Academic Writing-Security Audit & Compliance KENDALL RICHARDS ACADEMIC SUPPORT ADVISER FECCI K.RICHARDS@NAPIER.AC.UK 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 structure Executive 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 THE BASICS OF GOOD WRITING STYLE, CONTD. 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. 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’. ACADEMIC PHRASEBANK TASK ANALYSIS Marking grid Abstract, Introduction and contextual discussion Wtg 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 Grade 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 HOW WILL YOU SHOW THAT THE FOLLOWING HAVE BEEN DONE: 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 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. Themes/Concepts 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) REFERENCING 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 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 Author’s surname Place of publication Year of publication in brackets Reynolds, G. (2010). Ethics in Information Technology. Boston: Cengage Learning. Author’s initial The short in-text reference is Title in italics Name of publisher (Reynolds, 2010) Book with multiple authors in a later edition Author’s surname Author’s initial Year of publication in brackets Title in italics McNurlin, B., Sprague, R. and Bui, T. (2009). Information systems management in practice (8th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Edition Author’s surname and initial Place of publication (McNurlin, Sprague & Bui, 2009) (McNurlin et al., 2009) The first short in-text reference is Subsequent references are Name of publisher Article accessed from a web page Organisation as author Title in italics Year of publication in brackets 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 Electronic resource in square brackets Full URL Date you found the article If from an online journal, add journal title, volume, issue & page details. The short in-text reference is (Business Link, 2010) Journal article accessed from a database Author’s surname and initial Year of publication in brackets Article title • 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. Journal title in italics The short in-text reference is Date retrieved & name of database (Phan & Vogel, 2010) Volume, issue in brackets, and page numbers Article from a magazine or newspaper Author’s surname and initial Year , month and date of publication in brackets Article title Rawsthorn, A. (1990, December 24). Conditions tougher for textile industry. Financial Times,p.5. Newspaper or magazine title in italics The short in-text reference is page number(s) (Rawsthorn, 1990) Essay within an edited book Essay author’s surname and initial Year of publication in brackets Book editor’s surname and initial (Ed) Essay title Birch, K. (2009). Social entrepreneurship. In Deakins, D. (Ed), Enterpreneurship and small firms (pp. 248-261). London: Butterworth. Book title in italics page numbers of essay in brackets The short in-text reference is (Birch, 2009) Place of publication and name of publisher