PUNTUACIONES EN UNA CARTOGRAFÍA CONOCIDA

It should go without saying that if one of your aims is to receive high marks then you will make your assignment as easy and as enjoyable as possible for the marker to read.

The guidelines below are designed to do just that – make your paper as easy as possible to read and mark. Remember that your marker will sit down with a big bundle of papers, of which yours is one. Let me assure you that marking papers is a very onerous task. Your marker can easily tell that you have used 10 point, or even 11 point, font, when you have been asked to use 12 point font. Your marker can easily tell if you have used single line spacing instead of 1.5 or double line spacing. And no matter what technical tricks are used, your marker can tell if you have gone excessively over the word limit. Now setting aside the fact that there are normally marks allocated for presentation, if your paper is hard to read, for whatever reason, or is not presented in an appropriate fashion, it is quite possible that the marker will non-consciously be far more critical of your arguments. Keep in mind the little saying: a happy marker is a good marker; a sad marker is a bad marker. Therefore, one of your aims should be to make the marker as happy as possible. So style and presentation are important, ignore it at your own peril.

5.1. The Basics

Different writers, different journals, different universities, different departments, and even different lecturers within the one department might advocate slightly different variations in writing style. As an example, it is stated in this section that you should double line-space your assignments. Yet many lecturers these days are happy for you to use 1.5 spacing, in which case they will normally say so, and so you use 1.5. However, the guidelines contained in this chapter should be followed unless you have been given specific instructions to the contrary. No matter how petty you might think some of the

following guidelines are, they all have a reason. The major reason is that they make your paper easier to read and mark.

It is strongly recommended that you read through this section before you submit every assignment.

General Points

• All pages are to be consecutively numbered.

• Unless otherwise requested, include your name on each page with the page number.

• Use one side only of A4 paper.

• Do not put your individual assignment pages into plastic pockets.

• Assignments must be typed or word processed – not handwritten.

• Ensure that your print-out is clear, easy to read, and that the printer ribbon or cartridge has not been overused or is not empty.

• All pages should be secured with a staple in the top left-hand corner. Do not use paper clips or pins.

• Ensure that you keep a copy of your assignment in case the original is misplaced.

• Make sure you use the format stated in your assignment details – essay format or report format.

• When sticking tables and graphs onto pages of typed text, photocopy the completed page and submit that copy – it looks better.

• Remember to spell check your paper, before you print.

• Make sure your spell checker is set to the Australian English dictionary.

• A hyphen looks like this -

• A dash is usually twice the length of a hyphen and looks like -- or – Plagiarism

Everything that is not your own original idea must be referenced (see Chapter 7).

Substantiation

Just as everything that is not your own original idea must be referenced, so too even your own ideas must be substantiated in some way.

Through out my undergraduate and my postgraduate studies, lecturers used to have this mantra “students don’t have opinions”. As a mature age student with a lot of opinions, I initially took offence at that comment. But what they were really saying was that every statement, proposition, or point of view had to be supported by some credible authority.

My opinion on its own, as a student writing academic term papers, was not sufficient.

Now there are two main ways to give credibility to what you are saying. (1) Go out into the field and do some solid empirical research to demonstrate that what you are stating is credible. Alternatively, (2) find some credible authority figure, through the literature, who has come up with the same opinion. The latter is obviously the easiest option for non-research students, and that is all that is required for most, albeit not all, course work subjects.

But what about if you are asked for your own opinion, as will happen in some subjects.

Unless your lecturer has instructed you otherwise, that opinion still needs to be substantiated. In other words, state your opinion, then you need to give a reason for holding that opinion. There must be some reason for you to believe what you do. Tell the reader what it is. If you can’t offer an academic reference, because it is just not that sort of belief, then perhaps you can offer an example.

To illustrate; I have seen many papers that will state something like; ‘I think that the structure that XYZ company use is efficient’. Then they move onto the next point.

The students that get high marks tell me why they thought the structure was efficient.

For instance; ‘I think that the structure that XYZ company use is efficient because of XXX’ Or ‘the structure that XYZ company use is efficient as evidenced by XXX’. It only takes an extra line or two to substantiate a comment and it will make all the difference to the credibility of your statement, and in turn, your marks. That applies to all assignments that you write, as well as any reports you write in the course of your work activities for ‘real world’ organisations.

Style

• Unless specifically asked to do differently, always use double line-space, or 1.5 as a minimum, for all your assignment with the following exceptions: block quotes are single spaced; the reference list is single-spaced with a double line of spacing between each reference; and the abstract can be single-spaced or 1.5 spaced.

• Use a minimum of 12 point font and a maximum of 14 point font with the exception of headings and footnotes and so on.

• After a full stop, use 2 spaces before starting the next sentence.

• Traditionally, academic writing for the social sciences was written in a formal 3^rd person style. By contrast, some other disciplines, such as philosophy, traditionally use 1^st person in academic writing. These days the more natural and friendly 1^st person style is gaining popularity with social scientists and is arguably the preferred style. Nevertheless, if in doubt as to whether you should use a 1^st or 3^rd person style, check with the lecturer in that particular subject.

• In an academic paper do not use abbreviations like ‘e.g.’ or ‘i.e.’ or ‘&’ or ‘etc.’

unless it is placed inside a bracket. Outside a bracket, in the main body of text, write everything out in full: ‘for example’, ‘that is’, ‘et cetera’.

• In an academic paper, numbers consisting of one or two words like one, ten, twenty two should be written out in full. Never start a sentence with a numeral. To illustrate:

1026 cats roamed the park… should be written as One thousand and twenty six cats roamed the park…

• Numerals are used when the number is more than two words; for tabulation;

statistical discussion; sums of money; addresses; dates; time; and page, chapter, and volume numbers (Teitelbaum, 1982: 46).

• Be consistent in all you do. For instance, the citation in the body of your report must correspond with the citation in the reference list; the form of citation used must

be the same throughout your paper; and the style of headings must be consistent throughout your paper.

• Whenever possible include page numbers in your citations. As an example: Smith (1997: 289).

• Vary the language you use as much as possible. Particular attention should be paid to varying the words you use to begin paragraphs. This is discussed a little more fully in Chapter 8 on editing.

Quotes

• Whenever you are using a direct quote, the quote must be placed in quotation marks (unless it is a block quote) and written exactly as it appears in the original text. If there are obvious mistakes or discriminatory language in the quote, you should indicate that you are aware of the error by using the term [sic] placed in square brackets, as demonstrated, immediately after the inappropriate language. The term sic is Latin for thus.

• Block quotes are used whenever a direct quote is more than three lines long. A block quote is indented, typed in single spacing, with no quotation marks at each end. Below are some examples of block quotes showing various ways to begin them, and as such, various placements of the citation.

• Whenever possible paraphrase information in preference to using direct quotes.

Direct quotes should always be kept to a minimum. All that a direct quote demonstrates is that you are able to copy words from a page, they normally do not demonstrate that you understand what those words mean. Often a marker will interpret the use of a direct quote as evidence that you do not fully understand the concept.

• Put another way; don’t just add quotes and paraphrases in an attempt to make your paper look good. You must fully understand what an author is trying to convey before citing any of their ideas. Your marker will have a pretty good idea of how well you understand the concept, by the way you have used the quotes, or paraphrased the material.

EXAMPLES OF BLOCK QUOTES

In a survey completed among 1400 business managers in the 1980s, truthfulness was cited as the major ethical issue. It was stated that

... false or deceptive communications can undermine the trust of customers, employees and shareholders. ... To strengthen trust and instil confidence ... corporate cultures must be characterised by open and honest communications (Serpa, 1985: 425).

In a similar vein, Willis Harman (1993: 285) poses the question:

In the days of the Holy Roman Empire the Church, as the dominant institution in society, took major responsibilities for the wellbeing of the whole. [As] business is the dominant institution in modern society; does it need to accept a similar responsibility?

In the mid 1970s, Rosemary Radford Ruether (1975: 204) wrote:

Women must see that there can be no liberation for them and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model of relationships continue to be one of domination. They must unite the demands of the women’s movement with the demands of the ecological movement ...

Figure 8: Examples of Block Quotes

• I’d just like to highlight a couple of points in the above examples of block quotes.

You will notice that the first example begins with three little dots (...). This is called an ellipsis and indicates that some words from the original text have been left out. In this example, the ellipsis is required to indicate that the actual quote begins in the middle of the original sentence. As a result, the first word begins with a lower case letter. In the middle of the quotation, there are two more ellipses. Again, this indicates that some of the actual words from the original text have been omitted.

The second example begins with a capital letter as it begins where the original sentence begins. Also, in the second example you will see the word As enclosed in square brackets. This is to indicate that I inserted the word to help the quote make grammatical sense in this new location. Finally, the last example ends in an ellipsis, again, to indicate that the sentence in the original text continues on. Whilst block quotes should be kept to an absolute minimum, if you do have a very good reason

for using a number of block quotes, try and vary the lead in to the quote as demonstrated above.

Clarity

• For a clearer meaning, and a more direct and persuasive argument, use what is known as active voice, instead of passive voice. Compare the following two sentences. The ball was caught by Warne (Passive voice). Warne caught the ball (Active voice).

• Never assume that the reader will know what the letters in an acronym stand for.

The first time an acronym is used it must be enclosed in a bracket and follow the term it represents, which is written out in full. As an example: Modern managers realise the importance of Human Resources Management (HRM). According to Jeffrey Pfeffer (1994) HRM provides an organisation with a major competitive advantage … .

• If English is not your first language it is recommended that you get someone to read through your paper to check your English expression before submission. The University of Queensland Student Support Services offer a range of assignment skills support services for students. See Appendix 10.6 for further information.

Frequently Misused Words

There are a number of words in the English language that are frequently used in an inappropriate fashion. Below are just some of the more frequently misused words.

• The most common mistake occurs with the use of its and it’s. The apostrophe s is used to indicate possession in all words except its. Its without the apostrophe is for ownership or possession. It’s with the apostrophe is the contraction of the two words it is. The apostrophe is used to indicate that the letter i has been removed.

• Their, there, and they’re: Their, indicates ownership – their house, or their car.

There indicates location. It’s over there. There is a bottle of milk on the table. Or, there’s a bottle of milk on the table. They’re – is a contraction of the two words they are. They are playing in the park. They’re playing in the park.

• Affect and effect: We affect an effect. Affect is the verb, something that we do that results in an effect. So effect is a noun and refers to the results of an action. The soggy effect was the result of being affected by rain.

• Practice and practise: Practice, with the letter c is the noun. Practise, with an s is the verb. As an example: The dental practice was opened last July. I practise dentistry. I practise the piano twice a day.

• The use of two other words can sometimes cause confusion. The two words are but and however. Both words indicate that you are about to present an opposing point of view. The most common practice is to use the word but as a conjunction joining two contrary views contained in the one sentence, and however in a sentence that just has a single point of view, that is contradicting the view expressed in the previous sentence. As an example. It is best to paint the roof of your house white, as it reflects the sun, but a silver roof can be equally as effective. Or, It is best to paint the roof of your house white, as it reflects the sun and keeps the house cooler.

However, it could be argued that a silver roof is equally as effective. Although not as common, words like however, nevertheless, thus, therefore, and accordingly can also be used in the middle of a sentence to join two opposing views, but if used, they must be preceded by a semi colon. For instance: They painted the roof black;

however, a white roof is a lot cooler. The car is twenty years old; nevertheless, it looks like new.

Linking and flagging your intentions – mini introductions and conclusions

• Mini introductions: Just as you flagged the overall aims and intentions for your entire essay or report in your Title, Table of Contents, Executive Summary or Abstract, and your Introduction, so too you need to continually let the reader know what you are going to do next, right throughout the essay or report. At the beginning of every section and sub-section you need to write a mini introduction.

No matter what you write about, the key is to make it as easy as possible for the reader to read. Academic writing is not like writing a mystery novel. You need to explain what you are going to do, by way of a brief introduction, each step of the way.

• If you change direction, or introduce a new concept, or move from one section to the next, warn the reader what you are going to do and why, by way of a mini introduction.

•

EXAMPLES OF LINKING AND FLAGGING

Following are two examples of what I mean by linking and flagging. Following the extract example, which is in a different font, I shall comment on what has been written and why.

... If the organization chooses the later then, prior to making a final policy decision, they can proceed with stage two – the transformational journey. It is the inclusion of this second stage that transforms applied ethics into action ethics.

Stage Two – The Transformational Journey

The transformational journey (stage two) commences with commitment – the ‘magic glue’

that binds someone to an act or decision.

In the above example, the concluding paragraph flags or prepares the reader for the next section by mentioning what the next section is about –“...they can proceed with stage two – the transformational journey. It is the inclusion of this second stage that transforms ...” . Then the next section is headed “Stage Two – The Transformational Journey”. Note also that first sentence of this next section restates what the section is all about – a mini introduction. It doesn’t start, “It commences with commitment”, as I frequently see, but “The transformational journey commences ...”. In other words, that first sentence links back to the section heading, flagging or preparing the reader for what is ahead. In addition, it links back to the end of the previous paragraph, just as the last paragraph links forward to what is ahead.

The second example was a little further down in the same section, of the same paper.

To facilitate these outcomes much of this second stage of the environmental ac ion

ethics process will be presented as a metaphor. t

Metaphor has been used to assist the learning process and the developing of new ideas for almost as long as history has been recorded (Bandler, 1978: xi).

Again, note how the last sentence of the first paragraph and the first sentence of the next paragraph are linked with the common concept of metaphor. By that I mean that the last sentence of the first paragraph is introducing the next paragraph, which will be arguing a case for the use of metaphor.

Figure 9: Examples of Linking and Flagging

• Never launch into a series of dot points in your reports without a mini introduction explaining to the reader what the list of dot points is all about, otherwise the list will

• Never launch into a series of dot points in your reports without a mini introduction explaining to the reader what the list of dot points is all about, otherwise the list will