Essay Guidance 2015

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

Guidelines for good essay writing Contents Page 1 Before you begin 1.1 Make a plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1

2 Content 2.1 Keep it focused. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Write a clear introduction. . . . . . 2.3 First class essays include criticism. . 2.4 Provide specific examples. . . . . . 2.5 Support statements with references. 2.6 Use illustrations where appropiate. . 2.7 End your essay with a conclusion. .

. . . . . . .

2 2 2 2 2 2 3 4

3 Citations 3.1 Formatting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 4

4 Physical layout 4.1 Line spacing. 4.2 Font size. . . 4.3 Sentences. . . 4.4 Paragraphs. . 4.5 Sub-headings. 4.6 Whitespace. .

5 5 5 5 5 6 6

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

5 Abbreviations and symbols

6

6 Before you hand it in

6

7 Further reading and sources of information

7

1 1.1

Before you begin Make a plan.

Read the question/title offered very carefully. Then read it again. Do you understand what is being asked? If you don’t understand the question/title, contact the appropriate tutor for guidance – they will be happy to point you in the right direction. They will also be happy to suggest or supply starting references. Don’t alter the title you have been given unless you have been explicitly told that this is acceptable. Once you have identified what is being asked, make a plan. Before starting to write, think about the issues you are going to address, and in what order you are going to address them. 1

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

2 Content 2.1 Keep it focused. In an essay, you are expected to go beyond the bare minimum of the material provided in your lectures. The knack is learning to judge how much information to include and how to strike the right balance between different aspects of that information, while keeping within any imposed word limit. Concentrate on providing a focused answer to the question (see point 1) and strive to avoid irrelevant or off-topic material. This is easier said than done, but always ask yourself – “Is this really relevant?” and “How does this information further my argument?”. You should pay particular attention to the clarity of your expression and the logical progression of your reasoning.

2.2 Write a clear introduction. The goal is to draw in the reader, to set the stage and make them want to read on. Pose the question you are going to answer, explain why it is interesting to answer it, and how you are going to answer it. The introduction should contain just enough background details for the reader to appreciate the context of the piece.

2.3 First class essays include criticism. Tutors and examiners are not looking solely for regurgitation of ‘facts’ – they would like to see evidence of originality and independent thought. You will never lose marks for stating an opinion, and will gain marks for sensible speculation, even if the marker disagrees with your opinion. But do make sure that opinions are flagged as such: “I do not think this conclusion is warranted, because...”. Make sure that you back up your speculations by referring to facts (with references as appropriate – see below).

2.4 Provide specific examples. To strengthen your arguments you should include specific examples/names etc. For instance, if you are discussing a particular receptor type or biological process, give examples of drugs that interact with the receptor or concrete examples of sites or tissues where the process occurs (again, with relevant references).

2.5

Support statements with references.

As indicated above, references should be used to support statements of fact or arguments and to provide attribution for any figures. They can also be used to supply (appropriately attributed) quotes – although these should be kept to pithy statements or single sentences, not entire paragraphs. References may also be used to draw attention to sources of further information. References may be in the form of web-based material, textbooks, review articles or original peer-reviewed research articles. Web-based material can be useful, but always consider the origin of the material and its likely veracity – anyone can place anything on the web! Original research articles are the preferred form of reference, but (depending on the stage of your University career) may not always be appropriate. Review articles and textbooks should probably be your first port of call, but try to go beyond these to include key original research material. In some instances, original articles should be the predominant form of citation. In this regard, you should be familiar with the process of searching for material on PubMed and/or Web of Knowledge (see item 7; Further Reading, at the end of this document). Remember also, you 2

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

should cite only material that you have actually read! The appropriate ways to cite references are discussed below (see item 3).

2.6 Use illustrations where appropiate. Illustrations or figures can be added to support your text. However, just as figures in a laboratory write-up or scientific report should be sequentially numbered and have meaningful legends (as shown in Figure 1), so all figures or illustrations in an essay require a number and a legend. Numbering the figures allows you to refer to them easily. Legends should be brief but informative, allowing each figure to be interpreted without requiring reference to the main text (for example, see Figure 2). Importantly, any material taken directly from another work (be it a book, a scientific paper or a web site), must be attributed, e.g. ‘...from Farrant and Kaila (2007)’. See item 3 (Citations) for advice on attributing material from the web.

Response (mm)

150

100

50

0 10

1

100

101

102

103

[ACh] (nM) Figure 1: A concentration-response curve for acetylcholine (ACh)-induced contraction of guinea pig ileum. Filled symbols represent individual measurements from applications of ACh in an ascending concentration order. The solid line is a least-squares fit of the Hill equation to the data: EC50 58 nM, nH 1.95, Y max 147.5 mm.

Figure 2: Illustration of the various Cl co-transporters and exchangers that determine the reversal potential for GABAA receptor-mediated currents (EGABA ). The Na–K–2Cl co-transporter isoform 1 (NKCC1), mediates electrically neutral Cl uptake. The K–Cl co-transporter isoform 2 (KCC2), mediates Cl extrusion driven by the K+ gradient. The Na+ –dependent and –independent anion exchangers (NDAE and AE3, respectively) regulate pHi and influence neuronal Cl homeostasis. Carbonic anhydrase isoform VII (CAVII) catalyzes the formation of HCO3 from CO2 . From Farrant and Kaila (2007).

3

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

If using material from the web or from journals, ensure that not only is the content appropriate, but that it is also in a suitable format for inclusion in your document and that it will look as you intended when printed. To this end, use decent sized bitmap images (.jpg, .png, .tif etc) or vector artwork – what might look elegant on a web-site my look ugly if pasted into an essay and over enlarged! Some courses may stipulate that any figures/illustrations should be drawn by you (not simply copied and pasted from elsewhere) – make sure you are clear about the specific guidelines for any piece of work.

2.7 End your essay with a conclusion. Synthesize the main points you have made. If you have posed an explicit question in your introduction, or title, provide an answer (or explain why an answer is not possible at present). This is also the place to discuss the wider implications of what you have talked about. There is an old adage “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you’ve told them”.

3 Citations 3.1 Formatting. Use a correct and consistent format for citations. There are a variety of acceptable formats – just look in a few different scientific Journals – but the basic choices are simple. The initial decision is whether to cite material in the text numerically (i.e. ...blah blah blah3 .) or by name and year (i.e. ...blah blah blah (Anderson et al., 2001)). [Note that the citation – number or name/year appears within the sentence to which it refers, not after the full stop!] The references themselves are then listed in the bibliography at the end of the text, either numerically (in the order in which were cited) or alphabetically, but not a mixture of both. Typical forms are shown below – for three obviously fictitious references: References 1. Smith, P., Jones, B. and Brown, D. (2006) GABA does something incredibly wonderful. Science 66, 212-234. 2. Dougal, P., Blair, B. and James, D. (1998) Synaptic inhibition is exciting J. Neurosci. 21, 102-114. 3. Anderson, P. (2001) All you need to know about chloride and bicarbonate Nature 16, 12-23. 4. Wikipedia contributors. GABA receptor. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:59, September 15, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GABA receptor

– or – References Anderson, P. (2001) All you need to know about chloride and bicarbonate Nature 16, 12-23. Dougal, P., Blair, B. and James, D. (1998) Synaptic inhibition is exciting J. Neurosci. 21, 102-114. Smith, P., Jones, B. and Brown, D. (2006) GABA does something incredibly wonderful. Science 66, 212-234. Wikipedia contributors. GABA receptor. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 16:59, September 15, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GABA receptor

4

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

For material from the web, list the title and author of the piece (if given) and the name of the website – not just an unintelligible URL for that particular page or figure! In cases where there are not too may references on any given page, they could be entered as footnotes, such as this one1 or this one2 . Although this has the benefit of placing the relevant information on the same page as the citation, it can look untidy with many references. Generally, it is best to keep the references at the end. Whichever way you choose to present the references, pick only one format and stick to it; a consistent approach is easier to read and reinforces the impression (hopefully deserved for other reasons) of a logical and rigorous outlook. For short essays, with only a few references, these can be entered by hand. For longer library projects it would be advantageous to learn how to use bibliographic software that can take the drudgery out of entering and formatting the references.

4 Physical layout Content is King – but you would be missing an opportunity if you failed to present your hard won knowledge in a manner than made it enjoyable to read and easy to mark.

4.1 Line spacing. Never submit an essay in single line spacing. Instead use one-and-a-half or double line spacing. This makes your work easier to read and easier to annotate when marking – why make the tutor’s task any more difficult? In this regard, single line spacing when combined with a small(ish) font is particularly irksome.

4.2 Font size. Use a legible font – 11pt or 12pt is good (the main text of this document is in 11pt).

4.3 Sentences. Use properly constructed sentences. If you are making two separate points, don’t run them together in a single overly long sentence. Pay attention to the use of the indefinite- or definite article (a/an or the), tense (past or present) and grammatical number (singular or plural). Know what the object of your sentence is, this is particularly important when referring back to it in a subsequent sentence. If you are not sure what these terms mean, then seek advice – don’t diminish your ideas by failing to communicate them properly.

4.4 Paragraphs. Use paragraphs properly – to separate distinct ideas or trains of thought. Nothing is more offputting or indicative of poor critical thought than a huge block of text containing disparate points that would have been better presented separately. Thinking about paragraph structure will also help you formulate and organise your ideas, allowing you to develop a logical argument. One way of deciding where to begin a new paragraph (and thus develop a clear structure) is to start by introducing one more level of heading than is strictly appropriate, removing this at a later stage but keeping the paragraph structure that this produced. Another way is to read just the 1 Dougal, 2 Smith,

P., Blair, B. and James, D. (1998) Synaptic inhibition is exciting J. Neurosci. 21, 102-114. P., Jones, B. and Brown, D. (2006) GABA does something incredibly wonderful. Science 66, 212-234.

5

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

first sentence of every paragraph and decide whether those sentences alone give a sense of the progression of the argument.

4.5 Sub-headings. Feel free to use sub-headings to identify and delineate different sections of your essay. Their appropriate use can emphasize the logical content and make the material easier to comprehend.

4.6 Whitespace. Leave plenty of whitespace i.e. sensible top/bottom and left/right margins. Don’t try to fill every square cm of the page with text! Leaving plenty of whitespace, aside from making the overall appearance of your essay more pleasing, will give your tutor room to provide detailed feedback.

5 Abbreviations and symbols [Some of these examples are specific to my field of interest, but the need for correct usage applies regardless of the subject matter.] Define abbreviations at point of first usage. For example, ...N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)... or ...g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)... Thereafter, you can use the defined abbreviations at will. Use correct terminology and avoid shorthand. Ideally you should write GABAA – not GABAA, GABAa or GABA-A – and you should use well-formed sentences such as “The GABAA receptor is a ligand-gated ion channel” not “GABAA is a ligand-gated ion channel”. Whenever possible, you should use correct symbols, e.g. appropriate Greek letters for designation of receptor subunits alpha - a beta - b gamma - g delta - d epsilon - e pi - p theta - q rho - r and correct combinations of symbols for identification of particular receptor types, such as a2b 3g2.

6 Before you hand it in Use a spell-checker – these are not infallible, but should help weed out silly mistakes. Re-read your essay. Does it say what you wanted it to say? Are abbreviations defined? Are all the figures attributed? Do all the citations appear in the reference list and, conversely, are all the references cited? Is your name or student number included? Try reading your essay out loud – this will highlight poor construction and help make sure you convey the message you are intending to convey. Ask a friend (or a colleague doing a different essay) to read your work – they may spot something you had ‘read-over’ through familiarity. 6

Mark Farrant

UCL 2015

7 Further reading and sources of information Essay Writing: a Guide for Undergraduates – a comprehensive guide to essay writing, written for students by Dr David Kennedy. Royal Literary Fund. http://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowshipscheme/writing/essayguide.cfm. NCBI PubMed – an indispensable resource, allowing you to search for published articles. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed

ISI Web of Knowledge – an alternative (or supplementary) index of published articles that has the added feature of allowing you to see how many subsequent articles cite the one you have chosen, and then to jump to these articles. http://wok.mimas.ac.uk//

Professor Mark Farrant Neuroscience, Physiology & Pharmacology EssayGuidance2015.pdf. September 11, 2015 LATEX 2e (TeXLive-2013 and TeXShop 2.47) and PGF/TikZ.

7