We’re giving you guys the top tips provided by our expert-essay curators from the Student Advice Centre, ensuring that you can write the best possible paper, ready to be handed in.
As you may well know, assignments are a huge part of University life. You might find that you constantly ponder a ton of questions to yourself - is Wikipedia really a no-go? Should you bother with the whole reading list? And how do you make a convincing argument? Don’t panic, writing a top-class paper doesn’t need to be complicated. We’re giving you guys the top tips provided by our expert-essay curators from the Student Advice Centre, ensuring that you can write the best possible paper, ready to be handed in.
Preparation is key
The thought of writing 2000-3000 words can seem like a mammoth task. That’s why it’s best to break it down into three stages: collecting and reading material, writing a plan, writing the actual assignment and proof-reading.
How much reading you’ll need to do will be dependent on the nature of the assignment, for example, an essay will require you to read more than a 500 word formative task. When you write your plan, it may be a good idea to include a time limit of when you hope to finish the assignment by.
Remember to be realistic as you’ll have lectures to attend, might have a part-time job and need to set aside some downtime.
Check your lecture notes
If you feel clueless on where you should start your reading for an assignment, go back to the lecture notes for the assignment question/topic. From your lecture notes, the course handbook or Moodle you can see which sources your lecturer has used and recommended for reading.
These are a great starting point when beginning any assignment because you know that these sources are approved by your lecturer. Some lecturers will put up the set reading list on Moodle for their module, so it’s worth checking there first.
It’s better to show your lecturer that you have a thorough understanding of a few solid sources rather than have lots of different sources, but you don’t show much of an understanding of their arguments and ideas.
It’s time to break up with Wikipedia
Wikipedia may have saved you a couple of times during your pre-University education, however at degree level, it is not regarded as an accurate academic source. As a general rule, studying at degree level, you’re encouraged to use books and academic journals to support your argument.
However, it does depend on what the nature of your assignment is. The main thing is to show that you understand the material you’re using in your work, this is best done through paraphrasing or summarising the main argument the author is presenting.
You can’t directly copy and paste material into your assignment, whether it’s from a book, journal or website. This would be considered as plagiarism, which is an assessment offence and taken seriously by the University. You need to cite and reference any sources you use in your work, your department handbook will contain information about the referencing style they use (e.g. Harvard or APA).
Be selective with your sources and structure well
Now that you’ve got this far, you might find that some might not be relevant to your assignment and decide to not include them. For winning sources you do choose to use, it’s best to make notes on the author’s main points, as later you’ll need to relate how these are relevant to your assignment question or topic.
When writing an essay, it might be helpful to break it down into three components: introduction, main argument (main body of text) and conclusion.
If you feel a block and don’t know how to go about writing the essay, it can be helpful to go right into the main argument after you’ve written your plan.
You can then go onto your conclusion and come back to the introduction last. By that point, you’re probably familiar with the essay topic and it becomes clearer what points need to be mentioned in your introduction.
Don’t be a goof, make sure you proof
At this stage, you’ve probably completed your assignment with your references. But hold your horses, you’re not finished yet! You’ll need to have some time set aside for proof-reading. It’s an important part of the writing process as it gives you a chance to pick up any mistakes and edit anything before submitting.
That summarizes all our top tips! If you feel you need some support with your academic writing, CeDAS (Centre for the Development of Academic Skills) offer a range of services to help you, their website contains more information on the different support they can offer.