2. Writing at university

Lecturers want to know that you: • have understood the content of the unit • have read widely and thought about the reading • can write competently using the conventions in the discipline area of your unit.

In academic writing, therefore, it is necessary to refer to the sources of information and ideas that you used: textbooks, journal articles, websites, government reports and so on.

The conventions of referencing differ slightly from one discipline to another. Academic writing in Information Technology, for instance, will have different conventions from writing in History.

You need to know how to reference in the discipline area in which your unit is located.

If you don't use any references in assignments (that is, you just write from your own head without referring to the sources), it is likely you will get very poor results, and possibly a fail grade.

If you use sources but do not acknowledge them, you will probably get a fail grade or worse, depending on how many times you have neglected to provide references to your sources.

Quiz Section

	In academic writing, lecturers want to know that you can write competently using the conventions of whatever discipline you are writing in.

	When writing at university, which of the following should you NOT do?  Use references in my assignments  Write my ideas in my own words without any references  Use the referencing convention of my discipline area  Acknowledge where I found my ideas

	In your writing at university, lecturers are looking for evidence that you:  have read a range of sources on the assignment topic  know how to acknowledge your sources the way the discipline does  understand the topic you’re writing about  all of the above