Writing an academic paper

Word processing platforms
While Microsoft Word is one of the common tools used in word processing, we will also explore other alternatives in this module.
For technical or scientific documentation, LaTeX is an alternative document processing tool to Microsoft Word.

Writing an academic paper
Introduction – This is the second most important section after the abstract, where you should “signpost” each section of the paper.
Literature Review – This shows that you have acknowledged work related to what you are proposing and that your contribution is novel.
Conclusion – You should summarize what the reader has learned after reading your paper, confirming the contributions and stressing the outcomes.

While writing and publishing academic papers is an activity associated with research positions in academia, the skills involved in this process are highly applicable outside this context. This exercise will develop your ability to write concise passages, outlining your claims and supporting them with sound arguments and sources.

Learning Activity
• Learners to:
– Work in groups to write the introduction, carry out a short literature review and provide a conclusion for an academic paper on a subject of their choice (160 minutes).
– You should select either Microsoft Word or LaTeX for this task.