4. Academic Writing
Roberta Campbell-Chudoba
Overview
A significant portion of how you communicate your learning and earn credit as a graduate student is through academic papers. Consider each paper you write as a learning experience, to hone your skills and build your knowledge throughout your program.
Aim for your papers to be of publishable quality for journal submission. Support for your writing and research skills is readily available at USask.
This module provides guidance on accessing support for academic writing, searching for research materials, locating the best options for APA Style guides, and exploring your academic integrity responsibilities.
Learning Objectives
When you have finished this module, you should be able to:
- Find and enroll in USask Library sessions about writing, research, and/or citation software.
- Identify and use the best online search tools for your research.
- Access USask research pieces in Harvest to support research papers.
- Locate and use online APA and other style guides when composing research papers.
- Apply academic integrity in your research and writing.
Writing and Research Resources
University Library writing workshops for graduate students provide interactive instruction on writing, research, citation and reference management software. Graduate Writing offers links to USask workshop descriptions, slides and other online resources. The Library also has Research Guides organized by discipline area, and expert librarians to assist you.
USask Grad Writing Videos instruct on a range of writing topics such as writing a well-argued and organized paper, APA formatting, and style concerns like flow and punctuation.
To connect with a tutor, see Writing Help through the Learning Hub of University Library; note the various types of help tutors can provide about your writing.
Writing tips for scholarly writing are abundant online. Some concise sources include Scholarly Voice: Overview from Walden University and Graduate-Level Writing Tips from Purdue University.
Help me find . . . starts with the basics for finding resources, such as the video Using USearch to find good journal articles.
Library research for graduate students in Education offers more advanced “how-to” research information.
Harvest is USask’s research archive which holds USask projects, theses, presentations, posters, and articles. Use it to explore when researching your papers. Search by topic or use the advanced search filters, and remember to look through reference lists as rich sources.
APA and Style Guides
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition is the official source for APA, the style used for your program. Other abbreviated and free to use options include:
- the Concise Guide to APA Style (consider supplementing with online resources)
- APA Style 7th Edition from Purdue Online Writing Lab
- resources on citations and paraphrasing: USask Citation Style Guides, APA Style and APA Style Blog
- APA Citation Style: Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers from NorQuest Library
For writing by and about Indigenous Peoples, refer to Elements of Indigenous Style by Gregory Younging, accessible online through University Library.
Academic Integrity
“Academic integrity is a commitment, even in the face of adversity to the fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage” (International Center for Academic Integrity, para.1).
To learn about and practice academic integrity in your writing:
- Read about the rules and principles of academic integrity
- Take the Academic Integrity Tutorial
- Identify any gaps in your knowledge or skills
- Ask questions of instructors, University Library writing specialists and editors of publications
- Follow instructors’ guidelines for assessments
- Be familiar with University Copyright Information for students.
- Submit original work with accurate citations and paraphrasing
EADM 990 Required Tasks
The following task must be completed to obtain your EADM 990 credit. Submit your work within Canvas by the date indicated in the Syllabus.
Complete the online Academic Integrity Tutorial, and download the Certificate of Completion offered at the end of the course.
Submit your Certificate of Completion through the appropriate Canvas assignment.
Optional Activities
Discussion questions:
- In the past, how have you organized your sources (citations, quotations and references) for papers? (i.e. – spreadsheet, Word.doc, bibliography or database manager). What were the pros and cons of your strategy?
- In a meeting with a librarian, what are some questions you would have for them about library resources and supports? What might you do to prepare for such a session?
- Refer to a sample paper provided (check with your instructor). In small groups, work to identify APA Style errors and make corrections, using the Publication Manual of the APA (7th ed.) or the Owl Purdue website.
- Refer to examples of paraphrasing and citing provided (check with your instructor). Which examples do you consider violations of academic integrity and why? Discuss as a group.
Extension activities:
- Choose a reference (citation) management software to import citations and references from databases, organize them and insert them into your research papers in APA style. University Library offers training on EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero.
- Review options for face-to-face, online live and pre-recorded writing and research workshop sessions offered by University Library to suit your learning needs.
- Explore Harvest for possible sources to support your research and writing. Harvest holds projects, theses, presentations, posters, and articles that may not be available on other databases.
Additional Resources & Links
- Reach out to librarians in your area of specialization and those assigned to your associated colleges (Health Sciences, Arts and Science, Education) with questions. They are experts in researching materials within disciplines.
- Consider how the concept of academic integrity could be decolonized. See chapters 5 and 6 in the following Open Access book: Eaton, E. E., & Christensen Hughes, J. (Eds.). (2022). Academic integrity in Canada. An enduring and essential challenge. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Review LibGuides (the University Library Research Guides) to discover resources organized by subject, student learning, general topics and A-Z databases.
- Learn more about how to search journal article databases. Then deep dive into the A-Z databases to find the best databases for particular searches. Librarians’ emails are linked with each subject area database.
- Explore iPortal, the Indigenous Studies Portal Research Tool to explore topics onhealth, science and education.
- Think about engaging in peer review/feedback on research papers with your HPE peers as another strategy for improving your writing drafts. You may initiate receiving and giving feedback on papers with peers, or your professor may incorporate the process into a course as part of your practice and assessment. The Spark Peer Feedback Guide from York University is a very good resource to help your approach and write or record feedback. Guidelines for Students – Peer Review from Carleton University provides additional guidelines to consider when offering others feedback on their writing.
