As a university teacher and academic tutor, I see a wide range of assignments that students produce. However, though I read what has been written, one of the things I am also looking for is how well students have read and uses their sources. This is really important because if you do not spend enough time reading, you will not have enough useful ideas to write about. Though this may seem obvious, it is common for students to not spend enough time researching those useful ideas.
So, why might this be?
The main one is time. Academic writing is time consuming and requires planning and organisation. This is also true for academic reading, but if you do not spend time finding useful sources, then you will not have the evidence you require to build detailed academic paragraphs. However, it can be a slow process because not everything you read will be useful, and certainly at the start of your academic journey (when you are new to searching for items and understanding which journals and databases are useful), there is a lot of trial and error encountered.
What can you do?
- Read with a purpose. Always, always do this, and have the question, “Where can I use this in my assignment?”, in your mind.
- Do not waste time reading complete books or journals – use the index pages in books, and whenever you read a journal, read the abstract first.
- Be aware of when you have enough ideas for each section of an essay, or you may waste time making endless notes.
- Note down which authors or sites or journals are useful, as they may also be useful in future assignments.
- Start writing sections or paragraphs when you believe you have enough sources to add detail to your academic work. Rather than leaving writing until you have enough ideas, starting sooner can help you make steady progress.
There are more ideas for academic writing on my Instagram account : Instagram