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University Writing
Academic research and professional writing are powerful vehicles for communicating your thoughts and ideas in your field of study and in the global workplace. University writing assignments allow you to practice academic and professional writing in a way that supports ethical and honorable writing choices that clearly communicate your ideas and learning.
Your classes and programs are designed to guide you step-by-step through the development of your written communication skills. For example, assignments provide the parameters for each writing situation, so following the instructions is important in getting started and successfully completing each piece of university writing.
Characteristics of University Writing
Writing with integrity in the context of academic research and professional writing means being honest with your reader and yourself. Know when and how to use APA or the required documentation style for your class or course of study, and be sure to accurately implement it.
University writing assignments are designed to guide you toward critical thinking, meaningful learning, and the confident demonstration of knowledge. Using research allows you to advance your learning beyond common knowledge and build on the ideas of others.
Reading the works of others helps writers
Writers also use research in their writing to communicate professionally within their fields and across the disciplines. Research-based writing does not simply report others’ ideas and words, but instead builds on them to demonstrate a writer’s understanding and credibility as an ethical researcher, effective communicator, and critical thinker.
Writing with integrity requires creating an original piece of writing while discussing the original ideas of others and properly integrating and documenting these research-based ideas in your writing.
Integrating Research
There are three ways to integrate research within academic and professional writing.
To write with integrity and avoid plagiarism when integrating research, document all borrowed information according to the documentation style you are using.
Documenting sources means to include select information about the sources--the books, articles, or webpages--you read and used in your paper. Documentation is required when quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing or using the ideas (artwork, photos, videos, etc.) or words of others. There are two main terms associated with documentation: in-text citation and reference list entries.
Documenting sources
Why Plagiarism Matters
Plagiarism compromises a writer’s integrity and reputation and usually results in serious consequences, both within the university and in the world of work. Fortunately, guidelines have been established to help you with academic and career-related writing. Your classes are designed to give you practice using one such approach.
APA
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2020) establishes a national standard for the layout of an academic paper and gives a method for documenting sources used in these types of papers. APA is one documentation style, and it is the most used style at Purdue University Global. Please check your assignment instructions for your professor’s style expectations. In the professional world other styles may be used.
There are three major elements in an APA-formatted paper:
APA (7th Ed.) In-Text Citations
Note: This information discusses and uses examples of APA Style 7th edition. Scroll down to see the APA Style 6th edition version of this information.
In-text citations are notations in the narrative of the paper where research is being used. In APA style, these notations provide author-date information and in the instance of quotes, also the page number. In-text citations take two common forms: as a narrative citation before the cited material or as a parenthetical citation at the end of the cited material.
No Author?
Use the group author or sponsoring organization in the citation if the source does not have an individual author: (National Geographic, 2011, p. 78). If the source does not name a group author or sponsoring organization, use the title of the work instead. There are a few basic rules to follow for the use of a title of a work inside the in-text citation.
Plant-based cooking. (2020). https://www.plant-basedcookingebook.com
Whales in the ocean. (2020). Ocean Life Magazine. https://www.oceanlife.com
No Year or Page Number?
Note: The information below discusses and uses examples of APA Style 6th edition. Scroll up to see the APA Style 7th edition version of this information.
In-text citations are notations in the narrative of the paper where research is being used. In APA style, these notations provide author-date information and in the instance of quotes, also the page number. In-text citations take two common forms: as a signal phrase citation before the cited material or as a parenthetical citation at the end of the cited material.
Signal phrase to cite a paraphrase: Smith (2010) recognized that more online learning opportunities are needed to reach marginalized high school students and decrease the dropout rate.
Signal phrase to cite a quote (Note the page number is added at the end of the quote in a second set of parentheses): Smith (2010) stressed, “The importance of dedicated study time for online courses is crucial for student success” (p. 3).
Parenthetical citation to cite a paraphrase: Online learning opportunities are needed to reach marginalized high school students and decrease the dropout rate (Smith, 2010).
Parenthetical citation to cite a quote: Many researchers have agreed: “Online education is a viable way to help working adults earn a college degree, but it is not for everyone” (Smith, 2010, p. 4).
No Author?
If there is no individual author, name the corporate author or sponsoring organization:
(National Geographic, 2011, p. 78)
If there is no individual or corporate author, use the title for the in-text citation. Use quotation marks around titles of articles or chapters that are found inside larger sources (books and journals, for example). Use italic font for whole works such as webpages or books.
(“Whales of the Atlantic,” 2010)
(Plant-based cooking, 2020)
No year or page number?
No year? Use the acronym for “no date” in the citation:
(Sagorski, n.d.).
No page number? Use the paragraph number. To determine it, begin at the title or heading and count the paragraphs to get to the one that contains your quote:
(Sagorski, n.d., para. 4).
APA (7th Ed.) Reference List Entries
Note. This information discusses and uses examples of APA Style 7th edition. Scroll down to see the APA Style 6th edition version of this information.
Reference list entries are formatted on a separate page at the end of the paper and provide the full bibliographic information for each source cited in text (Figure 1).
Reference list entries tell
Figure 1
Sample APA Reference List
In Academic Writer, you will find the specifics for formatting references.
Note. This information discusses and uses examples of APA Style 6th edition. Scroll up to see the APA Style 7th edition version of this information.
Reference list entries are formatted on a separate page at the end of your paper and provide the full bibliographic information for each source cited in text. The references tell who the author is, when the publication was, what the title is, and where the source was published. In Academic Writer you will find the specifics for formatting references.
What is Purdue Global’s official policy on plagiarism?
What is the difference between accidental and intentional plagiarism?
What about common knowledge?
What is self-citation?
What is the Coursework Resubmission Policy?
What about programs that automatically format papers according to APA standards?
What documentation style should I use at work?
What about citing images?
How can the Writing Center help me with APA and avoiding plagiarism?
To access the Writing Center from the campus homepage, click “My Studies” then “Academic Success Center.”