Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your [...]

An abstract is a brief preview of the content and argument of an academic paper. The purpose of an abstract is to give other readers a chance to get a sense of your work before reading the full work. It’s a time-saving feature that limits the amount of unnecessary reading by experts who already have immense [...]

Many writers might expect to see a section titled “Revisions” in this Toolkit under “Fine-tuning and Troubleshooting,” alongside “Grammar and Punctuation,” “Editing,” and “Proofreading.” But revision is not one of the last stages of writing-it is not fine-tuning your essay before submission. Instead, revision is a vital part of the writing process, involving the movement of [...]

Like introductions, conclusions present their own set of challenges to the writer. Foremost among these is how to gracefully exit the essay without becoming too broad, remaining too narrowly focused, or making connections that you haven’t encouraged in the body of the paper. Requirements for conclusions vary across disciplines, so be sure to check with your [...]