In Your Own Words

When we use other sources in our essay, we’re often told to put the other author’s ideas into “our own words.” But what does this mean? And why is it so important at university? Putting another author’s idea into your own words is called paraphrasing, and it’s a key university skill.

When you cite evidence in an assignment, you have two options – you can quote directly or you can paraphrase. Paraphrasing is a key element of using evidence effectively and ethically. In some disciplines, particularly in the Sciences, direct quotation is used very sparingly and it’s essential that you develop strong paraphrasing skills.  

In other disciplines, quotation may be more acceptable, but that doesn’t mean that you should avoid paraphrasing altogether. Good writing will often combine the two, and using paraphrasing appropriately and effectively will allow your voice to come over more strongly so that when you do use direct quotation will have more impact. 

So, how can you begin to develop this key skill? Have a look at the recording of our ‘In Your Own Words’ Lightning Session then scroll down for our key steps for paraphrasing.  

 

Step 1: Understand Why

Paraphrasing basically means putting someone else’s argument or idea into your own words. As we mentioned above, it’s an alternative to using direct quotation. But when and why would you use it? 

As we’ve already seen, it may simply be the convention of your discipline to paraphrase evidence rather than to use direct quotation. In such disciplines you really don’t have much option other than to develop your paraphrasing skills. 

In other disciplines there’s more choice. Often, paraphrasing allows you to express or show understanding of an idea or argument more clearly or concisely than the original quote, particularly if that quote is lengthy and you can summarise it effectively. 

One useful way of thinking about whether to quote or paraphrase is to ask yourself why you want to use that evidence. If there’s something important about the way the idea or argument has been expressed, you may wish to quote directly (if your discipline allows). If it’s just the idea itself that you’re drawing upon, paraphrasing may be a more suitable option. 

 

Step 2: Avoid ‘Word Substitution’ 

One important thing to avoid when paraphrasing is word substitution. As the name suggests, this occurs where you leave the original structure of the sentence intact and simply work your way along substituting words of the same or similar meaning.  

This invariably results in clunky, clumsy prose. More importantly, it’s not good paraphrasing – indeed, it may be considered a form of plagiarism, even though you’ve cited the source. So, move the original text out of sight and instead focus on the idea or argument and try to express or summarise that in your own way.  

 

Step 3: Practice Techniques

Okay, so you’ve hidden the original and now you want to try to summarise or explain the idea in your own words. One useful tip here is to imagine explaining it out loud to a friend, a fellow student, or your tutor. How would you explain it without having the quote in front of you? 

Remember, we’re focused on the idea here and why you want to use it, so another helpful tip is to think carefully about how the paraphrase will fit into your wider point or argument. What will you go on to say about this evidence? Thinking about that may help you summarise the key points in an effective way. Just be careful not to change the meaning – when paraphrasing we must be careful not to twist the evidence to suit our own arguments.  

 

 

For more useful advice, check out our video on paraphrasing (below). And one final point – paraphrasing may sound like a lot of work but with practice and experience it will become second nature and you’ll do it almost without thinking. So stick with it, and before long you’ll have this important skill mastered. 

 

 

This blog post was written by Dr Gordon Spark (Academic Skills Centre).

Report Writing

Report writing is a skill required in many disciplines, such as Life Sciences, Engineering, Business, and some Medical disciplines.  It is different from essay writing in a number of key respects but follows many of the conventions of academic writing. 

We normally write reports in response to a problem: something has gone wrong and we require a solution.  This is particularly true in industry and business where processes can break down and solutions need to be found and evaluated.  Reports are very rarely written when everything is working perfectly! 

Most reports that students write will be relatively short and normally be part of a response to a particular experiment or situation you have been presented with. 

 

Watch our Lightning Session to learn more about report writing, then scroll down for our top three tips!

 

 

Tip 1: Know the Purpose

What is the purpose of your report? Before you start writing, it’s important to know what your report is for, and who will be reading it.

Here are a few reasons why we write reports:

  •   To describe something
  •   To specify (technical)
  •   To evaluate options and make recommendations
  •   To enable discussion

It is worth considering who your audience is for your report, and to be aware of their needs in terms of how technical (or otherwise) your report ought to be. 

 

Tip 2: Know the Format

The format of a report varies depending on what’s known as the “House Style” of your discipline.  I’ll outline a generic report writing format below, but I always advise students to become familiar with the requirements of their discipline: this will often be outlined on your Module Handbook or in the VLE Module for that subject. 

In very broad-brush terms, here is a standard format for a report:

  • Abstract
  • Introduction/background/aims & objectives
  • Methods & Materials
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion
  • Recommendations for future action
  • Bibliography
  • Appendices

 

Tip 3: Know the Style

The style of writing adopted in a report can be more factual than you might use in an essay, and be more to-the-point, i.e., less discursive.  However, particularly in the discussion and conclusion sections you will still be expected to discuss and analysis the results of the work you have presented, so there will still be elements of essay writing style in your report.

Reports rarely use the 1st person, and lists, tables and bullet points are perfectly acceptable as part of your writing.  Headings are also encouraged in report writing whereas they are discouraged in essays.  Appendices may be used as a way to include more detailed information that is useful for your reader, but not required for the main part of your report, i.e., the questions for a survey or data tables, for example.

 

There are examples of reports in all walks of life, but the best way to improve your report writing is to read academic reports in your own discipline. Reading published reports in your discipline will give you a better idea of the expectations your tutors will have of your work.

 

This blog post was written by Michael Allardice (Academic Skills Centre). 

Finding Your Academic Voice

Have you ever been told you need to ‘write more academically’? Ever had feedback that you need to develop a more academic voice’? Ever wished you knew how to ‘write like an academic’?  

Such feedback is not uncommon and, whilst the advice itself is often valid, when it’s framed in these ways the comments can be confusing, demotivating and in some cases downright unhelpful.   

It is important to communicate your ideas, arguments and findings in an appropriate and confident manner. But this is sometimes presented as a greater challenge than it really should be. Whatever your level of writing, you can – over time – develop a style of writing (and presenting) that is appropriate to your discipline area.  

Have a look at the recording of our Lightning Session on ‘Finding your Academic Voice’ then scroll down for a summary of the three key steps you can take to develop your confidence in this area.  

 

 

Step 1: Apply the simple conventions of academic writing 

There’s no single set of conventions that apply to every bit of academic communication. For example, there is a clear distinction between the style of writing in Science subjects compared to say Humanities. Likewise, the ‘rules’ may change slightly depending on whether you’re writing ay a formal essay, a piece of reflection, or a report. 

So it’s important to recognise the conventions for the specific type of writing you are doing, and then to apply these conventions to that work. We explore the common ones in the Lightning Session, so go back and have a look at that part of the recording if you’re still not sure what they are. 

 

Step 2: Talk the language of your subject 

As well as the general conventions mentioned above, every subject or discipline has its own language or technical vocabulary – words and phrases that someone outside of the discipline may struggle to understand but which instantly convey meaning to those in the know. Using this language confidently and competently is a key step in developing a confident and effective academic voice. 

One of the great ways to develop your confidence here is to pay attention to the reading that you do. How do other people write about your subject? What kind of language do they use? Beyond just the vocabulary though, pay attention also to how they make arguments, how they use evidence, how they attempt to persuade you as the reader.  

 

Step 3: Keep it simple, clear and authentic  

People often fall into the trap of trying too hard to sound ‘academic’. Academic voice does not mean writing torturously long sentences or having a thesaurus beside you so you can find a fancy long word to replace a perfectly adequate short one.  

If you’re following steps 1 & 2 then you’re well on your way to developing an authentic and effective academic voice. The final step is to write as clearly and simply as possible. The great thing about this is that, as you develop your confidence, that ‘simple’ level of writing will naturally increase, so that over time you will find yourself using more complex language and putting more of your personality into the writing. 

But don’t force it – if you’re at the start of that journey, focus on doing the basics well and things will evolve naturally from that point.    

 

This blog post was written by Dr Gordon Spark (Academic Skills Centre)

STEP UP to Blended Learning

Welcome to Semester Two!

Whether you’re returning to campus or staying at home, this is hardly the semester any of us wished for. The recent lockdown and increased restrictions are challenging for us all. If you’re struggling to stay motivated while working from home, or you just can’t get used to recorded lectures, don’t worry– you’re not alone!

To support you in this challenging time, the Academic Skills Centre has created resources addressing these two key issues: Online Lectures, and Focus and Motivation.

For more support in a whole variety of areas, check out the full programme of Lightning Sessions.

 

Header with an picture of a penguin holding a stopwatch

Independent Learning Units

If you prefer working in your own time, log in to the Blended Learning for Students organisation on My Dundee. There, you’ll find two new units: Focus and Motivation, and Getting the Most from Recorded Lectures.

These units contain our top tips for learning in this new environment. You’ll find text, videos, and quizzes to help you test your knowledge. Each unit will take approximately an hour to work through, and you can dip in and out as you like.

 

Header with a picture of a penguin chasing after a fish.

Lightning Sessions

To kick off the semester, we ran two Lightning Sessions at the beginning of semester. The sessions lasted just 30 minutes, and we converted them into blog posts afterwards! Whether you missed the sessions, or you want a refresher, you can find both of them on our blog. 

 

Getting the Most out of Recorded Lectures

Extracting relevant information from online lectures is a whole new challenge. Learn how to get the most out of your online lectures, without having to re-watch the recording seven times.

 

Focus and Motivation

Without as many on-campus classes and social opportunities, it can be hard to stay motivated. Watch this session to learn how to be more focussed while working online, and how to motivate yourself in difficult circumstances.

Referencing

Referencing can be one of the trickiest parts of essay writing. It can be hard to find the various components of a reference, or to understand why they’re even necessary in the first place. Difficulties with finishing up a bibliography are also one of the main reasons students submit essays late!

The good news is, referencing doesn’t have to be painful. If you invest a little time in learning how referencing works, it actually can become one of the most straightforward parts of your assignment.

To find out more about referencing, watch our Lightning Session! In this workshop, we challenge Kayleigh McGarry, one of the Digital Skills librarians, to use CiteThemRight.com to cite all kinds of sources. If you’ve ever struggled with referencing, this session is for you!

[To skip the intros, jump to 1:35]

 

In a hurry? Here are the main three things you need to know about referencing:

 

References have Two Parts

The first thing to know about referencing is that it consists of two parts:

  1. The in-text citation (either in parentheses, or a footnote)
  2. The reference in the bibliography (at the end of the essay)

To reference correctly, you must include both these parts. They each look slightly different, but don’t worry. If you use CiteThemRight.com, it will show you what each part looks like.

 

Use CiteThemRight.com as a Guide

There are all kinds of referencing guides on the internet, many of which are excellent. However, there are also many referencing generators, which are websites that ask you to input the information, and then they create a reference for you. This may sound too good to be true, and, sadly it is. Most of the time, reference generators make mistakes, so if you use one, you must check your references yourself before submitting.

To get it right the first time, we recommend using CiteThemRight.com. The University pays for a subscription, so you can sign in with your UoD credentials and get free access to all the information! The site shows you how to cite pretty much anything in all sorts of referencing styles, and it even offers templates you can use to create your own references.

If you’re new to CiteThemRight.com and you’re not sure how to use it, watch the recording above!

Start Early and Be Consistent

The best way to make sure your referencing is correct is to give yourself time. Work on your bibliography as you go along– don’t wait until the end! It’s no fun trying to proofread your bibliography just minutes before the deadline.

The other important tip is to be consistent. Sometimes, it can be hard to keep track of the fiddly little things, like whether or not there should be a full stop after the author’s name. While you should try to get these things right, the most important thing is to be consistent. If you have a full stop in one reference, make sure you have it in them all. Your marker may not notice if a full stop is in the wrong place, but they’ll definitely notice if you’re inconsistent!

Finally, if you’re struggling with referencing, it’s okay to get help! While we can’t “check” your references, our team is happy to help you find the information you need. Feel free to contact us at asc@dundee.ac.uk with any questions you may have!

Make Your Writing Flow

Does your writing ever feel clunky? Do you struggle to transition between ideas? Is it challenging to express your ideas properly?

If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, you may be struggling with flow. At University, students frequently receive the feedback, “your writing doesn’t flow,” but what does that mean?

To find out more about flow, and how to write assignments with smooth sentences and perfect paragraphs, watch our Lightning Session!

[To skip the intros, head straight to 1:54]

 

In the recording, we discuss how to make your writing flow, both over the essay as a whole, and down at the sentence level. Here, we’ll share our top three tips:

 

Outline Your Ideas

To make your essay flow, planning is essential. If you just start writing, your ideas will likely be disjointed, and all out of order. Creating an outline before you start writing allows you to plan the order for your ideas, so that they can build on each other in a logical structure.

Use Transition Sentences

The first and last sentences of each paragraph are essential for linking your ideas together. Use the first sentence of each paragraph to link back to the previous paragraph. This demonstrates that your ideas all flow together.

Example:

Last sentence of the first paragraph: “Thus, penguins are the friendliest kind of bird.”

First sentence of second paragraph: “In contrast, puffins are far nastier than penguins.”

As you can see, the first sentence of the second paragraph picks up on the ideas of the first paragraph, demonstrating that the paragraphs are connected. Transitions like this help your essay flow seamlessly between ideas.

Sentence Structure

Within a paragraph, the best way to make your writing flow is to vary your sentence structure. Some sentences can be short. Others can be longer and more meandering, expressing complex ideas and tying concepts together. Using a variety of sentence lengths makes your writing flow better.

Writer’s Block

We’ve all been there: staring at a blank screen, unable to write a word. Whether we love writing or we struggle to get our thoughts on paper, Writer’s Block impacts us all. Though it affects us at different times and in different ways, almost all of us will experience Writer’s Block at some point in our academic careers.

When does Writer’s Block tend to strike?

  • When we’re getting started
  • When we can’t find the right way to express a difficult idea
  • When we need to pull everything together

 

While Writer’s Block is most common at the beginning of an assignment, it can happen at any point. Particularly if we’re stressed, or lack confidence with the material, it’s easy to get stuck.

The good news is that if you’re struggling from Writer’s Block, you’re not alone! Even professional authors often experience Writer’s Block. If you’re struggling, this does not mean you aren’t good enough.

There are also tried-and-true methods of working through Writer’s Block. Watch our Lightning session to learn more, then scroll down to read our Top Tips!

[To skip the intros, jump straight to 1:53]

In the recording, we discuss all kinds of ways to beat Writer’s Block. Here are a few of the most effective:

 

1. Do the Prep Work

Many times, if we’re struggling with Writer’s Block, it’s because we’ve not done the necessary prep-work. Before we start writing, it’s essential to spend time researching the topic and planning a structure for the essay. Once we know what we’re going to write, actually getting the words down becomes much easier.

[Note: Sometimes people procrastinate on writing by spending endless hours researching and planning. If that’s you, it’s important to just start writing! You can always write a bit, then do more research, then write more, then more research… Academic writing doesn’t have to be a linear process.]

 

2. Take a Break

If the words just aren’t coming, the best thing you can do is take a break. Get away from the screen, and head outside for a walk. You could even do something fun and creative, like play a musical instrument or bake cookies. You just might find that the best ideas come when you’re doing something else!

 

3. Just Write!

Writer’s Block is often caused by perfectionism. We think every word needs to be perfect, so we struggle to get anything written. If that’s you, the best thing to do is just write. Challenge yourself to write as many words as you can in five minutes. Or try to write a paragraph as badly as possible. It’s perfectly acceptable– and even beneficial!– to have a messy first draft. Just get the words down, then edit later.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined by Oxford University as “presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own.” It’s a serious form of academic misconduct, and major cases of plagiarism (such as copying an essay from the internet, or buying one online) can result in expulsion from the University or from professional bodies.

Most forms of plagiarism aren’t as big or obvious as stealing an entire essay. In fact, students sometimes plagiarise accidentally, simply by not checking the rules! Even “small” instances of plagiarism, however, may well come with penalties, such as failing the assignment or even the module. The good news is that, once you learn a few basic rules, it’s easy to avoid plagiarism and write with academic integrity!

To learn more about avoiding plagiarism, watch our Lightning session, the scroll down to read more.

[To jump straight to the session, head to 1:08]

 

 

Essentially, any time you use someone else’s words or ideas, you must cite them. In the recording, you’ll find a variety of scenarios, but let’s look at a few of the main ones here.

 

1. Using someone else’s words.

 

If you copy exact words directly from a source, you must put those words in quotation marks and cite them. Sometimes, students copy-and-paste a few sentences from a source and provide a citation, but they don’t put the words in quotation marks. This is plagiarism, and will be flagged up by Turnitin software. Any exact words you take from a source must be put in quotation marks, whether it’s a full sentence, or just a small phrase.

 

2. Using someone else’s ideas.

 

If you use someone else’s idea, you must cite them. This is still true even if you don’t use their exact words. Sometimes, we condense someone else’s ideas and put them in our own words instead. This is called Paraphrasing, and it’s a good thing to do in an academic essay! When you paraphrase, you shouldn’t put the sentence in quotation marks, but you do need to cite the source of the idea.

 

3. Citation and Reference

 

Citing your sources correctly involves two parts. First, you must include an in-text citation (either in parentheses, or a footnote, depending on your referencing style) right when you mention the source. Then, you must include a full reference in your bibliography at the end of your essay. Both the in-text citation and the reference at the end of the essay are mandatory in most referencing styles.

 

In the Lightning Session, you’ll find many more scenarios, and a detailed discussion of how to avoid plagiarism. If you want to test your knowledge, you can also try our Plagiarism Quiz for yourself!

Cut Your Wordcount

Have you ever found yourself frantically trying to cut your assignment down as the submission deadline looms? If so, you’re not alone – we’ve all been there at some point.

It’s important to keep to the wordcount in your assignments – part of what you’re being assessed on is your ability to prioritise arguments or ideas and provide an effective answer within the allotted words.

That means cramming in more ideas and going well over the wordcount isn’t advantageous and in fact might see you lose marks.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to make sure that you don’t find yourself in this position, and there are still steps you can take if you do wind up needing to lose hundreds of words in a hurry.   Have a look at out recording of the ‘Cut Your Wordcount’ Lightning Talk for some ideas, then scroll down for our 3 top tips.

3 top tips for staying on top of your wordcount

Tip 1: Wordcount or Word limit? Know the difference

It’s crucial when planning and writing your assignment that you’re clear on whether it has a wordcount or a word limit.

A word limit usually means that you will lose marks if you go over that number of words. So it’s important that you’re aware of that and work to keep your submission within that limit.

A wordcount, by contrast, gives you a certain degree of leeway. That’s generally taken to mean your final submission can be up to 10% lower or higher than the given count, although that isn’t always stated explicitly.

Tip 2: Start cutting your wordcount early

The earlier in the process you start working towards the wordcount, the easier you will find it to remove content. It’s much easier to get your wordcount down at the planning stage than it is once you’ve written a draft.

So pay attention to the wordcount from the start, get to know roughly how many points you can cover effectively in the allotted words, and plan your assignment accordingly.

Tip 3: Cut content, not words

Sometimes you will just find yourself with too many words when you’ve written up the assignment. So how do you get the wordcount down?

Simply cutting words can lead to very disjointed writing. You might look for places where you could simplify the language – indeed this is a very good habit to try to develop, but it’s more effective as a long term strategy to improve your writing rather than as a quick fix for a piece of work that is too long.

If you’re over the wordcount, the chances are it’s because you’re trying to do too much. So prioritise the points that most effectively allow you to answer the question and be prepared to cut other points that, whilst potentially relevant, you don’t have room to include this time.

Successful Search Strategies

When you’re at university, you have to do research. Whatever you study, chances are you’ll spend some time looking through books at the library– or, more likely, browsing the online catalogue searching for sources.

For some of us, research may be exciting: it’s a time to learn more about a new topic, and dive deeper into a subject we love. For others, research may be incredibly confusing, time-consuming, and difficult.

Wherever you fall on this spectrum: you’re not alone. The truth is that even students who love research sometimes find it challenging to find just the right sources for their upcoming assignment.

In this Lightning Session, our colleague from the Library walks us through two of the most common research struggles:

  • Too Many Sources
  • Too Few Sources

Watch the video for a full explanation (complete with a screen-sharing demonstration), or keep scrolling for our top tips.

[Note: To skip the intro, jump straight to 05:25.]

 

Challenge 1: Too Few Sources

Sometimes it’s hard to find enough pertinent sources for our essay. Especially when we’re working on really specific topics, it can be difficult to find sources that directly address our topic.

For instance, if your essay question is: “To what extent is Draco Malfoy the archetypal antihero in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child?” then a good first step would be to type the keywords, “Draco Malfoy,” “antihero” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” into the library search.

If you did this, however, you wouldn’t come up with a single result. It’s far too specific. Instead, it’s better to use just a few of the keywords, or to modify them slightly. For instance, you could try “Draco Malfoy” and “Harry Potter” or “antihero” and “Harry Potter.”

If you can’t find enough sources, use fewer keywords or make them more general. Then, be open-minded with the sources you find. Maybe an article on “Heroism in Harry Potter” doesn’t look like exactly what you want, but give it a skim-read anyways. There’s a good chance at least part of the article will be relevant to your topic!

Additionally, once you’ve found one relevant article, make sure to look at its footnotes and bibliography. Chances are, at least some of these sources will be relevant to you, and they might not have immediately come up in the search engine.

 

Challenge 2: Too Many Sources

Perhaps a bigger problem is too many sources. Especially when we’re assigned quite a broad topic (perhaps, “Is Harry Potter a Hero?”) a library search for our basic keywords can literally return millions of results!

The good news is that the Library search sorts results automatically by relevance, so there’s no need to scroll through every source (though it is worth going through at least a few pages, to make sure nothing important has gotten buried).

If you’ve got too many results, you can use the filters on the right side of the library search to cut your results down to only the most relevant. Helpful filters may include:

  • Peer Reviewed journals (only journals that have been properly vetted by other academics)
  • Resource type (books, journals, conference proceedings, etc…)
  • Subject (Humanities, social sciences, etc…)
  • Date (select a date range)

Using filters can cut your results down from thousands to hundreds. They can even reduce your results to nothing at all, so it’s good to be careful! Don’t immediately apply certain filters, and it’s always worth experimenting with different combinations of filters, rather than putting them all on at once.

If you’re still struggling with too many sources, it’s worth trying some of the features in the advanced search function, such as limiting your search to article titles, for instance.

 

We hope these tips are helpful as you start researching your next assignment! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at asc@dundee.ac.uk.