Academic Research Booklet

Writing academically

General expectations All sections throughout the essay must refer back to both the title of the section and the essay question. Use the language of the question throughout the essay, for example the highlighted words: To what extent would a 10% decrease in honeybees change the output of crops grown in the UK? Use CTRL+F (Windows) or CMD+F (Apple) to quickly search for words in your essay. If you have an entire page, section or lengthy paragraph that has not incorporated at least some of the words in your question it’s possible you’ve gone off track! Every sentence should be needed and useful - you must try to avoid repetition. Top tips: Print your essay and go sentence by sentence identifiying whether each on is a making a Point, giving Evidence or Explanation or linking back to the Question (PEEL) click here for examples . Read your essay aloud to see if it makes sense when spoken - make changes as you go. Swap your essay with a friend and give feedback on each others work - did you understand their essay? Ask if they understood yours, ask them to look out for errors in spelling and phrasing. Ask them to look out for repetition and for overly long sentences. Academic essays should be written in the third person: ' The conclusion could be drawn...' as opposed to 'I have come to the conclusion...'