Academic Writing

Report organization
The planning process

 What is the difference between planning for an exam and

planning for an essay?

 Analyse the title wording

 Decide how long each section should be

 Prepare an outline using your favourite method

 Analysing essay titles

 Titles often have two (or more) parts:

 What is meant by a demand curve and why would we expect it to

slope downwards?

 “What” is asking for a description

 “Why” is asking for a reason or explanation.

Match the key words with the definitions
(p.32)
Analyse

 Break down into the various parts

and their relationships
Assess/Evaluate

 Decide the value or worth of a

subject
Describe

 Give a detailed account of something

Discuss

 Look at various aspects of a topic,

compare benefits and drawbacks
Examine/Explore

 Divide into sections and discuss each

critically
Illustrate

 Give examples
Outline/Trace

 Explain a topic briefly and clearly

Suggest

 Make a proposal and support it

Summarise

 Deal with a complex subject by

reducing it to the main elements
Brainstorming

 Writing as many ideas as you can about a certain

topic
Summarise the main reasons for the
growth of e-commerce, and discuss the
likely results of this.
 Main reasons
Businesses can offer a wider
range of products via internet
More convenient for
customers than travelling to
shops
Businesses can reduce
overheads by centralising
distribution centres
Likely results
Decline in conventional shops
Growth of Growth in delivery businesses
e-commerce
Shopping centres become
entertainment area
Prices can often be lower
 Essay length

 20% is usually enough for the introduction and conclusion.

 References are not included in the word count.
 Introduction and conclusion (400 words)m main body (1,600 words).

Section Word count

Introduction 200
Main body: Main reasons - Benefits for buyers 500
- Benefits for sellers 300
Likely results: - for businesses 400
- for urban development 400
Conclusion 200
Total 2,000
Summarise

 Deal with a complex subject by

reducing it to the main elements
Finding suitable sources

1. Formal vocabulary.

2. Use of references.

3. Impersonal style.

4. Long, complex sentences.

 p.10 + p.11

2. Use of references: (Buckley and Witt, 1990; Hall, 1991)

3. Impersonal style: … It has been long recognised that …

… It is important to study the tourists attitude ..

4. Long, complex, sentences:

Equally, from apolitical perspective, the nature of state involvement in and policies for
tourism is dependent on both the political economic structures and the prevailing political
ideology in the destination state, with comparison typically made between market-led and
centrally planned economics.
 Outline
 An outline should help the writer to answer the
question as effectively as possible.

 The more detail you include in your outline, the

easier the writing process will be.
 Main reasons
Businesses can offer a wider
range of products via internet
More convenient for
customers than travelling to
shops
Businesses can reduce
overheads by centralising
distribution centres
Likely results
Decline in conventional shops
Growth of Growth in delivery businesses
e-commerce
Shopping centres become
entertainment area
Prices can often be lower
The outline might be a list:

1. Benefits for buyers

• Greater convivence in shopping by computer at any time
• Lower prices
• Better choice

2. Benefits for sellers

• Cost saving by centralising distribution
• Global customer base
• 24/7 trading