1. When you write an academic paper, think in terms of participating in a "conversation." Your paper is neither the first nor the final word on the subject; others have spoken before you, and others will follow. Join in the dialogue and make your contribution to the ongoing discussion and debate. This approach will help you in two important ways: you won't feel that you are writing in a vacuum, and you will find it easier to establish a focus for your ideas.

2. Structure your ideas as a logical argument:

(a) Identify the question, issue, or problem to which your paper responds. Explain why you consider your focus on the subject significant, valuable, or interesting.

(b) Develop a tentative or "working" thesis--make a claim, present an answer, suggest an interpretation, propose a hypothesis. But don't be afraid to modify or alter your thesis if your thinking changes as you study the subject and prepare a draft of the paper.

(c) Support your ideas with reasoning and evidence. Establish premises, examine assumptions, make logical connections, and take counter-arguments into consideration--all based on your assessment of the subject and relevant sources (information, texts, examples, data, authoritative opinions, quotations, etc.).

3. In the text of your paper, decide what sources to use and how to use them according to how they will fit into your argument (not vice versa).

4. Avoid plagiarism, right from the start, by developing specific, self-aware strategies for note-taking. Be sure, in particular, that you can distinguish the following techniques:

* summary

* paraphrase

* quotation

Know when and how to use these techniques effectively.

5. Follow a documentation style that is appropriate for the context (your academic subject, purpose, and audience).

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