Academic Research & Writing Skills

Part I
Toni Kennedy
Manager Library & Information Services (DOCLIS) with the NSW Department of
Corrective Services
This paper, presented in two parts over two issues, will focus on the writing skills
required for communicating your re-search clearly and effectively.
Academic writing is formal writing. Many novice writers have trouble telling informal
writing apart from formal writing. They resort to informal writing, since its easier and
more familiar.
Essays, reports, presentations and research papers are just some examples of
documents written in the academic style. Academic writing, when used appropriately,
presents a polished and professional image. Academic writing skills encompass strong
composition, excellent grammar, and a consistent stylistic approach, providing proper
credits and references.
Are you grappling with how to communicate your research clearly and effectively?
These guidelines will explore ways of developing your skills for presenting a convincing
and cohesive argument, creating a logical structure, and achieving coherence and
cohesion between and within the text.
Part I will focus on the following:
Process Overview
Research
Search Strategy
Boolean Searching
Internet Research
Organising the Information
Taking Notes
Essay Plan/Outline
Example of Note Taking & Essay Planning Process
Process Overview
The following procedure is useful when writing an extended essay or assignment.
Task

Product

Read the question and understand what you are

required to do. Think about the subject, the purpose
and the audience.

Essay subject.

Think about what you know about the subject. Write

it down in some way.

Diagrams or notes.

Go to the library and find relevant books or articles.

Reading list.

Find the books on your reading list and study them.

List of materials studied.

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I

 Make notes on these books and articles.

Record full details of the materials you use for the
reference list.

Notes.

Organise your essay/assignment.

Essay plan/Outline.

Type or write your first draft.

First draft.

Write up your reference list using the appropriate

referencing system (possibly using software to
assist e.g. Procite, Endnote, Zotero)

Reference list

Discuss your first draft informally with friends, other

members of your class and your lecturer if possible.

List of revisions/changes.

Revise your first draft, bearing in mind any

comments that were made in your discussions.
Produce your second draft.

Second draft.

Proofread your draft.

Assignment with changes

marked.

Produce a final typed version.

Final assignment.

Check everything.

Hand in.

Research
When you have understood the question
or what you are expected to write, you
will need to do some reading to find out
what has been published in your field of
study. It is most unlikely that you will
find the information you need about your
topic in just one specific section of the
library. You need to think and look as
widely as you can about possible subject
areas that may be relevant to your topic.
Many sources are available in several
formats - as hard copy or on-line via the
Internet. In the last few years there has
been a great increase in the amount of
information that can be found on-line.
Using the Internet, it is possible to
search for the details of books, journal
articles and conference proceedings, as
well as for data such as statistics, maps
and diagrams. The number of journal
titles that you are able to access on-line
is growing rapidly. Internet gateways
and subject databases can also be good
starting points for your research.

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I

You will probably start by looking at

secondary sources, for example
dictionaries, encyclopaedias and online
databases (indexes and full text) that
you can use to help you to find the
primary sources - the full text of
articles, books, government and
company reports, etc. that you need to
read for your essay. Use the library
computer catalogue to find useful
books, audiovisual items and journal
articles for your topic.
Search Strategy
o

o
o

o
o
o

Have a firm concept of what it is

you are looking for - have it as a
sentence
Are you looking for general
information or something specific?
What type of 'document' are you
looking for - article citation, full
text article, book
List synonyms for each concept
Select the appropriate database
Medline, PsychInfo etc
Do the search, preferably using the
individual databases advanced

techniques (eg. Boolean or phrase

searching or subject headings)
Refine the search if necessary
If you do not find anything
relevant, try a different search
engine

o
o

Boolean Searching
Boolean logic refers to the logical
relationship among search terms. On
Internet search engines, the options for
constructing logical relationships among
search terms extend beyond the
traditional practice of Boolean searching.
Boolean logic consists of three logical
operators:

OR
AND
NOT

Each operator can be visually described

by using Venn diagrams, as shown
below.
OR

e.g. cats NOT dogs

In this search, we retrieve records in
which ONLY ONE of the terms is
present. This is illustrated by the shaded
area with the word cats representing all
the records containing the word "cats".
No records are retrieved in which the
word "dogs" appears, even if the word
"cats" appears there too
Internet Research

e.g. college OR university

In this search, we will retrieve records in
which AT LEAST ONE of the search
terms is present. We are searching on
the terms college and also university
since documents containing either of
these words might be relevant. OR logic
is most commonly used to search for
synonymous terms or concepts.
AND

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I

Here are a few basic guidelines to

remember:
o Don't rely exclusively on Net
resources
o Narrow your research topic before
logging on
o Know your subject directories and
search engines
o Keep a detailed record of sites you
visit and the sites you use
o Double-check all URLs that you put
in your paper
The following points are guidelines for
evaluating specific resources you find on
the Net. The key to the whole process is
to think critically about what you find on
the Net; if you want to use it, you are
responsible for ensuring that it is
reliable and accurate.
o Authority
o Affiliation
o Audience Level
o Currency
o Content Reliability/Accuracy

Organising the Information

Taking Notes
Good notes should be accurate, clear
and concise. They should show the
organisation of the text, and the
relationship between the ideas. The
main reasons why note-taking is
important include:
o When you are reading or listening,
taking notes helps you concentrate.
In order to take notes - to write
something sensible - you must
understand the text.
o Taking notes helps you to make
sense of the text. It does not mean
writing down every word. You need
to actively decide what is important
and how is related to what you
have already written.
o Notes help you to maintain a
permanent record of what you have
read or listened to. This is useful
when you are including information
you have read or heard into your
essay.
When you're reading, first survey the
text to find the main points and the
subsidiary points and how they are
related. Then, reduce the points to
notes. Make sure links and relationships
between the ideas are shown. Good
notes need to be organised
appropriately. Make sure you write down
where your notes have been taken from.
It will save you time when you need to
check your facts or write a reference list.
Essay Plan/Outline
Essay outlines are meant to serve you
and no one else. When you produce your
outline, you should follow certain basic
principles. Here is an example of an
outline for an essay on Hamlet:
Thesis: Despite Hamlet's highly
developed moral nature, he becomes
morally compromised while delaying his
revenge.
I. Introduction: Hamlet's father asks
Hamlet not only to seek vengeance
but also to keep his mind
untainted.
II. Hamlet has a highly developed
moral nature.

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I

A. Hamlet is idealistic.
B. Hamlet is aware of his own
faults, whereas others are selfsatisfied.
C. Hamlet does not want to take
revenge without grounds for
acting.
III. Hamlet becomes morally
compromised while delaying.
A. The turning point in Hamlet's
moral decline is his killing of
Polonius.
B. Hamlet's moral decline
continues when he sends
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
to their death.
C. Hamlet already began his moral
decline before the turning point
in the play, the killing of
Polonius.
1. Hamlet treats women badly.
2. Hamlet criticizes others in the
play for acting falsely to get
ahead, but in adopting the
disguise of madness he, too, is
presenting a false face to the
world.
IV. Though Hamlet becomes more
compromised the longer he delays,
killing the king would have been a
morally questionable act.
V. Conclusion: The play Hamlet
questions the adequacy of a
system of ethics based on honour
and revenge.
This is an example of a sentence
outline. Another kind of outline is
the topic outline. It consists of
fragments rather than full
sentences. Topic outlines are more
open-ended than sentence
outlines: they leave much of the
working out of the argument for
the writing stage.
Example of a Note Taking & Essay
Planning Process
The following is an example of a method
that can be used when taking notes.
1. Number all articles that you read
from 1 onwards they dont have
to be in any order
2. As you read the articles, make a
list of the topics within the articles
that are useful for your essay. Note

the number of the article beside

the topic.
3. The result will be a list of topics
with an index to the articles (i.e.
which article has information on
which topic). The list will also show
which topics are the most popular.

4. Use the resulting topic list to

decide how you will organise the
information. This will direct you to
what articles you need to consult
for the information on each topic
(see examples below).

Note Taking Example: Essay on Terrorism & Corrections

Topic Number

Topic Description

Article Number

Definitions of terrorism

1,12,15,20

Supermax conditions

2, 5, 33

Security for terrorist inmates

3, 8, 12, 20

Types of terrorism (domestic, international)

3, 7, 11,12, 14

Legislation governing terrorist inmates

6,11,21

Conditions for inmates in Australia

7, 9, 12, 13, 17

Case study of an inmate

7, 13, 16

Conditions for inmates overseas

8, 22, 25, 28

Human rights concerns

13, 25, 26, 30

Essay Plan/Outline Example Using the Note Taking Method above

1.

Introduction

What, how, why etc

State overall position/argument in relation to the
question and/or subject

2.

Point 1
(heading?)

Sub point A (Topic number 5)

Sub point B (Topic number 3)
Sub point C (Topic number 7)

3.

Point 2
(heading?)

Sub point A (Topic number 1)

Sub point B (Topic number 2)
Sub point C (Topic numbers 8 & 10)

4.

Point 3
(heading?)

Sub point A (Topic number 4)

Sub point B (Topic number 6)
Sub point C (Topic numbers 9 & 11)

5.

Conclusion

Restate overall position/argument

Relate position/argument to points 1-3

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I

Note:
Part II of this paper will appear in the June 2009 issue of the Australasian Journal
of Correctional Staff Development. Topics will include: Writing skills: organising
essays; Writing skills: paragraphs; Writing skills: expressing yourself; Reference
List and Useful Links.

Academic Research & Writing Skills Part I