Academic Reading and Writing

^{In certain kinds of writing, particularly in art criticism and literary criticism, it is normal to come across long passages which are almost completely lacking in meaning.

George Orwell (1903 - 1950), "Politics and the English Language", 1946}

Take heed of Orwell's brutal observations. Ask of your writing, what does this mean? If you can't answer yourself, then start again.

As you progress in your study your critical reading and writing skills will improve noticeably. USQ provides support through its Learning and Teaching Support Unit.

Each course will demand written work as a form of assessment. Some types of written activity you will be asked to produce are:

Essay - short (1500 - 6000 words) on a given topic, or one of your own choosing
Report - written as comments and observations of a case study or experiment (2000+ words)
Dissertation or thesis -(12 -16 000 words) lengthy, empirical research on a project or the design of a product or process
Literature review - for a forthcoming dissertation or thesis (number of resources specified by examiner or supervisor), organised list of books or other resources, accompanied by a precis of their contents.
Precis or summary (abstract) - provided with most papers written for publication in scholarly or academic journals (200-500 words)
Portfolio - collection of significant literature, personal documents, and personal comments (journal or diary) with written justification for selection of contents, usually because of relevance to task or topic.

General websites on Academic Reading and Writing

The sites provided here should help you improve your academic writing skills. They will also improve your critical reading skills at the same time.

University of Hertfordshire, A Guide for Students in Higher Education - an excellent site with exercises for you to test your abilities and gain practice in reading and writing effectively at university.
Writing, Reading and Note Making (Middlesex University) a very straightforward guide to essay and report writing, as well as other aspects of academic assessment.
Literacy Education Online - comparison/contrast writing and much much more that should help you improve your marks. This site is also useful for international students who may be struggling with written English.
eStudy Centre The publisher, Allen & Unwin have provided this site, therefore you will find yourself being tempted to buy their books. This doesn't detract from the very clear content they provide on essay writing for success.
tUNE-up - University of New England's comprehensive site includes references from other universities such as University of Woollongong, New South Wales, James Cook, Purdue, and Canberra.

Subject specific websites on Academic Reading and Writing

How to write an Anthropology paper (Skidmore Springs, Saratoga, NY)
Essay writing for Communication and Media Studies - a very useful guide (you will need Adobe Acrobat as it is in .pdf format)
How to write a good History essay - despite this being written by a lecturer for a particular History course, it is relevant for any historical topic.
Application for a Scholarship - this may be of some use in your final year of your undergraduate degree.

Using citations and bibliographies or lists of references in your written assignments

Citation - 3. (v) The action of citing or quoting any words or written passage, quotation; in Law, a reference to decided cases or books of authority.4. (n). A passage cited, a quotation. (OED)

Reference - 1. a. (n) A direction to a book, passage, etc., where certain information may be found; an indication of the author, work, page, etc., to be looked at or consulted. Also without article. 1. b. A mark or sign referring the reader to another part of a page or book (esp. from the text to a note), or serving to indicate the part of a figure or diagram referred to. 2. (v) To provide with references; to give a reference to (a passage); to find by reference. (OED)

USQ Library has a list of referencing guides and you can search Google using the style name if you need more examples.To create a bibliography or list of references for your essay or written work, check the referencing style you are expected to use for your course and use it consistently. The purpose of referencing is to clearly and ethically acknowledge use of other scholars' words and ideas. If you fail to do this you may be accused of plagiarism.

Referencing ebooks or online sources

To find out how to reference an e-book or online source of information correctly in your assignments, apart from the USQ Library's guides, you can refer to Online: a reference guide to using online resources or one of these books from our Toowoomba Collection (Here they are cited using the Harvard Referencing Style).

Lester, JD 1998, Citing cyberspace: to accompany Writing research papers: a complete guide, eighth edition, Longman, New York, 808.02 Les

Li, X & Crane, N 1996, Electronic styles: a handbook for citing electronic information, 2nd edn, Information Today, Medford, 808.027 Li

Walker, JR & Taylor, TW 1998, The Columbia guide to online style, Columbia University Press, New York, 808.027 Wal

Online References Tools

Encyclopedias, Dictionaries and Thesauri - a selection of resources for improving written English

Oxford English Dictionary - in USQ Library Catalogue

Postgrad Toolbox - written for postgraduates beginning their studies, but very useful for undergraduates to gain useful knowledge on planning and presenting their written work.

Also, for those wishing to publish, visit Research and Publication

EndNote is a tool for professional students or researchers to keep their bibliographies in order. Classes are conducted for postgraduates and staff, in how to use this software that is provided free by the USQ while you remain a student here.