The Basics of Academic Writing: A Course Pack Review

This article provides a review of a course pack on academic writing, focusing on the basics of writing academic papers. It discusses the importance of proper referencing, citation, and sentence construction. The course pack also provides examples and guidelines for improving the quality of academic writing. It is a valuable resource for students looking to enhance their writing skills.

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RESPONSE PAPER
LAST NAME: Type LAST NAME
FIRST NAME: Type FIRST (GIVEN) NAME
PROGRAM CODE:TypePROGRAM CODE
COURSE CODE : TypeCOURSE CODE
PERIOD NUMBER: Type PERIOD NUMBER
INSTRUCTOR: Type INSTRUCTOR LAST NAME
Edit or delete text to show actual information below:
The author applied ☐US ☐UK conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics.
The author used Turabian (in-text/parenthetical)
The author ☐did ☐did
not use Zotero to insert references
The author used the following software: (e.g., MSWord 2016 on Windows 8)
THE BASICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
1) INTRODUCTION
The course pack of EUCLID University provided a detailed overview of the basic
of academic writing. This pack being of 83 pages helps in pointing out the mistakes that
usually people do while writing academic papers. The correct format of writing these
papers has been shown in the paper. By conducting a thorough analysis of this course
pack, I have gained significant knowledge on correcting my mistakes in the academic
papers. The course pack has also provided me the scope of following the actual format
which can enhance the quality of my academic writings. The contents of the pack can be
extremely useful for students who are looking forward to starting their graduation level
studies. The way this course pack has been able to provide information about the correct
format of the referencing, paraphrasing and styles of writing English words has been
extremely useful for me for continuing my future studies and for the essay or thesis that I
would require to make from now.
2) CONTENTS OF THE COURSE PACK
The course pack describes the importance of avoiding plagiarism and citing the
sentences properly in the process of improving the quality of writing. This pack starts
with a demonstration on how to write an academic essay. The basics of the essay writing
have been provided along with the steps that the writers should follow while starting the
essay. With the proper research, it is possible to construct an essay in a manner which can

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help the writers to express their perspective efficiently1. The process of drafting and
editing of the contents of the essay has been highlighted with proper points that help in
gaining significant knowledge. This course pack also provided some examples of
references styles that can be used in the essays. The course pack aptly describes the
process of citing the lines and also demonstrated when to cite and when to not. This has
helped significantly in identifying the scenarios of the con
“When the information you are writing about is common knowledge that can be found in
numerous areas you do not need to cite its source2.” This shows the appropriate use of
citations in the contents and also teaches about when not to cite or add references.
This information can be regarded as significant in terms of identifying which lines
to cite. This is because, in many situations, academic writers are unaware or confused
about identifying the sentences which are required to be cited properly. They often make
mistakes in this regard3. Therefore; this context of the course pack helped in preventing
any such mistakes in the future. The course pack thus helped in analyzing the role of
proper citations of the quotes in order to prevent plagiarism.
a) Overview on the format of referencing
Previously, I had knowledge about basic referencing styles such as APA and
Harvard, however; I faced problems while using other styles such as Chicago and
Vancouver. I have mostly worked on APA style papers and the process of using the
Turabian style papers has been relatively unknown for me. However; after going through
the contents of this course pack, I have now gained confidence in using this format in
further academic works that I need to do.
In the course pack, two types of referencing have been preferred for conducting
the academic works of EUCLID. While most of the academic papers of EUCLID are
required to be written in the format of Chicago referencing style while some limited
response papers can be also written in the style of APA referencing. Turabian referencing
is similar to the Chicago however; this is used for the student version and is much shorter
than that of Chicago referencing4. Therefore; this course pack aptly described the
methods by which the footnotes and bibliography are created in the Chicago style of
1Steve Graham and Karen Harris, "Conducting High Quality Writing Intervention Research: Twelve
Recommendations", Journal Of Writing Research 6, no. 2 (2014): 89-123, doi:10.17239/jowr-2014.06.02.1.
2 "ACA-401D: International Academic Writing (Doctorate) – EUCLID University LMS",
Eucliduniversity.Net, Last modified 2019, https://eucliduniversity.net/courses/aca-401d/.
3 Lisa Mayer, "MA/PG Cert/PG Dip: Academic Writing", Journal Of Academic Writing, 2012, 171,
doi:10.18552/joaw.v2i1.113.
4 Chicago Manual, "Is Turabian Style The Same As Chicago Style? | CMOS Shop Talk", CMOS Shop
Talk, Last modified 2019, http://cmosshoptalk.com/2015/02/03/for-students-is-turabian-style-the-same-as-
chicago-style/.

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referencing. With the help of discussion on the format of the papers in Chicago style, this
course pack also helped in learning about the proper formatting of the academic papers
which need to use Chicago referencing.
b) The overview provided on the use of American and British
English
Through this course pack, I have gained significant knowledge about the
differences between American and British English which is used in the academic papers.
The course pack helped in analyzing the American English is used more than British
English due to a number of factors. Some of these factors that have been identified in the
pack include the greater population, enormity of higher education and a greater number
of the publishing industry in the country makes the use of American English more than
that of the British English in the academic writing. In the course pack, the justifications
of these differences have been made with the given examples of some which have the
same pronunciation, however; have different spellings. With these, the study also showed
the different meanings of similar words which differ the two types of English. With the
help of proper descriptions of the differences in these popular languages of academic
writing, I have gained the required knowledge on using the terms and words while using
any of these style of English in my academic papers in future.
“American English has grown steadily in international significance since World War II,
parallel to the growth of U.S. political, economic, technological and cultural influence
worldwide5." Through this quote, it has been possible to understand the dominance of
American English in the context of academic writing.
I have also learned the information about the method by which the quotations and
commas differ in American English and British English. With the proper discussions and
examples of all the differences, this course pack has been relevant in terms of using the
right language or spellings while using any of these two types of English.
i)
Sentence construction and use of words in academic papers
In many of the academic papers, I used to make mistakes regarding the use of
proper grammars and words which are relevant to the academic styles of writing. After
going through the course pack, I have gained the knowledge which can help me to
prevent such errors in my own academic papers. I will be able to increase the quality of
my writings which would be apt with the standard of writing that is required to be
followed. Through the contents provided in the course pack, relevant knowledge about
the construction of the sentences and use of appropriate words or grammars in the
academic papers has been identified. With the examples that have been shown in the
section, relevant knowledge has been gained about the differences in the use of words in
academic writing and other types of writings. In the course pack, the errors in the
construction of sentences and the use of words have been aptly defined in the examples.
5 "ACA-401D: International Academic Writing (Doctorate) – EUCLID University LMS",
Eucliduniversity.Net, Last modified 2019, https://eucliduniversity.net/courses/aca-401d/.

TYPE STUDENT LAST NAME TYPESHORTENED TITLE PAGE 4
The required changes or the errors that are present in the lines have been described
efficiently. A known fact about academic writing, in this style of writing more formal
words and sentences are required to be used rather than using any type words which are
informal or which have casual representation6. Therefore; this course pack helped in
identifying some of the relevant formal words and sentences which are required to be
used instead of using any informal words. To sum up this section of the course pack, the
overall description that has been provided has been explained in simple languages and
with a number of examples, which helps the readers to gain the relevant knowledge about
the use of two popular styles of English with efficiency.
ii)
Other discussions of the course pack
While writing report and thesis papers, I made many mistakes on the construction
of sentences. Some of the sentences were long and some had issues regarding quality.
The guidelines that have been provided in the course pack have helped me to identify the
standard rules of writing academic reports and thesis papers. With these guidelines, this
pack provided a brief overview of the significant rules for writing academic papers. The
personal style of writing is mostly based on using contractions which are strictly
prohibited in the academic writings7. This has been efficiently discussed in the course
pack with the help of relevant examples. The rules of academic writing have been also
highlighted with relevant examples.
“Write clearly. That's easier said than done, and hard to make operational. But you can
make a first step by writing short sentences, avoiding page-long paragraphs, and being
careful to signal transitions8.”This quote states about one of the instructions that needs to
be followed in the process of writing academic papers.
With the help of the important reminders that have been provided in the
coursepack content, quality of the sentences and the grammar can increase significantly.
Therefore; the brief demonstration of these reminders has been provided efficiently in
terms of points to help the viewers understand those in a better way.
3) CONCLUSION
The course pack has helped in learning about the basic rules that are required to
be followed in the process of writing academic papers. The words and sentences that
have been used in this are extremely simple to understand with the sections divided
6 Cecile Badenhorst, Heather McLeod and Haley Toll, "Beyond Words: Academic Writing
Identities And Imaginative (Artistic) Selves",
Visual Inquiry 7, no. 3 (2018): 197-212,
doi:10.1386/vi.7.3.197_1.
7 Zhihui Fang and Jungyoung Park, "Adolescents’ Use Of Academic Language In Informational Writing",
Reading And Writing, 2019, doi:10.1007/s11145-019-09937-8.
8 "ACA-401D: International Academic Writing (Doctorate) – EUCLID University LMS",
Eucliduniversity.Net, Last modified 2019, https://eucliduniversity.net/courses/aca-401d/.

TYPE STUDENT LAST NAME TYPESHORTENED TITLE PAGE 5
efficiently. Each of the rules has been explained with the help of relevant examples which
helped in understanding the contents efficiently and without much challenges.
Being a graduate in the field of science, I would be able to make use of these rules
during the course in the EUCLID University. Although I do have experiences in writing
academic papers, however; with the help of this course pack, I have further gained the
knowledge which can increase the quality of the papers which I would write during the
course in the University. The issues of writing that have been identified through the paper
would be highly useful in terms of being aware of the construction of sentences and
grammars in the academic papers. The issues of plagiarism can be also prevented
significantly due to the knowledge that has been received about citations and quotes. This
knowledge that the paper has provided can be useful for all the students who need to
write their academic papers and shine in their own academic field in the future.

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REFERENCES
"ACA-401D: International Academic Writing (Doctorate) – EUCLID University LMS".
Eucliduniversity.Net, Last modified 2019.
https://eucliduniversity.net/courses/aca-401d/.
Badenhorst, Cecile, Heather McLeod, and Haley Toll. "Beyond Words: Academic
Writing Identities And Imaginative (Artistic) Selves". Visual Inquiry 7, no. 3
(2018): 197-212. doi:10.1386/vi.7.3.197_1.
Fang, Zhihui, and Jungyoung Park. "Adolescents’ Use Of Academic Language In
Informational Writing". Reading And Writing, 2019. doi:10.1007/s11145-019-
09937-8.
Graham, Steve, and Karen Harris. "Conducting High Quality Writing Intervention
Research: Twelve Recommendations". Journal Of Writing Research 6, no. 2
(2014): 89-123. doi:10.17239/jowr-2014.06.02.1.
Manual, Chicago. "Is Turabian Style The Same As Chicago Style? | CMOS Shop Talk".
CMOS Shop Talk, Last modified 2019. http://cmosshoptalk.com/2015/02/03/for-
students-is-turabian-style-the-same-as-chicago-style/.
Mayer, Lisa. "MA/PG Cert/PG Dip: Academic Writing". Journal Of Academic Writing,
2012, 171. doi:10.18552/joaw.v2i1.113.