academic writing-security audit & compliance. what are the main principles/elements required...
TRANSCRIPT
COURSEWORK REQUIREMENTS
BRAINSTORM TIME.
What are the main principles/elements required for this academic writing?
Differences between academic and business writing?
What do we look for?
PRINCIPLES OF ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION
Honesty-state only that which can be supported
Reality-be clear and direct in style and aims and objectives
Relevance
IMRAD AND ABSTRACTS
Many scientific reports follow the IMRaD format: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion.
The IMRAD format has been adopted by an increasing number of academic journals.
Before the introduction , in these journals there is always a title and abstract.
An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding.
The abstract succinctly communicates complex research.
Usually the first place a person looks to ascertain whether they will read on any further.
Suggested report structureExecutive Summary 150-200 words outlining the contents of the report.
Introduction Giving an overview of the aim and scope of the paper and making it clear which business sector you have selected.
Background covering the history and motivations behind data protection law and an overview of the factors relevant to the sector you have chosen
Discussion and analysis, including an overview of how data protection law has been applied in the sector, the detailed evaluation of impact of data protection law on the sector, implications for security policies and possible future developments in the area.
Conclusions, and limitations of work. The limitations section should include consideration of the effectiveness of the research approach you used.
You should use the supplied rubric as guidance on the marking expectations. Remember to bear in mind their relative marking weights.
STYLE?
Formal? Objective? Structured?
Your final document should use a formal style - this means writing impersonally. All sources used must be formally acknowledged through citations and a reference list.
Suggested report structure
Write words out in full, for instance use ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t’.
Do use appropriate technical terms, but consider the expertise of your audience and include a Terms of Reference section in the introduction, so you can explain the technical terms you are using.
Avoid superfluous words and aim for a clear, explanatory written style.
THE BASICS OF GOOD WRITING STYLE, CONTD.
WRITING ACADEMICALLY: Be objective – don’t present unsupported or personal opinions.
Take a balanced view. Be accurate – give clear non-subjective and definite figures
(‘after twenty five minutes’, ‘80% of the participants’). Avoid vague or ambiguous terms like ‘a long period of time’, or ‘most of the participants’.
Be direct – don’t leave it to your reader to work out what you are saying! Putting the emphasis on a strong verb can help the reader to see the important points: for instance, ‘an analysis was performed on the results’ is not as direct as ‘the results were analysed’.
Be critical – evaluate your own work as well as that of others. Have the confidence to say if something could have been done better, if done differently.
Be appropriate – assume your audience is interested and educated, but give them the information they need to understand your work.
CONVENTIONS OF ACADEMIC WRITING Do not use the personal pronouns ‘I’, ‘we’ , ‘you’, etc.
Instead of ‘I did x’, use ‘x was done’. Be cautious rather than direct or emphatic (use terms
such as ‘appears to’, ‘may’ and ‘seems to’. Try to avoid ‘definitely’, ‘always’, and ‘very’).
Be moderate and dispassionate rather than emotional or rhetorical. Avoid terms such as ‘nice’, ‘natural’, ‘great’, ‘wonderful’.
Avoid using questions as section headings. Instead of ‘Why did Royal Bank of Scotland choose to use SAP-R/3?’, use ‘Reasons for the use of SAP-R/3 by Royal Bank of Scotland’.
TASK ANALYSIS
Marking grid Wtg GradeAbstract, Introduction and contextual discussion 20
Research activity, range of materials used and topic coverage. 20
Synthesis and analysis of the main issue under discussion. 25
Discussion of topic, conclusions drawn (including any recommendations) and critical evaluation. 25
Presentation and readability, structure, referencing 10
Total 100
LITERATURE REVIEW/BACKGROUND
Scholarly review of literature An appraisal not narrative Context/background/definitions Identify common and divergent themes
HOW MIGHT CRITICAL THINKING BE APPLIED TO MY ESSAY?
Start with the analysis Get authoritative sources Compare and contrast Be reflective when writing
Meets the specification given Treats topics in depth Is evaluative/analytical rather than descriptive Justifies/illustrates its arguments well Uses an impersonal/academic writing style Is fluent, succinct and grammatical Has few spelling / typing errors Is well set out in an appropriate format Organises the material appropriately Uses a good range of appropriate sources Consistently applies an approved referencing system
HOW WILL YOU SHOW THAT THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN DONE:
Descriptive Critical/Analytical
State what happened? Identifies significance
State what something is like? Evaluates strengths/weaknesses
Give the story? Briefly summarise and highlight significant events
State the order in which events occurred?
Suggests why these events occurred
Note the method used? Discusses whether the method worked and why/not
Say when something occurred? Identifies why timing is significant
List details? Evaluates significance of details
State links between items? Shows relevance of links
Give information? Draws conclusions
HOW DO I DO THIS?
What am I looking at? Why am I looking at this? So what?
USE GRIDS TO PLAN WRITING.
The
mes
/Con
cept
s
Diary Presentation Module Case study
WHAT IS PLAGIARISM? Plagiarism is to take someone else’s
words or ideas and present them as your own without proper acknowledgement (Marshall and Rowland, 1998)
References are published sources of information that you have used in coursework and dissertations.
Referencing lends your work authority, by showing off how much reading and research you have conducted.
You always get credit for including appropriate and accurate references.
References should be: relevant to the topic you are researching, from a reputable academic journal, book, textbook as up-to-date as possible
REFERENCING
A REFERENCE LIST
is a list of all the sources that you have directly referred to.
It is always presented in alphabetical order of author surnames.
Only include sources which you have used. Use one system for citing these sources,
consistently and accurately. You should not use bullets points, nor numbers, for
the references in your list.
A BIBLIOGRAPHY
is a list of everything you read for the report, whether or not you have directly referred to it in your writing.
This is required in addition to your reference list. It is presented in alphabetical order of author
surname. Use the same system for citing these sources, as in
the reference list.
HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM
You must acknowledge the source of any ideas that are not your own.
You must show the source of any direct quotations.
These are word-for-word quotations place within “ ” .
You must also acknowledge the source of indirect quotations. This is material that you have changed into your own words, paraphrased or summarised.
Referencing a book with a single author
Reynolds, G. (2010). Ethics in Information Technology. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Author’s surname
Author’s initial
Year of publication in brackets
Title in italics
Place of publication
Name of publisher
The short in-text reference is (Reynolds, 2010)
Book with multiple authors in a later edition
McNurlin, B., Sprague, R. and Bui, T. (2009). Information systems management in practice (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Author’s surname
Year of publication in brackets
Title in italics
Place of publication
Name of publisher
Author’s surname and initial
Author’s initial
Edition
The first short in-text reference is (McNurlin, Sprague & Bui, 2009)Subsequent references are (McNurlin et al., 2009)
Article accessed from a web page
Business Link (2010). New guidance on how your business can use cloud computing. [Electronic version] Retrieved 10th August 2011 from http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1084685982
Organisation as author
Title in italics
Year of publication in brackets
If from an online journal, add journal title, volume, issue & page details.
Electronic resource in square brackets
Date you found the article Full URL
The short in-text reference is (Business Link, 2010)
Journal article accessed from a database
• Phan, D. & Vogel, D. (2010). A model of customer relationship management and business intelligence systems for catalogue and online retailers. Information & Management, 47(2), pp.69-77. Retrieved August 12th, 2011 from the Science Direct database.
Author’s surname and initial
Year of publication in brackets
Journal title in italics
Article title
Volume, issue in brackets, and page numbers
Date retrieved & name of database
The short in-text reference is (Phan & Vogel, 2010)
Article from a magazine or newspaper
Rawsthorn, A. (1990, December 24). Conditions tougher for textile industry. Financial Times,p.5.
Author’s surname and initial
Year , month and date of publication
in bracketsArticle title
Newspaper or magazine title in italics
page number(s)
The short in-text reference is (Rawsthorn, 1990)
Essay within an edited book
Birch, K. (2009). Social entrepreneurship. In Deakins, D. (Ed), Enterpreneurship and small firms (pp. 248-261). London: Butterworth.
Essay author’s surname and initial Essay
title
Book title in italics
Year of publication in brackets
Book editor’s surname and initial (Ed)
page numbers of essay in brackets
Place of publication and name of publisher
The short in-text reference is (Birch, 2009)
