Writing Academic Papers:
Quick Tips from Students and Faculty

• Be sure you understand the purpose of each assignment and the standards by which it will be judged. Some assignments will ask for "just the facts"--from library research or lab experiments. Others will require your reflections on personal experience or specific texts. Some professors are looking for analysis while others expect a carefully argued interpretation.
• Ask your professors about their specific goals and criteria.
• Learn to build revision into your composing process. Many students arrive in college proud of their ability to crank out a paper in a single draft. But nearly all discover that their papers, and grades, improve when they take time for a careful second look at a draft and then do some rewriting.
• Talk to your prof.! Most professors will be glad to discuss your writing plans and problems or even a draft of your work during office hours. Come prepared with ideas or questions, though. Faculty do not want to play "what do you want me to write?" games.
• Avoid jargon and pompous or inflated language. In the survey, professors often mentioned these as pet peeves. If you use a thesaurus, avoid embarrassment by using a dictionary to double-check all meanings of an unfamiliar word.
• Use inclusive language.
• Be scrupulously accurate when you cite sources. Provide a source for all quotes and paraphrases, and for any information that is not common knowledge, including statistics and summaries of someone else's ideas.
• Be Clear, Concise, Coherent, Correct. These 4 C's are the qualities of a good paper that faculty members mentioned most frequently.
• Read your paper out loud. This process can be surprisingly helpful.
• Be sure you take time to proofread carefully. All professors want clear, carefully thought out, error-free papers.

Courtesy of Marquette University