Don’t Plagiarise
Plagiarism is wrong, but you didn’t come here for the morals. While it might seem to help you in the short term, copying other’s work reduces your own knowledge of the subject and leaves you dangerously open in class and exams to tutors deducing what you’re up to. Anyone can now Google chunks of your essay and see if you’ve taken it from the net, and good tutors will know the key points from the books you’re likely to get. We’ve all seen it work occasionally for other people, but it’s not worth the risk.
Footnote and Quote Appropriately
While copying large chunks of another’s work isn’t going to help you, adding in properly quoted sections is not only recommended, it’s advisable. Generally in a history essay giving a sentence or two from a qualified historian to support and back up your work is a valid tactic, especially when that historian has gone from talking about something widely repeated – like a narrative –to their own interpretations and commentary, such as a value judgement. Always use quotations for this, and if you’re required to footnote, do so obsessively. Better to overdo it than get accused of plagiarism.
Footnoting in Turabian Style
Footnoting in MLA Style
Don’t be Afraid to Write Early and Revise Often
Some people can do all their reading, contain all the knowledge in their head, and then put it all together in one focused draft. There aren’t many of these people, and most of us need to draft things while they are still fresh in our heads. Don’t be afraid to write paragraphs, even a complete draft, after digesting only one or two key works, if you’re willing to revise, revise and revise again as your reading and thinking progresses. The danger is you produce a disjointed piece, but this can be overcome with care. Generally speaking the longer your essay, or even dissertation, the more you want to write before your final attack.
Don’t Leave it to the Last Minute
There are several reasons to try and complete your work ahead of time. Firstly, if you rush you cut down on thinking and editing time, and everything you write benefits from re-reading the next day, or even a couple of days mulling over what you’ve written. Leaving things late can stop you getting hold of the books you need at the library as other people get there first, and a good essay needs time to go through the necessary research and planning. Of course some people thrive on stress and produce good work near a deadline, but it’s a problematic habit which can be affected by surprises.
Proofread
It’s best to proofread a document several times to try and iron out all the mistakes, from major ones like contradicting yourself, to minor – but still important – mistakes in grammar, spelling and dates. The best results can come when you proofread a document several days after reading it, when you’ve had a chance to forget exactly what you’ve written, so you’re now reliant on reading what it does say, not relying on memory for what it should say.
Proofreading Do's and Don'ts
