Mastering Academic Writing: Sources, Citations, and Structure

Primary and Secondary Sources

Primary sources are produced at the time of the event or by someone directly involved.

Primary Sources

These are original, firsthand accounts or direct evidence related to a topic. Examples include:

• Historical documents (e.g., diaries, letters, official records)
• Original research studies or experiments
• Artwork, photographs, or videos
• Literary texts, speeches, & interviews
• Data sets or survey results

Secondary Sources

These analyze, interpret, or summarize primary sources. They provide secondhand information & often add context or commentary. Examples include:

• Textbooks
• Biographies
• Review articles
• Essays or critiques
• Histories or documentaries

Academic Integrity and Referencing

What Is Plagiarism?

Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.

Reference List vs. Bibliography

The Reference List

• Only includes works that are directly cited within your text.
• It is more precise, limited to the sources you referred to in your document.
• Often used in academic papers following specific citation styles like HARVARD, APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Bibliography

• Includes all works consulted during your research, even if they were not cited directly in your work.
• It's broader and can list sources that provided background information or influenced your thinking.
• Often used for exploratory or general research projects.

Handling Missing Dates

What is n.d.? If the work you are citing has no date listed, you should put "n.d." for "no date" in the parenthetical citation. Writing research papers is challenging (Lam, n.d.). Citing a specific part of a source that is not a page number...

Sentence and Paragraph Construction

What Is a Sentence?

• A sentence is the largest unit of any language.
• In English, it begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, a question mark, or an exclamation mark.
• The sentence is generally defined as a word or a group of words that expresses a thorough idea by giving a statement/order, or asking a question, or exclaiming.

Components of the Perfect Paragraph Structure

1. Topic Sentence: Clear, relevant, and broad sentence with a controlling idea/blueprint.
2. Support Sentences: Step 1: Explains topic sentence/adds detail. Step 2: Uses textual "evidence" (facts, data, quotes, examples, statistics) to support the main idea.
3. Concluding Sentence: Explains the significance of supporting info, unifies content, and synthesizes paragraph info to answer "So what?"

Topic Sentence Details

• Usually the first sentence.
• Tells the main idea.
• Gives the reader information about what they are going to read.
• Tells your brain what to prepare for!

Concluding Sentence Details

• The paragraph ends with a concluding sentence that restates the topic sentence using different words.
• Include a suggestion or writing tip to help the reader do the task more easily.

Hamburger Paragraph Model

• Topic Sentence: Tells the reader the main idea, or what the paragraph will be about.
• Supporting Sentence One/Two/Three: Gives specific details relating to the main idea.
• Conclusion Sentence: Refers to the topic sentence and sums up the main idea of the paragraph.

What Are Transition Words?

Transition words and phrases are used to connect ideas, sentences, and paragraphs in writing. They help to create a flow and guide the reader through your text.

Types of Transition Words and Examples

Addition

Examples: furthermore, additionally, moreover, in addition.
Usage: To add more information.
Example sentence: "She loves reading; moreover, she enjoys writing."

Contrast

Examples: however, on the other hand, in contrast, nevertheless.
Usage: To show a difference or contradiction.
Example sentence: "He was tired; however, he continued working."