What you need to know next is...
- How many different conventions and styles do you need to use in your studies? What are they?
- What do these citation styles look like?
- Where can you find models of good academic practice in your course?
- Does your course have a discipline-specific plagiarism policy? (If so, where is it and what are the details?)
- Are you required to reference lecture, tutorial or class handout materials?
What you need to do is...
- Leave yourself enough time to process your assignments.
- Make sure you understand what is asked of you in assignment tasks.
- Continually write about your thinking.
- Read widely to inform your thinking.
- Accurately record your sources of information when you are making notes including page numbers.
- Make a clear distinction between your ideas and the ideas of others. This should start from initial note-making through to final edit.
- Fully develop your paragraphs so that your response is clear and you are not just reporting what you have read.
- Work on your summarising and paraphrasing skills.
- Learn when and how to include direct quotes in your writing.
- Learn how to reference different kinds of sources, such as diagrams, pictures, tables, etc.
Good academic practice takes time—working out a system that works for you is the trick.
- See Academic Skills' guide to Essay and assignment planning
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