of the topic that he is currently dealing with. Books provide the writer with the big picture of the given subject of study and provide the conceptual framework, which will define the direction of the research.
Newspapers
Newspapers contain a set of collected articles about the recent events, published daily. They are a great source of reference in an academic research study. It is important for you to note that you cannot use all the newspapers as a source for your academic research. Many newspapers have inclinations towards certain ideologies and tend to be biased. Therefore, you should only be referring to the most reputed newspapers like Washington Post, The Telegraph, The New York Times, The Guardian and Wall Street Journal etc.
Advantage of using newspapers
Newspapers contain the most recent data unlike the books and journals. It contains up-to-date information unlike books and journals. For using newspapers as sources, you should always refer more than one newspaper. Instead of consulting one newspaper to study an event, comparing multiple newspapers is more revealing and interesting.
Websites
Websites can provide you with the up-to-date information about the recent trends, events and topics of conflict. Substantial government information is also available on the internet which can prove useful to the academic researcher like annual reports, service and legislation information. The company or institution’s official websites are the most authentic source of information accessible to the writer. Information about their organizational structure, current financial position, social initiatives and annual reports can be proffered from their authentic websites.
Advantage of using websites:
The greatest advantage of referring to the World Wide Web is that you can access information anytime, with no hassles at all. Accessing information is also portable because a writer looks up for data on the internet through his laptop, tablet or even a smart phone.
Things to Avoid
In order to conduct research for assignments, you will have to organize your academic study properly before conducting the research and be careful not to commit certain mistakes that can make the academic research work a dull one, with no proper structure and authenticated sources.
Various points which need to be taken care of in writing an academic research are as follows:
Failing to specify the topic
Primarily, you should mention the topic of the research very clearly and try to work out your ways around it while going about the research. It is important for you to describe the points in your academic study in a coherent and comprehensive manner. Otherwise, the audience will not be able to draw conclusions from your research.
Vaguely defining the research problem
The first and foremost step that is taken before indulging in an academic research process is to formulate a research problem and then conduct your study around it. If there are errors in the preliminary step, then it will be extremely difficult for you to go further with the research work. It is hence imperative on the researcher to clearly define the research problems, and mention the research methods that the researcher intends to use while investigating the problem.
Failure in linking your academic study with past researches
It is a serious pitfall in the research if you are unable to define the relationship between the current and the past academic studies, done in the same or related fields in the literature review section of the research. As an academic researcher, you must link the conclusion of the previous studies to the current research work. You can do so, by identifying the drawbacks in the previous studies and indicating how the current research will be able to fill in the gaps.
Poor methodology
The researcher must be sure about the methodologies that he will be using to conduct his academic research. You must include transparent and well-developed research methodologies, defining the instruments for the data collection and analysis required for the research work.
Over usage of jargons
An academic research is bound to contain certain jargons and specific terms, which we assume that the audience understands. However, if the technical terminologies are over-used, the audience will not be able to make proper sense out of it, which can belittle the entire purpose of the research. Therefore, you should always keep excessive usage of jargons and pseudo-technical terms at bay. You should limit the use of jargons in your study as much as you can, lest it can distract the readers.
Plagiarism
Plagiarizing someone else’s piece of work is an unforgivable offence. In the academic field, we deem it as a disciplinary crime. It is acceptable to refer to the informative sources and give the authors their due credit in the reference list of the academic research. However, blatantly copying other’s work without his consent and claiming it as your own is a huge offence. The researcher should always be careful to not fall into the trap of plagiarism at any cost.
Inappropriate/fake referencing
This is one of the most reckless mistakes committed by a writer. Accurate reference adds a touch of authenticity and legitimacy to your assignments and gives the professor an impression that the student has done his homework well. They give an opportunity to the writer to give credits to the sources that have inspired him. Citing fake references will ruin all your effort and your assignment will remain devoid of any credibility.
Use of first person
Writers must avoid using the subjective case of first person in academic research. This is primarily due to the fact the tone of first person makes the writing sound objective. This tone is generally used in autobiographies, memoirs and personal essays rather than academic research work. The only exception is in the case of reflective writings, when the writer is to give his own opinion about things, events, issues etc.
Use of fillers
You are strictly advised not to use fillers in your academic research work. Including inadequate information will most likely distract the readers from the subject and will lower the quality.
- Plagiarism
- Definition -
Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else’s work and presenting them as one’s own. It also includes copying the work of others or borrowing someone else’s original ideas and passing them off as your own work; using the original work of others without crediting the source(s) and presenting a piece of work as original and authentic that is actually derived or inspired by someone else work.
In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud and stealing. Plagiarism is not only considered an act of academic dishonesty and breach of professional ethics but also an illegal practice if it involves copyright infringement, breach of intellectual property rights, and trademark. With the widespread use of the internet and ease of access to limitless materials available on every conceivable topic, the issue of plagiarism has become even more serious.
There are multiple practices which are considered as acts of plagiarism, here is a detailed discussion.
Verbatim
In literal terms, verbatim means copying the work of others word by word with little alterations. Verbatim refers to the usage of quotations (word for word) without clear acknowledgment of the source. In academic writing, quotations are often used; in fact, in some cases, it becomes absolutely necessary to quote the author in order to add clarity. However, it is important to use quotation marks or indentation and complete referencing of the source cited. Quoted text should be clearly different from the work done by the author.
Example: Verbatim plagiarism occurs when a writer copies a sequence of seven or more words from another source but fails to adequately identify the quoted passages and does not provide full in-text citations and bibliographic references. For instance
For instance:
Original Source Material The printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material - such as molten plastic that hardens - and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, your 3-D vision becomes reality. | Source Ehrenberg, R. 2013, THE 3-D PRINTING REVOLUTION: Dreams made real, one layer at a time, SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC, Hoboken, USA.
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Plagiarised Version The printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material - such as molten plastic that hardens - and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, your 3-D vision becomes reality. | Correct version According to Ehrenberg (2013), “the printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material - such as molten plastic that hardens - and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, your 3-D vision becomes reality.” |
Accidental Plagiarism
Accidental plagiarism occurs without the intention of the writer but is still not acceptable in academic writing. There are many reasons that may lead to accidental plagiarism such as –
- When the writer forgets to identify and present source of information while preparing initial notes for the material
- Failure to cite paraphrased material appropriately
- Use of exact words of another person without quotation marks
- Failure to put appropriate quotation marks while using quotes of other authors.
Apart from these, accidental or unintentional plagiarism can be the result of poor paraphrasing i.e. when the writer changes few words or phrases without changing the sentence structure changing sentence structure, but using vocabulary or jargons that are not part of one’s own vocabulary. Additionally, practices such as putting incomplete quotation marks or quoting paraphrased sentences; and citing poorly i.e. inaccurate or wrong citations fall under accidental plagiarism.
Paraphrasing
It is the practice of altering a few words, sentences or order of written material in such a manner that closely follows the overall structure of argument. Paraphrasing plagiarism occurs when the writer summarizes a previously written material in his own words but fails to acknowledge the original source from where the idea for the material has been borrowed.
Paraphrasing falls under plagiarism if the writer does not acknowledge the source of information through proper citation and referencing. Furthermore, in order to effectively paraphrase, students are required to rephrase the matter in their own words without changing the overall logical structure of the original material.
Original Source Material The printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material--such as molten plastic that hardens--and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, your 3-D vision becomes reality. | Source Ehrenberg, R. 2013, THE 3-D PRINTING REVOLUTION: Dreams made real, one layer at a time, SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC, Hoboken, USA.
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Plagiarised Version The printer manufactures the object by depositing layers of plastic one over another, gradually taking the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, 3-D vision becomes reality. | Correct Version According to Ehrenberg (2013), 3-D printers construct various objects by depositing layers of materials such as molten plastic one over another, as the material hardens we get the object of desired shape. |
Explanation Poor paraphrasing and lack of citations. | Explanation Proper paraphrased and proper citations. |
Intentional
Intentional plagiarism occurs when the writers or researchers are completely aware of the fact that they are passing off someone else’s work or ideas as their own. Intentional plagiarism occurs when the writer takes helps of various sources and copies few phrases or sentences to write the material.
Example of intentional plagiarisms includes consecutive words that are not quoted, a portion of paragraph from other sources without adequate citations, or presenting information from two or more sources but each fact’s source is not clearly mentioned.
Fabricating a source also comes under intentional plagiarism. Allowing someone else to write the paper or buying pre-written research or academic papers and presenting them as your own is the most blatant form of intentional plagiarism.
In addition, passing off someone else’s work taken from internet or any other source, copying the academic paper from online or electronic data base without giving credit to the author, cutting and pasting information from more than one sources and presenting them as one’s own work, and borrowing words or ideas of fellow researcher or student also comes under intentional plagiarism.
Auto Plagiarism
Auto plagiarism occurs when writer of the original material resubmits the work for some another purposes. Auto plagiarism can be defined as that type of plagiarism in which the author republishes his entire work or parts of his previous work. Although the original work is done by that of the same writer, resubmission (partial or complete) of the exact same work is still unacceptable.. Auto plagiarism can be accidental or intentional. Many authors believe that auto or self plagiarism does not comes under the purview of plagiarism as they are not passing off someone else’s work as their own previous work. The debate over the possible use of auto plagiarism and the ethics of self plagiarism has become even more important as auto plagiarism can lead to publisher’s copyright infringements.
Auto or self plagiarism is a newer phenomenon and traditional definitions of plagiarism does not account for self plagiarism. While plagiarism is defined as an act of taking credit for the work or ideas of others, self plagiarism refers to the practice of reproducing one’s own work as new. Some of the common types of self plagiarisms are –
- Republishing previously published paper without notifying the reader or publisher
- Publishing a significant piece of study/research as smaller studies in order to increase the number of publications
- Reusing parts of previously written materials
Inaccurate Citation
Inaccurate citation also constitutes plagiarism. Following instances comes under inaccurate citations practices –
- Omission of author’s name in citations
- Omission of page numbers in the in-text citations
- Omission of publisher information in citations
Apart from omission of important information such as author’s name, publisher and page numbers in the citations, providing inaccurate information also constitute inaccurate citation. The purpose of citation is to give due credit to the original author and enabling the readers to identify what are the author’s own ideas and what ideas has been borrowed.
Use of material written by professional agencies or other persons
Plagiarism also involves the use of materials written specifically for someone else even with the consent of parties or agencies who have written the material.
Why is Plagiarism a Sensitive Issue?
In order to maintain intellectual honesty and academic integrity it is very important to acknowledge the original source of any idea, expression or other information used to form the basis of any kind of academic work. Passing off someone else’s work as your own is not only unacceptable but also reflects poor scholarship and lack of ethical values.
Consequences of Plagiarism
The consequences of plagiarism can be extremely serious; some of the implication of plagiarism can be –
- Expulsion from the course or academic institution
- Legal action against the defaulter
- Destroy personal and professional reputation.
Plagiarism hinders the process of learning and inhibits the students’ ability to develop critical thinking and analytical skills. Therefore, to avoid such outcomes, academic institutions have established strict rules to prevent plagiarism. The consequence of plagiarism could seriously affect student’s academic careers as records follow students wherever they go and no reputable institute would take a student who has been proven to be dishonest and unworthy.
Ways to avoid Plagiarism
With the easy availability of various research and academic papers over the internet and other sources, students and researchers are tempted to fall into the plagiarism trap. It is advisable for students or researchers to refrain from plagiarising while writing a research or academic papers. In order to avoid plagiarism either intentional or accidental, following measures can be adopted
Analysing the source of information
In order to, better understand the concepts and theories, students and researchers take help of various written materials available online, libraries archives and other sources. However, when writing, it is important to critically analyse the source of information and give due credit to the original author(s) whenever the writer borrows their works or ideas. By analysing the source of information, students can identify and give accurate references to the legitimate writers and also avoid possible plagiarisms.
Research citation
Citation is one of the best methods of avoiding plagiarism. There are many document formatting guidelines such as Harvard, MLA, APA, Oscola and many others which are discussed in detail in the later chapters of this paper. Citation is simple process and it usually involves the addition of author(s) and date of publication that is used by the student/researcher in his own work. Citations used in the preparation of written document must also be included in the reference list or bibliography given at the end of the document (research or academic documents). Accurate citations and references not only help the students or researchers avoid the problem of plagiarism but also increase the validity and authenticity of the written documents.
Extensive research
Another method of avoiding plagiarism is to do extensive research. It helps the writer develop greater understanding of the topic and subsequently present own point of view in their own words.
Use your own language
Copy and pasting information from websites or other sources is considered as plagiarism. To avoid plagiarism, it is advisable to use one’s own language, also, using proper quotations, citations and references wherever required in the written document while taking help from any existing material. While working on an assignment, it is important to keep track of one’s own ideas and ideas taken from other sources (with proper citations) to avoid confusion and possible plagiarism.
Paraphrase Wisely
Paraphrasing is one of the most common practices that tempt both students and researchers equally. While paraphrasing it is important to use proper and logical sentence structure. However, the overall idea of another author’s work should not be changed while paraphrasing, and genuine authors must be given adequate credit for their work.
Avoid using synonyms
One of the simplest methods students employ to write an academic paper is the use of synonyms to avoid plagiarism detection. However, the use of synonyms not only degrades the quality of academic writing but also reflects poor understanding of the topic. In order to avoid this situation, students should try to present their ideas in their own words instead of using synonyms.
Formatting Guide
Formatting is presentation of a written assignment. Formatting refers to the specific style of presenting an academic paper. It stresses on the layout and the overall image of the assignment. Formatting may be different for various types of assignments. Some of the items that are included in formatting are:
- Headings
- Ordinary paragraphs
- Indenting
- Font size
- Font type
- Font color
- Bibliographical referencing
- Line spacing
- Page numbers and
- Footnotes and so on.
There are certain uses and importance of formatting which a writer needs to bear in mind while writing the assignment.
- Formatting makes the assignment look readable and presentable
- Formatting makes the assignment conform to the standards of presentation of specific assignments.
APA
APA stands for American Psychological Association which is used in social sciences to cite sources. The general guideline for APA 6th Edition is that:
- Assignments should be typed in double space on (8.5” x 11”) sized standard paper with a margin of 1”
- A clear and readable font size needs to be used but APA recommends Times New Roman with a font size of 12
- A page header needs to be incorporated at the beginning of each page
- This page header is also called as running head
- The page header is made at the top of the page with the page number at the top right hand side of the page with a maximum of 50 characters.
The main portions of the assignment for a writer in APA are title, abstract, main body and references.
Title Page
- The title page includes title of the paper, the name of the author and the associations with the university. These are the general guidelines for formatting the title page in APA style
- The title typed in the centre of the page. Each word needs to be capitalized excluding article and preposition.
- APA style stresses on the fact that the title should not exceed 12 words and abbreviations and meaningless words should be eliminated. The title should be in one line. The entire text should be double spaced and in Times New Roman with font size 12
- The title should be followed by the name of the author. The first name, middle and last name of the author is written. No degree or specialization is needed to be mentioned in the title page. The institutional tie up should be mentioned which is reflection of where the research was conducted.
Below is an example of cover page in APA Style:
Abstract
- Abstract or executive summary should be written on a new and fresh page.
- The abstract needs to incorporate a “page header” and the word abstract needs to be written on the centre of the page and no formatting is needed to be applied to it.
- The abstract should not be made bold or italics and no such formatting are needed to be applied to the abstract.
- The abstract needs to be concise and well articulated. However, the abstract should include all the key elements of the topic. The abstract should be in one paragraph and double spaced. Ideally, the abstract should be 10% of the word count.
- If the writer intends on including the list of keywords, then a new indentation is needed. This should reflect a new paragraph.
Below is an example of Abstract in APA style:
Headers
In APA style there is no specific heading for the introduction section and letters and numbers are not used to signify the heading. The number of headings depends on the length of the assignments and the number of sub points related to the topic.
Harvard
Harvard formatting style highlights a very unique style of cover page.
Cover page
- The cover page and the title of the page are set at the bottom of the page.
- The title of the page is in capital letters.
- The name of the author is written at the bottom of the page.
- The name of the author is not in capital letters. The name of the education institutions is also given.
- The title of the page is right justified and does not work as per the normal, left and centre alignments.
Below is an example of the Harvard Style Cover Page:
Header
The header contains short description of the title.
- The header contains the title of the topic and the page numbers on the right hand side of the page.
- The title of the assignment is centered and in capital letters. In the case of a long assignment, the assignments can have a centered sub heading and the sub points need to be in italics.
General rule
- Harvard style stresses on the use of standard font size including Times New Roman, Helvetica and Arial. Therefore, the use of standard font style and size is the requirement in Harvard style.
- No fancy fonts are used in Harvard formatting styles. There should not be any excessive use of colors, or excessive use of bold, italics and underline features in the text assignment. The text should be double spaced and proper spacing of left margin and right margin is made.
- In Harvard style, the name of long plays, movies, journals, magazines etc are written in italics whereas the name of short stories, short plays etc are written in double quotes. In Harvard style, the referencing style is of a particular nature.
- There is no tab applied at the beginning of each paragraph. Justified alignment is used for text.
- Double spacing and in certain cases 1.5 line spacing is used for text assignments.
- Non-indented paragraphs are used in Harvard formatting style. There is no tab given at the beginning of paragraph.
MLA
MLA stands for Modern Language Association. MLA utilizes general formatting styles and uses English language.
Font size and spacing
- In MLA formatting style, standard 8”x11” standard paper is used
- MLA formatting style uses double spacing
- MLA recommends the use of standard font size, such as Times New Roman and font size of 12.
It is said in MLA formatting style the regular texts and the texts in italics should be recognizable and there should be enough scope of differentiating between the two.
Spacing and indenting
- There should be only space provided after a full stop and after other punctuation marks.
This is the normal style of providing spaces, in normal cases unless in some exceptional cases. The margin is set to 1 inch on all sides in MLA formatting style. This is the indenting style and margin limit used in MLA formatting style.
- The first line of a paragraph is indented one and half inch from the left sides of a margin. MLA formatting style recommends writers to apply tab instead of applying space bar five times. This is how indention is done in this formatting style.
- Quotation and italics are used for referring to different works used in the title. The requirements are the same as in the text of the assignment. There should be a double space between the first line and the title of the page. Double spacing is an important fact in MLA formatting style.
Header
In MLA formatting style, the use of header is suggested. In the header, the page number of each page is mentioned on the top right corner, one-half inch from the top. In certain cases, the first page, which is the title page, has the page number omitted. In MLA formatting style, certain important works and notable aspects, which need specific emphasis and highlighting is required to be italicized and mentioned only when needed. In case of endnotes, the end notes need to be mentioned on separate page. This page should have the title centered and formatted.
A header needs to be created at the upper right hand corner of the page with the last name of the writer and followed by the page number. The page numbers are made consecutively based on the Arabic numerals. The header is made one-half inch from the top and top right margin of the page. A header is used to signify the name of the author along with the page number.
- MLA also emphasizes on section headings to increase the readability of the assignment and also improve on the presentation of the page. Certain important chapters and notes are mentioned under the sections headings.
- MLA recommends that the sections should be followed by Arabic numerals, then the period followed by a space and then the section name.
MLA does not have a specific guidelines and style of headings for books. If someone uses only one level of heading in a book, it signifies that all other sections are similar and distinct and it does not hint at any other level of heading in the books. These sections need to resemble one another grammatically.
Some of the rules and practices for headings in MLA are:
Heading 1- it includes the heading to be bold and be made on the extreme left. Heading 2 includes the heading to be in italics and on the extreme left. Heading 3 mentions the heading in the centre and in bold letters, whereas heading 4 stresses on the headings to be centered and in italics. Heading 5 stresses on the headings to be underlined and such headings are made on the extreme left of the page. Thus, these are some of the rules regarding headings in MLA formatting style. Writers have to be careful and aware of MLA formatting style.
Below is an example of first page in MLA:
Title Page
MLA formatting style does not recommend the making of the title page.
However, under specific guidelines, the title page could be made. However, it can be seen that in MLA formatting style, the title page is not recommended to be made.
- In the upper left hand corner page, the name of the student, the instructor’s name, the name of the course and date is mentioned. Double spacing is used in the text of the assignment.
- The text need to be double spaced and centered. The title should not be underlined, italicized, or put under quotation marks. The title needs to be made in title case. The title case is standard capitalization and does not stress on using all capital letters. These are certain specification in title case.
OSCOLA
OSCOLA uses little punctuations in its work. There is no full stop after the initials and abbreviations of names. OSCOLA incorporates a footnote style. Full stops are used to close the footnotes.
Common Mistakes to be avoided
Writers need to focus on those areas of deviations that are critical for writing assignments. On careful scrutiny and evaluation, one can see that certain mistakes are made during formatting which needs to be avoided by writers to make their work free of errors.
- One of the main scopes of error is running head. It could be seen that mistakes are made while providing running head. A lot of amateur and new writers fail to give the running head in APA formatting style. Either the running head is absent or the running head included in the paper is full of mistakes. The page number is excluded and the title of the page is not properly formatted.
- Writers at times can omit or miss out on the abstract while preparing a report.
- Another mistake that is noticed among writer is the absence of keywords. Keywords are required to be present below the abstract in APA style.
- Headings are another important fact that needs to be kept in mind, while writing an assignment. It has to be kept in mind that headings are an important part of an assignment. The five-level headings are to be kept in mind in APA and MLA styles.
- Providing page numbers for direct quotations is one of the main mistakes committed by the writer.
- Using standard font type is required and no fancy font type should be followed. It has to be kept in mind that formatting styles like APA and MLA incorporate the font style of Times New Roman, Arial etc in the formatting of texts.
- The entire text except the table of contents is to be double spaced and many writers fail to provide double spacing and commit one of the major errors in formatting.
- Tab should be given during indenting and one of the major mistakes that writers make is providing a space bar five times. Therefore, indenting and providing margins according to the appropriate formatting style is important for a writer.
Reference guide
Brief overview -
Referencing is the method of acknowledging the information with the sources that have been used to write the assignment or any kind of written work. When an individual is writing an assignment, the person uses someone else’s work or ideas. This calls for including the sources that have been used while writing that piece of work. Referencing can be defined as the procedure of citing the sources of ideas, relevant theories, conceptual frameworks, data, formulas, and diagrams that have been used for writing the academic paper. Referencing is needed not only to prove the authenticity of the writing but also to avoid any kind of plagiarism. It increases the credibility of the -paper since it is reflected that the writer has consulted a number of books or articles at the time of writing his or her paper. It must be mentioned in this respect that referencing should be accurate and a detailed record of the several references used is to be kept for easy navigation of the sources used for writing the assignment, essay, or any other kind of writing piece. Failure to reference in an academic paper or inappropriate referencing can be referred to as academic misconduct.
Components of referencing -
In-text
At the time of academic writing, such as an essay, report or proposal, often we need to include some kinds of quotes or ideas of the author or the writer of the particular piece of writing. In-texting is important because the authenticity of the ideas or the quotes can only be proved when the source of information is given along with the text.
For example: As viewed by Rogers, (2015), there is a difference between military and non-military interventions.
The Libyan government accounted for only 743 killings (Ackerman, 2013).
Footnotes
Any kind of note that is included at the end of the page is called a footnote. Usually, any kind of reference or comment is given at the end of the writing piece. A footnote is added in order to refer to the relevant source at the end of the phrase or sentence.
For example:
Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that examines the ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in the business environment[1].
Bibliography and reference list
The bibliography or the reference list includes the details of all the resources that have been used at the time of writing the assignment or the task. It is placed at the end of the writing piece and includes the names of the books, journals, or articles used during writing. It should be kept in mind that whatever sources that have been in-texted in the piece of writing must be present in the reference list. The sources we use as in-text, the sources are placed in the reference list while the sources mentioned in the bibliography are not necessarily used as in-text.
Types of referencing -
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