Overview

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Introduction to Academic Writing is designed for students, researchers, and aspiring academics who want to strengthen their academic writing and learn how to approach different forms of research-based communication. You’ll learn how to read and analyse academic texts, identify claims and evidence, structure an academic paper, and develop persuasive arguments. The course also covers literature reviews, summarising research, annotated bibliographies, referencing and citations, and avoiding plagiarism. Go beyond traditional academic essays by learning how to write policy briefs, op-eds, and blog posts for different audiences. You’ll also explore dissertation writing, from developing a research question and organising your research to structuring chapters and understanding guidelines for journal publication. Through practical assignments, peer reviews, readings, and hands-on activities, you’ll apply what you learn and build confidence in academic and research writing. Whether you’re preparing essays, conducting research, writing a dissertation, or planning for academic publication, this course will help you become a more confident, critical, and effective academic writer.

Syllabus

Introduction to Academic Reading and Writing
- This module introduces you to the genre of academic writing and its distinction from other writing genres by focusing on the structure of an academic paper. You will learn how to develop your arguments based on claims and evidence. Through a detailed annotation of a sample academic paper, you will learn the basic building blocks of making an evidence-based argument.
Literature Review and Referencing
- Literature review and referencing are two fundamental aspects of research writing. In this module, you will learn how literature review can help you assimilate insights from multiple texts into clear insights. You will discover that referencing is a technical requirement in academic writing and a crucial way to show the credibility of the evidence. This module focuses on the logic and place of literature review and citation in an academic text.
Writing Policy Briefs and Writing for Popular Media
- This module introduces you to a different writing genre, which will enable you to communicate with a wider audience. You will learn about writing policy briefs and writing for popular media in the form of op-eds and blogs. You will gain insights into the useful guidelines for formulating arguments and thinking about diverse audiences.
Dissertation Writing
- In this module, you will learn about the process of writing a dissertation. You will build upon the skills learned in the earlier modules and focus on the stages of dissertation development. You will learn how to arrive at a research question. This module discusses some writing guidelines for publication in peer-reviewed academic journals.