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Academic

Writing

A Basic Survival Guide for

Students

ANDRÉ BROOME

──────── Updated October 2021 ────────

CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER

• Introduction
• Developing good research skills
• Evaluating sources
• How to be a good student
• Active reading
• Clarity of expression
• Good academic writing
• The five stages of essay writing
• How to organise an essay
• Writing challenges
• Writing a dissertation
• Formulating a hypothesis
• How to use tables and figures
• Dissertation checklist
• Conclusion
• Further resources

Academic Writing ────────────────── 4 appear to be opaque comments on their assessed work from university lecturers. This may include appropriate feedback exhorting a student to improve their analytical skills, the clarity of their writing, the structure of their essays, or to more critically reflect on the sources they use. But this is often not accompanied by practical advice on how to improve in these areas of essay writing. This short introduction to academic writing aims to help bridge the gap between the areas identified for improvement in essay feedback, and practical techniques to realize this improvement. In short, it aims to give you a brief overview of the essential ‘tools of the trade’ in academic writing, by providing a basic survival guide for students taking politics and international studies modules at all levels of undergraduate and postgraduate study.

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DEVELOPING GOOD RESEARCH SKILLS

 Read widely from a range of sources and perspectives  Evaluate data and evidence with care t is common for many students to look blank whenever the topic of ‘research skills’ is raised. The concepts and practices associated with high quality research in university study often remain obscure for many students, and especially for those at the start of their degree program. Yet developing good research skills is an essential component of good academic writing. This involves enhancing your ability to access, evaluate, and use numerous sources of information in a relevant way. The starting place for students’ research is the existing scholarly literature on a specific topic within the study of politics and international studies. Beyond this, a range of other sources may be relevant depending on the nature of the assignment and the topic being addressed, which could include media sources, publicly-available speeches, documents, reports, working papers, conference papers, and so on. Finding the right balance here can often be tricky. In a large essay assignment, for example, this may involve a selection of the existing academic literature combined with additional sources of primary and secondary information or data. Within politics and international studies, an essay that evaluates the challenges and opportunities for the reform of an international institution such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should begin with the existing debates in the academic literature on IMF reform. In addition, it would be important to carefully examine relevant documents the IMF has produced, many of which are publicly available on the organization’s own website or in the university library. The intellectual value of these sources – and how they can be used effectively – will vary depending on the authors. Working Papers on IMF reform written by staff members tell a different part of the story – from a different perspective – than formal policy papers/reports by staff. These, in turn, tell a different story in contrast with formal speeches given by the head of the organization, the IMF Managing Director, or IMF Press Releases that represent the organization’s official view on an issue. Documents, speeches, and position papers may also be available from national institutions or agencies within states, such as the Bank of England, the UK and US Treasuries, the Federal Reserve, the US Congress, the People’s Bank of China, and so on with respect to an essay on the topic of IMF reform. Likewise, multilateral forums such as the Group of Twenty or the Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four on International Monetary Affairs and Development as well as non-governmental organisations such as the Bretton I

Academic Writing ────────────────── 7 It is often the case that poor use of statistics – or, in the worst cases, simply slotting in some numbers because you believe this is important for its own sake – weakens the quality of an essay rather than strengthening it. A general rule of thumb here is that hard data/indicators/statistics must be used carefully, critically, and clearly, they should fit the topic at hand, and any graphs should be clearly explained in the text. Another option – which is seldom used by undergraduates but can prove more useful than loading your essay with statistics – is to create your own illustrative diagram(s) to trace the chain of causation with respect to a specific issue, or to show how influence is exercised in a certain sphere of politics and international studies. There are a wide range of sources of information available for you to use in your written assignments at university, which are too numerous to provide an exhaustive list here. At a minimum you should aim to develop proficiency with using the following sources: the library catalogue and other library databases to search for relevant books, edited volumes, and journal articles from the scholarly literature; and open-access sources, including both local, national, regional, and international institutions where this is appropriate, as well as the websites of non-governmental organizations, companies, research institutes and thinktanks, and so on. Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co.uk) is an exceptionally useful site that can help you identify relevant academic books/articles on a particular topic, although it does not include all the publications that may be useful to you (some of which may not be available through the library). A note of caution is important here: do not expect to be able to type your essay question into Google or the library catalogue and instantly find an article or book that directly addresses this. Students sometimes struggle to grasp that research does not involve simply finding out what someone else has written that directly addresses your topic or question and then finding a way to reproduce this through paraphrasing and direct quotes. Rather, to answer essay questions you will need to first disaggregate and interpret the question and to search for relevant sources of information on the distinct component parts of the question. The trick then becomes how carefully and creatively you can weave these (sometimes quite different) literatures together to coherently address the question you have selected. It is always important to read as widely and thoroughly as possible around a topic for any written assignment at university. By undertaking comprehensive active reading (discussed further below) you will also be building your research and critical thinking skills – thereby killing multiple birds with one stone.

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Evaluating sources

 Learn the important distinctions between different types of publications  Consider the credibility and authority of different sources of academic literature onducting a ‘literature review’ to explore what existing academic knowledge pertains to a specific topic or problem – and what are the key debates and points of disagreement on the topic between different scholars – is an essential step of the academic writing process. This is necessary for every writing assignment you complete at university, including essays, dissertations, and essay- based exams, but there is no one-size-fits-all model of how to do a good literature review. Depending on both the word limit for your assignment and the type of writing project it involves, the length of the literature review component of your writing may vary significantly. A good review of the existing academic literature does not need to be labelled as a ‘literature review’ with a sub-heading, and it may often be integrated within an introduction section or in a theoretical framework section to your essay or dissertation. Moreover, as is discussed further below in the section on ‘Good Academic Writing’, a literature review should be creative and distinctive rather than generic and pedestrian. How you frame and articulate the core debates that have taken place in published works by academic scholars on a topic reveals more than you might expect about the depth and breadth of your knowledge of the subject matter. In the process of researching the existing academic literature on a topic you are implicitly asking what is the state of the existing academic literature on this subject? For example, what are the key arguments, theoretical statements, normative positions, causal assumptions, empirical conclusions, lines of enquiry, and answers that existing scholars have already provided in published work that directly or indirectly bear on the topic of your investigation? What, if any, are the gaps in the existing literature? How compelling are the existing answers, arguments, and conclusions scholars have provided on the topic? Not all types of academic sources carry equal weight and authority as contributions to knowledge about a given topic. The main types of academic sources used in politics and international studies include:

1. Research monographs Monographs are sole- or co-authored book publications consisting of a sustained in-depth investigation of a specific research question. They are based C

Academic Writing ────────────────── 10 Key characteristics to consider when evaluating both academic and non-academic sources include the following:^3  Objectivity: is the publication balanced and who is the intended audience?  Currency: is the publication still ‘current’ and relevant?  Authority: does the author have credibility and authority? Is it peer reviewed?  Availability: will the information be ‘traceable’ in the future?  Coverage: is the source original/primary information or is it secondary? (^3) Adapted from Student Learning and Development (2021) Evaluating Sources. Canberra: Australian National University. Available at: https://www.anu.edu.au/students/academic-skills/study- skills/researching/evaluating-sources accessed 12 October 2021).

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HOW TO BE A GOOD STUDENT

 Remain consistently engaged throughout the course  Avoid false shortcuts tudents occasionally report the incorrect but fervently-held belief that following a ‘cheat sheet’ of shortcuts is the best route to a high mark in their university studies – or, more commonly, that shortcuts provide the best route to a ‘respectable’ grade, without requiring you to put in the hard yards in terms of research, planning and organization, and writing, editing, and proof-reading. This is wrong. In every case, you will achieve more in terms of learning outcomes relating to academic writing skills by remaining consistently engaged throughout a course. Key characteristics of good university students include:  Attendance at all lectures/seminars  Full participation in seminars  Active reading  Clarity in writing style To say that attendance at all lectures and seminars is important for essay writing should be stating the obvious, but it is often surprising that a minority of students – especially in large undergraduate courses – fail to regularly attend their scheduled classes, especially close to essay submission time. This is a grave mistake. Through attending all lectures and seminars you are likely to pick up extra hints and tips on completing course assignments in general, and you will have further opportunities to gain answers to your specific questions on how to complete assignments and how you might improve the quality of you work. More broadly, attendance at lectures – even when the subject doesn’t directly relate to the essay topic you are planning to address – helps to provide greater context that will help you develop a more comprehensive understanding of the course content. This is a major benefit when it comes to completing written assignments. Like regular attendance, full participation in seminars is a must for students seeking to enhance their academic writing skills. Not only will you get more out of the course in general, but active participation in class debates, discussions, and question and answer sessions will help to round out your understanding of the key concepts and issues a course focuses on, thereby enabling you to develop a wider and deeper repertoire of skills that can be drawn upon for academic writing assignments. Active participation in seminars will help you to develop your critical thinking skills S

Academic Writing ────────────────── 13 reliance on easy access sources (such as introductory textbooks, course lectures/seminars, web pages, and especially sourcing information from Wikipedia, which is always obvious to the trained eye) at the expense of more relevant and detailed scholarly texts; cobbling together information for your essays from course lectures without conducting wider research, which represents intellectual laziness; and over-reliance on direct quotes without sufficient explanation of your own, or without translating other authors’ ideas into your own words to demonstrate that you have fully understood them. To be clear: good students do not take shortcuts when it comes to academic writing. Instead, you should organize your research and writing schedule carefully, well in advance of assignment deadlines, and work consistently to develop a high quality of written expression and a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. You must also be prepared to work independently – writing is, by its nature, a solitary activity. Do not expect your lecturer or seminar tutor to tell you what theories to use, what your argument should be, what evidence to collect, or how to analyse and interpret your data. These are areas where you must put in the hard yards to develop your own critical thinking, research, and writing abilities, which is the purpose of university education. Treat class discussions about assignments and essay writing, or one-to-one meetings with seminar tutors, as an opportunity to report on your progress and your plans to complete assignments.

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ACTIVE READING

t is important to read actively in order to take in and process complex information, to familiarize yourself with unknown terms (which you will subsequently need to understand for essays/class discussion), and to organize your notes in order to avoid having to re-read texts later on. A key task for students of politics and international studies at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels is to build your academic vocabulary , to increase your familiarity with – and understanding of – specialised terms commonly used in the field. Among other things, expanding your academic vocabulary will help to improve your ability to conceptualise, analyse, interpret, and explain complex political phenomena and to answer questions in a more robust and comprehensive fashion. One of the best ways to expand your academic vocabulary is to fully engage with both the required and supplementary academic sources for a specific module, and to do so by reading actively. Keep a learning journal Many students find it helpful to collect their notes from readings, observations, thoughts, definitions of key concepts, and other useful materials from the weekly readings and class seminars as well as research for essay assignments in a dedicated learning journal. For some students it is easier to keep a learning journal using online platforms/digital software, while others prefer to keep a hard copy learning journal in a notebook. A learning journal will encourage you to routinely reflect upon the source material you read each week for a module, and will make it easier to expand your subject-specific knowledge of key concepts and to improve your familiarity with relevant academic vocabulary. How to read actively using a learning journal:  Check the reading list and ensure that you know before you begin why you are reading a particular text.  List all unfamiliar words or terms, then look up and write down the definitions.  Write down your version of the author’s key argument (and be sure to organize your notes carefully to save time searching for material). This helps to emphasize key points in your mind and will make it easier to recall later. I

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CLARITY OF EXPRESSION

tudents often fail to appreciate the importance of achieving clarity in academic writing. Developing a clear and concise writing style will enable you to communicate your key ideas and points of discussion with greater analytic precision, and to present a more coherent and compelling overarching argument in your writing. The following extract from William Strunk and E.B. White’s excellent short guide on writing style and grammar The Elements of Style neatly illustrates the significance of this: Clarity is not the prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of a good style. There are occasions when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are writers whose mien is more overcast than clear. But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue. And although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one. Even to a writer who is being intentionally obscure or wild of tongue we can say, “Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!” Even to writers of market letters, telling us (but not telling us) which securities are promising, we can say, “Be cagey plainly! Be elliptical in a straightforward fashion!” Clarity, clarity, clarity. When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh; do not try to fight your way through against the terrible odds of syntax. Usually what is wrong is that the construction has become too involved at some point; the sentence needs to be broken apart and replaced by two or more shorter sentences. Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a badly worded road sign, heartbreak among lovers caused by a misplaced phrase in a well- intentioned letter, anguish of a traveller expecting to be met at a railroad station and not being met because of a slipshod telegram. Think of the tragedies that are rooted in ambiguity, and be clear! When you say something, make sure you have said it. The chances of your having said it are only fair.^4 (^4) Strunk, William and E.B. White (2000) The Elements of Style , fourth edition, p. 79. New York: Longman. S

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GOOD ACADEMIC WRITING

 Explain your choices clearly  Keep in mind the important distinction between descriptive and critical writing t is essential to spend extensive time revising and proof-reading a piece of academic writing before submitting it in order to effectively iron out basic errors relating to spelling, punctuation, syntax, and grammar. A separate process of proof reading is also vital to improve the overall intellectual coherence of your writing, and to refine and enhance the persuasiveness of your argument. Explain choices clearly Academic writing involves the author making choices about what to include and what to exclude, which points, facts, information, and theories are highly relevant, which are somewhat relevant, and which – while interesting – may not be relevant or necessary to discuss in an essay on a certain topic. You should aim to explicitly explain and justify your choices in detail, based on clear and logical reasoning. For each essay or dissertation chapter that you write, it is important that the reader understands immediately why you focus on Y and not Z, why you include A, B, and C in that order (rather than C, B, and then A), or, indeed, why you choose to discuss A, B, and C at all rather than D, E, and F. Logical coherence and transition The narrative of your writing should proceed in a logical and coherent fashion, with a clear and easy-to-understand transition from one point to another. There should never be a logical break in the narrative where the reader is left to wonder why – and how – you go from talking about one topic to discussing another that might seem to have little to do with the former. When there are clear reasons for a transition from one point to another, these should be explained as cogently and persuasively as possible. The need to justify and explain your choices will also help you to identify when and where you may make jumps that require the structure of a paragraph – or of an entire essay or dissertation chapter – to be reordered or otherwise altered. Facts and arguments versus opinions and assumptions It should always be made clear to the reader:

1. When you are discussing points and information that are widely regarded as ‘factual’ statements in relation to a specific subject matter.
2. When you are presenting other scholars’ opinions about a topic. I

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3. The list of measurements taken.
4. The timing of the research.
5. An account of the biographical details of a key figure in the discipline.
6. A summary of the history leading up to an event or decision. The difference between descriptive writing and critical writing With descriptive writing you are not developing argument; you are merely setting the background within which an argument can be developed. You are representing the situation as it stands, without presenting any analysis or discussion. Descriptive writing is relatively simple. There is also the trap that it can be easy to use many words from your word limit simply providing description. In providing only description, you are presenting but not transforming information; you are reporting ideas but not taking them forward in any way. An assignment using only descriptive writing would therefore gain few marks. With critical writing you are participating in the academic debate. This is more challenging, and risky. You need to weigh up the evidence and arguments of others, and to contribute your own. To write critically, you will need to:
7. Consider the quality of the evidence and argument you have read.
8. Identify key positive and negative aspects you can comment upon.
9. Assess their relevance and usefulness to the debate that you are engaging in for your assignment.
10. Identify how best they can be woven into the argument that you are developing. A much higher level of skill is clearly needed for critical writing than for descriptive writing, and this is reflected in the higher marks it is given. Creative essay writing The five stages of essay writing include: (1) interpreting the question; (2) research; (3) planning; (4) writing; and (5) revision. At each stage it is important to think creatively about how to design, research, plan, and write your essay. How to write a ‘creative’ academic essay can be a mystifying proposition for many students, especially if your previous education concentrated on exam-based methods of

Academic Writing ────────────────── 20 assessment rather than essay assignments. By incorporating these basic pointers you can enhance your ability to produce compelling and creative essays.

1. Creative introductions Craft your introduction around an essay topic and map the debate by distinguishing between multiple threads in the existing literature. 2. Creative analysis Break down key concepts to increase their analytic leverage. For example, rather than using a dichotomous understanding of state ‘influence’ (whereby states either have influence or do not), unpack the concept into types based on forms and degrees of influence. Avoid limiting the scope of your analysis by basing it on a narrow range of sources that simply reproduce the conventional wisdom in existing literature. 3. Creative theory Draw on a wide range of sources to ‘selectively build’ a theoretical framework, tailored to how you interpret an essay question. Avoid relying on ‘great minds’ or ‘past masters’ to provide easy answers, and do not present caricatures of complex theories. 4. Creative arguments Draw on a wide range of sources to develop an argument, tailored to how you interpret the essay question. Avoid relying on one ‘great book’ or ‘seminal article’ on a subject as a substitute for your own argument. 5. Creative conclusions Explain why your findings matter and integrate the key points developed in the essay with the larger debate(s) articulated in the introduction. Avoid pedestrian conclusions that simply repeat whole sentences from the essay. Constructing an argument An essential feature of good academic writing is that it should present a clear argument, which directly connects to the wider topic of an essay and the specific question that is being addressed. Short undergraduate essays, longer postgraduate essays, and full dissertations all require an overarching main argument. The absence of a clear, cogent, and compelling argument in a piece of academic writing is like a car without wheels, it is not going anywhere for the simple reason that it is unfit for purpose. In most instances, the specific terrain on which you will seek to develop an argument should be mapped out at the start of an essay. The argument will then be gradually developed throughout the main body of your essay from your use of theory, empirical