Monday, August 8, 2011

How to find academic sources for your essay

When you first begin working on an essay, what is the first place you usually go for information? Most students are likely to go to the internet to look for sources. But, can we trust that the information we will find on the internet is of an acceptable standard? It is hard to think so. When writing academic essays, you need to use academic sources for your research. However, information on most websites is classified as non-academic. It is easy to see why when we consider how easy it is to publish information on the internet. Anyone who can access the internet can write and publish anything there. It is still possible for a student to use the internet as a resource, but you need to know where to look to find information you can use. You are advised to search for information from reputable websites such as websites that are published by governments, national and international organisations, educational institutes and universities. This information is more likely to be reliable. But please keep in mind that in order for a source to be technically considered an academic source, it must have been written and published by an academic.

The easiest way to find academic resources is to go the library! Books, textbooks, journal articles and monographs written by academics are valuable sources for academic purposes. These kinds of sources are suitable for academic research because it is difficult for each book to be published, so they must be of a high standard. In academic publishing, a source must be written by an academic person, edited to meet the highest standards and rechecked several times by other academics through a process called ‘peer-review’ or refereeing. This is the process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field who conduct a pre-publication review of the academic’s work. That way, only reliable information of a high standard is published. This process can give you confidence when choosing books to be used in your research. At the library, a librarian can give you useful advice on finding suitable books and academic resources.

Written by:
Amy Jindaphan
Customer Service Night Manager
Elite Editing

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Hyphens, En Dashes and Em Dashes

When and Where to Use Hyphens

A hyphen is a small dash and this one is the most frequently used. It is the smallest of the three. It is mostly used to join words together. A simple example is joining two words before a noun, such as in the following examples.

‘John drove down a one-way street.’

'He was looking for house number twenty-five, where his step-sister had resided for thirty-two years.’

A hyphen can be used to join compound numbers (as shown above), and also for prefixes such as: ex-, self-, and all-.

‘Joan did not want to meet her ex-husband, as her self-confidence was at an all-time low.’

When and Where to Use En Dashes

It is important to avoid mistaking a hyphen for an en dash. The en dash is slightly longer than the hyphen. If you are using Microsoft Word, the en and em dashes can be found by clicking the Insert tab and then clicking Symbols.

En dashes are usually used to indicate range instead of the word ‘to’, to highlight a relationship, or contrast values.

Here are some examples:

‘John knew the drive would take 2−3 hours.’

‘The essay should be 500−550 words long.’

‘To qualify for a pass in the exam, 70−80 points were required.’

Students and academics will use en dashes most commonly in page ranges in their references. For example, a Harvard in-text reference would look like this: (Lines 2010, pp. 69−72).

When and Where to Use Em Dashes

Em dashes are approximately the length of the letter m and can be used at the end of, or in the middle, of a sentence. Em dashes are usually used to set off a parenthetical thought, to display an interjection, or to amplify or explain an element.

Here are a few examples:

‘John was proud of himself—he had received 90 points in his exam.’

‘Joan was devastated—having just received her results—only achieving 65 points.’

‘Betty was resigning from her job—she had won the lottery.’

Written by:
Wendy Lee
Finance Manager
Elite Editing