Crash Course in Scholarly Writing

Crash Course in Scholarly Writing 

Last updated 3/17/2020 

 

Visual: Video opens with the title of the video and the description “The 4 areas of scholarly writing in 4 minutes or less” and a picture of a stop watch. 

Audio: Welcome to the Writisng Center’s crash course in scholarly writing! Crash course videos are a great fit if you are new to scholarly writing or are returning after a long absence. In this four minute video, we’ll review the four areas of scholarly writing you need to know to succeed in your writing at Walden.  

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the phrase “Not familiar with an area, tip, or term? Look it up!” and the following list: Scholarly writing 

  • Voice 
  • Evidence 
  • Paragraphs 
  • Argument 

When the speaker mentions “terms,” the following sample terms appear one after another: word choice, argument, thesis statement, evidence, scholarly sources, peer review, paraphrase, quote, APA, paragraphs, introduction, conclusion, MEAL plan, voice, audience. 

Audio: The four areas of scholarly writing include argument, evidence, paragraphs, and voice.  We’ll give you quick tips and introduce you to terms in each of these areas, but we won’t be talking about them in-depth—remember, this is a crash course!  

Instead, get out a pen and paper. If you’re not familiar with one of these areas, a tip we give, or a term we use (we’ll help you by displaying key terms in bold), write it down so you can look it up later. At the end of the video we’ll show you where to find more information on our website. Let’s get started! 

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the following: Argument 

  • Develop a perspective on a topic, not summary 
  • Include a thesis statement 
  • Incorporate evidence-based ideas, not opinion 

Audio: Argument is essential to scholarly writing and, in fact, most scholarly writing is required to have an argument. Argument means that in you should develop a perspective on a topic, showing something about a topic in your writing. Your argument is represented by your thesis statement. Finally, it’s also important that your argument be evidence-based, not based on opinion or just your personal experience. 

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the following: Evidence 

  • All ideas are evidence-based 
  • Scholarly and peer-reviewed sources 
  • Paraphrased or quoted per APA 

Audio: This leads us into our second area of scholarly writing: evidence. In your scholarly writing, all ideas are evidence-based, but more than that, the evidence you use should be from scholarly sources, is often peer-reviewed, and can be found in the Walden Library. Additionally, you should either paraphrase or quote these sources per APA, the standard citation style at Walden. 

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the following: Paragraphs 

  • Introduction: Includes thesis statement 
  • Body: Develops thesis statement 
    • Fully formed with evidence & analysis (MEAL plan
  • Conclusion: Recap main points 

Audio: Our third area of scholarly writing is paragraphs because you need to organize the ideas you include in your writing. Your paper should always start with an introduction paragraph that introduces your paper’s topic and includes your thesis statement. The body of your paper is then created with fully-developed paragraphs that support and explore the thesis statement with both evidence and analysis. One way of thinking about body paragraphs in scholarly writing is through the MEAL plan. Finally, every paper should end with a conclusion paragraph, which recaps your paper’s main points. 

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the following: Voice 

  • Consideration of audience 
  • Formal word choice and tone 
  • Objective phrasing 
  • Concise but varied sentence structure 

Audio: The last area of scholarly writing is voice, which you need to adjust in consideration of your audience. In scholarly writing, you’re writing for a more general and academic audience than you might be at work and you’re writing for a more formal audience than you might be for a friend, so we need to use more formal word choice and tone, objective phrasing, and concise but not repetitive sentence structure. 

 

Visual: Screen changes to show the following: Scholarly Writing 

  • Voice 
  • Evidence 
  • Paragraphs 
  • Argument 

Then as the speaker discusses the website, a screenshot of the Writing Center’s homepage is displayed with the home page URL: http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter. Each section of the home page is highlighted as the speaker talks about it. 

Audio: Now you’ve learned the four areas of scholarly writing! Next, search our website for any of the scholarly writing areas, quick tips, or terms we discussed that you wrote down. Use the search box at the top-right corner, the Quick Answers box, or the main menus to find more information and begin learning!