OWLL Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

See the introduction to referencing and quoting and paraphrasing.

See quoting.

See paraphrasing and summarising and paraphrasing techniques.

Citing or a citation is information indicating the source of information or of a quoted passage.
For more on this, see introduction to referencing.

There are a number of different methods for citing material within the body of your assignment. Differences also occur in the layout of the cited authors' list positioned at the end of your assignment (i.e. the reference list or list of cited works). Conventions used at Massey University include APA, MLA, Oxford, and other styles.

Different academic disciplines use different conventions, but the most common referencing convention used at Massey is APA Style. It is important that you follow the conventions prescribed by your course coordinator, department, school, and/or institute.

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• books in APA
• books in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• journals in APA
• journals in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• study guides in APA
• study guides in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• websites in APA
• websites in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• newspaper articles in APA
• newspaper articles in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• secondary sources in APA
• secondary sources in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• other sources in APA
• other sources in MLA

This depends on which referencing style you are using:

• missing elements in APA
• missing elements in MLA

See time management.

See note-taking.

See reading.

See reading comprehension.

See memory skills.

See mind maps

See procrastination and perfectionism.

See procrastination and perfectionism.

Academic writing differs from other types of writing. There are three features essential for academic writing:

• it is structured in a particular way
• it is supported by academic sources
• it follows standard rules of grammar and spelling

See introduction to academic writing for more.

See identifying academic sources and evaluating source quality.

The first steps to write an assignment are

• understanding the requirements
• understanding the question
• generating ideas
• making a plan

The assignment planning calculator can tell you when you should start on each stage, and what to do once you have a plan in place.

See planning assignments.

See how assignments are marked.

See constructing an argument.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning offers an online pre-reading service to all distance and internal first year students. This gives you the opportunity to submit 2 assignments per semester for a review of the focus, structure, style, presentation, referencing and use of sources. You can submit before you hand the assignment in to be marked. Submitted assignments will usually be returned within 3 working days.

See pre-reading for more information on this essential service.

A report is a specific form of writing that is organised around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organisation, or findings from a research investigation.

An essay requires you to construct a debate around the different arguments in favour of, or not in favour of, a particular issue.

See reports and essays.

See getting started with distance study.

See online study techniques.

See time management for distance students.

See distance support.

The Centre for Teaching and Learning offers an online pre-reading service to all distance and internal first year students. This gives you the opportunity to submit 2 assignments per semester for a review of the focus, structure, style, presentation, referencing and use of sources. You can submit before you hand the assignment in to be marked. Submitted assignments will usually be returned within 3 working days.

See pre-reading for more information on this essential service.