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Taking notes for essays

August 25, 2009 by Roy Johnson

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1. In preparation for writing an essay, you should be taking notes from a number of different sources: course materials, set texts, secondary reading, or tutorials and lectures. You might gather information from radio or television broadcasts, or from experiments and research projects. The notes could also include your own ideas, generated as part of the essay planning process.

2. The notes you gather in preparation for writing the essay will normally provide the detailed evidence to back up your arguments. They might also include such things as the quotations and page references you plan to use in your essay. Your ultimate objective in planning will be to produce a one or two page outline of the topics you intend to cover.

3. Be prepared for the fact that you might take many more notes than you will ever use. This is perfectly normal. At the note-taking stage you might not be sure exactly what evidence you will need. In addition, the information-gathering stage should also be one of digesting and refining your ideas.

4. Don’t feel disappointed if you only use a quarter or even a tenth of your materials. The proportion you finally use might vary from one subject to another, as well as depending on your own particular writing strategy. Just because some material is not used, don’t imagine that your efforts have been wasted.

5. When taking notes from any source, keep in mind that you are attempting to make a compressed and accurate record of information, other people’s opinions, and possibly your own observations on the subject in question.

6. Your objective whilst taking the notes is to distinguish the more important from the less important points being made. Record the main issues, not the details. You might write down a few words of the original if you think they may be used in a quotation. Keep these extracts as short as possible unless you will be discussing a longer passage in some detail.

7. Don’t try to write down every word of a lecture – or copy out long extracts from books. One of the important features of note-taking is that you are making a digest of the originals, and translating the information into your own words.

8. Some students take so many notes that they don’t know which to use when it’s time to write the essay. They feel that they are drowning in a sea of information.

9. This problem is usually caused by two common weaknesses in note-taking technique:

transcribing too much of the original
being unselective in the choice of topics

10. There are two possible solutions to this problem:

Select only those few words of the source material which will be of use. Avoid being descriptive. Think more, and write less. Be rigorously selective.
Keep the essay question or topic more clearly in mind. Take notes only on those issues which are directly relevant to the subject in question.

11. Even though the notes you take are only for your own use, they will be more effective if they are recorded clearly and neatly. Good layout of the notes will help you to recall and assess the material more readily. If in doubt use the following general guidelines.

Taking Notes – GUIDELINES

Before you even start, make a note of your source(s). If this is a book, an article, or a journal, write the following information at the head of your notes: Author, title, publisher, publication date, edition of book.
Use loose-leaf A4 paper. This is now the international standard for almost all educational printed matter. Don’t use small notepads. You will find it easier to keep track of your notes if they fit easily alongside your other study materials.
Write clearly and leave a space between each note. Don’t try to cram as much as possible onto one page. Keeping the items separate will make them easier to recall. The act of laying out information in this way will cause you to assess the importance of each detail.
Use some system of tabulation (as I am doing in these notes). This will help to keep the items separate from each other. Even if the progression of numbers doesn’t mean a great deal, it will help you to keep the items distinct.
Don’t attempt to write continuous prose. Notes should be abbreviated and compressed. Full grammatical sentences are not necessary. Use abbreviations, initials, and shortened forms of commonly used terms.
Don’t string the points together continuously, one after the other on the page. You will find it very difficult to untangle these items from each other after some time has passed.
Devise a logical and a memorable layout. Use lettering, numbering, and indentation for sections and for sub-sections. Use headings and sub-headings. Good layout will help you to absorb and recall information. Some people use coloured inks and highlighters to assist this process of identification.
Use a new page for each set of notes. This will help you to store and identify them later. Keep topics separate, and have them clearly titled and labelled to facilitate easy recall.
Write on one side of the page only. Number these pages. Leave the blank sides free for possible future additions, and for any details which may be needed later.

Sample notes

What follows is an example of notes taken whilst listening to an Open University radio broadcast – a half hour lecture by the philosopher and cultural historian, Isaiah Berlin. It was entitled Tolstoy’s Views on Art and Morality, which was part of the third level course in literary studies ‘A 312 – The Nineteenth Century Novel and its Legacy.

Isaiah Berlin – ‘Tolstoy on Art and Morality’ 03 Sep 1989

1. T’s views on A extreme – but he asks important questns which disturb society

2. 1840s Univ of Kazan debate on purpose of A
T believes there should be simple answers to probs of life

3. Met simple & spontaneous people & soldiers in Caucasus
Crimean Sketches admired by Turgenev & Muscovites but T didn’t fit in milieu

4. Westernizers Vs Slavophiles – T agreed with Ws – but rejects science (Ss romantic conservatives)

5. 2 views of A in mid 19C – A for art’s sake/ A for society’s sake

6. Pierre (W&P) and Levin (AK) as egs of ‘searchers for truth’

7. Natural life (even drunken violence) better than intellectual

8. T’s contradiction – to be artist or moralist

9. T’s 4 criteria for work of art

know what you want to say – lucidly and clearly
subject matter must be of essential interest
artist must live or imagine concretely his material
A must know the moral centre of situation

10. T crit of other writers

Shkspre and Goethe – too complex
St Julien (Flaubert) inauthentic
Turgenev and Chekhov guilty of triviality

11. What is Art? Emotion recollected and transmitted to others
[Wordsworth] Not self-expression – Only good should be transmitted

12. But his own tastes were for high art – Chopin, Beethoven, & Mozart
T Argues he himself corrupted

13. Tried to distinguish between his own art and moral tracts

14. ‘Artist cannot help burning like a flame’

15. Couldn’t reconcile contradictions in his own beliefs
Died still raging against self and society

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Teaching Academic Writing

June 8, 2009 by Roy Johnson

a toolkit for writing skills in further and higher education

No matter what subjects students engage with in further and higher education, they will be required to produce written work on which they will be assessed. This could be the formal academic essay, a lab report, a project, a case study, or even a reflective journal. Teaching Academic Writing is designed to assist subject lecturers and writing skills tutors whose job it is to help students develop their written work and grasp the conventions of academic argument and expression.

The need for this assistance has arisen as larger and larger numbers of students enter F & HE – often from non-traditional backgrounds, and sometimes with `English as a second language. The authors (a group of tutors from the Open University) start off by suggesting that teachers should make explicit the writing tasks they set for students. It can no longer be assumed that students will already know what an academic essay requires them to do – or that they will pick up the idea as they go along.

Next comes making them conscious of the appropriate academic register, as well as eradicating grammatical errors. There’s no quick fix for this: it requires a lot of intensive marking and supportive feedback. But I was surprised they didn’t spot the time-saving device of putting guidance notes on line.

However, their suggestions on pre-writing (notes), brainstorming, and planning should be useful as tools for teaching students that almost no form of successful writing comes fully-formed, straight from the head of the writer.

At a time when modular degrees are becoming more popular, it’s important that students are aware of the differing conventions which obtain in various subjects. These can vary from the ‘hard evidence’ required in sciences to the ‘well-informed opinion’ which is accepted as persuasive argument in the arts. Somewhere in between are the social sciences which attempt to combine the two. Once again, they argue very sensibly that these conventions should be made explicit to students if they are to have any chance of succeeding in their work.

They also show examples of such work and offer exercises which are designed to raise students’ awareness of what’s required. The close examination of a case study in business studies reveals the particular difficulty of writing for two audiences at the same time.

The next chapter deals explicitly with the issue of assessment. Once again the advice is to make the assessment criteria clear to both students and tutors alike. And their advice on providing feedback on assessed work is excellent. It would be good to see the marking pro-formas and guidance notes in more widespread general use.

However, what they don’t take into account is the important factor that making assignments thoroughly is a time-intensive activity, and many tutors can skimp on this part of their duties because they know their work will not be closely monitored. Moreover, since much direct teaching and assignment marking in F & HE is now done by hourly paid post-graduates, they are place in the invidious position of working for the rates of a domestic cleaner, exploiting themselves in order to stay in employment. [This is a subject close to my heart, which I discuss in my own book on Marking Essays.]

They finish with a first rate chapter on academic writing in an electronic environment. This covers all the digital tools available – from word-processors and email, to conferencing and discussion forums, and online writing laboratories (OWLs) and the strategies by which materials located on line can be evaluated for their usefulness.

Tutors at any level of F & HE would do themselves a favour by rehearsing the issues raised in this book. It might be written by what is almost a committee, but it’s got a collective’s combined experience written into it.

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Caroline Coffin et al, Teaching Academic Writing, London: Routledge, 2003, pp.175, ISBN 0415261368

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The Arts Good Study Guide

July 12, 2009 by Roy Johnson

best-selling introduction to study skills for the arts

This is a set text on one of the Open University’s humanities foundation courses, and it has quite rightly become a best-seller. The Arts Good Study Guide can be used as an introductory workbook or as a source of reference. It deals with reading and note-taking, essay writing, working with numbers, and preparing for examinations. It starts with getting yourself organised and managing your time, then goes on to the core study skills for subjects in the arts and humanities. These are reading skills and taking notes, various approaches to studying, writing skills, and then the central issue of writing essays. There’s a useful section on what is particular to studying the arts – questions of analysis, meaning, and interpretation.

It also deals with how you communicate your ideas and opinions; what constitutes evidence; and how you might conduct your own research or projects. Finally, there is a section on revision and examination skills, dispelling some myths about exams, pointing to some of the common pitfalls, and providing tips on the best approach This is a text-heavy book – no pictures – but all the advice is intensely practical and based on real-life examples. The main features worth recommending are its use of realistic examples and the friendly manner in which it addresses the reader. It engages you as actively as possible by posing questions, highlighting important points, setting short quizzes, and breaking up the exposition into manageable chunks.

This approach to active and [in educational jargon] ‘open’ learning is particularly suitable for anyone embarking on a distance-learning course, or students engaged in any form of independent learning. In fact there are now separate versions for sciences and social sciences. There are suggestions for further reading, there’s a full index, and at its current price this is exceptionally good value.

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Ellie Chambers and Andrew Northedge, The Arts Good Study Guide, Milton Keynes: The Open University, 2002, pp.276, ISBN: 0749287454

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The Basics of Essay Writing

July 23, 2009 by Roy Johnson

how to develop and improve your essay-writing skills

The main thing to say here about The Basics of Essay Writing is that it’s very short. Nigel Warburton has compressed the essential points of essay-writing skills into an amazingly small space. He’s done this by using a technique which could be recommended to people writing in any literary form. It’s called ‘cutting out the dross’. His ideas and recommendations come thick and fast, and he doesn’t dwell on anything for very long. The result is a highly concentrated series of tips, advice, and guidance on all aspects of academic writing.

He begins by pointing out the importance of writing skills – how everyone can improve with just a few simple steps, and how writing is a form of thinking. It really is true that often you don’t really understand something properly until you have written it down. He deals with getting started, and how to encourage your own fluency; how to understand the instruction terms in an essay question; and how you must keep in mind the most important thing of all – answering the original question.

Research skills are condensed into the very sound advice that you need to be disciplined. You should not ‘get lost’ in reading everything, and your reading should be accompanied by active note-taking as a preparation for producing your essay plan.

The central part of the book deals with the all-important issue of structure: how to create order, marshal your arguments, and write good introductions and conclusions. In my experience this is the part students find hardest, and if you follow his suggestions it should be more manageable.

There’s a good section on plagiarism and referencing where he shows some practical examples of the various degrees of plagiarism which are possible, even when the original source is acknowledged.

Cultivating an appropriate style is dealt with via tips on tone, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation. There’s a section on dealing with exams, and he ends with general advice for improving your writing. He shows a rogue’s gallery of common mistakes – of which he has obviously seen many.

Nigel Warburton is the principal author of a very successful Open University course on essay-writing skills. In fact (without knowing him in the slightest) I have been tutoring it for the last few years, and I have been repeatedly struck by the thoroughness of its approach. All the students who follow the course recommendations pass with flying colours.

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Nigel Warburton, The Basics of Essay Writing, London: Routledge, 2007, pp.128, ISBN: 0415434041

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The Doctoral Examination Process

July 20, 2009 by Roy Johnson

This is an ambitious book with three separate audiences. It’s main strength is that it is based on research at twenty British universities – eleven ‘old’ and nine ‘new’. Tinkler and Jackson’s approach assumes that the research has been done and the work has been submitted. So it begins withe the Viva – which the Burnham committee described as ‘one of the best kept secrets in British higher education’. They seek to de-mystify the process by looking at what the viva is for, what the expectations of students and examiners are, and what rules (if any) surround the process.

These are more varied (or non-existent) than you might imagine. It turns out rather surprisingly that at the University of Glamorgan for instance, you can pass the viva even if you are dead. Next comes what examiners might be looking for in the thesis which will be discussed during the viva – followed by advice on how to prepare for the experience, short and long term.

Their suggestions are that you should be presenting papers in the department or conferences, attending training courses, and even publishing your own work.

Next come observations on the selection of examiners. Who chooses them? What are their qualifications? And should your supervisor attend the viva as well?

Despite the mystique which still surrounds this part of PhD examination, there are a lot more open regulations these days. Both students and newly appointed supervisors and examiners would do well to read these chapters.

There are also some fascinating case studies illustrating practices in foreign universities, as well as some cautionary tales from the UK where the ‘flexibility’ in the system sometimes means things go wrong.

They then offer something I have never come across before – guidance to examiners on how to assess a doctoral thesis. They even cover a number of different disciplines in doing so. Then it’s a return to support and preparation for the student – using mock vivas and last minute revision.

Finally, they deal with what happens behind the closed doors of the viva itself. (More case studies of horror stories and triumphs.) How to deal with the questions; how to create a confident impression; how to overcome nervousness.

They are right to stress the range of possible outcomes for which candidates should be prepared. If the result is not what you had hoped for, they even cover the appeals process – as well as how to celebrate afterwards if it’s a success.

I think students will find the quotations and real life case studies really interesting. New supervisors and examiners will get an informative overview with some useful comparative studies from a variety of institutions.

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Penny Tinkler and Carolyn Jackson, The Doctoral Examination Process, Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2004, pp.228, ISBN: 0335213057

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The Good Study Guide

July 12, 2009 by Roy Johnson

best-selling introduction to study skills for humanities

The Good Study Guide started life as a set text on one of the Open University’s social science foundation courses, and it has quite rightly gone on to become a best-seller. In fact there are now separate versions for arts and sciences. The book can be used as an introductory workbook or as a source of reference. It deals with reading and note-taking skills, essay writing, working with numbers, and preparing for examinations. On learning techniques it covers learning in groups, talks and lectures, and (specially for OU students) learning from radio and television.

The main features worth recommending are its use of realistic examples and the friendly manner in which it addresses the reader. It engages you as actively as possible by posing questions, highlighting important points, setting short quizzes, and breaking up the exposition into manageable chunks. This approach to active and [in educational jargon] ‘open’ learning is particularly suitable for anyone embarking on a distance-learning course, or students engaged in any form of independent learning. There are no suggestions for further reading, but there’s a full index and at its current price this is exceptionally good value.

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Andrew Northedge, The Good Study Guide, Buckingham: The Open University, 2nd edition 2005, pp.392, ISBN: 0749259744

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The Little Brown Handbook

June 19, 2009 by Roy Johnson

encyclopaedia of writing skills + exercises and examples

Don’t be misled by the title. This book is neither little nor brown. It’s a reference guide to all aspects of academic writing that its authors say will “answer almost any question you have about writing…find out how to get ideas, punctuate quotations, search the Internet, cite sources, or write a resumé”. That’s a bold claim, but in almost one thousand densely packed pages, I think they live up to it. The Little, Brown Handbook has become a classic style guide over its many editions.

Fowler and Aaron start with the standard academic essay and its requirements, then cover grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence construction, vocabulary, and research. However, these simple headings belie the richness of the material they provide. The latest edition takes full account of computers and the Internet for writing and research, advice for users of English as a second language, plus the latest (1998) MLA guidelines.

It actually starts with a chapter on critical thinking and reading, then puts its emphasis on writing as a process of development, drafting, and revising. These sections act as a thorough course in essay-writing techniques, from formulating ideas to revising, editing, and proofreading the final drafts.

It’s full of handy hints. They suggest for instance the use of two-column reading journal – left column for summaries, and an empty right column which will “beckon you to respond” with critical notes. Every point is illustrated with examples, and there are exercises at the end of each chapter [though you have to work out the answers for yourself].

This is a book that could be used for reference [“Where does the comma go?”] as a teaching aid [“Work through exercises 4 and 5”] or as a source of self-instruction [Outliners and how to use them in generating structure]. For students, there are some very useful examples of revised drafts, tips on essay introductions and conclusions, the generation and substantiation of arguments, and recognising fallacies of argument. For tutors, they make suggestions for coursework.

The section on sentence construction is also an introduction to the basics of English Language and grammar. Like many other guides of its kind, it assumes that readers need to know about ‘prepositional phrases’, ‘subordinating conjunctions’, and ‘restrictive apositives’. Every single case and difficulty is listed, to the point of exhaustive completeness. The problem is that it might not be easy for students to locate the case they require from index entries which read ‘Commas – with conjunctive adverbs and transitional expressions’.

After sections on grammatical correctness, it goes on to questions of taste, style, and conventions in language-use. This embraces choosing the appropriate word, being concise, eliminating dross, and extending one’s vocabulary. The vexed issue of spelling is explained with all its common exceptions, and the latter part of the book discusses meta-issues such as planning a research project, using the Internet to good effect, evaluating sources, the traditional skills of taking notes, and the latest MLA conventions on text citation. At the end, there are sections on writing under exam conditions, business writing (with plenty of examples) and appendices on page layout, document design, oral presentations, and writing with a computer. These latter sections will be of interest to more advanced users.

For students, there are some very useful examples of sample research papers and an examination essay – not only the complete text, but a running commentary on the right-hand page explaining points of detail and commenting on structure, format, citation, and the handling of secondary sources. They even include revised drafts and notes made in the composition of the papers. This is an excellent resource, and just about the closest you could get to live tuition in the subtleties of academic writing.

This may be a book that will appeal more to course tutors, instructors, and librarians than to the students it is written for, but for anyone concerned with the development of writing skills Fowler and Aaron cover all (and I mean all) the details. It might be an expensive investment, but if you’re teaching writing skills it’s the most comprehensive resource I’ve ever come across, and if you’re just starting your academic career, it will see you through to post-graduate studies and beyond.

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H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, Little, Brown Handbook, (7th edn) New York: Longman, 11th edition 2009, pp.992, ISBN: 0205734960

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The Oxford Comma

September 19, 2011 by Roy Johnson

also known as the serial or the Harvard comma

What is the Oxford Comma?

The Oxford comma is a name given to the mark of punctuation used before the final and when listing a series of items. Here’s an example.

There were a number of items on the table: a handbag, a penknife, a clock, and a walking stick.

The Oxford comma is the comma which comes before the last item – , and a walking stick.

The Oxford comma gets its name from the fact that is has traditionally been recommended by the Oxford University Press in its instructions to typesetters and printers. The latest OUP style guide, New Hart’s Rules continues to urge its use. It’s also known as the ‘serial comma’, or the ‘Harvard comma’ in the USA.

When a number of items are listed in a sentence, the normal way to present them is separated by commas. However, there are two schools of thought about the need for the final comma.

The sentence above would still be understandable if it were written as follows:

There were a number of items on the table: a handbag, a penknife, a clock and a walking stick.

Some people argue that the final comma can be omitted in many cases because it breaks up the natural flow of the sentence. That’s true in this example – but only because all the items are quite distinct and carry equal weight. The comma in this case can be used or omitted. However, in other cases ambiguity can easily arise if the comma is omitted.

This is particularly true if the list includes things of a different kind.

cider, real ales, meat and vegetable pies and sandwiches

This example could mean that in addition to cider and real ales, the list includes meat, plus vegetable pies, plus sandwiches. But is more likely to mean meat and vegetable pies, plus sandwiches.

A famous instance of the same thing is that attributed to the American science fiction writer Teresa Hayden, who dedicated one of her books in the following way.

To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.

What she meant of course was ‘I am dedicating this book to my parents, to Ayn Rand, and to God’. Even that would have been pretentious enough, but the way she has expressed it, without the Oxford comma, the implication is that her parents were Ayn Rand and God.

A comma after the final and is not required when the last two items are a single expression or a ‘pair’

The menu offered us several options: roast beef, pasta bake, lamb chops, or fish and chips.

The comma should also be used if there is a grammatical extension to the list, as in this example.

brass, copper, bronze, and other non-ferrous materials

The need for the final comma become more acute when the list is a series of clauses in a single sentence.

The main points to consider are whether the competitors are skilful enough to complete the course, whether they have trained sufficiently for such a long race, and whether they are used to running at high altitude in these temperatures.

The commas in this example help the reader to understand a long statement made up of complex parts.

When the clauses in a complex sentence are themselves puctuated by commas, the separate clauses should be punctuated using the semicolon.

The outbreak of war was caused by a number of factors: Hitler’s determination to occupy Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland; the longstanding desire of Chamberlain and Daladier, as opposed to Winston Churchill, to avoid war at all costs; and Stalin’s cynical, last-minute pact with Hitler.

Even though the comma before the final ‘and’ is sometimes not required, it’s worth noting that it is never wrong. This is a good argument for always using it – to remove any possible ambiguity.

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The Sciences Good Study Guide

July 12, 2009 by Roy Johnson

best-selling introduction to study skills for sciences

This is a set text on one of the Open University’s science foundation courses, and it has quite rightly become a best-seller. It’s written for maths, science, engineering, and technology students approaching further education or undergraduate courses – possibly after a long break from study. The Sciences Good Study Guide can be used as an introductory workbook or as a source of reference. It deals with reading and note-taking, essay writing, working with numbers, and preparing for examinations. The main features worth recommending are its use of realistic examples and the friendly manner in which it addresses the reader. It’s packed with practical exercises and activities, and it aims to make studying more enjoyable and rewarding.

There is also an extra maths help section with exercises and answers which allows you to assess your own skills. It’s an invaluable source of ‘hints and tips’, helping you to learn more effectively and develop study strategies that really work. Another important feature is that it engages the reader as actively as possible by posing questions, highlighting important points, setting short quizzes, and breaking up the exposition into manageable chunks.

It contains lots of good advice on general study skills – note-taking, reading, time-management, and confidence building – but the centrepiece is a section on maths – one of the most daunting topics for most beginners. It also covers working with diagrams, flow charts, and graphs and tables; working with numbers and tables; using a computer efficiently; conducting experiments, and writing essays and reports.

The book is designed to meet the needs of a range of learners – not just those involved in distance education. It will appeal to beginning and experienced students alike, including those: starting to study at college or university; taking access or study skills courses; looking afresh at how they study.

This approach to active and [in educational jargon] ‘open’ learning is particularly suitable for anyone embarking on a distance-learning course, or students engaged in any form of independent learning. In fact there are now separate versions of these guides for arts and social sciences. At its current price this is exceptionally good value.

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Andrew Northedge et al, The Sciences Good Study Guide, Buckingham: The Open University, 1998, pp.470, ISBN: 0749234113

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The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics

July 13, 2009 by Roy Johnson

solving moral dilemmas in research projects

You might not think there is a book-length study to be made of the ethical issues in academic research, but Paul Oliver makes a convincing case that there are moral considerations to be made at every stage of the process – from the original concept to the publication of results. The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics starts off with the need to define terms. Is someone a subject, a participant, or an interviewee? Each term contains its own nuances, and these can have an ethical bearing on the relationship between researcher and the people being studied.

The book is mainly aimed at students in education and the social sciences who might be likely to gather information from interviewing people. However the issues it raises are general ones and might be encountered by anyone conducting a research project or doing market research. Tracing the development of a research project from methodology, through data collection and analysis, to publication, he looks in detail at the moral dilemmas which might arise between researcher and subject – including even people who are dead at the time the information is gathered.

Many of the topics he inspects involve making fine distinctions between the rights and responsibilities of the researcher and the interviewee – and sometimes between the researcher and the information that is being gathered. These issues are explored in what becomes a practical philosophic manner, so that the underlying ethical issues are brought to the surface.

He deals with the difficulties of obtaining genuinely ‘informed consent’ amongst respondents, researching vulnerable groups of people, and dealing with problems of permissions and protocols. Even the manner in which data is recorded can raise ethical issues.

He covers issues of privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, ethnocentrism, differences in gender, ethnicity, and religion, participant observation, and the disposal of data when a research project has been completed. It’s all done in a fair and even-handed manner, without any sense of taking sides or favouring the researcher.

He also looks closely at the potential – and actual – difficulties arising from the funding of research projects, of intellectual property rights, and the dissemination of research findings via publication. Although he speaks against Internet publication earlier in the book, I was surprised at this point that there was no mention of it in his discussion of plagiarism.

This will be of particular interest to students in sociology, psychology, management and organisational studies, communication studies, education, and the health service. And although the title suggests it’s for students, I can think of quite a few supervisors who would profit from considering the issues it raises.

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Paul Oliver, The Student’s Guide to Research Ethics, Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2nd edition 2010, pp.224, ISBN: 0335237975

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sample from HTML program and PDF book

Sample notes

a toolkit for writing skills in further and higher education

best-selling introduction to study skills for the arts

how to develop and improve your essay-writing skills

best-selling introduction to study skills for humanities

encyclopaedia of writing skills + exercises and examples

also known as the serial or the Harvard comma

What is the Oxford Comma?

best-selling introduction to study skills for sciences

solving moral dilemmas in research projects

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