Academic writing
Our resources will help you become an expert in academic writing - the type of writing you'll use for assignments at university.
Understanding academic writing
Writing for assessments and assignments at university is known as "academic writing". This is an umbrella term for a range of styles - from formal essays, through to reports and presentations.
The resources in this section will help you to plan and structure your writing to help articulate your thinking and improve your communication skills whilst at university.
For more information about academic writing please see the following guides:
Resources for academic writing
Please note that many of these links require an internal NTU student/staff log-in to access for Sway and NOW.
Before thinking about conducting your research, it is a good idea to understand what the question is asking you to do. You can for instance use the wording of the title to identify your approach, key search terms and key ideas:
Have you ever received feedback on an assignment telling you to be less descriptive and more critical within your assignments? Our resources will help you to gain a deeper understanding of what critical thinking is and why we use it at university.
Writing essays at university will mean that you need to plan and structure a persuasive argument, which has a clear introduction and conclusion. These tutorials will help you to get started.
A report is a form of writing which has the purpose to inform. It often means that you will need to include different sections, and format your writing in a different way. These tutorials will help you to get started.
Do you have a poster presentation to do for an assignment? Find out how to go about creating one, and some recommendations about designing them.
A literature review is an important part of a research paper or dissertation, and helps understand the current state of knowledge about a topic. Find out what one is, how to approach doing one, and how to structure one.
The following guides are designed to enable you to use digital writing to practise, to share, to collaborate and to critique the work of others in the public domain, in order to enhance your academic writing. Use these guides to help you choose a platform that suits you and your needs, and to start blogging as a way of exploring your thinking and practising your writing.
The way that we express ourselves in our writing can help others to understand what it is that we are trying to say. These tutorials will help you with basic grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.
You’ve done the research, you’ve written the assignment and you know it’s a good piece of work. But what if your ideas are not clear to the person reading it? Spotting and correcting your own mistakes can make the difference between a near miss and hitting the target.
Your dissertation or final year research project may be the biggest piece of work that you do - don't panic! Check out these resources to give you an idea of how to proceed, and find out where you can get further help if needed:
More skills for success references
Finding and evaluating information
Our resources will help you research effectively using many different search techniques and tools, such as Library OneSearch, individual databases and eBooks.
Presentation skills
Discover tools, techniques and tips to help you approach delivering presentations more effectively.
Time management
Our time management resources will help you to plan and organise your activities to ensure you make the most of your time at university.
Revision and exam techniques
Set yourself up for success with our guides on revision and exam techniques.