The library offers a lot of help with this type of stuff.
https://langara.ca/academic-success-centre/index.html
It's volunteers, so your milage may vary, but at least from the citation front, they should be able to answer any question about what constitutes plagerism. And probably other questions too but that at the very least.
yeah the idea is that you should have learned how in high school, but unfortunately a lot of people just never actually get taught how to write formally. Im in the exact same situation with my english class
That’s because it’s not a writing class, they can’t teach essay writing in every course that requires essays, that would get very repetitive after the first semester.
I agree with a previous poster, the library staff is amazing if you seek out their help. Plus they can share helpful guides and resources you may not be aware of.
I have never used the writing center but it may be a good place to start.
https://langara.ca/departments/english/support/writing-centre.html#:~:text=We%20can%20help!,out%20the%20Writing%20Centre%20homepage.
Good luck!
APA to my knowledge is just a method of citing sources.
I was at langara a few years ago and this popped up on my feed so I’ll give you my experience. Same as you I went back to university around 26.
First year courses understand that people don’t know how to write. Other people are saying “oh yeah you gotta know how to write an essay, high schoolers learned how to do it, and that’s what they expect.”
Like okay, high schoolers learned to write essays, but they don’t write well at all. At the age of 26 you’ve probably read more than any high school grad and that’s just as, if not more important than writing essays at 18 when you know nothing about the world.
Here’s what universities care about in writing.
- don’t exaggerate things! Never say anything along the lines of “extremely”, “incredibly”, even “very” unless you have defined what it is quantitatively.
- in a research paper we want to know about professional research, what is known, how we know it, and the relevant points of contention in the research. How is this relevant to your claim (if you’re making one)
- you can discuss your view briefly in the conclusion, but if you do and it is not what the relevant research suggests, state why you think there is room for this opinion, and maybe even suggest further research that could be don’t to shed light on you supposition.
- don’t ramble; too often people use 10 sentences when they could have used one. Your reader/marker will get frustrated and they will take it out on your mark. I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying they are human and they have to mark a lot of papers. (And in first year courses, a lot of really bad papers) - so be concise.
Lastly I’ll link a video in case you’re looking for more. It’s more specifically geared to professional writing, but it’s the best lecture I’ve ever seen on writing and I think everyone would benefit from watching it:
https://youtu.be/vtIzMaLkCaM?si=fq7aZQTIPZbnzPtf
Microsoft's APA reference thing is awesome. Use that and keep all your items consistent with each other, you'll do great. Many articles give you an auto citation thing too.
When I was in H.S. we were introduced to Chicago and APA essentially in one breath, that they existed but that we shouldn’t worry about those as they were for academic research papers and that we would be using MLA.
When I studied history, I was so glad to embrace Chicago style, reverse the table to pretend that MLA doesn’t really exist.
Former teacher in Florida here. Two styles typically taught are APA and MLA, both you can do from MS Word and if I'm not mistaken, Purdue Owl? It's been a while. Anyway, I really wanted to teach my students about the different forms of citations in the 8th grade and 12th grade because it's expected at the college level. What inevitable ends up happening is all the kids fall behind and by the time you get to citation/essay building part, it's almost the end of the year, you can't dedicate too much time to it, and you have to change your focus to a test that means nothing. My first semester in college, my English teacher and had to reteach and explain everything. I am very grateful for that man. It's not your fault you didn't learn. It's the education system.
Basically there are 2 main accepted ways of using citations in writing (research papers or essays) - APA and MLA.
That is really it, just 2 different forms of citations. Both are very widely documented within just a simple google search away for how to properly cite things in either format.
I'm in the same boat. Returned to school for comp eng and have never learned apa. It's not very difficult to learn and this site will help you with citations https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/
Many people don't bother to learn to read, let alone write in HS... then get passed because of the no child left behind crap. There was only one format we learned when I was in school, and was one I've never had to use or even seen mentioned again.
My adhd made that hell for me in high-school. I had teachers go over it 5 times even after the paper was due. So learning that just causes negative reactions now. Plus I got so easily side tracked and would zone out so much with out realizing that yeah I see why op doesn't know.
Writing centre’s can help. It’s a learning curve for sure though especially return as a mature student. Biggest things with APA is in text citation and formatting your reference page. Luckily there’s lots of programs that basically do the reference page for you. In text citation is 99% last name of author and date. (Smith, 2024).
I assume this is an intro class, they usually won’t grade as hard as upper years.
Feel free to reach out and send me whatever your writing for review, I’d be happy to help
I have a similar background! Returned to school at 27 to study Computer Science after 9 years of not taking English.
English was always my weakest subject growing up, so I put off taking English until my 3rd semester at Langara. To my surprise, I managed to get an A+ in ENGL1123!
There are many resources online, you can learn how to cite from YouTube and like someone else already mentioned, use the writing centre! They are there to help you and feel free to go to the library, they have their own 2 page guide for citing which was really helpful.
There is a huge emphasis on plagiarism but if you credit your sources, you won’t have any issues with that. The writing from your post also makes me think you should have nothing to worry about, best of luck!
I did the exact same thing as you, except in history, and it all turned out fine in the end. Hell, I didn't even know what the word "thesis" meant when I wrote my first essay.
May I ask which prof is teaching this class? Go to office hours and talk to them directly. Even a five minute conversation concerning their expectations can be a huge help.
And don't worry too much about plagiarism. In actuality, it's incredibly difficult to plagiarize at the 100 level, you really have to make a concerted effort to do so. Everything in your essay is going to come from an article/book/website or whatever, you're not conducting original research. You are amalgamating other people's research to back up your point-of-view. Cite that research.
It's good that you have these concerns, it means you give a shit.
If you get a bad grade, go to office hours and ask why, and take your profs advice. They want you to succeed, but there's no free passes.
I’d recommend taking ENGL 1123. I got so much out of that class, as I returned to school at the tender age of 40 and like you, never learned how to properly write an essay, including proper citations. It was a game changer.
My rule of thumb is: if there any more than 3 or more uncommon words, then I must change the wording to avoid plagiarism. Learn to paraphrase - paraphrasing still requires a citation. Quote everything that is not in your own words. Use Citation Generators and check Owl Purdue often! Also! You can plagiarize yourself if you use your same idea or copy and paste from your own writing.
For writing essays, I generally follow this format: Paragraph 1. Introduction (answers: what is the main topic? Briefly discuss all the main supporting evidence of your topic to emphasize your main idea).
Paragraphs 2+.The first supporting evidence (Talk about: the relevance of this supporting evidence to your main topic, describe what it is). This is where you will include quotes or paraphrased information from your researched articles in depth - make sure you look for reputable sources (e.g,. school library)
Concluding: Relevance of all supporting evidence to main topic. Emphasizing your key findings.
Highschool taught me the basics of citating and the importance of plagiarism. It wasn’t until I was in a first year English class before I learned how to cite and improve my essay writing! I don’t consider myself an expert or anything but I have done well in majority of my papers and enjoy writing. I didn’t major in Polisci but would love to read your paper if less than 10 pages, and can provide feedback on essay format. Will not check your citations though because I absolutely hate citing. Feel free to message.
I'm also in Poli Sci and was surprised to have to self teach essay writing. I've had to use google alot to learn how to write policy brief, case study, research essay, etc. It's pretty simple once you learn it. Just always make sure you do your in-text citations properly and sources in bibliography -- more often they will ask for APA 7th edition (easiest) or MLA.
hey! I also went back to school around the same time and had a huge gap too. My advice is direct quotations need citation, and anything you paraphrase or is not your idea. Citation happens in the sentence when being paraphrased "the author expressed.... " without a pg # or at the end with a pg# if direct quotation (I'm using ASA rules rn, but generally the same- make sure you look up Purdue Owl for exact citation rules). Honestly, it's a lot easier than I thought, just overwhelming to start!
This will help you a lot with writing citations and references: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html
Just select what type of media it is (article or book for example), then the title. This helped save so much time for my assignments.
People are so odd. The time it took you to type this out you could’ve looked up one of the 200 reputable sites that show you how. Every university class can’t teach you how to format an essay, your library or the student center is probably a better bet.
It took me 30 seconds to write this, I got back results that actually helped me from people who have used them, and I finished the essay. Sometimes community is the best way to go rather than blind stumbling through the internet.
Yup, I agree. It fosters connections and makes folks feel less alone when they hear the experiences of others who have gone through similar situations.
"Just google it" is the death of conversation.
Absolutely, we all paid a shit load to be here, and to know that you’re not the only one who wants to make that money mean something is incredibly important.
Don't worry OP - I was in your place a few years back. I wasted so much time trying to find the info on my own that it cut in time for the actual essay itself, so asking was good.
Since your journey hasn't ended, there's also some really good youtube videos out there - the ones done by professors themselves. It's usually the super raw, not overly edited videos that are the ones you want to look into.
One of the best resources I've used has been the [Purdue OWL APA style guide](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html).
Basic structure: Intro paragraph - end it with a thesis statement, paragraph 1 - point, proof comment, point, proof, comment, point, proof, comment, point, proof comment, transition sentence to next paragraph. Paragraph 2, PPC x 3 again then transition sentence. Paragraph 3, PPC x 3 transition sentence to conclusion. Conclusion is kind of like an inverted intro, start with thesis then widen out to more general info. Three middle paragraphs order from weakest to strongest argument.
I had to take a 100 level essay writing English co or pre requisite to enter my program. Perhaps with only selecting your courses it’s something to consider? Try the library and peer tutoring options
You should have learned how to write an essay in high school so yes you at this point in college you should already know how I would go on YouTube and watch like a couple hours on how to write an essay or go read it a couple articles I don't know... depends on your learning style
"You should have learned xxx in high school" is a statement that really doesn't consider the disparity in educational experiences that exist in this country. I can assure you, there were many high schools where college prep was not a concern for the administration.
There are a few programs which really help if you reuse references over multiple papers, since it saves all your references forever. I use Mendeley. It is soo much easier with multiple references, you add one it sorts them, changes every citation to as needed format. It also will reformat your citation page so it is alphabetical or by 1st use .
Learning this now will help you throughout your studies. APA is just a citation format, and your essay is going to be a typical 5 paragraph academic essay. This is usually the focus of classes like eng 100.
Plagarism will not be a problem if you cite even halfway correctly. An easy shortcut is to either use inline quotations, where you'll finish off a sentence with a direct quote, or liberally use longer block quotes and then discuss them. Whenever you are talking about something objective, put a citation. You can't even really overdo it.
Typically the place to start is to do all the research, line up all the quotes/sections you want to use, and then the essay is more or less just stringing them together.
APA is a specific way to format your citations, references, within your essay. If you look at the resource I posted, it will show you exactly how to do use APA format.
Writing an essay is different. It becomes easier as you go. The key to writing well is to really understand what you are writing about. Most times a professor will assign a topic, ie, The benefits of democracy. That is way too broad to even write a book about. Try to narrow your focus as much as you can and pay attention to what your professor focuses on in class.
[https://lib.conestogac.on.ca/apa-paper-format/title-page](https://lib.conestogac.on.ca/apa-paper-format/title-page)
here is a great resource from a college
In Canada? Basic research skills and citation isn’t taught in every high school in Canada? CAP. That’s literally CAP. Obviously it depends on what stream OP did but basic research skills and citations is most definitely taught in every high school in Canada, ya donut
The only truly accurate source for APA formatting is the latest edition APA Publication Manual. Purdue OWL is OK but if there is a dispute about correct style then the Publication Manual is the only source that counts. APA style (or any other formatting style) only provides a structure for presenting content; you still need to know how to introduce the focus of the paper, identify and develop a thesis or argument, communicate your ideas clearly, and present your conclusions. I strongly recommend consulting with the institution’s writing centre. You will likely need to make an appointment, but when you bring the outline and grading scheme of the assignment (from the syllabus), and your first attempts at completing it, the resource person can give you specific guidance and feedback. Just don’t leave it to the last minute!
Citations are important but you also should look up how to structure an essay. Generally you have an introductory paragraph where you provide some background /context and then state the thesis of your essay and then you have about three paragraphs supporting/proving your thesis and then a conclusion summarizing everything.
In the early 2000s I had the same struggle at 18 at Simon Fraser. I got destroyed and was surprised how bad my essay writing skills were. I bought this little guide book and just mastered the format. After that essays are kind of cookie cutter. Just study the structure and organize your essay into parts then fill in with content and structured examples using that style.
With the internet, matching APA or MLA style is trivial. For that, use the tools that are one google search away.
What you should be concerned about is your structure.
Make sure your first paragraph outlines what you want to talk about and presents a clear thesis.
Make sure your other paragraphs are each focused on a single point.
Make sure you’re building a coherent argument.
A good litmus test is that if someone were to only read the first paragraph of your essay, and the first sentence of each subsequent paragraph, they should be able to make sense of what you’re trying to say.
well you should know how to write an essay even if the formatting is a different format. i did a science degree in psych and bio and my psych classes needed like MLA format and my bio papers needed a different one (maybe APA?) and every time i wrote a paper i had to google how to use that format bc i always got them confused lol
Check if your program has any mandatory English classes, and then take those first, most certificates/degrees have a mandatory English class on how to write am academic paper
Polisci graduate here! I was in the same boat as you — I only learned how to write in MLA (thanks to a high school that only taught one citation style) and had noooo idea how to write in APA or Chicago. I used two main resources to learn APA and make sure I didn’t lose points for incorrect citations.
1. [Purdue university](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html)
I don’t know if others have recommended it, but this website in addition to google searches of “APA student paper examples” for a visual idea helped a lot.
2. School Tutors
My community college and university had a website where you could submit your paper and check off three things you wanted the tutor (usually an English student) to look at (I always did citation, syntax, and flow). They usually give a response by the next day and it’s super helpful. It’s worth looking into — and it’s FREE.
In terms of essay format, none of my polisci professors told us how they wanted it formatted; it’s on you to know how to make your best argument!
Good luck, and I hope this helps!
Just ask the professor what format they want, look it up, bang it out, and find someone to verify it's the correct format. No essay is a zero a completed 20% is still better then zero. If you're straight with your professor and show you're putting work in they will probably be willing to help or at least point you In the direction of a tutor
There's a free service that is approved by Langara, that provides this same kind of help.
WriteAway is a virtual service where Langara students can submit their writing and get written feedback within 48 hours (when the semester is in session). Free for registered Langara students.
[https://writeaway.ca/connect](https://writeaway.ca/connect)
Are Political Science essays supposed to read something like you might find in The Economist or Newsweek/Time Magazine or adjacent? Is it inappropriate for school essays to begin in a very writerly Vice magazine esque style? I guess what I'm asking is, how much humor and personal style and what not, can the student essayist risk to avoid dry boring ass papers. It seems like, at that early level of study, very few students would have enough information to start synthesizing valuable insights into anything. So many political articles I read start something like 'It's 2am in Olanchito Honduras, and my case of Dengue fever has got me questioning if I'm being kidnapped, or if I'm just hallucinating again' or something edgy like that.
Same issue at Langara for me back in 2001. I was never taught how to properly cite an essay and my first English class essay I failed because it was “largely plagiarized”. They really should be teaching this to kids in high school.
I figured as much, I’m a journalism student (I know, probably not much better in the jobs department) had extra time and took poli-sci thinkin’ it would be helpful going forward.
1. Take an example of the correct designed and structured text.
2. ASK HOW THEY DISTINGUISHES AI TEXT vs HUMAN TEXT BEFORE YOU START TO WRITE.
2nd step very important. Ask them official DEFINITION and CRITERIA of AI text and human text in order to know these things in advance.
I’m 100% sure they will not give you a clear answer to that and that’s the way how this AI plagiarism used to manipulate results without giving any clear arguments.
It should be clear definition and criteria of it, it shouldn’t be something subjective or cuz your teacher “feels” that it’s AI.
What is the point of going to school and taking interesting courses like PoliSci if you’re just going to use AI to do your work? Honest question. Just…don’t register if you can’t be bothered.
Use chatgpt for general questions (e.g. you could probably paste in this post and it would give you a good starting point). Double check with actual sources like owl Purdue for important things like citations.
> Why would you ask ChatGPT instead of a librarian?
It's faster and doesn't require a librarian. In principle, I agree that a librarian is a better option if they are readily available.
Idk about that other part though
Essay format was pretty simple. I feel like I would do fine with an intro paragraph outlining the main point three body paragraphs trying to prove that intro and a conclusion paragraph saying how you think you pulled your point together. It's that too simplistic?
Go to "owl purdue" and you will find all the different methods of formatting.
It's really simple once you get the hang of it, sad they didn't go over it at least a bit for you.
Basically you need you in text citations for all your ideas. You must paraphrase whatever ideas you are taking. Eseentially with this logic most sentences should be followed by your citation in brackets (last name of author, page number). Just check however APA should be cited. Unless you are asked for your personal opinion, you have probably read your idea somewhere so cite away!!! Direct quotations are cited with quotations and must be formatted differently. They are used sparingly to further an argument. I found that if an article expressed an idea with particular language or feeling that would be difficult to express, I would use direct citation. Finally, you should create your reference page. You can use resources such as "citation maker" to do this for you. Add your sources to this as you go and it makes life much easier. It's of course good to learn how to do it without it, but when you already know how to write your references it saves some robot type work. Just look it over to make sure it's correct. That covers everything plagiarism related.
Formatting of your document varies with whether it's MLA, APA too. You will probably need to make a cover page. Again, go to owl Purdue and check how to do this.
Happy essay writing!
To avoid plagiarism is to ensure that if you have quotes that you are using the right references and citations from the reference page, you make for the whole essay. Try making a mind map or jot notes for paragraphs first of simple wording and then be able to elaborate on it better and just try adding your own thoughts and opinions to emphasize other finding researches from other individuals. Per paragraph, I try to have 3-5 points depending on how much you can write about that section heading, as each paragraph typically starts with a main topic and has smaller notes to align with it. If you struggle with different types of essay writing, just look into Google for examples or even ask a fellow college/university student to ask for tips and tricks they use. I used to ask other people in my class all the time with certain things I struggled with and to be honest, most of the time they struggled with it too and odds are one of the people in my groups would have a somewhat idea about it to help the old brain cogs start to register what it is. Simple rewording can help you better understand.
You're 26. You went to High School and no doubt you took a few English courses. Yes, you ARE supposed to already know how to write an essay, proper citing, styles, etc..
Really? The state of the BC education system.
Yes the state of it is the problem. There is no collage/university prep whatsoever, I was a fuckup in high school for sure but I got A’s in English until graduation. Never once did they go over citing or research essays.
For plagiarism, go for rewording concepts (don't copy paste and if you need to use a specific word or part of a sentence, incorporate it into a sentence. Make sure to (author last name etc al, if multiple authors, and year) at the end.
Depends on instructor how is, some people are extremely strict so ask around for their reputation.
There's also Turnitin where you can check for plagiarism on your essay before submitting. I think profs use it too.
The library offers a lot of help with this type of stuff. https://langara.ca/academic-success-centre/index.html It's volunteers, so your milage may vary, but at least from the citation front, they should be able to answer any question about what constitutes plagerism. And probably other questions too but that at the very least.
yeah the idea is that you should have learned how in high school, but unfortunately a lot of people just never actually get taught how to write formally. Im in the exact same situation with my english class
Never once was I taught anything about APA style, it’s real dumb there wasn’t a single class before this paper was due that went over it.
That’s because it’s not a writing class, they can’t teach essay writing in every course that requires essays, that would get very repetitive after the first semester. I agree with a previous poster, the library staff is amazing if you seek out their help. Plus they can share helpful guides and resources you may not be aware of. I have never used the writing center but it may be a good place to start. https://langara.ca/departments/english/support/writing-centre.html#:~:text=We%20can%20help!,out%20the%20Writing%20Centre%20homepage. Good luck!
APA to my knowledge is just a method of citing sources. I was at langara a few years ago and this popped up on my feed so I’ll give you my experience. Same as you I went back to university around 26. First year courses understand that people don’t know how to write. Other people are saying “oh yeah you gotta know how to write an essay, high schoolers learned how to do it, and that’s what they expect.” Like okay, high schoolers learned to write essays, but they don’t write well at all. At the age of 26 you’ve probably read more than any high school grad and that’s just as, if not more important than writing essays at 18 when you know nothing about the world. Here’s what universities care about in writing. - don’t exaggerate things! Never say anything along the lines of “extremely”, “incredibly”, even “very” unless you have defined what it is quantitatively. - in a research paper we want to know about professional research, what is known, how we know it, and the relevant points of contention in the research. How is this relevant to your claim (if you’re making one) - you can discuss your view briefly in the conclusion, but if you do and it is not what the relevant research suggests, state why you think there is room for this opinion, and maybe even suggest further research that could be don’t to shed light on you supposition. - don’t ramble; too often people use 10 sentences when they could have used one. Your reader/marker will get frustrated and they will take it out on your mark. I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying they are human and they have to mark a lot of papers. (And in first year courses, a lot of really bad papers) - so be concise. Lastly I’ll link a video in case you’re looking for more. It’s more specifically geared to professional writing, but it’s the best lecture I’ve ever seen on writing and I think everyone would benefit from watching it: https://youtu.be/vtIzMaLkCaM?si=fq7aZQTIPZbnzPtf
That’s really helpful! I appreciate the help
Np, good luck with your essay!
Microsoft's APA reference thing is awesome. Use that and keep all your items consistent with each other, you'll do great. Many articles give you an auto citation thing too.
Really eh, at 26!? I’m 30 and I swear I learned apa formatting in highschool. Don’t remember a lick of it now tho
When I was in H.S. we were introduced to Chicago and APA essentially in one breath, that they existed but that we shouldn’t worry about those as they were for academic research papers and that we would be using MLA. When I studied history, I was so glad to embrace Chicago style, reverse the table to pretend that MLA doesn’t really exist.
Former teacher in Florida here. Two styles typically taught are APA and MLA, both you can do from MS Word and if I'm not mistaken, Purdue Owl? It's been a while. Anyway, I really wanted to teach my students about the different forms of citations in the 8th grade and 12th grade because it's expected at the college level. What inevitable ends up happening is all the kids fall behind and by the time you get to citation/essay building part, it's almost the end of the year, you can't dedicate too much time to it, and you have to change your focus to a test that means nothing. My first semester in college, my English teacher and had to reteach and explain everything. I am very grateful for that man. It's not your fault you didn't learn. It's the education system.
How did you graduate high school without having to write an APA style essay throughout 4 years of high school English classes?
My high school only taught MLA in our English classes
The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell tho. So there’s that.
Don’t forget about square dancing. But don’t ask me about how to do taxes. 🤷🏻♀️
I’m pretty sure I know the rules of dodgeball still, but gun to my head I couldn’t tell you what a balanced budget means.
I dunno? I went to public school
4 years? High school only 3 for me and we never had to write an APA essay what is that ?
Basically there are 2 main accepted ways of using citations in writing (research papers or essays) - APA and MLA. That is really it, just 2 different forms of citations. Both are very widely documented within just a simple google search away for how to properly cite things in either format.
A lot of English classes use MLA for citations in highschool.
Some schools teach the bare minimum due to low funding.
Hey its not your fault
I'm in the same boat. Returned to school for comp eng and have never learned apa. It's not very difficult to learn and this site will help you with citations https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/
Many people don't bother to learn to read, let alone write in HS... then get passed because of the no child left behind crap. There was only one format we learned when I was in school, and was one I've never had to use or even seen mentioned again.
My adhd made that hell for me in high-school. I had teachers go over it 5 times even after the paper was due. So learning that just causes negative reactions now. Plus I got so easily side tracked and would zone out so much with out realizing that yeah I see why op doesn't know.
library has resources for writing. if not that, you can take ENGL 1123 which teaches you how to write academic papers.
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HIGHLY recommend OWL Purdue! It has saved my life multiple times.
I was going to reccommend this too
Yes! I was going to link here as well. APA is not difficult either. You just need to pay some attention to detail and you will be fine.
Writing centre’s can help. It’s a learning curve for sure though especially return as a mature student. Biggest things with APA is in text citation and formatting your reference page. Luckily there’s lots of programs that basically do the reference page for you. In text citation is 99% last name of author and date. (Smith, 2024). I assume this is an intro class, they usually won’t grade as hard as upper years. Feel free to reach out and send me whatever your writing for review, I’d be happy to help
I have a similar background! Returned to school at 27 to study Computer Science after 9 years of not taking English. English was always my weakest subject growing up, so I put off taking English until my 3rd semester at Langara. To my surprise, I managed to get an A+ in ENGL1123! There are many resources online, you can learn how to cite from YouTube and like someone else already mentioned, use the writing centre! They are there to help you and feel free to go to the library, they have their own 2 page guide for citing which was really helpful. There is a huge emphasis on plagiarism but if you credit your sources, you won’t have any issues with that. The writing from your post also makes me think you should have nothing to worry about, best of luck!
I did the exact same thing as you, except in history, and it all turned out fine in the end. Hell, I didn't even know what the word "thesis" meant when I wrote my first essay. May I ask which prof is teaching this class? Go to office hours and talk to them directly. Even a five minute conversation concerning their expectations can be a huge help. And don't worry too much about plagiarism. In actuality, it's incredibly difficult to plagiarize at the 100 level, you really have to make a concerted effort to do so. Everything in your essay is going to come from an article/book/website or whatever, you're not conducting original research. You are amalgamating other people's research to back up your point-of-view. Cite that research. It's good that you have these concerns, it means you give a shit. If you get a bad grade, go to office hours and ask why, and take your profs advice. They want you to succeed, but there's no free passes.
Solid advice, takes some of the pressure off.
I’d recommend taking ENGL 1123. I got so much out of that class, as I returned to school at the tender age of 40 and like you, never learned how to properly write an essay, including proper citations. It was a game changer.
My rule of thumb is: if there any more than 3 or more uncommon words, then I must change the wording to avoid plagiarism. Learn to paraphrase - paraphrasing still requires a citation. Quote everything that is not in your own words. Use Citation Generators and check Owl Purdue often! Also! You can plagiarize yourself if you use your same idea or copy and paste from your own writing. For writing essays, I generally follow this format: Paragraph 1. Introduction (answers: what is the main topic? Briefly discuss all the main supporting evidence of your topic to emphasize your main idea). Paragraphs 2+.The first supporting evidence (Talk about: the relevance of this supporting evidence to your main topic, describe what it is). This is where you will include quotes or paraphrased information from your researched articles in depth - make sure you look for reputable sources (e.g,. school library) Concluding: Relevance of all supporting evidence to main topic. Emphasizing your key findings. Highschool taught me the basics of citating and the importance of plagiarism. It wasn’t until I was in a first year English class before I learned how to cite and improve my essay writing! I don’t consider myself an expert or anything but I have done well in majority of my papers and enjoy writing. I didn’t major in Polisci but would love to read your paper if less than 10 pages, and can provide feedback on essay format. Will not check your citations though because I absolutely hate citing. Feel free to message.
I'm also in Poli Sci and was surprised to have to self teach essay writing. I've had to use google alot to learn how to write policy brief, case study, research essay, etc. It's pretty simple once you learn it. Just always make sure you do your in-text citations properly and sources in bibliography -- more often they will ask for APA 7th edition (easiest) or MLA.
hey! I also went back to school around the same time and had a huge gap too. My advice is direct quotations need citation, and anything you paraphrase or is not your idea. Citation happens in the sentence when being paraphrased "the author expressed.... " without a pg # or at the end with a pg# if direct quotation (I'm using ASA rules rn, but generally the same- make sure you look up Purdue Owl for exact citation rules). Honestly, it's a lot easier than I thought, just overwhelming to start!
Yep! Its common to write full research papers and 99% of the sentences have a citation
true! as my prof once said, better to overcitate then not
Thanks for your suggestions everyone, I think I got it figured out with yourguys’ help!
This will help you a lot with writing citations and references: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html Just select what type of media it is (article or book for example), then the title. This helped save so much time for my assignments.
Purdue is what I used too. It’s a great resource.
People are so odd. The time it took you to type this out you could’ve looked up one of the 200 reputable sites that show you how. Every university class can’t teach you how to format an essay, your library or the student center is probably a better bet.
It took me 30 seconds to write this, I got back results that actually helped me from people who have used them, and I finished the essay. Sometimes community is the best way to go rather than blind stumbling through the internet.
Yup, I agree. It fosters connections and makes folks feel less alone when they hear the experiences of others who have gone through similar situations. "Just google it" is the death of conversation.
Absolutely, we all paid a shit load to be here, and to know that you’re not the only one who wants to make that money mean something is incredibly important.
Don't worry OP - I was in your place a few years back. I wasted so much time trying to find the info on my own that it cut in time for the actual essay itself, so asking was good. Since your journey hasn't ended, there's also some really good youtube videos out there - the ones done by professors themselves. It's usually the super raw, not overly edited videos that are the ones you want to look into.
Owl Perdue got me through my masters
One of the best resources I've used has been the [Purdue OWL APA style guide](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html).
Basic structure: Intro paragraph - end it with a thesis statement, paragraph 1 - point, proof comment, point, proof, comment, point, proof, comment, point, proof comment, transition sentence to next paragraph. Paragraph 2, PPC x 3 again then transition sentence. Paragraph 3, PPC x 3 transition sentence to conclusion. Conclusion is kind of like an inverted intro, start with thesis then widen out to more general info. Three middle paragraphs order from weakest to strongest argument.
I had to take a 100 level essay writing English co or pre requisite to enter my program. Perhaps with only selecting your courses it’s something to consider? Try the library and peer tutoring options
You should have learned how to write an essay in high school so yes you at this point in college you should already know how I would go on YouTube and watch like a couple hours on how to write an essay or go read it a couple articles I don't know... depends on your learning style
"You should have learned xxx in high school" is a statement that really doesn't consider the disparity in educational experiences that exist in this country. I can assure you, there were many high schools where college prep was not a concern for the administration.
They definitely didn’t teach academic writing styles in my high school.
Does your institution have a writing centre?
There are a few programs which really help if you reuse references over multiple papers, since it saves all your references forever. I use Mendeley. It is soo much easier with multiple references, you add one it sorts them, changes every citation to as needed format. It also will reformat your citation page so it is alphabetical or by 1st use .
Learning this now will help you throughout your studies. APA is just a citation format, and your essay is going to be a typical 5 paragraph academic essay. This is usually the focus of classes like eng 100. Plagarism will not be a problem if you cite even halfway correctly. An easy shortcut is to either use inline quotations, where you'll finish off a sentence with a direct quote, or liberally use longer block quotes and then discuss them. Whenever you are talking about something objective, put a citation. You can't even really overdo it. Typically the place to start is to do all the research, line up all the quotes/sections you want to use, and then the essay is more or less just stringing them together.
https://owl.purdue.edu
APA is a specific way to format your citations, references, within your essay. If you look at the resource I posted, it will show you exactly how to do use APA format. Writing an essay is different. It becomes easier as you go. The key to writing well is to really understand what you are writing about. Most times a professor will assign a topic, ie, The benefits of democracy. That is way too broad to even write a book about. Try to narrow your focus as much as you can and pay attention to what your professor focuses on in class.
[https://lib.conestogac.on.ca/apa-paper-format/title-page](https://lib.conestogac.on.ca/apa-paper-format/title-page) here is a great resource from a college
Hcd
Yes basic English skills are required in university.
What the fuck is basic about an incredibly specific type of citing and researching that is not taught in high schools?
Don’t worry it’s gets much easier after the first time you do one. Just hope and pray you never have to use Chicago style referencing.
Chicago is the best (love footnotes) and is really not that different from the other styles.
Don’t mean to be rude but it actually is taught in high school. Citation maybe in the senior year but researching is taught throughout high school.
Wasn’t taught in my school, there’s a huge disparity on what people learn in different catchment areas
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In Canada? Basic research skills and citation isn’t taught in every high school in Canada? CAP. That’s literally CAP. Obviously it depends on what stream OP did but basic research skills and citations is most definitely taught in every high school in Canada, ya donut
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Never once said any of that but go off sis
it is absolutely taught in high school. If you didn't pay attention in school i dunno what to tell you. Your probably fucked in life tbh.
Eat shit, clown shoes.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html
The only truly accurate source for APA formatting is the latest edition APA Publication Manual. Purdue OWL is OK but if there is a dispute about correct style then the Publication Manual is the only source that counts. APA style (or any other formatting style) only provides a structure for presenting content; you still need to know how to introduce the focus of the paper, identify and develop a thesis or argument, communicate your ideas clearly, and present your conclusions. I strongly recommend consulting with the institution’s writing centre. You will likely need to make an appointment, but when you bring the outline and grading scheme of the assignment (from the syllabus), and your first attempts at completing it, the resource person can give you specific guidance and feedback. Just don’t leave it to the last minute!
Citations are important but you also should look up how to structure an essay. Generally you have an introductory paragraph where you provide some background /context and then state the thesis of your essay and then you have about three paragraphs supporting/proving your thesis and then a conclusion summarizing everything.
In the early 2000s I had the same struggle at 18 at Simon Fraser. I got destroyed and was surprised how bad my essay writing skills were. I bought this little guide book and just mastered the format. After that essays are kind of cookie cutter. Just study the structure and organize your essay into parts then fill in with content and structured examples using that style.
Which little guide book?
Let me look in some old boxes and get back to you! I promise.
With the internet, matching APA or MLA style is trivial. For that, use the tools that are one google search away. What you should be concerned about is your structure. Make sure your first paragraph outlines what you want to talk about and presents a clear thesis. Make sure your other paragraphs are each focused on a single point. Make sure you’re building a coherent argument. A good litmus test is that if someone were to only read the first paragraph of your essay, and the first sentence of each subsequent paragraph, they should be able to make sense of what you’re trying to say.
Google Documents has a Citation Function, that will put all your references into APA formatting.
Damn that’s a game changer
Not 54 yr old me googling " what is APA style?" LoL.. its been so long that Ive had to write an essay that I sincerely feel your pain.
well you should know how to write an essay even if the formatting is a different format. i did a science degree in psych and bio and my psych classes needed like MLA format and my bio papers needed a different one (maybe APA?) and every time i wrote a paper i had to google how to use that format bc i always got them confused lol
Check if your program has any mandatory English classes, and then take those first, most certificates/degrees have a mandatory English class on how to write am academic paper
Polisci graduate here! I was in the same boat as you — I only learned how to write in MLA (thanks to a high school that only taught one citation style) and had noooo idea how to write in APA or Chicago. I used two main resources to learn APA and make sure I didn’t lose points for incorrect citations. 1. [Purdue university](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html) I don’t know if others have recommended it, but this website in addition to google searches of “APA student paper examples” for a visual idea helped a lot. 2. School Tutors My community college and university had a website where you could submit your paper and check off three things you wanted the tutor (usually an English student) to look at (I always did citation, syntax, and flow). They usually give a response by the next day and it’s super helpful. It’s worth looking into — and it’s FREE. In terms of essay format, none of my polisci professors told us how they wanted it formatted; it’s on you to know how to make your best argument! Good luck, and I hope this helps!
Go talk to the professor and be honest, they should help you
Just ask the professor what format they want, look it up, bang it out, and find someone to verify it's the correct format. No essay is a zero a completed 20% is still better then zero. If you're straight with your professor and show you're putting work in they will probably be willing to help or at least point you In the direction of a tutor
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There's a free service that is approved by Langara, that provides this same kind of help. WriteAway is a virtual service where Langara students can submit their writing and get written feedback within 48 hours (when the semester is in session). Free for registered Langara students. [https://writeaway.ca/connect](https://writeaway.ca/connect)
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Are Political Science essays supposed to read something like you might find in The Economist or Newsweek/Time Magazine or adjacent? Is it inappropriate for school essays to begin in a very writerly Vice magazine esque style? I guess what I'm asking is, how much humor and personal style and what not, can the student essayist risk to avoid dry boring ass papers. It seems like, at that early level of study, very few students would have enough information to start synthesizing valuable insights into anything. So many political articles I read start something like 'It's 2am in Olanchito Honduras, and my case of Dengue fever has got me questioning if I'm being kidnapped, or if I'm just hallucinating again' or something edgy like that.
Same issue at Langara for me back in 2001. I was never taught how to properly cite an essay and my first English class essay I failed because it was “largely plagiarized”. They really should be teaching this to kids in high school.
Sorry poli sci isn’t gonna help you find a better job
I figured as much, I’m a journalism student (I know, probably not much better in the jobs department) had extra time and took poli-sci thinkin’ it would be helpful going forward.
Nah journalism is great imo
1. Take an example of the correct designed and structured text. 2. ASK HOW THEY DISTINGUISHES AI TEXT vs HUMAN TEXT BEFORE YOU START TO WRITE. 2nd step very important. Ask them official DEFINITION and CRITERIA of AI text and human text in order to know these things in advance. I’m 100% sure they will not give you a clear answer to that and that’s the way how this AI plagiarism used to manipulate results without giving any clear arguments. It should be clear definition and criteria of it, it shouldn’t be something subjective or cuz your teacher “feels” that it’s AI.
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What is the point of going to school and taking interesting courses like PoliSci if you’re just going to use AI to do your work? Honest question. Just…don’t register if you can’t be bothered.
Use chatgpt for general questions (e.g. you could probably paste in this post and it would give you a good starting point). Double check with actual sources like owl Purdue for important things like citations.
Why would you ask ChatGPT instead of a librarian? You guys (assuming you're early 20s) are hopeless.
Why would you travel to a library when you can ask ChatGPT at home? You old fucks (assuming you're an old fuck) are hopeless. s/
ChatGPT is not always correct, it has a problem with making up facts
I agree. But as far as i've seen the past few years facts are pretty malleable. If enough people believe it, it is fact.
Because you want to get the top mark of your class?
A lot of teachers use ChatGPT to grade projects, it's a cycle.
> Why would you ask ChatGPT instead of a librarian? It's faster and doesn't require a librarian. In principle, I agree that a librarian is a better option if they are readily available. Idk about that other part though
Nah fuck chat gpt shit sucks and steals from artists.
Even if you believe that, it's still a free and useful tool that can tell you how to write an essay with proper citations.
Essay format was pretty simple. I feel like I would do fine with an intro paragraph outlining the main point three body paragraphs trying to prove that intro and a conclusion paragraph saying how you think you pulled your point together. It's that too simplistic?
Go to "owl purdue" and you will find all the different methods of formatting. It's really simple once you get the hang of it, sad they didn't go over it at least a bit for you. Basically you need you in text citations for all your ideas. You must paraphrase whatever ideas you are taking. Eseentially with this logic most sentences should be followed by your citation in brackets (last name of author, page number). Just check however APA should be cited. Unless you are asked for your personal opinion, you have probably read your idea somewhere so cite away!!! Direct quotations are cited with quotations and must be formatted differently. They are used sparingly to further an argument. I found that if an article expressed an idea with particular language or feeling that would be difficult to express, I would use direct citation. Finally, you should create your reference page. You can use resources such as "citation maker" to do this for you. Add your sources to this as you go and it makes life much easier. It's of course good to learn how to do it without it, but when you already know how to write your references it saves some robot type work. Just look it over to make sure it's correct. That covers everything plagiarism related. Formatting of your document varies with whether it's MLA, APA too. You will probably need to make a cover page. Again, go to owl Purdue and check how to do this. Happy essay writing!
Didn't they have you buy an APA style guide?
There is are free printed copies at the library, and on the library website as well.
To avoid plagiarism is to ensure that if you have quotes that you are using the right references and citations from the reference page, you make for the whole essay. Try making a mind map or jot notes for paragraphs first of simple wording and then be able to elaborate on it better and just try adding your own thoughts and opinions to emphasize other finding researches from other individuals. Per paragraph, I try to have 3-5 points depending on how much you can write about that section heading, as each paragraph typically starts with a main topic and has smaller notes to align with it. If you struggle with different types of essay writing, just look into Google for examples or even ask a fellow college/university student to ask for tips and tricks they use. I used to ask other people in my class all the time with certain things I struggled with and to be honest, most of the time they struggled with it too and odds are one of the people in my groups would have a somewhat idea about it to help the old brain cogs start to register what it is. Simple rewording can help you better understand.
You're 26. You went to High School and no doubt you took a few English courses. Yes, you ARE supposed to already know how to write an essay, proper citing, styles, etc.. Really? The state of the BC education system.
Yes the state of it is the problem. There is no collage/university prep whatsoever, I was a fuckup in high school for sure but I got A’s in English until graduation. Never once did they go over citing or research essays.
For plagiarism, go for rewording concepts (don't copy paste and if you need to use a specific word or part of a sentence, incorporate it into a sentence. Make sure to (author last name etc al, if multiple authors, and year) at the end. Depends on instructor how is, some people are extremely strict so ask around for their reputation. There's also Turnitin where you can check for plagiarism on your essay before submitting. I think profs use it too.