This page contains information, handouts, videos, and other materials about academic writing. Some of this material has been developed by the Hixon Writing Center, and other resources are links to good resources created by other writing centers, libraries, or university programs.
Introduction to Academic Writing
This set of video resources on college writing, produced by the Hixon Writing Center, offers Caltech freshmen four tutorials led by peer tutors on topics that are always challenging to freshman writers. The videos address making an argument, organization, working with sources, and writing with clarity. Each of these videos is accompanied by a handout that summarizes its main ideas. Two additional videos featuring faculty and students explore the importance of writing for students focused on study in STEM fields and how the writing process works.
Key Elements, Processes, and Skills for Academic Writing
If you are asking general questions about how to write a successful academic paper, these resources may be helpful. This includes topics like crafting strong arguments, organization, and writing well at the sentence level. Be aware that contexts of genre and discipline (discussed below on this page) affect how these core aspects of academic writing work in practice.
- Arguments (CSU)
- Collecting Information (CSU)
- Drafting, Designing, Revising (CSU)
- Grammar (Purdue OWL)
- Peer Review (video) (MIT)
- Procrastination, and How to Avoid It (Caltech)
- Pronouns and Gender-Fair Writing (Caltech)
- Punctuation (Purdue OWL)
- Working with Sources (Harvard)
- Working with Sources and Writing about History (Caltech)
- Working with Sources and Writing about Literature (Caltech)
- Working with Sources and Writing about Philosophy (Caltech)
Scholarly Citation, Style Systems, and Plagiarism
If you are asking questions about how to cite texts and avoid plagiarism, these resources may be helpful. We have print copies of many style guides in the HWC, and the library also has print and digital copies of many guides.
Understanding Plagiarism
- Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism (Caltech)
- Checklist on Avoiding Plagiarism (Caltech)
Academic style system guides
- ACS (American Chemical Society) Citation Guide (Williams College)
- APA format (American Psychological Association)
- APA Format (Purdue OWL)
- Avoiding Plagiarism (Bedford)
- Chicago Style (Purdue OWL)
- CSE Style (Council of Science Editors)
- CSE Citation/Sequence (CSU)
- CSE Name/Year (CSU)
- IEEE Style (Pitt)
- MLA Format, overview with links to more specialized info (Purdue OWL)
- MLA Format, formatting quotations, including fiction and poetry (Purdue OWL)
- Turabian Style
- Understanding Plagiarism (Hjortshoj)
- What style does each discipline use? (Purdue OWL)
Genres (Types) of Academic Writing
If you are working to write a type of academic writing that is unfamiliar to you, these resources may help you understand what it is and why it works the way it does.
- Abstracts (Genre description and annotated models) (Caltech)
- Abstracts (CSU)
- Curriculum Vitae [CV] (CSU)
- Grant Proposals (Caltech)
- Lab reports, academic and industry (Caltech)
- Policy Statement [Environmental] (CSU)
- Posters (Genre description, guidelines, annotated models) (Caltech)
- Posters (CSU)
- Posters (PSU)
- Presentations in STEM fields (PSU)
- Scientific Paper (CSU)
- SURF Proposal (slides from presentation delivered 2/5/18) (Caltech)
- Technical Report [engineering] (CSU)
Writing for Specific Academic Disciplines
The way knowledge is produced affects how it is written about, which accounts for the differences you may encounter in writing for different disciplinary audiences. If you're getting to know how writing works in a new field these resources may help.
Working with Sources in Specific Disciplines
- Working with Sources and Writing about History (Caltech)
- Working with Sources and Writing about Literature (Caltech)
- Working with Sources and Writing about Philosophy (Caltech)
General Resources on Disciplinary Writing
- Anthropology (UNC)
- Art History (UNC)
- Biology (Marquette)
- Engineering (CSU)
- History (UNC)
- Philosophy (Jim Pryor)
- Philosophy (UNC)
- Political Science (UNC)
- Sciences (UNC)
- Sciences (American Scientist)
Resources in Caltech's Library
While there are many good online resources related to academic writing, not everything you need to know can be found online. Our library has many books related to academic, professional, and technical writing you can consult and borrow. The HWC has worked with the library to create a LibGuide about Writing that will quickly connect you to many of those resources.
The HWC has also composed an annotated bibliography of our favorite resources for writers in STEM fields. Many of these books are available in the Caltech Library, and the HWC has copies of all of them that you can utilize inside the Center.
This page is currently being updated. If you're looking for help with something and don't find a resource here, please email us and let us know what you'd like to see here.