Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

STUDENT’S GUIDE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE VERSION

2021
STANDARDS FOR WRITING
ACADEMIC ASSIGNMENTS

KOLEJ PROFESIONAL MARA

BANDAR PENAWAR, JOHOR
1/1/2021
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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW IV

1.0 WORK FORMATTING 1

1.1 BASIC TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS 1

1.1.1 Font Type and Size 1
1.1.2 Headings and Sub-headings 1
1.1.3 Margin 1
1.1.4 Spacing 1
1.1.5 Text Alignment 1
1.1.6 Page Layout 1
1.1.7 Page Numbering 2
1.1.8 Borders 2

1.2 FIGURES AND TABLES 2

1.2.1 Appearance 2
1.2.2 Naming and Numbering 2

1.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

1.3.1 Appearance 2
1.3.2 Format 3

2.0 CITING SOURCES AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM 4

2.1 CITATIONS AND REFERENCING 4

2.1.1 Format or Style 4
2.1.2 Basic Rules for Most Sources 4
2.1.3 Guidelines for Writing In-text Citations (Basic) 5
a) Quoting 5
b) Paraphrasing 5
2.1.4 Guidelines for Writing Reference List (Common e-sources) 7
a) Webpage or Piece of Online Content 7
b) Wikipedia Article 8
c) Online News Article 8
d) Other sources of materials 9

3.0 SUBMISSION OF WORK 11

3.1 COVER SHEET 11

3.1.1 Content 11
3.1.2 Format 11
a) Logo size 11
b) Font size and text alignment 11

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

3.2 ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET 13

3.3 HARD COPY SUBMISSION 13

3.3.1 Paper specifications 13
3.3.2 Binding 13

3.4 SOFT COPY SUBMISSION 13

3.4.1 File name 13
3.4.2 File type and size 14

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Disclaimer:
This document is available in three versions: English Language Version, Malay
Language Version and Simple Version. Should any discrepancies or conflicts arise
between the versions, the English Language Version shall prevail.

The APA 7th referencing style and examples included in this document are based on
the author’s understanding of the sources cited only. The Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, seventh edition remains the official source of
APA Style.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

OVERVIEW

The Standards for Writing Academic Assignments serves as the ‘in-house’ style for
KPM Bandar Penawar students’ written work, including assignments, project papers
and all forms of academic writing for all courses. All written work that is typed on a
computer should follow the stipulated general guidelines, unless specific instructions
are received from the lecturer.

This guide contains general guidelines for preparing and presenting written work. It is
divided into three sections, namely (1) Work Formatting, (2) Citing Sources and
Avoiding Plagiarism, and (3) Submission of work.

Submitting written work without meeting these standards can result in penalties
including work resubmission, marked down or not accepted and credited in the
student’s final grade.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

1.0 WORK FORMATTING

This section gives the guidelines to arrange and set out your paper for your written
assignment. This includes mandatory specifications that need to be fulfilled prior to
writing your assignments, as well as options given to you in formatting your
assignment.

1.1 BASIC TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

These are the basic technical specifications to format your work.

1.1.1 Font Type and Size

Three options are given:
• Arial, 11pt or 12pt
• Tahoma, 11pt or 12pt
• Times New Roman, 11pt or 12pt.
The chosen font type and size must be consistent throughout.
1.1.2 Headings and Sub-headings
Bold is used for headings and sub-headings. For sub-headings, either
underlining or italics may be used besides bold. The chosen style must
be consistent throughout.
1.1.3 Margin
Margin is set at Normal Setting i.e. 2.54 cm for top, bottom, left and right.
1.1.4 Spacing
Use 1.5 line spacing for the whole text.
Leave a blank line between paragraphs and after headings.
1.1.5 Text Alignment
The body of text is fully justified.
Headings are either centrally aligned or left-aligned.
1.1.6 Page Layout
The text is presented in a portrait layout. The landscape layout may be
used for figures and tables.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

1.1.7 Page Numbering

Every page must be numbered, beginning at 1. The page number is
centrally aligned at the bottom of the document.

1.1.8 Borders
None. No other fancy clipart is required.

1.2 FIGURES AND TABLES

Follow these guidelines if you need to include figures and tables in your
assignment.

1.2.1 Appearance

The font size in figures and tables must be no smaller than 10pt.

Figures and tables must be visibly clear and placed close to the
paragraph where they are first mentioned.

Do not extend them outside the page margin.

1.2.2 Naming and Numbering

All figures and tables must be named and numbered consecutively. For
tables, the title is placed above the table, while for figures, the title is
placed below the figure.

1.3 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Follow these guidelines if you need to include the table of contents in your
assignment.

1.3.1 Appearance
Use lowercase roman numeral for this page number. (E.g. i, ii, iii, …)

The items numbered in this section must correspond to their page

number as featured in the text.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

1.3.2 Format
It is advisable to use the Table of Content function in Ms Word to create
this page. The Navigation Pane function also eases search and
navigation through the document. (Refer to Figure 1)

Figure 1: Table of Contents and Navigation Pane Functions in Ms

Word

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

2.0 CITING SOURCES AND AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

2.1 CITATIONS AND REFERENCING

Citing sources is the act of acknowledging the original ideas or sources that are
incorporated in your work. Citing outside sources of information that you have
referred to in producing your work is crucial in avoiding plagiarism.

A properly cited work reflects a student’s ethics and honesty in academic. Thus,
all sources that are cited in a text should appear in the Reference list at the end
of the assignment, and vice versa.

2.1.1 Format or Style

The American Psychological Association (APA) reference style should
be adhered to in citations and referencing. The latest version of APA
style is applicable. The 7th edition APA is the most current edition to date.
(Purdue Online Writing Lab, 2019)

2.1.2 Basic Rules for Most Sources

Below are the basic rules for writing references that students should
know.

• Reference list entries should be in alphabetical order.

• For Western authors or authors with a surname, only the last name
should appear in in-text citation. For reference list, the last names should
be provided first while the first and middles names should be written as
initials.

Example:

“Jamie Lee Anderson” becomes ……

“Anderson” (in-text citation)

“Anderson J.L.” (reference list)

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

• For Malay authors, only the given name is inserted in in-text citations
while the full name as it appears is inserted in the reference list, but
omitting Bin/Binti. (Ho, 2020)

Example:

“Nur Faizah Binti Rahman” becomes ……

“Nur Faizah” (in-text citation)

“Nur Faizah Rahman” (reference list)

2.1.3 Guidelines for Writing In-text Citations (Basic)

There are two ways of writing in-text citations, namely quoting and
paraphrasing.

a) Quoting
Quoting means taking the idea directly or extracting it from the original
source without making any changes on it. To cite, the exact page number
in which the quotation is taken from should be inserted.

Example:

(Ahmad Aziz, 2020, p. 103)

According to Ahmad Aziz (2020) “……” (p. 103)

b) Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing means referring to an idea from a source without quoting
or taking directly, but rewording it. To cite, the page number is omitted.

Example:

(Ahmad Aziz, 2020)

According to Ahmad Aziz (2020), ……

(Refer to Table 1)

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Table 1: More Examples of the Basics of Writing In-text Citations

EXAMPLE
CATEGORY QUOTING PARAPHRASING
1. Individual Author, (Ahmad Aziz, 2020, p. 103) (Ahmad Aziz, 2020)
one page
According to Ahmad Aziz (2020) “…...” (p. 103) According to Ahmad Aziz (2020) …
2. Two Authors (Zalina & Lee, 2020, p. 215) (Zalina & Lee, 2020)

According to Zalina and Lee (2020) “……” (p. According to Zalina and Lee (2020) …
215)
3. Three or More (Ahmad Aziz et al., 2020, pp. 103–104) (Ahmad Aziz et al., 2020)
Authors, multiple
pages According to Ahmad Aziz et al. (2020) According to Ahmad Aziz et al. (2020) …
“……” (pp. 103 – 104)
4. Organisation as (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, 2020, p.103) (Majlis Amanah Rakyat, 2020)
Author
According to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (2020) “……” According to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (2020) …
(p. 103)
5. Unknown Author (“Standards for Writing Academic Assignments,” (“Standards for Writing Academic Assignments,”
2020, pp. 3 - 4) 2020)

According to “Standards for Writing Academic According to “Standards for Writing Academic
Assignments” (2020) “……” (pp. 3 – 4) Assignments” (2020) …
6. Unknown Date (Ahmad Aziz, n.d., p.103) (Ahmad Aziz, n.d.)

According to Ahmad Aziz (n.d.) “……” (p. 103) According to Ahmad Aziz (n.d.) …
7. Unknown Author, (“Standards for Writing Academic Assignments,” (“Standards for Writing Academic Assignments,”
Unknown Date n.d., pp. 3 – 4) n.d.)

According to “Standards for Writing Academic According to “Standards for Writing Academic
Assignments” (n.d.) “……” (pp. 3 – 4) Assignments” (n.d.) …

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

2.1.4 Guidelines for Writing Reference List (Common e-sources)

Given are the common electronic sources which are referred to by
students, namely electronic sources such as webpages or pieces of
online content, Wikipedia articles and online news articles.

References should be listed according to the alphabetical order. A typical

order of writing begins with the author, and followed by the year, title of
article, place of publication and name of publisher.

a) Webpage or Piece of Online Content

Table 2 shows the examples of writing reference list.

Table 2: Webpage or Online Content Reference List Format

Category Example
Individual Author (with Last name, F.M. (Year, Month Date). Title
surname) of page. Site name. URL

Watson, E. M. (2020, October 11). Citations

and Referencing. KPM Bandar Penawar
Official Website.
https://bpenawar.kpm.edu.my/v2/
Individual Author Full name. (Year, Month Date). Title of
(Malay name) page. Site name. URL

Ahmad Aziz Hasan. (2020, October 11).

Citations and Referencing. KPM Bandar
Penawar Official Website.
https://bpenawar.kpm.edu.my/v2/
Group Author Group name. (Year, Month Date). Title of
page. Site name. URL

General Studies Department (2020,

October 11). Citations and Referencing.
KPM Bandar Penawar Official Website.
https://bpenawar.kpm.edu.my/v2/

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Unknown Author Title of page (Year, Month Date). Site

name. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from
URL

Citations and Referencing (2020, October

11). KPM Bandar Penawar Official Website.
Retrieved October 11, 2020 from
https://bpenawar.kpm.edu.my/v2/
Unknown Date Author or group name (n.d.). Title of page.
Site name. URL

General Studies Department (n.d.).

Citations and Referencing. KPM Bandar
Penawar Official Website.
https://bpenawar.kpm.edu.my/v2/

b) Wikipedia Article
Title of Article. (Year, Month Date). In Wikipedia. URL of archived
version of page

Example:

Citations and Referencing. (2020, July 29). In Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citation&oldid=11212
365

Wikipedia articles often update frequently. For this reason, the

date refers to the date that the cited version of the page was
published.

c) Online News Article

Table 3 shows the examples of writing reference list.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Table 3: Online News Article Reference List Format

Category Example
The source comes Last name, F.M. (Year, Month Date). Title
from a site with an of article. Title of publication. URL
associated newspaper
Lee, C. W. (2020, October 28). Special
attention to your health after 40. The Star
Online.
https://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/family/
2020/10/28/pay-special-attention-to-your-
health-after-40
The source doesn’t Last name, F.M. (Year, Month Date). Title
come from a site with of article. Name of publishing website. URL
an associated
newspaper Jones, J. (2020, May 10). Why flats
dominate Spain’s housing market. BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/
20200506-why-do-flats-dominate-spains-
housing-market

d) Other sources of materials

To cite from other print and non-print sources such as books, magazines,
journals, and etc., you may refer to:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_format
ting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

To cite other Asian names, you may refer to:

http://library.kedah.uitm.edu.my/v1/images/notaAPA/APA_7th_edition_
Part2_11May2020.pdf

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

NOTE:
• Students may use free citation generator applications from the internet or
reference management software packages such as Mendeley, EndNote, etc.
to generate the reference list automatically.
• Lecturers hold the right to check students’ work for plagiarism using any
plagiarism checker application. Failure to comply to the above citations and
referencing requirements may result in the student’s work to be reported as not
original or plagiarized, hence, penalised.

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

3.0 SUBMISSION OF WORK

3.1 COVER SHEET

A cover sheet must be attached to the front of your assignment.

3.1.1 Content
The cover sheet should include these items and listed in the following
order:

a) Logo and name of institution

b) Course code and name
c) Title of assignment
d) Name of student
e) Student ID
f) Programme and class
g) Current session
h) Name of lecturer
i) Due date
j) Submission date

3.1.2 Format
a) Logo size
The logo must be no any larger than ¼ of the page (approximately 6 cm
in width and length).

b) Font size and text alignment

Font size is usually larger than the text font size, but no larger than 16pt.
Headings are in bold, typed in UPPERCASE and centrally aligned. Other
particulars can be presented in a table.

(Refer to Figure 2)

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Approx. 6cm x 6cm

KOLEJ PROFESIONAL MARA BANDAR PENAWAR

COM 2512
MEETINGS AND INTERVIEW SKILLS

ASSIGNMENT 1: MINUTES OF MEETINGS

(Bold, uppercase, max 16pt, centre)

NAME OF STUDENT :
STUDENT ID :
PROGRAMME/CLASS :
CURRENT SESSION :
NAME OF LECTURER :
DUE DATE :
SUBMISSION DATE :

Figure 2: Sample Cover Sheet

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

3.2 ASSESSMENT COVER SHEET

The assessment cover sheet (ACS) must be attached together with each
assignment for submission. This document is inserted after the cover sheet.
(Refer to Figure 3)

Figure 3: Sample Assessment Cover Sheet (ACS)

3.3 HARD COPY SUBMISSION

3.3.1 Paper specifications
A4 size, plain white paper in either 70gsm or 80gsm thickness.

3.3.2 Binding
Tape binding without a plastic cover.

3.4 SOFT COPY SUBMISSION

3.4.1 File name
File name given should identify your file from other students. These
elements are included when naming your file: Course code, Assignment
code, Student’s name, Class and Current Academic Session (session
and year).

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

Example:

COM2512_AS1_Ahmad Aziz_DLM4D_S121.pdf

3.4.2 File type and size

Common file types acceptable for submission are: .doc, .docx or .pdf.
Files should be saved at the right size because large files (over 10MB)
can be difficult or impossible to upload.

(Open Polytechnic, n.d.) (School of Graduate Studies, 2013) (Centre for Learning
Innovation and Professional Practice, n.d.) (Noorezayu Mohd Said, 2012)

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 Standards for Writing Academic Assignments

REFERENCES

Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice. (n.d.). Layout and
appearance: Guidelines on formatting your assignments. Federation University
Australia. Retrieved October 26, 2020, from
https://federation.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/190043/General-Guide-to-
Layout-and-Appearance.pdf
Ho, C. C. (2020). APA 7th edition (2020): What must you know? (Part 2). UiTM
Kedah Library.
http://library.kedah.uitm.edu.my/v1/images/notaAPA/APA_7th_edition_Part2_11
May2020.pdf
Noorezayu Mohd Said. (2012). Panduan penulisan akademik. Slideshare.
https://www.slideshare.net/noorezayumohdsaid/panduan-penulisan-akademik-
institut-pendidikan-guru
Open Polytechnic. (n.d.). Formatting and presenting your assignments. Open
Polytechnic. Retrieved October 27, 2020, from
https://www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz/current-students/study-tips-and-
techniques/assignments/formatting-and-presenting-your-assignments/
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2019). APA formatting and style guide (7th edition).
Purdue University.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/general_format.html
School of Graduate Studies. (2013). Postgraduate student’s guide thesis
preparation. The Official Portal of School of Graduate Studies UPM.
https://sgs.upm.edu.my/dokumen/92225_GUIDELINE_TO_THESIS_PREPARA
TION.pdf

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