VCSEwiki:Writing manual

Introductory steps

• You can use prewriting techniques for identifying your theme. Some brainstorming is really useful before you start!
• For academic writing, very specific research question needs to be developed.
• There are several issues to consider when developing your title: a clearly defined title will help make the writing process interesting and manageable. An inappropriate title that is not clear or too broad will make the process difficult.
• Write literature review in the introduction of your article. Summarize or evaluate what other scholars have written on your topic.
  • You can use provided rules for writing annotation here.

Ethical code of conduct

Texts published in this Wiki (including your own writing assignments) respect GNU Free documentation licence - exactly as Wikipedia articles.

In using ideas, materials or information of somebody else you have to follow basic ethical principles of academic writing: respect copyright of the work you borrow information from. Please consider following resources to realize diversity of copyright and your rights and obligations in realtion to authors:

• When to cite sources
• Avoid plagiarism - see OWL materials
• Brief overview of:The Correct Use of Borrowed Information {online}. Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA : Winthrop University, 2005-2007 {2007-12-27}. Online <http://faculty.winthrop.edu/nearym/correct_use_of_borrowed_info.htm>.
• Cite your sources correctly - reference list should be developed while you are reading and using your resources for writing. You can read more on citation rules
• Here is an overview of (mainly American) copyright and examples of country specific regulations.
• Some other types of copyright

Academic writing - rules

Study following sources:

• There is the 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 sentence or question. Online: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/develop.shtml>
• Scaffolding the academic writing process: A focus on developing ideas. Online: <http://jalt.org/pansig/2005/HTML/Hayashi.htm>
• Pages connected to the online resource: <http://www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/what.shtml> - about constructing an argument, finding your position, organizing a structure, tone and style,

Precising and reviewing

• Revise your text: upgrade your text according to the quality criteria.
• You can start with the text analysis!
• Offer your article to the peer review process - it is a basis for evaluation.
• You can find external links, web pages where additional info on the topic.