Academic Writing Key Points

From a student viewpoint:

 report writing

 critical evaluation

 plagiarism

 referencing
 Report Writing: Key Points
 with all forms of writing keep audience,
structure and purpose in mind
 Reporting work - need to follow a
standard pattern
 arguments need clear statements
supported by clear facts
Generic Structure for a
Paper or Report
abstract
abstract
Depending
Depending onon purpose
purpose ofof
introduction paper
paper the
the detailed
detailed content
content
introduction
of
of main
main body
body will
will change.
change.
main
mainbody
body General
General structure
structure remains
remains

conclusions Standards
Standards for
for layout,
layout,
conclusions
references
references etc.
etc.
reference
referencelist
list
 Abstract
AA brief
brief description
description of
of the
the aims
aims Length:
Length:
of
of the
the paper,
paper, the
the work
work undertaken,
undertaken, varies
varies with
with
and
and conclusions
conclusions reached.
reached. work
work

Title
Title of
of work
work
Author
Author

ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
REST
REST OF
OF PAPER
PAPER
 Introduction

First
First section
section of
of paper
paper

Describes
Describes background
background to to the
the
work,
work, giving
giving aa clear
clear statement
statement
of Often
Often written
written
of the
the objectives,
objectives, purpose
purpose ofof
work, last!
last!
work, any
any limitations.
limitations.

Brief Draft
Draft produced
produced
Brief outline
outline of
of rest
rest of
of paper
paper
early
early
 Main Body

Structure
Structure depends
depends on
on type
type of
of paper
paper

General
General Points:
Points:
Plan
Plan work
work
Develop
Develop themes
themes
Introduce
Introduce topics
topics in
in aa sensible
sensible logical
logical order
order
Consider
Consider use
use of
of diagrams,
diagrams, etc.etc.
Adopt
Adopt aa good
good style
style ofof writing
writing
Review
Review work
work
 Main Body in Project
Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation
Analysis
Analysis -- background
background to
to problem
problem area/
area/ topic;
topic; critical
critical
examination
examination of of methods
methods and
and techniques
techniques that
that might
might be
be
used
used to
to solve
solve the
the problem
problem && and
and constraints.
constraints.
Includes
Includes literature
literature survey
survey

Evaluation
Evaluation -- aa critical
critical
review
review of
of the
the
Synthesis - a description of
Synthesis - a description of technical
technical aspects
aspects of of
the
the work
work done;
done; the
the results
results the
the work;
work; strengths
strengths
obtained;
obtained; justification
justification of
of && weaknesses
weaknesses of of
these;
these; design
design choices
choices methods
methods && techniques
techniques
 Main Body - Review Paper
This
This is
is aa form
form of
of literature
literature survey
survey

Aim:
Aim:
1.
1. to
to determine
determine thethe state
state of
of art
art in
in aa particular
particular area
area
2.
2. to
to identify
identify aa set
set of
of useful
useful techniques/
techniques/ methods/
methods/
algorithms
algorithms for
for future
future use.
use.

Give
Give itit structure
structure // Develop
Develop Themes
Themes

How
How not
not to
to do
do it:
it:
Do
Do not
not simply
simply list
list each
each book
book or
or paper
paper you
you have
have read
read
With
With aa precis
precis of
of it.
it.
Main Body of the Project
Report in more depth
 the introduction should be followed by a
clear and orderly presentation of the
work you have done.
 it will be divided into a number of

chapters.
 the main body of the report will contain

an Analysis of the problem, the

Synthesis of a solution to the problem
and an Evaluation of the work.
Analysis
 the analysis should include the 'Background'
to the problem area, a discussion of the wider
issues, critically examine the methods that
might be used in solving the problem and any
constraints which apply.
 beware of presenting a shallow treatment of
the subject which might be obtained from
standard texts; you are expected to support
your argument by exploring academic
literature which is seminal and up to date.
Synthesise
 justify in detail the method(s) you chose to
synthesise a solution to the problem.
 discuss how your reading of the literature
guided you in your work.
 you will wish to make reference to supporting
documentation in your discussion of the
solution; these will be held in Appendices to
the Report.
 Evaluation
 you should present a critical evaluation of the
work you have done from a technical point of
view.
 in this section you should attempt to identify
any weaknesses of your work and possible
alternative technical approaches.
 beware of the 'anecdotal' evaluation - you are
expected to take a critical view and justify
your argument.
Evaluation (cont)
 in addition, the evaluation should address the
way in which you undertook the project (the
process); actual progress made during the
project should be related to the Project Plan
expressed in the Terms of Reference
document.
 the emphasis should be on the learning
process. A discussion of alternative
approaches to the way you undertook the
work should, if possible be presented.
Evaluation (cont)
How do you conduct an evaluation?

 list features, attributes, performance etc.

 rate these
 obtain feedback from users – objective feedback!
 think about alternative solutions to the problem.
 think about better/alternative ways of producing
product.
 think about different tools that could be used to
produce the product
 Conclusion
bring together the should
should relate
relate to
to
bring together the
many points made introduction
introduction
many points made
earlier
earlier inin the
the paper
paper repeats
repeats previous
previous
points
points
if
if aa report
report
draws
draws on on evaluation
evaluation if
if aa review
review paper
paper
indicates
indicates future work provides
future work provides summary
summary of of previous
previous
points
points
may
may indicate
indicate future
future
developments
developments
 References

It
It is
is very
very important
important that
that you
you acknowledge
acknowledge
any
any work
work of
of others
others that
that you
you use
use or
or adapt
adapt
in
in your
your own
own work,
work, or
or that
that provides
provides the
the
essential
essential background
background or
or context
context to
to your
your
work
work

The
The use
use of
of references
references isis the
the standard
standard
way
way to
to do
do this
this
 Standards for References
Styles
Styles in
in Text
Text

Romero (1982) identified three stake holders ...

In [4] the three stake holders in the process are ...

Romero [ROME82] identified three stake holders ...

PREFERRED
PREFERRED

Date a Web reference

 Example List of References

[BRAD89] Bradley IM Notes on Algebraic Specifications

Information and Software Technology 31(7)
Sept 1989, 357-365

[SOMM96] Sommerville I Software Engineering 5th ed

Addison-Wesley 1996

alphabetical
alphabetical ordering
ordering
 Avoid Long Complex
Sentences
Sentence problem
problem ofof
Sentence should
should “sound
“sound right”
right”
dialect
dialect
Be
Be consistent
consistent with
with tense
tense
mixing
mixing past
past with
with present
present

be
be consistent
consistent
Passive
Passive voice
voice The computer was turned on

Active
Active voice
voice I turned the computer on
 Write Sentences that
are Concise
Use
Use aa few
few words
words Watch
Watch for
for phrases
phrases that
that
to
to convey
convey message
message can
can be
be shortened
shortened to
to one
one
word:
word:
Watch
Watch for
for redundancy
redundancy along
along the
the lines
lines of
of
like
like
due
due to
to the
the fact
fact that
that
“the great majority” because
because
“the majority” at
at some
some future
future point
point
later
later
 Write Sentences that
are Precise
Say what you
Avoid
Avoid ambiguity
ambiguity and
and vagueness
vagueness mean

Rather
Rather aa lot
lot of
of students
students passed
passed the
the first
first year
year
vague

Use
Use technical
technical terms
terms to
to avoid
avoid ambiguity
ambiguity and
and
vagueness
vagueness
 Putting it Together
To make writing flow you need a
Flow
Flow structure that allows the logical
development of the material

aa key
key
Paragraphs
Paragraphs
•group related
•group related sentences
sentences
•start of
•start of paragraph
paragraph should
should coincide
coincide with
with change
change of
of
emphasis
emphasis
•first sentence
•first sentence inin each
each paragraph
paragraph should
should be
be aa
signpost
signpost -- topic
topic ofof paragraph
paragraph
 Doing what you are
Asked to do
 Criticize
 saying how convincing you find something
 Define
 giving precise meaning of something
 Illustrate
 explain using examples or diagrams
 Describe
 give a detailed account of ..
 Explain
 give reasons for; interpret and account for
 Discuss
 looking at a subject from different points of view; pros and
cons
 General Points
 Hunt for key words in a question ; quote them in what
you write
 Target your writing to exactly what is asked of you
 Support points of view with factual information
 Remember word limits are there to help you
 Stick to the word limit: may be penalized if exceeded
 Show mathematical calculations
 Use sources for ideas Do
Do Not
Not Copy
Copy
 Read around the subject
 Write at an appropriate technical level - as reflected by
your sources
 Plan
Report
Report Structure
Structure
Essential
Essential
introduction
Work
Work
topic 1
topic 2
timetable
timetable
topic 3
sources
sources topic 4

resources
resources conclusion
 Check Your
work
•Kept to
•Kept to topic
topic title?
title?
•Introduction clarify
•Introduction clarify purpose?
purpose?
•Purpose of
•Purpose of each
each section
section // paragraph
paragraph clear?
clear?
•Conclusion shows
•Conclusion shows how
how arguments
arguments advanced?
advanced?
•Logical flow
•Logical flow okay?
okay?
•Sentences okay
•Sentences okay -- don’t
don’t ramble
ramble // repeat?
repeat?
•Written too
•Written too much
much // not
not enough?
enough?
•Does report
•Does report satisfy
satisfy aim?
aim?
 Pictorial Diagrams
Check List
reference
reference in
in text?
text? System Box

title
title for
for picture?
picture?
Monitor

labels
labels on
on diagram?
diagram?
size
size && scale?
scale?

simplified
simplified // stylised?
stylised?
Keyboard

figure 1. Generic PC
Relationship Diagrams
 Non-pictorial
 Representation of structural / organisational
features of a situation
 Many types used in computing
 flow charts
 structure diagrams

 data flow diagrams

 state diagrams

 entity relationship diagrams

 Using Diagrams in your Work
 decide on appropriate type based on what you
are trying to show
 keep simple
 if part of a methodology
 stick to standards
 make sure the diagram makes sense

 give diagrams a title, refer to in text

 label diagram clearly
 Collusion and Plagiarism
http://www.unn.ac.uk/central/isd/cite
 collusion
 this is where one or more people work together on an individual

piece of work.
 ONLY work together when the assignment rubric tells you it is a

piece of group work

 plagiarism
 this is where work is copied from:-

 a text without appropriate referencing

 another student’s work

 lecture handouts

 “ghosting”
 PENALTY
 loss of marks, much heartache and poor reference
 Plagiarism
Software Project Management, Cotterell and Hughes, 2002
 The actual quote from page 211:
 “People with practical experience of projects

invariably identify the handling of people as an

important aspect of project management.”
 If in your submitted work we find …..
 “People with practical experience of projects

invariably identify the handling of people as an

important aspect of project management.”
 PLAGIARISM!!! AN EXACT COPY WITH NO

REFERENCE
 What can you do?
 Cotterell [Cott2002] states that “People with
practical experience of projects invariably identify
the handling of people as an important aspect of
project management.”
OR
 From his research Cotterell [Cott2002] established

that experienced project managers recognise the

importance of good man-management skills to
ensure successful projects.