Success in Academic Writing - Trevor Day 2018

Success in Academic Writing - Trevor Day 2018

Preface to the second edition

Acknowledgements

The nature and process of academic writing

Why is writing so important?

The nature of academic writing

The process of writing

Playing to your strengths and preferences

In conclusion: the process of academic writing

Understanding the nature of an assignment

The IPACE model

Putting IPACE into practice

Two popular types of assignment

Questions to ask your assessor

Interpreting the nature of the task

Beginnings, middles and ends

Essays

Practical reports

Researching an assignment

Being strategic

Different strategies for different assignments

Being selective (using RABT)

Becoming more discerning

Being a purposeful reader and note-taker

Kinds of reading

Beginning with the end in mind

Surveying (scanning and skimming)

Establishing a purpose

Deciding on a reading strategy

In-depth reading (using SP3R)

Annotating and note-taking

Planning and structuring more assignments

Business-style report writing

Critical reflective writing

Presentations

Posters

Dissertations

Planning: from large- to small-scale

Composing

Balancing the critical and the creative

Composing your first draft

Writing to a prompt

Freewriting

The ‘no composing’ approach

Managing your composing

Twelve ways to overcome writer’s block

Words and images

The role of visual elements

Content and design

Using tables

Using graphs and charts

Other kinds of figure

Citing, referencing and avoiding plagiarism

Citing and referencing

Citing, referencing and academic integrity

Using citations and quotes

Plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism

Remember, your writing is an argument - your argument

Reviewing and editing your work

Fulfilling the brief

Structure and argument

Paragraphs

Sentences

Grammar

Punctuation

Spelling

Presentation

Using technology to help you

Using your word processor’s functions (but critically)

Using bibliographic databases

Using reference management software

Creating tables and figures

Handling large documents

Building on Success

Cycles of learning

Making the most of feedback

Where to get help

Be inspired by what you read

Final word