ACADEMIC

WRITING
NURUL SHAFIEZA, FITREN, OKTOVYANTI KOH

Background to writing

Most university and college students are assessed through the production of written
assignments. Students need to be clear about the basic components of written
texts
work produced by students
Type 1. Common types of written
Purpose

Length

Letter

For formal and informal

communication

Fewer than 500 words

Article/paper

Presenting information

More than 600 words

Research paper

To prodce a final product of an

involved research

3000-6000 words

Essay

Works to answer question,

defend an argument or state
personal opinion.

1500 6000 words

Thesis/dissertation

To provide a solution or a
unique discovery

20000 words

 2. Organisation of text
Shorter text, e.g. essays, are normally organized :
Introduction > Main body > Conclusion
Longer text, e.g. dissertations and articles :
Abstract > Contents > Introduction > Main Body > Case Study
Bibliography/References > Appendices.
Books
Dedication > Foreword > Preface > Index

Other text features

Abbreviations : used to save space
Call centres (CCs) feature prominently in the technology
Italics : to show titles and words from other languages
Squatter housing ( called gecekondu in Turkish )
Footness : indicates references at the bottom of the page
Scholars have argued for years that this claim has no basis, 7so we would do well to
ignore it.
Endnotes : to show references at the end of article or chapter
The market for masonry construction may be divided into housing and non-housing
sectors [1].
Quotation marks : to draw attention to a phrase
The research shows that the pains of imprisonment for women are .

Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism means taking information or ideas from another writer and using them in
your own work, without acknowledging the source in an accepted manner. In academic
work plagiarism can be a serious offence.
1. Which of the following would be considered as plagiarism?
a) Not providing a reference when you have used somebodys idea.
b) Copying a few sentences from an article on the internet without giving a reference.
c) Not giving a reference when you use commonly accepted ideas, e.g. Aids is a growing
problem.
d) Giving the reference but not using quotation marks when you take a sentence from
another writers article.
e) Taking a paragraph from a classmates essay without giving a reference.
f) Presenting the results of your own research.

 To avoid plagiarism, it is necessary to paraphrase and summarise the original.

Instead of this, students sometimes hope that changing a few words of the original
will avoid charges of plagiarism.
Clearly, you are not expected to alter every word of the original text, but your
summary must be substantially different from the original.

Acceptable

Plagiarised

Some vocabulary kept from

original

Same with the original