Helpful Academic Writing Links

Writing the Academic Paper

• Dartmouth Writing Program: What is an acadmic paper? - http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml

Choosing a Topic

• The OWL at Purdue: Choosing a Topic - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/03/
• New Century College: Choosing a Topic and Prewriting - http://classweb.gmu.edu/nccwg/prewri.htm

Finding Reliable Information

• Research: Where Do I Begin? - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/552/01/ - This resource from the OWL at Purdue has some good information to get you started.
• The Seven Steps of the Research Process -http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill1.htm - This resource from Cornell is a good step-by-step plan to getting the most out of your research process.

Evaluating Sources

• Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools -http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html - This resource from Cornell links out to some excellent tools and strategies for evaluating what you find online.
• Source Evaluation Tutor: CARS -http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/english/allwrite3/seyler/ssite/seyler/se03/cars.mhtml -This resource takes you through the main areas of determining validity of a source.
• Discover Information Literacy - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWzigkpR7yg - This is a video covering what information literacy is, and how to determine source reliability using the acronym DISCOVER.
• Evaluating Sources of Information - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/01/ - This resource from the OWL at Purdue discusses a variety of strategies to use at various times throughout your research process to evaluate the validity of the material you are considering.

Citing Sources Correctly and Avoiding Plagiarism

• Avoiding Plagiarism - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/
• Plagiarism.org - http://www.plagiarism.org/

Annotated Bibliography

• Annotated Bibliographies - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/ - This is good information on how and why to create an annotated bibliography from the OWL at Purdue.
• Annotated Bibliographies - http://library.ucf.edu/Rosen/guide_annotated.asp - Not sure how your bibliography should look? This page has a good example to help you set up your annotated bibliography correctly!

Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Punctuation

• Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/ - From the OWL at Purdue. This has lots of practice!
• Hypertext Guide to English Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage Rules - http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs5014/courseNotes/5.TechnicalCommunication/tc_2_Usage.html- For those of you who like examples, this page has lots of examples of various grammar rules.

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources

• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/ - From the OWL at Purdue. This site gives a good explanation of the differences between these three things and why you might want to incorporate each into your paper.
• Overview: Including Outside Sources -http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/researchsources/includingsources/index.cfm - This site from Colorado State has some really good an in-depth information on incorporating outside sources into your paper.

Strategies for Creating an Argument

• Writing an Argument - http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp2/critique.htm - This site has excellent examples for structuring your paper. If you are not sure how to start organizing your ideas, this information might be helpful! It also provides a short example argument that explains the different areas of the paper.

Creating a Thesis Statement

• Developing Strong Thesis Statements - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/01/ - From the OWL at Purdue. This gives some good advice and explanation on how to create an arguable and sufficiently narrow thesis statement.
• LEO: Thesis Statement - http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/thesistatement.html - This is a really short guide that answers some of the main questions about writing a thesis statement and gives good examples.

Full-Sentence Outline

• How to Write an Outline - http://www.lavc.edu/library/outline.htm - This is more of a guide for how to compose your outline.

Using Visuals in the Research Paper

• OWL at Purdue: Writing with Statistics and Visuals - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/672/07/ - Some good tips on using graphs for statistics in your paper.

Help Creating Visuals for Your Paper

• How to Make a Graph Using Excel - http://www.ehow.com/how_4474239_make-graph-using-excel.html - This page gives step-by-step instructions with screen shots.

Creating an Introduction and Conclusion for Your Paper

• OWL at Purdue: Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for Argument Papers -http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/724/01/

Creating Body Paragraphs

• The Body of Your Paper - http://facweb.furman.edu/~moakes/Powerwrite/body.htm - This takes you step-by-step through creating your body paragraphs.
• Drafts - http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/markport/best/writing/drafts.htm - This gives good information on how to begin drafting your paper and working in your argument.

Transitions Between Paragraphs

• The OWL at Purdue: Writing Transitions - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/574/01/ - This handout is nice because it gives some before and after examples of how to revise your transitions.
• The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin: Transitional Words and Phrases - http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Transitions.html - This is a nice list of different transitional words that you can use. If one of your worries is everything sounding the same, this list can help you come up with new ways to word your transitions.

Sentence Variety and Clarity, and Parallel Structure

• OWL at Purdue: Sentence Variety - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/01/ - This resource addresses areas such as sentence rhythm, and openings.
• OWL at Purdue: Sentence Types - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/02/ - This resource discusses the different types of sentences. One way to help add variety to your writing is to incorporate different types of sentences.
• Guide to Grammar and Writing: Sentence Variety - http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/sentences.htm - This site discusses different kinds of sentences, and gives examples from historical works.
• OWL at Purdue: Improving Sentence Clarity - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_sentclar.html - Strategies to help you create clear sentences that express your ideas well.
• OWL at Purdue: Parallel Structure - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_parallel.html
• LEO: Parallelism - http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/parallelism.html

Writer's Block

• Writer's Block/Writer's Anxiety - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/567/01/
• LEO: Overcoming Writer's Block - http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/block.html

Peer Review

• Dealing with Criticism - http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/comm440-540/criticism.htm - This resource is concise and has some good information for both the critic and the "criticized".

Help With APA and Style

• The OWL at Purdue: APA Formatting and Style Guide - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• University of Southern Mississippi: APA Tutorial - http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/tutorials/apatutorial/tutorialindex.html
• APA Formatting and Style: Quick Tutorial - http://www.slideshare.net/smp3/apa-style-tutorial

Proofreading (or Editing)

• The OWL at Purdue: Proofreading Your Writing - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/01/