Study skills
Current students
A distinctive characteristic of academic writing is that it is based on reading and research and it discusses the ideas and findings of other writers. As a student writer, therefore, it is essential that you know how to discuss the work of other writers and researchers and correctly acknowledge their contribution in the papers you submit for assessment.
This resource deals with discussing the work of others in your writing and
uses a sample extract to demonstrate the various processes involved. Integrating
information and ideas from sources into your writing is a complex task, involving
several skills.
There are three ways of using the ideas, research findings and words of others
in your writing. They are:
It is necessary to reference, whether summarising, paraphrasing or quoting.
An extract from a text follows, with examples of summarising, paraphrasing and quoting, using the author-date (Harvard) system of referencing. Whichever referencing system is used, writers need to summarise and paraphrase their sources and correctly reference them.
Source: Morley-Warner, T 2001, Academic writing is…: a guide to writing in a university context, 2nd edn, CREA Publications, University of Technology Sydney, Lindfield, NSW.
(This extract is from page 6.)
| To write successfully at university you need a sense of what the final product should look and sound like, so if possible, read model assignments or if these are not available, study the way in which journal articles have been written in your specific area. These articles may be lengthy and some may be based on research rather than a discussion of issues, but from them you will get a sense of how academic writing ‘sounds’, that is, its tone, and also how respected writers in your field assemble information. You will also gain a sense of the complexity of being an apprentice writer in an academic culture, or rather cultures, where expectations may vary from discipline to discipline, even subject to subject and where you can build a repertoire of critical thinking and writing skills that enable you to enter the academic debates, even to challenge. | highlighted segment for quoting and paraphrasing; entire extract for summarising |
A summary is a condensation of a passage, an article or a book. There is no correlation between the length of a text and the length of a summary of it. An entire book can be summarised in one sentence! It all depends on your purpose as a writer. Of course, it is essential to understand the text and have a clear purpose for summarising it, in whatever detail you choose to do so.
Here is a summary of the entire sample extract using the author-date (Harvard) system of referencing.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6) suggests that for university students to convey
the appropriate academic tone in their assignments, they should read sample
assignments and study the way journal articles in their specific subjects
are written. Through this process, she contends, students will develop
the critical thinking and writing skills that will allow them to participate
in academic debate.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6)
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in-text citation - author’s family name, year of publication and page |
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suggests that for university students to
convey the appropriate academic tone in their assignments, they should
read sample assignments and study
the way journal articles in their specific subjects are written. Through
this process, she contends, students will
develop the critical thinking and writing skills that will allow them
to participate in academic debate.
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reporting verbs are used to discuss and comment on ideas in the text |
A paraphrase is the rephrasing of a short passage from a text, in about the same number of words. As a writer, you need to choose the passage or passages you wish to paraphrase - because of their importance or interest and relevance to your paper. Of course, you need to fully understand the passage and have a clear purpose for using it.
Here is an example of a paraphrase of the highlighted text in the sample extract using the author-date (Harvard) system of referencing.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6) considers that by studying how journal articles
are written students will come to understand what is required of them
in their writing. They will also become aware of the different demands
of various disciplines and even the different requirements from subject
to subject, she declares. Through this process, Morley-Warner maintains,
students will develop critical thinking and writing skills that will allow
them to participate in academic debate and even to challenge ideas.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6)
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in-text citation-author’s family name, year of publication and page |
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considers that by studying how journal articles are written students will
come to understand what is required of them in their writing. They will
also become aware of the different demands of various disciplines and
even the different requirements from subject to subject, she declares.
Through this process, Morley-Warner maintains, students will develop
critical thinking and writing skills that will allow them to participate
in academic debate and even to challenge ideas.
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reporting verbs are used to discuss and comment on ideas in the text |
Points to note:
A short quote is a sentence or part of a sentence which is reproduced exactly. It consists of fewer than about 30 words when using the author-date (Harvard) system and fewer than 40 words when using the APA system. This example relates to the author-date (Harvard) system.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6) acknowledges the challenges of writing at university.
She describes the novice student writer as ‘an apprentice writer
in an academic culture, or rather cultures, where expectations may vary
from discipline to discipline, even subject to subject’.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6)
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in-text citation-author’s family name, year of publication and page |
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acknowledges the challenges
of writing at university. She describes the
novice student writer as ‘an apprentice writer in an academic culture,
or rather
cultures, where expectations may vary
from discipline to discipline, even subject to subject’.
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reporting verbs are used to introduce and analyse quotation |
A block quote is a longer quote. It consists of more than about 30 words when using the author-date (Harvard) system and more than 40 words when using the APA system. It is set off from the body of the paper by indenting. This example relates to the author-date (Harvard) system.
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Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6) discusses how university students can learn to acquire and convey the appropriate academic tone in their assignments. She suggests that students should focus on how journal articles in their subject are written and structured. She describes another benefit of this process: Reading is central to study at university. It is through reading that… |
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| Morley-Warner (2001, p. 6) | in-text citation-author’s family name, year of publication and page |
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discusses how university students can learn to acquire
and convey the appropriate academic tone in their assignments. She suggests that students should focus on how journal articles in their subject are
written and structured. She describes another benefit of this process:
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reporting verbs are used to introduce the material quoted |
Whether you summarise, paraphrase or quote, you should provide full details of each source in a reference list at the end of your paper.
The reference list should contain all the works cited in the paper and no works that are not cited. A work is listed only once in the reference list, regardless of how many times it is cited in text.
Here is the entry for the sample text in a reference list compiled according to the author-date (Harvard) system:
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Morley-Warner, T 2001, Academic writing is…: a guide to writing in a university context, 2nd edn, CREA Publications, University of Technology Sydney, Lindfield, NSW. |
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Morley-Warner, T
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family name and initial of author |
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2001
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year |
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Academic writing is…: a guide to writing in a university context
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title and subtitle in italics
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| 2nd edn
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edition (if not the first) |
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CREA Publications, University of Technology Sydney
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publisher |
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Lindfield
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city of publication |
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NSW
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state (for relatively unknown city) |
Details of all referencing styles used at Deakin and can be accessed at www.deakin.edu.au/referencing.
