In the past two months two prominent European government ministers have been forced to resign over plagiarism issues. In April the Hungarian president, Pal Schmitt (above) had to step down after it was shown that his doctorate thesis on the Olympics was copied from two main sources. Then on May 15th Romania's Education Minister, Ioan Mang, who is a computer scientist, resigned after it was shown that eight of his academic papers were plagiarised.
Plagiarism is now a major concern in universities, and all students need to be aware of what it means and how to avoid it, including accidental plagiarism. Many colleges run plagiarism awareness courses for new students, and it's a good idea to take such a course, as well as studying strategies for plagiarism avoidance.
A good starting point to test your knowledge of plagiarism is this quiz - try it now!
http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/bailey/questions.asp?unit=1
Although many undergraduate students will use textbooks for their main sources, post-graduate students are normally expected to read articles in relevant academic journals. Thousands of journals are published covering every academic discipline, mostly in English. Although hard copies, as in the picture, are often printed, journals are normally accessed in electronic form, for example through a university library.
Usually four editions of each journal are published annually, and it is possible to search academic databases for articles relevant to your research. In addition journal websites often let you search their back issues. It is normally sufficient to read the abstract to find out if an article will be useful for you.
There are two important advantages to using journal articles. Firstly, all such articles are peer-reviewed, which means that before they are accepted they are critically read by other experts in that field, who may suggest changes or improvements. The second benefit is that they are more specialised and up-to-date than material found in text books, which take longer to publish.
Abbreviations such as NB are shortened forms of words or phrases, used to save time and space. They are a common and convenient but sometimes confusing feature of English. Understanding the abbreviations used in all types of academic writing is important for reading as well as writing. Most subject areas, for instance Business, have their own language of abbreviations, but certain abbreviations are used more generally:
anon. anonymous
asap as soon as possible
cf. compare (with another source)
ed. editor or edition
e.g. for example
et al. and others (with multiple authors)
Fig. figure (for labelling charts and graphs)
ibid. in the same place (to refer to sources mentioned immediately
before)
i.e. that is (for restatement)
NB take careful note
nd no date (an undated source)
op.cit. in the source mentioned previously
p.a. yearly (per annum)
PS postscript
re. with reference to
Students should notice that if writers wants to introduce their own special abbreviations into an essay, this should be done in the introduction:
Starting from the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm, it is claimed that ...
Writing for academic purposes is not so different from other types of writing. All writing needs to follow grammatical rules and use a standard vocabulary, if the reader is going to understand it. But writing student essays and longer dissertations requires some extra knowledge.
Firstly, most academic writing follows a format, which usually includes stating the purpose of the work, then presenting evidence of research, and next evaluating the evidence. This format will vary according to the length of the text and the subject being discussed.
The second key aspect is the use of reference, so that the reader can find the sources that the writer used and decide for themselves about their usefulness.
A third difference is that this writing normally uses the semi-formal vocabulary which is necessary for precise discussion, and an impersonal style which avoid pronouns like 'I' or 'you'.
This is only an outline of the main features of academic writing. Anyone planning to study at an English-medium college should join a pre-sessional writing course, and buy Academic Writing - A Handbook for International Students, where all these points are explained in much more detail.
The Politecnico de Milano has just announced that from 2014 most of its degree courses, including all its graduate ones, will be taught in English. The Milan university is one of Italy's leading higher education institutions, especially for engineering, science and architecture.
The Rector believes that the change is necessary to make the university more international, and predicts that other Italian universities will adopt English during the next few years. Despite some criticism from Italian students and teachers, he argues that familiarity with the English language will make students more employable, as well as attracting international students and researchers who are unwilling to learn Italian.
