You may have heard the joke, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ The punchline, ‘One bite at a time’, is useful in the context of discussing a mammoth research task: a thesis. Whether you prefer the elephant metaphor (or perhaps the notion of conquering your own personal Everest), a thesis…
In your academic writing, do you feel the compulsion to utilise complex terminology and vocabulary in hopes of validating your intellectual prowess and ameliorating your grades? If you found that last sentence hard to read, you may realise that complex words are not always the best way to get a…
Seeking feedback on your writing is scary. It requires the ability to be vulnerable with something that is often very close to your heart. It can feel like you are putting yourself on the page and emailing it for people to judge. But feedback, when given effectively, can drive us…
I won’t beat around the bush; idioms shouldn’t be used in academic writing. I don’t mean to big note myself, but this article will explain why idioms are inappropriate in formal contexts. If you’re sitting on the fence about it, let me tell you that academics wouldn’t be caught dead peppering their writing with idiomatic expressions (like…
For those who are not familiar with the term ‘literature review’, writing one may be a major challenge. They can be complex documents, and they have to follow set guidelines regarding structure, content and writing style. See below a brief explanation to help you write a literature review in case…
Academic writing requires a particular skill set, which one does not acquire by osmosis. It takes time to develop the craft of writing and, like any other skill, it takes practice to hone. We’ve curated a list of excellent resources and online courses to help you improve your academic writing.…
It can be difficult to decide whether to submit your thesis chapters for publication before or after you submit your thesis. On one hand, the more journal articles you have published the better—especially if you will be seeking an academic position or grant funding following your PhD—and if many of…
The seventh edition is inappropriate for academic writing In 2020, the sixth edition of the Snooks & Co Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, which had been the official style manual of the Australian Government and adopted by Australian universities, was superseded by the seventh edition (freely available online). The online edition…
Writing your first undergraduate essay can be daunting. How similar are the requirements of university essays to your high school essays? This article is the first in a series on how to approach undergraduate essays. This series is our quick guide to essay writing and it provides very practical advice. If you…
As with all the referencing styles, APA has many discrete rules to learn, creating a great deal of opportunity for confusion. In this series of articles, I aim to clarify some of the finer points of the APA referencing style, all of which I have personally observed to be a…