Methodology of essays
Author:
PhDr. Mgr. Lubica Jurickova, Ph.D.
Lecturer:
PhDr. Miloslav Klugar, Ph.D.
Social Medicine and Medical Ethics
Department of Social Medicine and Health Care Policy
Office number: 5.087
Office hours: Friday 9:00 – 11: 00
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
Palacky University in Olomouc
Content of seminar
1. What is professional essay.
2. How to write professional essay.
3. Whom, and when to submit professional essay.
1. What is professional essay
 In a broader sense:
 On a given topic
 Author has to study
scientific literature
 Arguing by authority
 Than write a part which
express an authors own
opinion (KUBATOVA H.,
2009, Handbook of authors
thesis, p. 23).
 In a narrower sense:
 Genre on the border of
journalism and
literature that uses
linguistic resources, ie
metaphors, direct
quotations, indirect
quotations, rhetorical
questions, etc.
(PROKOP V., 2005,
Theory of Literature, p
46).
2. How to write a professional essay?
 I choose a topic from the list offering
by the Department of Social Medicine.
For example: The euthanasia and a
termination of ineffective treatment.
 The topics are written see www.usl.upol.cz
How to write a professional essay?
 I´ll get to the chosen topic at least 2 professional
papers or essays (it means professional
publications or professional papers or essays
which will be in printed or electronic form).
 Do not forget you reference from primary
sources.
How to write a professional essay?
In introduction of essay:
 I formulate the question (or questions), which I´ll
answer, clearly;
and then
 I write clearly what the main aim of the essay:
The question: Do you consider the euthanasia as a
help or a murder of a human being?
The aim of the essay: The aim of the essay is…
How to write a professional essay?
 When I write a professional essay I present the ideas or
thoughts of other authors (the information from professional
publications) and my own ideas or thoughts.
 ! With the ideas of other authors:
• I distinguish a direct quotation (citation) and an indirect
quotation (paraphrase);
• I refer to by abbreviated form in a round brackets (like
surname, the of publication , page number or numbers) in a
whole essay text;
• In the list of literature I present more information in a
required order (I remind you of using different information
given for publications and other given for articles in a journal
etc.)
How to write a professional essay?
 After finishing of writing I read the whole essay
carefully and I check if:
a) The essay meets the demands in terms of
content and terms of form
b) The essay contains: a title page (see the
example no. 1), its own text – the text of
essay and the list of literature (see the
example no.2).
How to write a professional essay?
 The own text of essay is divided to:
 An introduction;
 A body of essay – the own text of essay (and the body is
divided to the paragraphs);
 A conclusion.
Note: the words „introduction“, „body of essay“ and „conclusion“ are
not written in the text of essay.
What to usually write in the
introduction of the essay?
 I sum up the piece of knowledge about a researched
topic which has been published or known till now.
 I present general information about the importance of
the researched topic.
 I formulate a problem – a question (or questions), which
I´ll answer, and the aim of essay (in an indicative
sentence); a reader must know at the beginning of
the essay what the essay is about and what the
aim of the essay is.
 I define the researched topic.
What to usually write in the body of the
essay?
 I develop a problem – a question (or questions),
the aim (or aims) of the essay.
 I explain the ideas or thoughts and I can support
them by the examples.
 I divide the whole essay to the paragraphs.
 I argue by the authority (or authorities).
 I use my own argued statements too.
 I refer in the text properly (in an abbreviated
form).
What to usually write in the conclusion
of the essay?
 I sum up the results of the consideration (a
previous text).
 I have a think about the results, possibly I draw
the consequences and I outline future tasks.
 I have a think about wider implications of the
researched topic by using presented theoretical
pieces of knowledge.
Notification
 The worst mistake is
 The different mistake
not to say
anything, not to
express what you
do really think of
something (of the
topic, problem).
is generality, semantic
emptiness (the essay
is not a stylistic
formation used for
an empty
babbling).
How to write a professional essay
 In the text of professional essay you quote
from primary sources (printed or electronic).
 Why do I have to link a source of used
information?
! See the Act no. 121/2000 Co. (Copyright Act) as
amended.
How to write a professional essay?
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL
REFERENCES
AND
QUOTATION
Bibliographical references
More than 5000 citation styles
USE CITATION STYLE APA 6
http://www.muhlenberg.edu/library/reshelp/apa_example.p
df
How to write a professional essay?
Your own ideas
quotation
Ideas of other authors and
Information from texts of other
professional publications
Direct quotation
(text is in quotes)
Indirect
quotation
(text is retold in
your own words)
List of literature
Just mandatory
(„some“) data
The abbreviated form of reference in the text of essay: (surname, year, page)
Example (Nový, 2009, p 25)
What is a direct quotation (citation)
and how can I present it in a text?
 The direct quotation (citation) is a literal introduction
of a passage from an other author´s text with a
reference to a source of information.
 Example no.1: „The population is aging“ (Kalvach, 2006, p 8);
 Example no. 2: Kalvach (2006, p 8) says: „Population is aging.“
If the author´s name occurs in the text, it´s followed by the year of
publication and the page number in a round brackets.
When do we use a direct quotation?
 We use the direct quotation then if it
supports or completes our own
statement or if it is a subject of our
analysis, commentary etc.
What is an indirect quotation (paraphrase)
and how can I present it in a text?
 An indirect quotation (paraphrase) is a
retold text of other author with a
references to a source of information, which
is told by our own words.
Example no. 1: By Kalvach (2006, p 8) in the senior
population there is the predominance of women.
Example no. 2: In the senior population there is the
predominance of women (Kalvach, 2006, p 8).
When do we use an indirect quotation?
 We use an indirect quotation then if
we want to reproduce the extensive
passages briefly or if we want to
inform about them as about a whole
in order to support or development
of our own thoughts or ideas.
The references in the text
(one author wrote two publications during one year)
1. text
2. text
(Nový, 2004a, p 2-3)
(Nový, 2004b, p 12)
If two or more information sources have the
same author and the year of publication , they
are distinguished by small letters of alphabet (a,
b, c etc.) and they follow after the year of
publication.
How to refer to in a professional text
(the examples of a direct and indirect quotation and argumentation)
„Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.“ (Kalvach, 2010, p
11). By Munzarová (2006, p 8-9) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. It
follows that xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Kořenek (2004, p 9) emphasizes: „Xxxxxxxxxxx.“ His
argumentation is that xxxxxxxxxxxxx, because
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, and that´s why I agree with a
conclusion of Haškovcová (2010, p 20) proving
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Notification no. 1
 It is important to distinguish our
own thoughts from other´s
thoughts (if you read the text in a
row, just ask yourself if it´s absolutely
clear who the author of the thought is –
if it´s you or the authority).
Notification no. 2
 For each a direct or indirect
quotation in the text there must be a
bibliographic citation of the
publication in a list of literature the
essay referred to (in a list of literature
it´s enough to mention only „some“
information, see Example no. 2 – The list of
literature).
How to write it in the list of literature (1)?
 Kořenek, Josef. 2001. Medical ethics. Olomouc:
Palacky University.
 Munzarová, Marta. 2005.Euthanasia or palliative
care? Prague: Grada Publishing.
!
In this way you quote bibliographic citation of
publication or other individually published
monographic printed document (see Example no. 2
as well).
Notice that the items in the list of literature are ordered
alphabetical by author´s surname.
 The structure of bibliographic citation of a book or other
individually published monographic printed document in the list
of literature:
 Surname, Name of author;
 Year of publication;
 Name of a book;
 Place of publication, publisher.
Notice that surname is written in capital letters and there is a dot
behind the author´s name and surname. The year of publication is
written behind the author´s name and the information is
completed by a dot. It is recommended to write the name of the
book in italics. A colon is written behind the place of publication,
and after there is information about publisher. In the list of
literature there must be used an unified
punctuation (commas, dots etc).
How to write a bibliographical citations
if there are more authors?
HAŠKOVÁ, Hana, et al., 2009.Forensic psychiatry and psychology.
Prague: Grada Publishing.
 More than three authors: All names should be mentioned if
it´s possible. If some names are left out, it´s quoted the first
author´s name and the abbreviation „et.al.“ (and others) follows
after it.
 Two or three authors: All names are mentioned.
Cite when write
Is here an easier way?
Reference management software.
How to write a professional essay
(summary)
 I choose the topic from the offer of the Department of Social Medicine
and Health Policy;
 I get at least 3 professional publications;
 In introduction of the essay I form the problem of the essay clearly – the
sentence in a form of question and the aim of essay (indicative sentence);
 The reader must know at the beginning of the essay what the main aim
of the essay is, what the essay is about);
 I refer in the text of the essay properly;
 I check if the essay:
a) meets the demands in terms of content and terms of form (The
evaluation criteria for essays)
b) contains a title page, its own text – the text of essay (at least 3 pages)
and the list of literature.
Recommended literature
Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing.ISO 690:2011 (01
0197). Information and documentation – Rules for
bibliographic references and citations of information sources.
SLADE, John. 2011. How to write an essay. Woodgate
international [online]. New York: Woodgate, [cit. 2012-09-09].
Avialable from:
http://www.atlasbooks.com/woodgateintl/HowtoWriteanEs
say.pdf
SZYMANEK, Krzysztof, Krzysztof A. WIECZOREK and Andrzej
S. WÓJCIK. Art of argumentation. Olomouc: Palacky University,
2004. ISBN 80-244-0834-1.
2. How to write a professional essay?
FORMALITIES
Formalities of the essay
 Margins: 2,5 cm;
 Script: Times New Roman (12);
 Paragraph: indent the first line 1cm from the left




perpendicular (don´t make a gap between paragraphs);
Line spacing: 1,5;
Align text to the block (the right edge is aligned)
Number of pages of own essay: 3 or more;
Page numbering of the essay: Page numbering starts from the
main text 2, 3. A title page and the list of literature are
not counted to the total page numbering, it means that
they are not numbered (see arrangement of essay).
2. How to write a professional essay
ARRANGEMENT
OF
ESSAY
Arrangement of essay
 1. first page is the title page (see Example no. 1). The
title page is not counted to the total numbering of
pages and the number of this page (p 1) is not stated.
 2., 3. pages, or else pages are the own text of essay. It
starts page numbering there: Insert – page numbers,
placed – down (foot of page). Align – in the middle (on
the last page of the own text you sign yourself
personally).
 5. page is the list of literature (see Example 2). It is 5.
(last) page, do not write the number.
3. To whom and when to turn in the
essay
 Submit the essays to control to PhDr. Miloslav Klugar, Ph.D.,
by LMS UNIFOR
 Deadline is 1. 11. 2013
Date and requirements for credits
 Date of fulfillment
 4.1.2013
 On a day of fulfillment bring (except index) your personally
singed essay in a printed form (Please, sign on the last page of
the own text, not on page with the list of literature).
 The essay must meet the requirements in terms of content
and terms of form (see The evaluation criteria for essays).
 The essays approval is a requirement to singing up for the
oral exam.