Academic Writing Handbook

Welcome

Academic writing is a special kind of writing—it has its own rules.

As a student, you will need to know how to follow the rules of academic writing so you can:

Learn how to communicate like a professional in your field
Think through your own ideas and share them effectively
Succeed in your classes and make good grades
Avoid issues like plagiarism that can get you in trouble in school and the “real world”

You may have some experience with academic writing already, or maybe you are new to it. Either way, this Academic Writing Handbook will help you learn everything you need to know.

How is academic writing different?
Academic writing is different from other kinds of writing because it requires:

Formal style
Citations
Original contributions

Let’s dig into each of these requirements.

Formal style

General writing style can be casual and personal. In general writing, it’s fine to use slang, contractions (like “don’t” instead of “do not”), and opinions. It’s also okay to talk about ideas without sharing detailed information about where those ideas came from. This type of writing might include messages to family and friends, creative writing projects, personal journals or blogs, emails, and even some informal writing you might have done in school in the past.

Example of general writing: Bullying is a common problem in schools. In my school, I think most kids were bullied at some point or other! It’s important for everyone involved in the school setting to know how and where bullying happens and to be on guard against it. Bullying seems to happen a lot in the less protected places at school, like the bus or bathrooms. We’ve got to change this so that kids feel safe everywhere! Cyberbullying is a whole other issue—one that is such a big problem in today’s world and isn’t tied to a specific place…

Academic writing style is different because it is always formal and objective. In academic writing, it’s important to avoid slang and first-person pronouns (such as “I,” “my,” or “we”), write out phrases instead of using contractions, and only offer opinions when you are sharing a specific argument and providing evidence to support your argument. Also, you absolutely must share detailed information about where each idea comes from! This is called citing your sources. Academic writing includes essays, papers, or other projects that you write for class, as well as articles that you or professionals in your field may write and publish for other professionals to read.

Example of academic writing: School bullying is challenging to define, as it occurs in many forms and may include physical or verbal aggression, either in person or by other means (such as technology). Craig and Harel (2004) found school bullying to affect approximately 1 in 10 students across several nations (qtd. in Myers, 2013). In 2007, about 1 in 3 high school students reported experiencing almost daily school bullying (National Center for Education Statistics).

Summary

General Writing	Academic Writing
Tone is casual and personal	Tone is formal and objective
Use slang if you want to	Avoid slang
Use first-person pronouns (such as “I,” “my,” or “we”) if you want to	Avoid first-person pronouns (such as “I,” “my,” or “we”)
Use contractions (like “don’t” instead of “do not”) if you want to	Avoid contractions (like “don’t” instead of “do not”)
Opinions can be shared without evidence	Opinions have to be supported by evidence
Detailed citations are not necessary	Detailed citations are very important

Citations

In academic writing, you have to share detailed information about where the facts and ideas in your paper have come from. This is called citing your sources. You’ll learn more about this in the “What is SBL Writing Style?” section of this guide. For now, just note that you absolutely have to give credit for where you get your info when you write an academic paper!

Bad News

If you DO NOT cite your sources in an academic paper or project, you are:

Stealing information or ideas from other people
Making it hard for your readers to look up the information you used and learn more
Showing that you don’t understand how to write professionally
Risking your grades, academic standing, and personal/professional integrity

Here are some stories about what can happen when students or professionals DO NOT cite their sources:

A university president resigned after a recent plagiarized speech. It’s not the first commencement address lifted	Exclusive: investigators found plagiarism and data falsification in work from prominent cancer lab
Journalist suspended over plagiarism row	Academic article scrapped over plagiarism
Chinese actor quits research work over plagiarism admission	PM ‘copied and pasted legal blog post about the attack’.

Original Contributions

Academic writing is about sharing new ideas with your field. The core idea or argument you write about should be original to you—based on:

Your own thoughts about what you’ve learned
How you can think about existing information or arguments in a different way by looking at them from a new perspective
New directions that can be explored about a topic, such as learning more about it in a different context or from a different approach
Bringing existing information or ideas together to think about something in a new way when you see it all together

Lots of students find this challenging. Learning how to make an original contribution to your field is a very important part of growing as a student and future professional!

Remember that academic writing is about more than fulfilling word count requirements or summarizing what you’ve read. It’s about critiquing the information and ideas that are already out there and contributing new insights. Academic writing is a way of engaging in a scholarly conversation and adding to the body of knowledge in your field.

Types of academic writing

Research Paper
A research paper shares the results of an in-depth study you did on a specific topic. Research papers include a clear thesis statement, evidence from reliable sources, and a conclusion that summarizes your findings.

Argumentative paper
An argumentative paper is a type of research paper. The only difference is that it presents a clear argument (or position) about a debatable topic. It includes a strong thesis statement, evidence to support the argument, and rebuttals for opposing viewpoints.

Academic book report
An academic book report is a written summary of a book that is relevant to your academic field. It includes a brief summary of the book’s content, an analysis of the book’s arguments or themes, and a critique of the book’s strengths and weaknesses.

How do I write my academic paper?

Writing an academic paper can seem like a big job, but breaking it down into smaller steps can make it easier to manage. Here’s a basic plan:

Plan your time: As soon as a paper is assigned, plan out time in your calendar to ensure you start early and give yourself enough time for each step. Be sure you understand the assignment and requirements.
Choose and refine your topic: Pick a topic you’re interested in and that fits your assignment guidelines. Develop your thesis statement.
Research: Spend time finding reliable sources and gathering information on your topic.
Outline your paper: Outline your paper, including your thesis statement, main points, and any supporting evidence.
Write your first draft: Start writing your paper based on your outline. Don’t worry about making it perfect—just get your ideas down.
Revise and proofread your draft: Once you have a first draft, take time to revise it. Look for any mistakes or unclear parts and fix them. Proofread your paper to check for any typos or grammar errors.
Check your references: Look over all of your in-text citations and reference list citations. Make sure all citations are correct and everything that needs a citation has one!

Plan your time

Start early and put it in the calendar

When you start each semester, you will be able to look over each class syllabus and check for major assignments. Take the opportunity to:

Make a note of any academic papers or projects that will be assigned.
Write down the due date in your calendar. If the due date is set in Populi, you should be able to see it in the Calendar tab as well.
Get an idea of how big the assignment will be. How many words or pages will you need to write? How many sources do you need to use? Are there assigned readings you need to do first?
Talk to your instructor about any questions you have. It’s never too early to ask about upcoming assignments! They should be able to help you know enough to plan ahead.
Write down how much time you think you need for each part of your writing process. Here are some general guidelines on how much each step can take:

	Percentage of overall time	Example for a 10-page (double-spaced) research paper Estimated total of 50 hours
Plan your time	2%	1 hour
Choose and refine your topic	13%	6.5 hours
Research	40%	20 hours
Outline your paper	5%	2.5 hours
Write your first draft	30%	15 hours
Revise and proofread your draft	5%	2.5 hours
Check your references	5%	2.5 hours

Work backwards from the due date. Plan out when you will spend the time on each stage in the weeks before your assignment is due. Write your plan in your calendar!

Don’t underestimate!

Look again at the table above. Do you see how much time you would need for each step to finish a 10-page paper?

Lots of students are surprised at how long academic writing takes. It’s easy to underestimate how long a research paper will take you, and to end up cramming in your writing too close to the due date. This never ends well!

To be sure that you can do the research, put together a strong paper, and avoid plagiarism (and the trouble that comes with it), plan ahead and give yourself enough time!

You can print and fill out Algonquin College’s Assignment Tracker template to write down your plan

Focus

When you’re writing your academic paper, you will need time to focus. This means making sure that:

You don’t have to rush. Planning your time ahead will help with this.
You are able to work at times that you work best. Are you a morning person? Consider blocking out times that you can research and write in the morning. A night owl? Plan yourself some time later in the day.
You can avoid distractions. Make sure any people you live with know about time you need to spend on your assignments. Try to work in a space free from interruptions.
You can avoid procrastination, multi-tasking, and self-sabotage. Let’s be honest, a lot of our distractions come from ourselves! Plan to close down other things on your computer, silence your phone (and maybe put it in another room), and put all of your attention on your paper.

Following these tips isn’t always easy! Here are some time management options that can help you:

Time logging

The time logging technique is all about keeping track of how long you spend on each task. This will help you see how much focused time you are putting in, gauge how long different types of activities take you, and plan out time for future tasks.

Best For:

Getting the satisfaction of seeing the time you put in
Looking for trends and learning to use your time better

How to do it:

Get a timer or clock and a piece of paper.
Write down when you start and finish each task you’re working on. (Or, use the timer and write down how long you spend on each task – just remember to start and stop it!)
If you find yourself falling into time-wasting habits, such as going for frequent snacks, getting on your phone, or doing your laundry just to get away from your work, log the time you spend on those. It may be enlightening to see how much time is actually spent on the work and how much gets lost to procrastination.
Look over your time log. Did you spend time where you needed to? Do you need to plan longer chunks of time to spend in one area? Are there particular distractions you need to guard against? Make a personal strategy to use your time on the tasks that need it most and avoid time wasters.

Help yourself focus with the Forest app

Pomodoro technique

The name “pomodoro” means “little tomato” and comes from the shape of the little kitchen timer originally used for this technique. The idea is to set a timer for a short, predetermined period of time, then sit down and do your work until it goes off. When it rings, you take a break, then come back fresh and do another short stretch of focused work. Repeat as needed to get through your projects.

Best for:

Getting over procrastination
Balancing focused time and breaks
Putting aside distractions

How to do it:

Choose the task you want to work on.
Spend a short period of time completely focused on your task. (Usually, 25 minutes is recommended.) During this period, put away any other distractions. Turn off or hide your phone, close distracting tabs or apps on your computer, and leave any household tasks for later.
After your focus time, take a short break (usually 5 minutes), doing whatever you like. Stand and stretch, check your social media, watch a funny video, go outside, or chat with your roommate; whatever makes you feel ready to come back refreshed.
Repeat the cycle of 25-minute focus times and 5-minute breaks a few times. When you no longer feel refreshed after your short break, take a longer break (such as 20 minutes) before returning to your work.

For more info, visit PM Study Circle’s What is Pomodoro Technique?

Block scheduling or timeboxing

In this technique, you sit down with your calendar and plan out the time you will spend on your different priorities, scheduling in blocks of time to accomplish each task.

Best for:

Giving yourself enough time for all your work
Keeping yourself accountable
Getting past procrastination and perfectionism

How to do it:

Identify the tasks you need to get done.
Open up your calendar.
Estimate how long each task should take you.
Block off the estimated amount of time in your calendar for each task. For example, you might block off 1 hour on Monday morning to write discussion posts for your classes. Then you have a chunk of time when you will be at work, followed by 3 hours that you block off to begin research for an academic paper.
Plan at least one day at a time; ideally, think through a whole week like this, so that you know when each of your tasks will get done that week.
Leave some “wiggle room” in your schedule in case other things come up or you find that you do actually need a bit more time for one of your tasks.
Follow your schedule. If you tend to overthink or overwork your assignments, try to keep yourself accountable to getting done in the time period and then moving on.

Eating the frog

Sometimes we put off work because we don’t want to have to do our least favorite parts of it. “Eating the frog” comes from the idea that we “eat” the most unpleasant things first to get them over with, then move on to the more pleasant parts!

Best for:

Avoiding procrastination
Getting the hard things done

How to do it:

Each day, identify the task that you dread or put off the most. Maybe it’s sending an email to your professor, starting to read some academic articles, or outlining your paper.
Whatever the worst task is, do it first thing, when you have the most energy. This gets it out of the way so you can move on to more fun and motivating things! It also means that you don’t get stressed out doing something unenjoyable at the last minute.

Choose and refine your topic

Come up with ideas

Depending on the assignment, you may be given:

The specific topic(s) you need to cover.	Example: Write a book report on The Little Prince.
A general topic—you have to decide on a particular angle or argument you want to explore.	Example: Write an argumentative paper presenting your position on physician-assisted suicide. Example: Explore a key theme in the book Educated by Tara Westover. Example: Develop a research paper about aggression in school-aged children.
General guidelines about topic—you have to choose a topic that works.	Example: Write a research paper exploring a topic that we have discussed in class. Example: Write a position paper discussing what you see as the most important current gaps in the field.

In each of these scenarios, you will need to generate some ideas and decide what you want to write about. Remember, in academic writing it is essential to share your own, unique ideas. You will bring in support from other text, research or data and show how your ideas tie into other people’s work in your field.

Note: Ideas and initial research work together

As you come up with ideas, it usually makes sense to do some initial research. This will help you get a feel for which ideas may be worth exploring further.

For instance, if you are asked to write a research paper about aggression in school-aged children, you may come up with a lot of questions or ideas that you are curious about. As you consider your ideas, have a quick look online to see which ones you want to explore more. You can tell that you’ve found a good idea when there’s enough information about the topic to develop your idea, but your exact viewpoint, argument, or direction hasn’t already been covered.

So, although this section is focused on idea generation, feel free to dip into the next section about initial research as well!

Think big

It is often helpful to write down your initial ideas, so you have somewhere to start. After you come up with a list of thoughts, you can narrow in on what you may want to use in your paper.

At this stage, you’re only just beginning, so don’t try to be perfect or only write “good” ideas. Try to capture as many ideas as you can, and then come back to think about which ones are your best ideas later. You never know – keeping the ideas flowing can help spark some really creative options!

Freewriting

Freewriting is one approach for generating ideas.

How to do it:

Decide on a time period, like 5 or 10 minutes.
Sit down with a pen and paper or sit at your computer with a word document open.
Start a timer for your chosen amount of time.
Write everything that comes to mind about the topic. Follow your thoughts wherever they take you. Write single words, complete sentences, fragments of thoughts, lists – whatever makes sense to capture what you are thinking.
After your time is up, look over what you’ve written. What ideas (if any) could be helpful for your paper? Highlight any ideas that could form the basis for your paper.

Example:

Assignment: Write an argumentative paper presenting your position on physician-assisted suicide.

Freewriting: I think physician-assisted suicide is really sad. What if the wrong person was killed? What if someone chose it but actually they were misdiagnosed? People with depression might want a medical option for suicide but who knows? They could get better in the future with the right treatment and support, and would they regret it if they had known? There’s the ethical side too, is it okay to kill yourself? What if you’re really sick and dying anyway? What about your family? What if it goes wrong, what if you suffer a lot, how does that affect everyone around you? How do we establish sound mind to know that someone is really okay with their decision? Where does God play into this decision – is it something that the bible talks about? Need to look up, I think there’s obviously stuff about not murdering, but would the ancient view of murder include suicide? Does anywhere mention suicide specifically? Look into cases where physician-assisted suicide happened, what can we learn from them? Some countries and states allow this to some degree… what do they do? Why?

Next steps:

Now that the initial ideas are captured, you may want to do some initial research about the questions you have from them. For instance:

Has anyone been killed by accident using physician-assisted suicide?
Have there been any cases where, after autopsy etc., someone was discovered to have been misdiagnosed?
Are people with depression allowed the option of physician-assisted suicide anywhere in the world? What do people say about this option?
How do families feel about physician-assisted suicide?
What are guidance and restrictions are usually used in places that allow physician-assisted suicide? Is it only for people with terminal illnesses, or are other people allowed?
Are there cases where people have had prolonged death or not died smoothly in the procedure?
What do Christians say about the topic? What Bible verses relate to it? What would people in Biblical times have thought about suicide?

Idea mapping or mind mapping

Sometimes it’s easier to think through your ideas without laying them out on a page, one after the other. Instead, especially if you like to visualize your ideas or jump around a bit, you may want to create a map or web of ideas on a page – this is known as idea mapping or mind mapping.

An idea map is simply a diagram you create to write down your thoughts. You can put ideas in clusters, draw lines between related thoughts, or identify key areas that you need to learn more about. An idea map can look however you want. Its sole purpose is to help you capture and organize your thoughts.

Example:

Assignment: Write an argumentative paper presenting your position on physician-assisted suicide.

Idea map:

Try the Miro app to organize your thoughts

Next steps:

As with the freewriting activity, you now have a set of ideas to explore more. Do some initial research on your questions and see which ideas might be best for your paper.

The benefit of an idea map is that you can group ideas together. This might help you notice themes or multiple ideas that could work together as part of one main paper. For example, you may find you have several questions about how physician-assisted suicide impacts the people around the patient. Maybe this means that you want to explore the effects on family, friends, and medical teams in your paper.

Do some initial research

As you consider your ideas, you will need to do some initial research. This research will help you determine:

Is there enough information to help you learn more and develop your paper, or is there barely anything to work from? Too little information will make your job really difficult, so it’s good to be aware of big gaps up front.
Has someone else already written about your idea? If so, you can’t write the exact same argument or information. However, it doesn’t automatically mean you can’t write about it! You will simply have to dig further and see what else you can add to the idea or arguments they’ve made. Maybe there is more evidence you can use, a different approach to support the idea, or some other thoughts you can share and talk about how they tie in with the idea. This is how a good academic paper is created—working with existing ideas and adding your own perspective to move the conversation forward.

How to research

At this stage, your research can include both non-academic and academic sources, as your goal is mainly to check that you have a good starting idea (or to help you generate ideas).

Feel free to search online and just see what you discover – but be careful not to put too much stock in non-academic sources.

Later, when you gather official sources for your paper, you will need to be much more careful about using only acceptable academic sources. You will want to look at several of these while you are developing your idea, so you can check that your idea makes sense in your academic field and that you will have enough of these sources to use for your paper.

Non-academic sources include sources such as:	Academic sources typically include:
podcasts most websites personal stories Wikipedia forums YouTube	peer-reviewed journal articles books by reputable authors/publishers data from official sources

If you’re struggling

If you find yourself struggling to develop your ideas, you may just need a bit more input. Look up articles, news, or podcasts about your topic. Does anything spark your interest? What makes you curious? Go down a few rabbit holes and see if you can uncover a topic you’d like to write about based on what grabs your attention.

Or, if you’re unsure what would be an appropriate topic for your assignment, ask your teacher if you can talk it through with them. Bring your initial ideas and tell them that you’re feeling a little stuck or unsure what to do next. They will be able to help you work on choosing an idea that fits the assignment.

Narrow down your topic

You have your initial idea. Now you need to make sure it is narrowed down enough that you can have a well-focused, detailed paper, without trying to pack too much in.

Look again at the instructions for your assignment. Be sure you know all the requirements for what you will write about and how much you need to write.

Initial Idea	Narrowed Topic
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	The effect of legalizing physician-assisted suicide on medical treatments.
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	Possible mistakes associated with legalized physician-assisted suicide.
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	The impact of physician-assisted suicide on the people around the patient (family, friends, medical team).

Write a thesis statement

A thesis statement is the main claim that you make in your paper. Everything else in your paper needs to support this main claim.

For a book report, your thesis could be a statement about the author’s point of view; how the work fits in with historical, contemporary, or current works; an analysis of the writing style or message; how the storyline aligns to common story structures; or another statement that fits the assignment.

For an argumentative paper, your thesis will be your personal stance (or another stance you are arguing in favor of) on a controversial topic. You will make your stance as specific as possible, and everything else will aim to support this.

Initial Idea	Narrowed Topic	Thesis Statement
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	The effect of legalizing physician-assisted suicide on medical treatments.	Legalizing physician-assisted suicide will slow down the progress of medical treatments by reducing the pool of people who are interested and eligible to complete medical trials.
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	Possible mistakes associated with legalized physician-assisted suicide.	Mistakes are made in the medical profession; legalizing physician-assisted suicide raises the risk of people deciding on life-ending treatment based on a misdiagnosis.
Legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a bad idea.	The impact of physician-assisted suicide on the people around the patient (family, friends, medical team).	Physician-assisted suicide has a detrimental effect on patients’ family, friends, and medical team.

Use the University of Arizona Global Campus’ Thesis Generator for Writing an Argumentative Thesis

For a research paper, your thesis will be a statement about what your research will aim to prove. Here are some examples of how you might develop a research idea into a thesis.

Initial Idea	Narrowed Topic	Thesis Statement
How to help adopted children join a family with biological children	How to choose the language you use about children’s biological origins when you have adopted and biological children	Elementary-aged adopted children who choose the language they use about their adoption (for example, “mom” vs “bio mom” and “chosen child” vs. “bio child”) will feel more confident about their belonging in their adoptive family.
How to help adopted children join a family with biological children	What specific language or behaviors can make adopted children feel like their adoptive parents favor their biological children?	Parents with adopted and biological children who have specific rules in place about how they balance their time and money on their children (for example, always attending special events for all children, or alternating one-on-one time with children and parents) help their adopted children to feel less worried about favoritism.
How to help adopted children join a family with biological children	The role of adoption-positive storybooks in helping biological children understand and accept adopted siblings.	Positive messaging in storybooks about adoption can help biological children with the transition when adopted children join the family.

A strong thesis:

Meets the requirements of the assignment
Presents a clear idea
Tells the reader the main claim of the paper
Is not too wordy
Defines the scope of the paper (what you are and are not going to cover)

Watch this YouTube video to Learn How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Research

What makes a good source?

Calling something a “good source” may seem a bit vague. Who decides what makes a good source, after all?

Well, in academic writing, there are ways to tell which sources are considered “good sources” for the topic and field you are writing about.

You need to check

What kind of source is it?
Can you trust the author?
Was the info written with an agenda you should know about?
Is the info current or outdated?
Does the source contribute to your paper?

What kind of source is it?

We have access to all kinds of sources:

journal articles
books
websites
videos
online articles
works of art
graphs and images
podcasts
commentaries

and more!

Scholarly and peer-reviewed

Some of these sources are appropriate for academic writing, and some aren’t.

Generally, when you write an academic paper, you should only use sources that are scholarly and have been reviewed by other experts in the field.

How you can use different types of sources

Here’s a brief overview from the University Arizona Global Campus Library about how you can use different kinds of sources:

Source type	How to use it
Scholarly journal articles	Excellent for academic research Written and reviewed by experts in a field of study Tend to be specific and narrow in scope Not always great for researching statistics or very recent information
Scholarly books	Excellent for academic research Tend to be broader than scholarly articles Usually published by university presses or publishers who review the books for accuracy
Non-scholarly books	Not appropriate to cite as academic sources Can be very helpful in understanding basic concepts or topics Includes books like encyclopedias, dictionaries, business and self-help books, and “how-to” books
Popular resources	Includes magazines and newspapers Can be reliable sources of information, but are not suited to provide evidence in academic research Written by journalists for a broad audience Great for eyewitness accounts or very recent information
Website	Not reviewed before publication, so therefore not considered scholarly Most are not appropriate for academic research, with certain exceptions including: – Government websites: great for statistics – Academic institution websites and open access libraries – Websites that have reliable, unbiased information

For more practice, try the University of Arizona Global Campus “Evaluating Sources” tutorial

Can you trust the author?

Who are they?

Is the author someone with lots of knowledge and experience in the field? As you know, many people can publish content on the Internet or elsewhere, but not everyone is an expert. You need to know if the information you use for your academic papers is from someone with a current, well-informed view of your field… or not!

If you don’t know about the person or organization who authored the content, search online for more information on their background or visit the organization’s “About” page.

Clues of trustworthiness

Here are some clues that an author may be trustworthy:

They have studied and worked in the field they are writing about.
If they share an argument or opinion, they are clear about what is opinion and what is fact.
They publish work in peer-reviewed journals. (This means that other experts in the field read and critique their work, to make sure it is as unbiased and scholarly as possible.)
They share their sources, so you can check any facts they include in their work.

Was the info written with an “agenda” you should know about?

Everything is written for a reason

People (and organizations) have different reasons for the content they publish.

Example 1: A cosmetics company is likely to publish articles or research that try to convince people that their products work.

Example 2: Media companies may publish news containing stories or phrasing that fit best with their political leanings, so that their audience is persuaded to view current events a particular way.

It’s important to be aware of the reason your source was published. Was it sponsored by a person or organization with something to gain from presenting things a particular way? How much do you trust their motivations? Was it written by someone who might be more interested in supporting their viewpoint than considering all the facts? Was it written to educate and inform, or to entertain, sell, or persuade people of something?

Assess the agenda

You can assess the agenda by:

Looking for any disclosures or disclaimers included in the content that tell you why it was written or who was involved/may benefit.
Evaluating the kind of words that are used in the source. Emotional or opinionated-sounding language may be a sign that the source is biased toward a particular view and may not be reliable.
Checking the ending of the website URL:

Can be more reliable	Can be less reliable
.edu (educational institutions)	.com (commercial businesses)
.gov (governmental bodies)	.net (any)
.org (non-governmental organizations)

Be smart when you assess the possible agenda. Everything is written for a reason—you are trying to tell whether the source is likely to remain as unbiased, factual, and scholarly as possible, or whether it can’t be trusted.

Is the info current or outdated?

Using older sources

Depending on what you are writing, older sources may or may not be appropriate.

When are older sources good?

Older sources can include valuable primary sources (such as early manuscripts or things written first-hand by people in older times) or foundational works (such as writings that share a key idea, theory, or finding in your field). These can be appropriate to include when considering historical information or discussing how your idea builds on foundational ideas in your field.

When are older sources bad?

Older sources are less appropriate if they include outdated views or information. Your academic writing is all about progressing the views and information available in your field. If you base your writing on outdated info, your contribution may be confusing, irrelevant, or incorrect. It’s important to check the dates on your sources and ensure that you have recent content to look at.

Example: Imagine you were writing about space. If you used old sources, you would include all sorts of incorrect “facts” or terminology. From ancient sources, you might share the theory that the sun revolves around the earth. That would be really outdated! Or if you used sources from the 1990s, you might use the term “planet” for Pluto and name it as one of the planets in our solar system, when it is now considered a “dwarf planet” and not counted among the planets of our solar system.

Does the source contribute to your paper?

Sorting through sources

When you start your research, you’re likely to find a lot of sources that talk about your topic in one way or another.

You will have to sort through those sources to find ones that contribute to the points you want to make in your paper. In other words, you are looking for relevant sources.

What to look for

Relevant sources provide:

Important background info, facts, or statistics to help readers understand the topic and your position;
Alternative views or contradictions that you need to address in your paper to show that you’ve fully considered all of the positions when making your own argument; and/or
Support for your ideas (however, your ideas will go beyond what the sources say—you are going to add to the “conversation” that’s happening in the academic field).

Where to search

Online resources (such as eBooks, audiobooks, online journals, and online videos)

Whether you’re on campus or online, you can access a variety of online resources that will help you with your research.

Databases

A database is a selection of resources that you can search.

You can think of using databases like using a search engine (like Google or Bing), but instead of searching the whole Internet, each database looks through a curated set of selected academic resources and shares any results that fit your search.

To research any topic

Here are a few databases that we recommend for starting your research on any topic.

Database name	Type of resources	Description	How to access
Brill Open Access Portal	online journal articles	Open access books, journals, and articles in the humanities and socials sciences published by Brill.	Open access – no login required
Digital Theological Library 2 (DTL 2)	eBooks, online journal articles, databases	Free database of resources. Although focused on religious studies, offers a broad range of topics.	Open access – no login required
EBSCOHost Atla Religion Database	online journal articles		Use your Populi username and password
EBSCOHost	online journal articles		Ask library for username and password
Fordham University Open Access Resources	databases	Open access database list managed by Fordham University libraries.	Open access – no login required
Free Full PDF	online journal articles		Open access – no login required
GlobeTheoLib	online journal articles, eBooks, other resources	A multilingual online library offering access to more than 650,000 full-text articles, journals, books and other resources. Its focus is on theology, intercultural and interreligious dialogue, ethics, and ecumenism.	You must register for a free account
Google Scholar	online journal articles, theses, eBooks, other resources	Provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other websites.	Open access – no login required
JSTOR Open Content	online journal articles, eBooks	Thousands of open -access journals and book chapters provided by JSTOR in partnership with the University of California Press, Cornell University Press, NYU Press, the University of Michigan Press, etc.	Open access – no login required
OMICS Open Access Journals	online journal articles		Open access – no login required
Paperity	online journal articles	Paperity is the first multi – disciplinary aggregator of Open Access journals and papers. It gives readers easy and unconstrained access to thousands of journals from hundreds of disciplines, in one central location.	Open access – no login required
Perlego	eBooks and digital textbooks	Free access (through HCU) to a large catalog of eBooks and textbooks. Also allows you to save and take notes on your sources as you go and to listen aloud instead of reading texts.	Ask library for access info
Pew Research Center	statistical data, web articles	Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world through public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other datadriven social science research.	Open access – no login required
Simon Fraser University Databases	databases	Links to open access databases (especially strong in Canadian databases).	Open access – no login required
VIU Databases for Open Access	databases	Open access database portal provided by Vancouver Island University.	Open access – no login required

Other Resources

Use the expanding menu below to see additional resources for specific subject areas.

Ancient and classical history

Resource name	Description
Ancient History Sourcebook	Fordham University’s Ancient History Sourcebook provides primary source material relating to ancient Mediterranean cultures.
History Sourcebooks	The Internet History Sourcebooks Project of Fordham University is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts, including Ancient, Medieval, and Modern.
The Latin Library	A selection of Latin texts from authors such as Tacitus, Aquinas, and Dante.
Loebolus	Provides PDFs of all the public domain volumes of the Loeb Classical Library.
Oriental Institute	Online publications by the Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago. OI is a research laboratory that traces humankind’s progress from the most ancient days of the Middle East.
Perseus Digital Library	The flagship collection of this project from Tufts University covers resources related to the history, literature, and culture of the GrecoRoman world.
Searchable Greek Inscriptions	Searchable index of Greek inscriptions created and maintained by the Packard Humanities Institute.

Bible study

Resource name	Description
Bible Gateway	Searchable online Bible in more than 200 versions and 70 languages.
Bible Geocoding	This site uses Google Earth to identify every place mentioned in the Bible.
Biblical Fonts	Fonts for biblical scholars provided by the Society of Biblical Literature.
Blue Letter Bible	Provides tools for in-depth Bible study, including a free online reference library and a lexicon search that gives users immediate access to the original Hebrew and Greek words.
Enter the Bible	Guides to each book of the Bible, including outlines, themes, and background information.
The Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library	An online digitized virtual library of the Dead Sea Scrolls presented by the Israel Antiquities Authority
New Testament Gateway	Directory of academic internet resources on the New Testament, hosted by Logos Bible Software and edited by Dr. Mark Goodacre of Duke University.
Online Bibles	The texts of the Hebrew Old Testament, Greek New Testament, Septuagint, Vulgate, Luther (Revised 1984) German translation, etc. provided by the German Bible Society.
Oxford Biblical Studies Online	A comprehensive resource for the study of the Bible and biblical history published by Oxford University Press.
Tanach	The Hebrew Bible has been derived from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC) maintained by Stephen K. Salisbury at the J. Alan Groves Center for Advanced Biblical Research (Westminster Theological Seminary).
Bible Odyssey	Presents the work of scholars in an engaging format that reveals the historical context behind key people, places, and passages of the Bible that have influenced our history, literature, popular culture, and politics.
STEP Bible	Scripture Tools for Every Person – Bible from Tyndale House is a free online Bible study tool that includes options for using the original languages.

Christian history

Resource name	Description
Christian Classics Ethereal Library	CCEL includes a substantial library of Classic Christian texts made freely available in electronic format.
Christian History Institute	Christian history resources.
Corpus Thomisticum	The Corpus Thomisticum project provides scholars with a set of instruments of research on Thomas Aquinas. Latin is the main language of the Corpus Thomisticum.
Disciples History	Resources related to the StoneCampbell Movement published by the Disciples of Christ Historical Society.
Early Christian Writings	Early Christian Writings provides translations of and commentary on Christian texts composed before the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, including the New Testament, Apocrypha, Gnostics, Church Fathers, and some non-Christian references.
Early Church Fathers— Additional Texts	These English translations, edited by Roger Pearse, were not included in the 38-volume collection of Ante-Nicene, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. The texts are listed in chronological order.
The Fathers of the Church	English translations of the writings of the Church Fathers, from Alexander of Alexandria to Vincent of Lerins.
Fourth-Century Christianity	Sponsored by the History Department of Wisconsin Lutheran College and by Asia Lutheran Seminary, Fourth-Century Christianity includes research tools and texts for the study of the church and its environment in the fourth century.
History of Missiology	This collection of missionary biographies, reports, sermons, and theologies is maintained by University of Boston School of Theology.
History of the Restoration Movement	Resources related to the Restoration Movement maintained by Scott Harp.
Missio Dei Journal	Missio Dei: A Journal of Missional Theology and Praxis (MDJ) is a digital medium for exploring the rich tradition and ongoing practice of participation in the mission of God among churches of the Stone – Campbell Restoration Movement, particularly Churches of Christ/Christian Churches and Churches of Christ (a cappella), in an open dialogue with Christian missiology.
Restoration Serials Index	An index to periodicals published by members of the Churches of Christ and other branches of the North American Restoration Movement.
Stone-Campbell Digital Commons	Archival materials, rare books, and periodicals related to the StoneCampbell Movement from the Brown Library, Center for Restoration Studies at Abilene Christian University.
TARA: Teaching & Research Archive for the History of Christianity	Online repository provided by the American Society of Church History that covers the history of Christianity and its cultural contexts in all places and historical periods through the 20th century, including non-Western expressions.

Languages

Resource name	Description
Biblical Fonts	Fonts for biblical scholars provided by the Society of Biblical Literature.
Greek Language and Linguistics	Resources for learning Hellenistic/Biblical Greek (Koine).
Hebrew Language Tutorials	This site from the University of Texas at Austin provides tutorials and resources for students and teachers of Biblical Hebrew.

Religion and theology

Resource name	Description
The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA)	Provides access to American and international data on religion for educators, journalists, and researchers.
Index Theologicus	Theology and religious studies bibliography edited by librarians and faculty at the University of Tübingen.
Insights into Religion	Offers congregational resources and information on religious practices supported by the Religion Division of Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Open Access Digital Theological Library	OADTL curates high -quality content in religious studies and related disciplines from publisher websites, institutional repositories, scholarly societies, archives, and stable public domain collections.
Revised Common Lectionary	Revised Common Lectionary resources provided by Vanderbilt Divinity Library.
Theological Commons	A digital library of over 120,000 resources on theology and religion. It consists mainly of public domain books and also includes periodicals, audio recordings, photographs, manuscript collections, and other formats. Published by Princeton Theological Seminary.
Working Preacher	Provided by the Center for Biblical Preaching at Luther Seminary, Working Preacher draws upon the expertise of biblical scholars, theologians, and ministers to provide exegetical material geared to the weekly lectionary.

Physical resources (such as print books, print journals, CDs, and DVDs)

If you are an on-campus student, you can access the physical library resources at HCU’s Overton Memorial Library. There are several special collections that can help you research specific topics. You can also search more generally using the library website.

If you are an online student, you may be able to access physical library resources near you (for example, at your local public library).

Visit the HCU library website to find a wide variety of online and physical resources

Save your sources

As you write your paper, you may explore a LOT of sources! This is great—you should read all the relevant sources you can—but it can get confusing further along in your writing process if you can’t remember where you found something.

It’s worth saving a copy of any source that you may want to use in your paper. (Most scholarly articles will allow you to download a PDF to save on your computer.) This can help you find it again later!

Option 1: Create a file folder for each academic paper you write and save all your source PDFs in that folder.

Option 2: Use an app like Mendeley or Zotero to store your PDFs. These apps are meant for academic researchers and can help you organize, highlight, and make notes on your sources. They can also assist you with creating citations for each of your sources.

Option 3: Resources that you find using Perlego can be stored along with your own notes and highlights in the Perlego app.

Save articles and take notes using the Mendeley app or the Zotero app

Find books or textbooks and take notes using the Perlego app

Read sources and take notes

Good notes help you:

Keep track of key facts, important points, and useful quotes from your sources
Begin to organize the information that you will use for your arguments
Identify any gaps you need to learn more about
Review your sources at a glance later in your writing process

One of the easiest ways to take good notes is by saving the original source (so you can see everything in context), and highlighting and adding notes directly in the source (either on a print copy or electronically).

Alternatively, you can keep notes in a separate notebook or document. If you do this, just be very careful to include all the reference information for your source and note very clearly when something is a direct quote, so that you don’t forget where things came from in the future and end up plagiarizing by accident!

As you read each source, make notes about:

How the data or arguments fit in with other sources about the topic
How the data or arguments fit in with your ideas
Questions that you have
Sources that they refer to that you’d like to explore further (this can be a great way of discovering other relevant sources for your research)

Save articles and take notes using the Mendeley app or the Zotero app

Consider arguments and counterarguments

Before you get too far into your paper, check that you know the main arguments you want to make. Then, you need to play devil’s advocate: what objections would your readers have? What arguments would someone else make?

Think through these counterarguments and plan to address them in your paper. This will show that you’ve fully thought through your topic. It will make your argument stronger and help you flesh out your paper.

If you come up with a counterargument you can’t address, do some more research! If you’re really stumped, consider changing the angle of your paper to make that argument instead. Or, talk with your teacher to come up with some ideas for how you could tackle it.

Outline your paper

Why outline?

Outlining your paper before you start writing will help you:

Note all the ideas, arguments, counterarguments, and details that you want to include, so you don’t forget them later
Organize your ideas and arguments so that the flow makes sense
Decide where you want to include supporting evidence, quotes, and sources

When you create a strong outline, writing your first draft is easier and your writing is likely to be clearer and better organized.

Types of outlines

There are several types of outlines you can use. If you are asked to create an outline as part of your assignment, your teacher may ask for a particular type. Otherwise, you are free to choose whichever type works best for you.

Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) to learn about types of outlines and view examples

Organizing your argument

Feeling stuck? Try this:

Start your outline by putting your thesis statement at the top of your page.
On three separate lines, write down three main things that you want to be sure to say about the thesis.
Under each of those main things, make bullet points of any facts, quotes, counterarguments, or details that fit into that main idea. Try to add at least one source under each main thing.

You’ve basically written your outline! Reformat if needed, and continue to work like this, organizing and filling in your ideas until you feel it completely represents everything you want to say about your thesis argument.

Write your first draft

Build paragraphs based on your outline

At this point, you already know what you want to say and how you are going to support it. It’s time to start writing!

Using your outline, begin to write out your ideas in full paragraphs. If it feels overwhelming to get started, set yourself little goals along the way —maybe today you only need to write the first three paragraphs, then tomorrow the next three, and so on. Or reward yourself with some chocolate each time you reach a milestone. We’re not judging.

Incorporate sources to support your arguments

Ways to use sources

As you flesh out your paper, you will be incorporating the sources that you’ve chosen. There are three main ways to use your sources:

Quote
Paraphrase
Summarize

Whichever way you use your sources, you MUST cite them! If they aren’t cited properly, it counts as plagiarism.

Quote

Quoting is when you use exact words from someone else in your paper.

Quotes can be great when the wording is important and you want to capture HOW it was said. A pithy or thought-provoking comment may be just right to include in your paper as-is.

However, do try to use quotes sparingly. Too many quotes in your paper keeps you from using your own original words, and may mean that you fail the assignment because you don’t show your own thoughts clearly enough.

Paraphrase

Paraphrasing means putting information or an idea from someone else in your own words.

In the majority of cases, it’s WHAT your sources have said that matters most. If you are sharing information from your sources to support your ideas or argument in the paper, say it your own way!

As a rough guideline, aim to paraphrase at least 90% of the information you use from your sources. (Up to 10% can be quoted, if you decide that’s the best way to share it.)

Summarize

Summarizing is a lot like paraphrasing, but involves “boiling down” the information from a source into a shorter version. Feel free to summarize as much as you would paraphrase—just be sure that you are representing the main message of your sources fairly.

How to incorporate sources

One common mistake that students make is to plug in their quotes, paraphrases, or summaries without introducing them and explaining why they are relevant.

When you write your academic paper, it’s your job to make it obvious why you are including each piece of evidence, and how it supports your overall argument.

To incorporate your sources well and make the purpose clear, try the ICE method: Introduce, Cite, and Explain. See the handout below for more information:

Don’t worry about being perfect

It can be easy to get stuck in “analysis paralysis”—trying so hard to get everything just right that you can’t get anything done at all.

Don’t worry about your first draft being perfect. It shouldn’t be! You will have the chance to revise and refine later. You are just giving yourself something to work with.

Follow your outline, express your ideas, and polish it up later.

Revise and proofread your draft

Stages of revision

Stage 1: Big picture

During your first stage of revision, you want to check that your paper makes sense on the big-picture level:

Is it clear?
Do the ideas flow well?
Does it meet the assignment requirements?

View questions from the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab to help you with revision stage 1.

Stage 2: Mid-view

Next, look a bit more closely at the paragraphs, support, and transitions you used:

In your paragraphs, are the points clearly made?
Is there the right level of support?
Do you ramble or skip between thoughts?

View questions from the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab to help you with revision stage 2.

Stage 3: Up close

Once the core of your paper is solid, go through and check the specific word use, grammar, spelling, and punctuation:

Is your grammar, spelling, and punctuation all correct?
Have you used an appropriately formal tone?
Have you defined any terms you need to?
Can you use clearer or more concise language to say the same thing?

View questions from the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab to help you with revision stage 3.

Use the Hemingway editor app to identify ways to improve your writing

Check your references

It’s easy for your references to get messy as your work on your drafts. You are likely to add, move, and remove references as you develop your paper. This can result in mistakes.

You may find that you end up with some references that don’t include all of the information they are supposed to. Maybe your bibliography is missing some references that you mention in your paper. Maybe you put in some quick reference info and told yourself you’d come back and format it correctly later… but you haven’t.

Before you submit your paper, you need to check that:

The first footnote for each reference has full details, following SBL style
The later footnotes for each reference have abbreviated details, following SBL style
All footnote formatting is correct
There is a bibliographic entry for every reference mentioned in the paper
All bibliographic entries have full details, following SBL style
All bibliographic entry formatting is correct

What is SBL writing style?

In academic writing, you have to format your papers and cite your sources in a very specific way.

Different fields, like medicine, psychology, and literature, have different guidelines for what your academic writing should look like.

At HCU, you will follow the guidelines from the Society of Biblical Literature. These guidelines are known as SBL style.

Refer to the SBL style guide for detailed information about SBL formatting and citations

SBL vs. Chicago Style

SBL style is based on the more widely-used Chicago writing style. However, it offers additional guidelines for the kinds of information and citations that come up in writing about Biblical topics.

Check out the Chicago Manual of Style for a general idea of what SBL looks like

Citations

In academic writing, you have to share detailed information about where the facts and ideas in your paper have come from. This is called citing your sources.

There are two types of citations you will need to include: in-text citations (or footnotes) and a bibliography.

In-Text Citations (or Footnotes)

“In-text” means what it sounds like it means. An in-text citation is information that you write in the paper itself, whenever you are sharing information or ideas that you got from somewhere else. You’ve probably seen examples of this in articles or papers before. In-text citations look different depending on what field the paper is written for:

Example of an in-text citation for medical writing: Cahill¹ argues that…

Example of an in-text citation for psychology writing: Cahill (1994) argues that…

Example of an in-text citation (footnote) for Biblical studies writing:

Cahill argues that…¹

Lisa Sowle Cahill, Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism, and Just War Theory (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), 41.

When you write your in-text citations, you will follow SBL citation style.

Learn how to write in-text citations according to the SBL style guide

Bibliography

A bibliography is something you will include at the end of your academic paper or project. It is a list of all of the resources you used in your paper or project—in other words, all of the articles, websites, videos, or other sources you used to shape your ideas and argument. Any time you use information or ideas from one of these resources in your writing, you will include the in-text citation right away, then add that resource to your bibliography too.

Here’s an example of what a bibliography may look like.

This example was drawn from the Student Supplement for The SBL Handbook of Style, Second Edition, compiled by Melanie Greer Nogalski and James D. Nogalski, available at https://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/pubs/sblhssupp2015-02.pdf

When you write your bibliography, you will follow SBL citation style, just like you will for your in-text citations.

Learn how to write a bibliography according to the SBL style guide

Use Citation Machine’s SBL citation generator as a starting place to create your bibliographic citations

Writing a paper

The SBL Style Guide has information about how to structure your academic papers, including what your cover page should look like, what spacing to use, and what font and font size to use.

It can be a lot to set up the first time you write a paper in SBL format. Here are some tools to help you get started:

Download and edit HCU’s SBL template in Word

What mistakes should I avoid?

Cheating and plagiarism

Cheating is wrong, and you know it!

HCU has a policy in place to address any issues of academic dishonesty, which include copying other people’s work, asking or paying someone else to do your work, or using AI to write your work.

View the HCU Academic honesty policy

The policy also deals with any plagiarism issues, which usually happen when you fail to quote, paraphrase, and/or cite your sources correctly. You need to take time to learn SBL style and check over your paper to be sure you don’t have any citation issues that will lead to you being flagged for plagiarism.

View Bainbridge State College’s 3-minute video overview of Plagiarism: How to Avoid It

Poor time management

A rushed paper is rarely a good paper. Also, you will feel very stressed trying to crank it out last minute!

When you start the semester, be sure that you look ahead at all your major assignments and plan out your time. Start well in advance of your deadline. Your future self will thank you.

Seeing writing as the enemy

Writing is a lot of work, but it is not your enemy. In fact, writing is a great way to process information you’ve learned and form new connections and ideas!

It may feel like a painful process at times, but try to keep a positive perspective. You will learn from what you write! Try to remember the value, pace yourself, and congratulate yourself for your successes. When you put in the work, you get the rewards.