University of Jyväskylä
Faculty of Information Technology
HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY ?
Although the style of an essay may differ from one discipline or culture to another, here
are some general guidelines for writing an essay. An essay is a paper, written on a topic
given by the teacher responsible for the course in question, and it is usually based on
lectures or simply on predetermined literature. You should discuss the topic, literature
and timetable with the staff member responsible for the course before starting your
work.
Structure
1. Title page An essay should have a title page with the title of the essay, your name,
major subject, contact details and the course code and title. If you use sub-headings,
a table of contents can also be included.
2. Introduction Start your essay with an introduction in which the topic, main concepts
and the aim of the essay will be described.
3. Body of the essay The introduction is followed by a discussion of the topic.
4. Conclusions Write a summary with conclusions at the end of the essay.
5. References Include a list of references. The bibliographic references should be cited
both in the text and in the reference list in a consistent and recognised style.
Style
An essay is a critical examination of a topic, written on the basis of relevant literature,
including the student’s own thoughts and conclusions. In writing your essay, you
should aim for clear and logical writing, and avoid vague arguments. Show comparison
and contrast and examples to illustrate your point; however, try to be concise.
Subheadings can be used to help maintain a clear structure.
You should clearly reference the source material you have used in the text, as well as
include the bibliographic reference list at the end of the essay. The reader of the essay
has to be able to distinguish between the thoughts of the writer and the facts and ideas
expressed by the original author of the source material.
An essay is an independently produced piece of academic work
If not otherwise agreed with the teacher responsible for the course, an essay should be
written independently. No parts of an essay should be copied from other writers, such
as other students, or from other sources, such as literature or the Internet, without
proper referencing of the original source material; plagiarism is a serious violation of
academic integrity that will result in punishment. Plagiarism is the act of taking
How to write an essay?
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University of Jyväskylä
Faculty of Information Technology
someone else’s words, ideas or any other form of intellectual work and using them as
your own. This might happen both intentionally and unintentionally; simply forgetting
to cite a source used in your work is also a form of plagiarism. It is important to notice
that there are cultural differences in how citations are used; you might need to rethink
the views you hold regarding the principles of citation.
How many pages?
In writing essays, the most important thing to remember, is that the writer must analyse
the topic and, at the same time, refer to the literature used. Writers differ in their style,
and it is not easy to give exact rules on the right number of pages; however,
approximately 15 pages (font size 12, line spacing 1,5) is perhaps a typical number of
pages for five credits.
Before submitting the essay
It might be useful to ask a fellow student to give constructive feedback on a draft version
of your essay before the final submission. Check that your arguments are presented in a
logical order, and that you have answered all of the questions set for or by you. Do not
forget to include your own name and contact information.
Grading
The grading scale in JYU is:
Excellent (A) = 5
Very good (B) = 4
Good (C) = 3
Satisfactory (D) = 2
Sufficient (E) = 1
Fail (FX, F) = 0.
How to write an essay?
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