Academic Writing

The materials below have been curated from a range of sources to help students and faculty with the elements of academic writing. Faculty should feel free to direct students to these resources and/or to adapt them for their own use.

Generating ideas

• Articulating your research project
• Brainstorming
• College writing and the five-paragraph essay
• Identifying your audience
• Key questions for research
• Motivating the argument
• Prewriting strategies
• Tips for thesis analysis
• Writing a research proposal

Sources and Evidence

• Analyzing evidence
• Annotated bibliography
• Checklist for analyzing materials
• Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research
• Function of sources across disciplines
• How to identify scholarly sources
• Integrating quotations
• Skimming for relevance (articles)
• Skimming for relevance (books)
• Strategies for using sources

Drafting and Revision

• Agreeing, disagreeing, standing your ground
• Conclusions (avoiding repetition)
• Conclusions in the humanities
• Conclusions (quick tips)
• Editing and proofreading
• Elements of an academic argument
• Introductions in the humanities
• Is your essay focused?
• Tips for editing
• Transitions

Style and Grammar

• American Medical Association citation
• American Psychological Association citation
• Chicago Manual of Style citation
• Modern Language Association citation
• Comma rules
• General rules of style (humanities)
• Grammar and punctuation
• Passive voice
• Qualifiers
• Semicolon rules
• Semicolons, colons and dashes
• Sentence patterns
• Three style suggestions
• What style does each discipline use?
• Word choice