What are the Different Referencing Systems used in Assignment Writing?

What are the different referencing systems used in assignment writing?

Referencing plays a major part in the assignment writing process. Writing assignment almost always required thorough research on the topic. At certain points the writer may need to refer a quote/ sentence from another writer and state it in his own assignment. However providing another writer’s piece of work as your own is prohibited and is a form of plagiarism. Hence it is vital to provide reference to such work of others which you have stated in you piece of writing.

This document briefly covers some of the more commonly used referencing systems when writing assignments.

Harvard – This style of referencing is mainly used among students studying in universities. The Harvard referencing style includes two types of citations;

  1. in-text citations: This is used when quoting from a source directly.
  2. Reference lists: This list is available at the end of the article and gives a full description of the sources used when writing the document.

APA – This is a reference style found by the American Psychological Association. Hence the reason for its name APA. This type of referencing is used by students in schools as well universities. This method also has two types of citations, namely in-text citation and reference lists.

Chicago – The Chicago manual of style has two main systems.

  1. Notes and bibliography
  2. Author date

Choosing between the two may differ according to the type of research and source.

MLA – The MLA style of referencing uses in-text citations instead of footnotes. The in-text citation will be very brief often only portraying the important facts whereas a full list of workings will be stated at the end of the document.

IEEE – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) referencing style is used in the publications related to electronics, computer and technology. Hence it more of a technical forms of referencing style. This style is also used among University students studying in the fields on Electronics and Information Technology.

The method involves in-text references, where there references are numbered according to the order it appears in the document and reference list, where the full details of the references are stated at the end of the document.

These are some of the commonly used type of citation methods. However there are many more ways you can follow in order to avoid plagiarism and refer the work of others used in your piece of writing. At the end referencing plays a very important role in any form of academic writing.

What are the Six Stages of Assignment Writing?

What are the six stages of assignment writing?

Assignment writing most of the time becomes a tedious task for many students no matter in which fields they are majoring in. It always requires a lot more time and effort than a regular lesson or exam. Most of it involves some sort of research to a certain extent. Each individual may find a variation of ease for writing assignments. Students are required to write assignment started from school and up to PhD. Assignments need to be submitted at different points during a particular course and sometimes may need to be written for every subject in a semester. Hence there is no way out of writing assignment or skipping this task.

However in order to simplify tasks for students there are six major steps to follow when writing assignments. Below explained are the different stages of assignment writing.

  1. Pre-writing – Pre-writing belongs to the initial stages of assignment writing. At the very beginning you are given a topic to research and write on. Sometimes it maybe a list of several topics from which you are to choose one topic of your liking. In certain cases you are given the option of select a topic of your choice which would be ideally favorable for the student as he/she can find a topics he/she is comfortable with. Eventually the topic plays a major role in assignment writing as that is what it’s all about.
  1. Gather ideas – Once you get a topic it is important to gather information around that topic. You can use several ways to gather this information. One most important asses available is the internet and search engines to research on the relevant topic.
  1. Organize ideas –The next step is to appropriately organize the ideas you have obtained via step two. Think of how the ideas are going to be structures. Which point comes first and which last. Arrange them in such an order that there is a flow in the article.
  1. Write – This is where you actually start on writing the information under the selected topic based on the ideas organized above.
  1. Review – Read the article and find out any drawbacks you feel are there. Give it to a colleague and get his idea and improvements.
  1. Restructure – Based on step 5 above restructure the assignment. Read it again and see how the overall content fits in together and if any modifications are required.

So by following the above list you are on your way to successful assignment writing!

 

 

How to Write Effective Assignments in order to Secure Top Grades?

How to write effective assignments in order to secure top grades?

Students are required to write quality assignments for many subjects starting from School. A few years back only University students and above focused on writing high quality assignments. However now it has become a requirement for school students to follow proper assignment writing guidelines in order to obtain top grades.

Following are a few of the main factors and points to consider in when writing an assignment in order to obtain good results from the same.

  1. Grammar rules – Always follow proper grammar rules. This is vital in any form of academic writing.
  2. Gather information – Research well on the topic. Use different sources to gather information. Analyze the facts and use your common sense to filter the necessary for your work.
  3. Referencing – Use proper referencing. When citing the work of another author always follow a referencing style recommended by your supervisor. Read well on such citation methods and make sure to use it properly in your document.
  4. Feedback – If possible obtain help from a senior students known to you or a friend. Consider their feedback and make necessary amendments if required.
  5. Spelling and punctuation – Use proper spelling and use of punctuation. Make use of the grammar and spell checking tools available for the word processor involved when writing.
  6. Deadlines – Meet the deadlines. Submit the completed document on or before the deadline. Do not try to make any excuses and extend the deadline as it may have a negative impact on your grading for the assignment.
  7. Methodology – Draft a method to follow when writing the assignment and stick to it. Rough out how you are going to start, continue and conclude it.
  8. Research – Research on the topic you are writing about via the internet or books available in the library or stores.
  9. Refer – Try to find a similar assignment written by another student and draft a basic outline of how you are going to work on yours. This does not mean simple copying from the previously completed assignment. However it may be used to a guide to follow.
  10. Break down and Plan – Break down the assignment in to parts to reduce its complexity. Plan your work and if possible finish part of it and show it to a senior or better yet the supervisor and obtain their comments on it.

 

All of the above steps may help you write a good assignment and make you obtain a good grading for it. Stick to the basics and you are well on your way to an excellent piece of assignment writing.

How to Follow Grammar rules while Writing an Assignment

How to follow grammar rules while writing an assignment

Grammar is a vital fact to consider in any written document no matter the language it is written in. The English language considers grammar of utmost importance. Whether it be formal writing or informal writing, adhering to the grammatical rules gives a professional feel to anyone reading it. However when it comes to academic and technical writing following the grammatical rules is a must and can affect the grading of the piece of writing. This document the grammar rules to follow when writing an assignment.

  1. Active voice – Use active voice whenever possible avoiding the passive voice as much as you can.
  2. Clear meaning – Use words in a manner that gives a clear meaning to the sentence. Do not be vague in your descriptions as you need to give the message clearly.
  3. Limit repetitive words – Avoid repeating the same word many times. Often there is a limit a word could be reused. So be aware of such prior to starting on the assignment.
  4. Interchangeable words – Be aware of words which are easily interchangeable. For example as “its” and “it’s”. Know when to use which. If not sure ask someone or search the web. You can also refer an English grammar and spellings book.
  5. Punctuation – Use colons and semi colons sparingly. Be mindful of when and where to use them. If in doubt always research on it first.
  6. Sentence formation – Do not form very long sentences that it becomes quite as task to find the beginning of it while on the process of reading it half way through. Make the point clear and concise as much as possible.
  7. Sentence break – Be mindful of where to break a sentence with a comma to bring its proper meaning to the reader. This is a point that often gets missed and misleads the reader.
  8. Word order – Similar to the above point it is important to pay caution to the word order in which you write the sentence. A sentence with the same set of words reordered may give a completely different meaning to the reader.

These are some of the rules to be followed when writing as assignment in a proper grammatical way. As always it is better to re-check what is written and even refer it to a friend. The internet is also a good way to check on sentence formations. However word processing packages such as Microsoft Word have their inbuilt grammar and spell checking tools which can be used for assistance when writing an assignment.

 

Top 10 Editing & Proofreading tips to consider before Assignment Submission

Writing assignment required a lot of effort in the form of editing and proofreading. The assignment may get rejected if it does not adhere to the rules specified. Some documents may need to be customized as per the requirements of the institute or supervisor involved. Making use of certain tips and guidelines will results in a high quality assignment which will have more of a chance of being accepted.

The following list highlights some of the top editing and proofreading tips to consider before submitting an assignment. Please note that this is not listed in any particular order.

  1. Do by yourself – Always proofread and edit the document yourself before lying it on the hands of another. This should be the case even if you are hiring a professional for the job.
  2. Track changes feature – Use the track changes feature available in Microsoft Word or any other similar tool available in the word processing package you are using in order to save and keep a track of the edits made and refer them later.
  3. Time – Use ample time to proofread. Never do it in a rush as this would results in incomplete work.
  4. Versions – Proofreading may need to be done several times before the final version is released. Do not get discouraged as you should keep checking until no single error is to be seen by you or anyone else.
  5. Referencing – Double check on the referencing used. Make sure the citation are done accurately and proper guidelines are followed according to the referencing style used.
  6. Titles and footnotes – Do not omit titles and footnotes which tend to miss the eyes. Mistakes can happen in those as well and the result may be very grave in the form of a wrong date or title.
  7. Understand the difference – Understand the difference between editing and proofreading. Edit first and modify the content and language accordingly. Then proofread for grammar and spelling mistakes.
  8. Accuracy of facts – Do not assume anything when writing technical or academic documents. Always look up on the subject matter. If in doubt it is always better to avoid it in the piece of writing.
  9. Formatting – Pay attention to the formatting of the work. Ensure the formatting including indentation and alignments are uniform across the entire content. Learn more on how to effectively use the feature available for formatting in the respective word processing software.
  10. Spellings – Be mindful of the spellings of scientific names and names of persons as they may tend to get ignored in the word processing software. Always manually check them separately.

So the above are some of the tips to consider when editing and proofreading an assignment before submitting it for grading.