Cheat Sheet: Writing Academic Essays

 A thesis statement should be in a complete declarative sentence. It should also be

specific and parallel to your chosen pattern and purpose.
o Incorrect: Impacts of the Ukraine-Russia War to the world
o Correct: The Ukraine-Russia war may impact not only the diplomatic relations
among countries, but also the everyday lives of every citizen in the world.
[Pattern: cause and effect]
o Incorrect: Global warming: a worldwide phenomenon
o Correct: Governments around the world should pay attention to the detrimental
effects of global warming to animals losing their habitat [Pattern: persuasion]
o Vague: Social media can affect our mental health negatively.
o Specific: Social media addiction among adolescents may cause severe
depression, social anxiety, and ADHD.

 In-text citations

o Only include the last name of the author and the year published. Remove first name
initials.
 Espinosa (2020) stated that…

o Use “and” to separate two authors in narrative citations.

 Espinosa and Dela Cruz (2021) mentioned…

o Use an ampersand (&) to separate two authors in parenthetical citations.

 (Espinosa & Dela Cruz, 2021).

o Period/s should only be placed after the parenthetical citation/s.

o If there are more than 3 authors, only include the last name of the first author then
add et al.
 Espinosa et al. (2021) said that…
 (Espinosa et al., 2021).
o When mentioning acronyms, always make sure to spell them out the first time you
are using them in your essay. The acronym should be in brackets.
  Ex: The World Health Organization [WHO] (2021) defined…
You may mention the acronym only in the succeeding sentences.
 Ex: WHO (2019) also stated…

 References
o References should be in alphabetical order.
o Titles of journal articles, news articles, book chapters, and webpages should be
in sentence case.
o Titles of journals and books should be in title case.
o Titles of journals, books, and webpages should be italicized.
o Always include the DOI if it is available; URL if not.
o Volume number should be italicized, followed by the issue number enclosed in
parentheses, then the page range.
o Always use hanging indentation.

 News article:

Job, M. (2022, March 16). Dominguez seeks P33 billion subsidy for poor Pinoy
households amid rising fuel prices. ABS-CBN News. https://news.abs-
cbn.com/news/03/16/22/dof-seeks-p33-b-subsidy-for-bottom-50-pct-of-
ph-families

 Journal article

Bahr, S. J., Marcos, A. C., & Maughan, S. L. (1995). Family, educational and peer
influences on the alcohol use of female and male adolescents. Journal of
Studies on Alcohol, 56(4), 457–469.
https://doi.org/10.15288/jsa.1995.56.457

 Webpage:

Neil, B. (2022, March 9). Ukrainian and Russian: How similar are the two
languages? Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/story/ukrainian-and-
russian-how-similar-are-the-twolanguages
 For other types of sources, use Purdue Owl as your reference:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_sty
le_guide/general_format.html

 In-text citations should always reflect in the references.

 Using citation generators is acceptable. However, they are not always accurate and
correct. Check the elements if they are inputted correctly.
 Do not just copy then paste contents from your source, then cite. This is PLAGIARISM.
Instead, paraphrase or summarize, then cite.
 When using direct quotations, still use lead-in phrases, then cite properly.
 Avoid contractions (don’t = do not, could’ve = could have, let’s = let us).
 Avoid starting your sentences with coordinating conjunctions (And, But, etc.). Use
transitional devices instead.
o And most of all, it is important... (Remove ‘And’)
o But there are reasons for... (change to ‘However, there are reasons’)
 Avoid rhetorical questions in the body of your essay. You can use them in the
introduction as hook and conclusion as an impactful ending statement. As much as
possible, avoid using them. Express your ideas in declarative sentences.
 Review words that need to be capitalized. Proper nouns such as names of countries,
people, objects, etc. should be capitalized.
 Avoid redundancy (repetition of the same word, using synonyms in the same sentence).
Use pronouns instead. Always observe brevity.
 Always observe parallelism (in verb tenses, items in a series, and balance of ideas).
 Use punctuation marks correctly. You may check this link as reference on the basics of
using punctuations:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/punctuation/index.html
 Make transitions (using transitional devices) in between your ideas. These connect the
previous sentence to the next. Make them as natural as possible.
 Do not state the obvious. Avoid remarks like “in this essay, I will discuss...” “We will be
tackling issues on...” State what the essay is about directly.
 Always use the third person point of view. Observe consistency.
o Ex: I believe that... should be It is believed that...
o You should always... can be expressed as the people involved should always...
 Please follow the format prescribed in class.