Academic Writing
In writing a report there are typically guidelines on how the report needs to be
presented.
For IMAT2204 the guidelines are as follows.
“Reports are typical written for your boss who has neither the time
nor interest to read the report thoroughly.
This being the case you need to create your report such that it makes
its points in as fast and clear a manner as possible. Reports need to
be written for random access and speed of reading.
The report must be printed using single sided A4 using 1.5 line
spacing, Arial 12pt font, 2.5cm margins left and right. Make sure
that all printing is legible and diagrams are large enough to be read
clearly. The report must be spirally bound with professional covers.
Table of contents should be included with correct page numbering.
Any references to external sources of information must be evidenced
by Harvard referencing with an appropriate reading list at the end of
the report. Make sure that all work is proof read for errors in
grammar and spelling.
Your report must have a reading list with appropriate citations. The
reading list may make use of 25% web sources. The remaining 75%
must come from non web sources e.g. books and journals.”
Academic Writing Starts with Academic Reading!
It is really hard to write an academic report with an empty head. This means that you
are going to have to start with reading round the subject.
DMU Library
http://library.dmu.ac.uk/
This is a good place to start. Firstly the web site search facility is really good so you
can work from home. Also the members of staff are really helpful so should you need
to track down a book they will be on hand to help you.
From the front page of the library web site there is a search facility…
Enter the subject you are researching e.g. “Computer Security” – press search and
sign in with your P Number.
This will present you with a list of papers and books on the subject.
In many cases it is possible to read the text on-line. In other cases you may even
download a PDF. Sometimes you will need to actually visit the library or resort to
buying the book!
At this stage of the research you need to read as much material as possible on the area
of interest. Make notes as you go and most importantly if you read anything that is
interesting make a note such that you are able to find it again!
Once you have done some reading you should find that you will soon be in a position
to start writing something.
The Dangers of Self Editing
At this stage one of the biggest potential issues stopping you writing is self editing.
“I can’t write anything down because it is no good.”
Don’t worry about that at this stage – just start writing.
You will find over time your preferred way of doing this but the most important thing
is not to self edit.
Write for a 20 minute period then have a break!
It doesn’t matter about spelling, grammar, citation or even if it makes much sense at
this stage.
Simply get some words down so that you are able to sit back and consider where you
are up to.
As you engage with the reading and writing cycle you will start to formulate your
arguments and structure.
Getting the style right
What are your thoughts on the stylistic merits of the above work?
Strategies for Proof Reading
We all need to get our work proof read!
So what exactly is Plagiarism?
• The deliberate attempt to gain advantage by presenting someone else’s work as if it
were your own.
• The substantial duplication of another’s work without acknowledgement of the
original source.
• This definition also applies to non-written works such as presentations, performance,
design and the production of objects.
• Sources of another’s work include published material, the work of other DMU
students, the work of students at another institution or that of contracted third parties.
Can you spot the example of plagiarism above?
The bullet points above were copy and pasted directly from another source.
If I wanted to avoid looking like I was passing the work off as my own I might do the
following.
DMU Library Services define plagiarism as the following (De Montfort University,
September, 2007)
• The deliberate attempt to gain advantage by presenting someone
else’s work as if it were your own.
• The substantial duplication of another’s work without
acknowledgement of the original source.
• This definition also applies to non-written works such as
presentations, performance, design and the production of objects.
• Sources of another’s work include published material, the work of
other DMU students, the work of students at another institution or that
of contracted third parties.
Note the italics to indicate where the quoted text starts and ends! Or use speech
marks.
Best to Paraphrase
Or an even better approach would be rather than to simply copy the text, paraphrase it
in your own words.
Plagiarism may be defined an attempt to pass off another person’s work as your own
or failing to acknowledge work used as part of your own. This applies to written and
non-written work belonging to others. (De Montfort University, September, 2007)
The Reading List
At the end of the work would be a reading list containing the following entry…
This allows us to raise a number of points associated with academic research.
Who Said What?
This allows for clear differentiation of who said what. If you use a source of
information cite it. This way it becomes clear who has said it if it wasn’t you.
How do I find out more?
Let’s also work on the assumption that the person reading your work actually want to
dig deeper into your findings. One trick in academic reading is not simply to read the
paper or book but to trawl through the reading list / bibliography to find more
information on the subject at hand.
Litigation/Turnitin
As a student you probably won’t be facing litigation by copying another person’s
work.
What do the following have in common? (Schutte, 2014)
 Star Wars
 Battlestar Galactica
 Apple
 Microsoft
They have been engaged in famous copyright cases.
Legal action probably isn’t high on your list of things to worry about but Turnitin
certainly is.
Use of web sources
The web is an amazing source of information. The problem is that there is also a lot
of rubbish out there.
Let’s Consider an Example

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Where in this text is citation needed?
What benefits would it bring for the reader?
What benefits would it bring for the author?
Are there any grammatical or spelling errors in the text?
Below is the reading list generated from the above report…
What comments do you have to make on the quality of the reading behind this work?
Harvard Referencing Tools
RefMe
https://www.refme.com/
Creating citations isn’t a lot of fun but it has to be done.
There are a number of on-line tools that do make the job easier, RefMe is a personal
favourite.
Once you have signed up it offers lots of facilities.
References may be created from a number of different sources
Allowing you to export citations for use in the main text of the report…
Citations may be assembled in to project like so…
Which may be used to generate the reading list for your report…
DMU Library Citation Tools
The library we site also generates your references automatically.
Hold the mouse over a search result and select the citation options on the right.
Reading List
De Montfort University, September (2007) How to avoid plagiarism and be citation
wise what is plagiarism? Available at: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/documents/about-dmudocuments/partnerships/educational-partnerships/how-to-avoid-plagiarism-and-becitation-wise.pdf (Accessed: 24 May 2016).
Schutte, S. (2014) 6 famous copyright cases. Available at:
http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/27412-6-famous-copyright-cases/page:3 (Accessed:
24 May 2016).