School of Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences
Student Safety & Study Skills
Handbook 11/12

Writing Essays

Guide to scientific writing (Essays and reports)

Here is some advice on how to write a scientific essay or report:

General principles of writing essays

Essay formats

Essay structure

Top tips on writing essays

Instruction words and their definitions

 

 

 

14 Top Tips on Writing Essays

1. Analyse the title – make sure you really understand what it is asking you to do – see table below on instruction words.
2. Read around – this is essential. Read the references plus others to supplement the list. Generate your own ideas from the reading.
3. Draft introduction – what do you aim to do in the essay?e.g. prove/disprove a theory etc
4. Use subheadings – this helps to distinguish sections.
5. Save – make sure you save your work on disk or USB stick just in case your computer crashes.
6. Draft the main bones of the essay – you can flesh it out later.
7. Show draft to someone else – it always helps having another opinion.
8. Check your spelling and grammar.
9. Vary sentence length – in general don’t use over long sentences, short sentences can be effective to. Try it.
10. Use paragraphs – Huge blocks of writing can be off putting read.
11. Avoid clichés – e.g. ‘very interesting’, ‘boils down to’, ‘getting down to it’, ‘sort of’ and many others!
12. Do not use abbreviations – In formal work it is not professional to use abbreviations and slang e.g. don’t, I’ve, we’ve etc.
13. Check your final version – read it out loud.
14. Save, file away and submit – Make sure you have plenty of time to print it out and get it in before the deadline.

 

Instruction words and their definitions

Make sure you understand what the essay title is asking you to do. The table below should be helpful; it’s taken from ‘How to write essays & assignments’ (McMillan et al., 2007, p 33):

INSTRUCTION WORD	DEFINITION – WHAT YOU ARE EXPECTED TO DO
Account [give an]	Describe
Account for	Give reasons for
Analyse	Give an organised answer looking at all aspects
Apply	Put a theory into operation
Assess	Decide on value/ importance
Brief account [give a]	Describe in a concise way
Comment on	Give your opinion
Compare [with]	Discuss similarities; draw conclusions on common areas
Compile	Make up (a list/ plan/ outline)
Consider	Describe/give your views on the subject
Contrast	Discuss differences/ draw own view
Criticise	Point out weak/ strong points, i.e. give a balanced answer
Define	Give the meaning of a term, concisely
Demonstrate	Show by example/ evidence
Describe	Narrative on process/ appearance/ operation/ sequence...
Devise	Make up
Discuss	Give own thoughts and support yor opinion or conclusion
Evaluate	Decide on merit of situation/ argument
Exemplify	Show by giving examples
Expand	Give more information
Explain	Give reason for/ say why
Explain how	Describe how something works
Identify	Pinpoint/ list
Illustrate	Give examples
Indicate	Point out, but not in great detail
Justify	Support the argument for...
List	Make an organised list, e.g. events, components, aspects
Outline	Describe basic factors/ limited information
Plan	Think how to organise something
Report	Give an account of the process or event
Review	Write a report/ give facts and views on facts
Show	Demonstrate with supporting evidence
Specify	Give details of something
State	Give a clear account of...
Summarise	Briefly give an account
Trace	Provide a brief chronology of events/ process
Work out	Find a solution, e.g. as in a maths problem