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VCSEwiki:Writing manual: Difference between revisions
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==Ethical principles== | ==Ethical principles== | ||
Texts in this Wiki (including your own writing assignments) are published under same conditions as Wikipedia articles. | Texts in this Wiki (including your own writing assignments) are published under the same conditions as Wikipedia articles. | ||
When using the ideas, materials or information of other people you have to follow the basic ethical principles of academic writing: respect the '''copyright''' of the work you borrow information from. Please consider some additional resources to gain an understanding of the diversity of copyright and your rights and obligations in relation to other authors - see our '''[[Ethical code of conduct]]''' | When using the ideas, materials or information of other people you have to follow the basic ethical principles of academic writing: respect the '''copyright''' of the work you borrow information from. Please consider some additional resources to gain an understanding of the diversity of copyright and your rights and obligations in relation to other authors - see our '''[[Ethical code of conduct]]''' | ||
== Academic writing - rules == | == Academic writing - rules == | ||
Study the following sources: | Study the following sources, but before doing so, remember these have been written for native English speakers. It is important to note that while we do not expect you as non-native English speakers to write perfect English for this course, you should at least stick to some basic rules. For example, you can choose to write in either British English or American English, but please DON'T use a mixture of both (e.g. autumn vs fall, specialise vs specialize, neighbour vs neighbor, etc). English speakers also use commas between numbers and decimal points to denote numbers less than one, e.g. ($43,000.90) | ||
Finally, also note that academic writing needs to be analytical, dispassionate and neutral when advancing an argument using all the facts at your disposal, and therefore you should avoid using the first person, e.g. I feel that..., I am of the opinion that..., etc. Of course you can argue as vehemently as you want in what you believe in, but it has to be based on hard demonstrable facts without reference to "feelings" :) | |||
Now here are some resources for you to review: | |||
*There is a difference between writing at school and joining a community of scholars at university, and particurarly how to choose an appropriate topic. Online: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml> | *There is a difference between writing at school and joining a community of scholars at university, and particurarly how to choose an appropriate topic. Online: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml> | ||
*Developing a thesis statement or question. Online: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/develop.shtml> | *Developing a thesis statement or question. Online: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/develop.shtml> | ||