Writing for academic success Gail Craswell and Megan Poore

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents
List of Figures xii
List of Tables xiii
Introduction 1
Aims, limits and organization of the book 2
Terminology and other practices 3
1. Managing your Writing Environment 5
Effective self-management 6
Networking for support 6
Pre-planning: maximizing effort 8
Electronic tools for increasing productivity 12
Managing multiple communication tasks 14
Communicating with lecturers and supervisors 16
Resolving uncertainties 17
Digital communication issues 18
Issues in cross-cultural writing and communication 20
Being critical 20
Developing independence 20
Accepting guidence 21
Entering tutorial ̀conversations' 21
Using the English language 21
Using the disciplinary language 22
Conducting interpersonal relations 22
Researching on the move 23
Advantages of using mobile technologies 23
Keeping safe online 25
Backing up your work 30
Further resources 32
2. Fundamentals of Solid Preparation 33
Understanding the graduate writing culture 34
Mastering disciplinary writing practices 35
Treating information critically 38
Critically appraising source materials 38
Critically evaluating theory 40
Critical enquiry and the status of existing knowledge 42
Working with different types of information 42
Following your hunches 43
Ensuring task-focused information 44
Assessing the academic merit of source materials 45
Avoiding the urge to rush into data-gathering 46
Discriminating information needs 47
Managing your reading load 49
Reading intensively and skimming 49
Strategies for information storage 50
Managing common writing concerns 51
Monitoring your approach 52
Confronting the ẁriting block' 53
Handling critical feedback 54
Further resources 55
3. Essentials of Academic Writing 56
The mechanics of academic writing 56
Ensuring consistency of practice 57
Spelling, grammar and proofreading 57
Punctuation 58
Referencing and plagiarism 58
Choosing a referencing style 59
Avoiding plagiarism 60
Attending to readers' needs 63
The reader as disciplinary practitioner 64
The reader as subject specialist 64
Signposting: signalling your intentions 65
Clarity: the first rule of style 65
Other style issues 66
Conciseness 68
Aspects of voice and tone 70
Further resources 72
4. Principles of Sound Structure 73
Visual mapping of material 74
Brainstorming and mind-mapping 74
Sequential outlining 75
Using sub-headings effectively 77
Developing texts 79
Effective paragraph development 80
Strategies for linking paragraphs 82
Manipulating sentence structure 84
The ̀discards' file 85
Improving overall structure 86
Further resources 87
5. Research Essays 88
Èssays' and their synonyms 88
The short essay 89
The research essay as formal argument 90
Decoding the meaning of àrgument' 90
Basic criteria applied in assessing essays 91
Topics (or questions) 91
Setting up a topic 92
Analysing a given topic 92
Compiling an introduction 94
Establishing the context 95
Defining important terms, phrases or concepts 95
Laying out a position 95
Making a procedural statement 96
Building an argument 97
Building a ̀position' as you read 97
Arguing from sources 98
Avoiding faulty reasoning 99
Strategies that strengthen argument 100
Developing an argument 102
Ensuring structural coherence 102
Maintaining relevance 103
Working up a conclusion 104
Cutting to meet word length 104
Reviewing the essay presentation 105
Further resources 106
6. Book or Article Reviews and Online Writing 107
Book or article reviews 107
The different types of reviews 107
Conducting an academic review 108
Structuring a review 110
Online writing 110
Blogs 111
Wikis 111
7. Coursework Exams 113
Setting up a revision plan 114
Stage 1 Focusing Your Plan 114
Stage 2 Systematizing Your Plan 116
Stage 3 Testing The Efficacy Of Your Plan 119
Exam room strategies 120
Interpreting exam paper instructions 120
Determining the order of your answers 120
Working out a time schedule 121
Writing the exam paper 121
Essay papers 122
Short answer papers 123
Multiple-choice papers 123
8. The Literature Review 125
Purpose and functions of a literature review 125
Writing tasks engaged 126
Review mode and orientation 126
Exploiting library and Internet resources 127
Your institution's library 127
The Internet 129
Strategically managing the reading 129
Discovery mode 130
Refining mode 131
Appraisal mode 131
Critical appraisal of the literature 132
Processing information to facilitate writing 133
Processing information 134
Processing and structure 135
Shortcomings in reviews 136
Reader processing needs 136
Contrary findings in the literature 136
The all-important: S̀o what?' 136
How your research fits in 137
Further resources 138
9. Reports and Research Proposals 139
Reports 139
Possible audience considerations 140
Business reports 141
Focusing a business report 141
Experimental or technical reports 142
The interlocking relationship of the structural divisions 142
Focusing the different parts of the report 144
Formal reports 146
Two prominent structures 146
Distinctive features of the formal report 147
Field reports 148
Keeping precise records 148
Progress reports 149
The purpose of a progress report 149
Research proposals 150
The different purposes of proposals 150
Focusing and developing a proposal 151
Further resources 154
10. Thesis Writing 155
Managing the project 156
Orientation to thesis writing 156
Using online tools to manage the research project 157
Anticipatory thesis management strategies 158
Setting up a thesis writing schedule 159
Settling on typography and formatting 161
Expectations of theses 161
Standard expectations 161
Bringing examiners into view 162
Longer theses 163
Quality indicators in examiners' reports 163
Shorter theses 169
Different topic orientations 169
Constraining factors 170
Structuring a thesis 171
Dividing up the text 171
Key structuring strategies 172
The thesis statement 174
Chapter structuring options 175
A science model 175
A social science model 175
An illustrations-based model 175
A sequential model 176
An open-ended model 176
Gaining overall thesis control 177
Visually mapping core chapters 177
The table of contents 178
The detailed thesis outline 179
The thesis abstract 181
The thesis introduction 182
Timing the writing of an introduction 182
Focusing an introduction 182
The thesis conclusion 183
Processing the thesis findings 184
Organizing a thesis-writing group 186
Further resources 187
11. Presentations 188
The nature of oral presentations 189
Distinctive features of presenting 189
Tutorial and seminar presentations 190
Clarifying expectations 190
Forestalling criticism in progress review seminars 191
Conference presentations 191
Getting a paper accepted 191
Poster presentations 193
Factors that might influence design 194
Design principles 194
Planning for success 196
Audience analysis 197
Language appropriateness 198
Venue considerations 198
Building ̀time' into a plan 199
Formatting options 199
Using scripted notes 199
Reading a paper as a presentation 200
Reworking a lengthy paper to present 201
Slideshow (PowerPoint) presentations 201
Fine-tuning and rehearsal 204
Encoding audience management 204
The value of prior rehearsal 207
On the day: issues of delivery 207
The presenting venue 207
Dealing with the unexpected 208
Canvassing audience questions 208
Managing nervousness 209
Further resources 210
12. Publishing and Raising Your Profile 211
Pre-publishing or self-publishing online 212
Advantages of distributing work online 212
Some points to watch 213
Raising your profile: setting up an eportfolio 214
Basic eportfolio 215
Expanded eportfolio 215
Choosing a service to host your eportfolio 217
What to include in your eportfolio 218
Journal publication 219
Ejournals 219
Open access journals 220
Including supervisors as co-authors 220
Targeting an appropriate journal 221
Profiling the targeted journal 221
Shaping a paper for publication 222
Being professional 222
Focusing the abstract 222
Reviewing scholarly practices 223
Engaging the reader 223
Approaching a book publisher 226
Strategic considerations 226
The peer review process 228
Questions addressed by referees 228
Dealing with the outcome of peer review 229
Forming a publication syndicate 230
Further resources 231
Appendix: Words and Phrases for Developing Discussions 232
References 235
Index