10 things to avoid when writing an academic essay pdf

Date published February 6, by Sarah Vinz. Date updated: April 16, When you are writing a dissertation , thesis or research paper, many words and phrases that are acceptable in conversations or informal writing are considered inappropriate in academic writing. You should try to avoid expressions that are too informal, unsophisticated, vague, exaggerated, or subjective, as well as those that are generally unnecessary or incorrect. Bear in mind, however, that these guidelines do not apply to text you are directly quoting from your sources including interviews.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing an Academic Essay

Got an essay due? Aiming for high marks? All of them will lose you marks so don't let these things slip into your next essay. Often students make the mistake of trying to review a subject widely, causing the essay to be too broad. This mistake can be made from lack of planning. Some students even write their essay without any planning whatsoever! This can cause the structure of the essay to be too vague and can avoid answering the question you've been assigned. A good essay is precise and sticks to the thesis statement.

This can achieved with effective essay planning! Many students will try to include complicated sentences and long words to make their paper sound more academic. The reader should never have to go through a sentence more than twice to find out its meaning. Yes — always use the appropriate terminology as this will get you marks, but before you use a term always be sure you know its meaning and how to use it correctly!

Asking someone to read your finished essay will allow them to point out any confusions, inappropriate words or sentences that they feel could be made shorter. Nowadays, many students will rely on the Internet over books to find the information they need. And why not? You can search for whatever you need in a matter of seconds, and there is a immense span of information available.

But be careful! Not all this information will be reliable. Be sure to research your topic exhaustively and watch out for any dodgy facts. Determine the facts from opinions. There is nothing worse than work that has been plagiarised. And since universities, colleges, schools and businesses have taken a big interest in this area, is it very easy to get caught out!

Accidental plagiarism is another important thing to try and avoid. Some students may have plagiarism in there paper which could be down to mistakes such as citation confusion, confusion over paraphrasing and not knowing the difference between common knowledge and original work. Make sure that all your sources are fully cited and don't forget to run your work through plagiarismchecker. This is a common mistake which closely links in with plagiarism. Be sure to read up on how to properly reference your work and again, use plagiarismchecker.

Some students particularly ones who are in a rush to get their work done forget that proofreading work is essential!

Proofreading your work allows you to get a feel of whether your essay reads well. Allowing others to take a look at your work gives them a chance to spot any areas which cause confusion.

And most importantly, proofreading lets you check for any clumsy mistakes in your spelling, punctuation and grammar. You want the reader to gain a good overall impression of your essay, but this won't happen if you've left silly mistakes in.

Often in creative writing, using non Standard English is perfectly acceptable depending on what you're writing. However, free style writing is often unacceptable in academic papers and can damage the overall impression of your essay. Be careful of using abbreviated words too, in many essays this will be unacceptable. Take into consideration things such as word count, which you'll have to think about in your planning.

Make sure you include everything, and if in doubt — speak to your tutor! It will become very clear to the reader if you've not researched your topic enough. The essay will be vague and will need more depth. Try to make sure you allow yourself a good amount of time to research your essay properly, and include the findings in your essay, as well as your own thoughts and ideas.

In most academic essays, you will be required to produce a thesis statement. The thesis is a clear outline of what your essay is about. It lets the reader know the main topic, point of the essay and the ideas you'd like to discuss.

Make sure you stick you your thesis statement. Steer clear of these 10 faux pas and you'll stand a better chance of scoring high marks on your next assignment! Share on Facebook. Share on Twitter. Doctor Jan is a Ph. Plagiarism checker software, reviews, articles and guides.

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Some students even write their essay without any planning whatsoever! This can cause A good essay is precise and sticks to the thesis statement. This can. The test of a good introduction is whether someone can guess what the essay question is just from reading it topic, but don't go into too much detail—no examples or definitions are needed in an You must be specific and say what the key aspects were (and why). common in speech that should be avoided in an essay.

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Got an essay due?

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Writing an essay

Do not use contractions Contractions are the words formed from two abbreviated words, such as "don't" , "can't" and "won't". Please write the full words. Do not use colloquial vocabulary Colloquial vocabulary includes words and expressions that are used in everyday spoken language. An example is: Retirement is something most of us must face sooner or later. This could be replaced by the more formally worded: Retirement is inevitable. Also avoid other types of conversational language such as figures of speech, cliches and idioms; for example:.

Taboo words in academic writing

University A to Z Departments. You have finished your essay and you think it is ready for submission. Now go through the checklist below, as it should help you spot possible flaws in your essay before submitting it. Check you have referenced every idea that is not yours. Your marker will look for your own individual voice and original ideas as well as engagement with secondary sources. You have to be particularly careful in differentiating what you have quoted or paraphrased from somewhere else, and what is actually your own opinion. It also has to appear clear to the marker whether you are paraphrasing a source or quoting directly from it. Check your references are accurate and correct. Whether you choose to use MLA or Chicago footnotes and bibliography , make sure you are following your referencing style closely.

Academic essays are an unavoidable part of the educational journey.

Essays at university need to respond to the question by developing an argument which is based on evidence and critical reasoning. They must have certain key elements including;. Essays are used as assessment at University to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of a topic.