Academic Writing Skills Guide: Using Lecturers' Feedback

Be more concise

Use fewer words, if you have a word limit, make effective use of it. Avoid waffling, vague wording and needlessly complicated words and phrases. See Key Features of Academic Writing Being Concise.

Be more critical / Not critical enough

Take a more questioning approach with information from sources included in your writing. Avoid just describing what the source says – analyse and evaluate your sources; why is this information important/significant in the context of your overall discussion? Analytical writing identifies the significance of ideas, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, weighs one piece of information against another or shows the relevance of links between them. Make this clearer, this is how you show your understanding of the topic.

Check your referencing

It is important that you reference every source you either quote or paraphrase in your work and that your referencing follows the correct format. Try and format your referencing as you draft your assignments, that way you avoid leaving it until the last minute and rushing it. While some of the formatting of referencing can be difficult to learn at first, it is easy to find out what you need to do (https://libguides.ncirl.ie/referencingandavoidingplagiarism). Look again at the library referencing guides and identify the main errors you are making. Pay attention to both in-text citations and your reference list. Get further feedback and advice from the Library Academic Support Centre.

High levels of plagiarism

Do not copy and paste anything when writing your assignments. Instead, paraphrase information from your sources into your notes in order to avoid plagiarised content ending up in your final submissions. Also, be organised with your research and make sure all information you paraphrase into your notes is accurately referenced so there is no confusion where the information comes from. Try using the Library Academic Support Centre’s Assignment Planning Guidelines.

Improve your structure

The best way to improve structure is to plan your work well before you start writing. Plan your work to ensure that all parts of the question are addressed in your answer using the Assignment Planning Guidelines from the Library Academic Support Centre which can help you organise your notes. Also, check out the following guides - Using Paragraphs, Structuring Your Assignment, Revising & Editing.

It would be good to see more detail here / Inadequate development of ideas

This suggests that you have not sufficiently developed a point. You can improve this by finding and including further sources/evidence in your writing; you may also be required to provide more comment/analysis on the sources/evidence included in your writing.

Lack of scholarly evidence to support points and ideas / Use more academic sources

This suggests that you have used more random sources found on the internet and not paid enough attention to the quality of your evidence; focus more on journal articles, academic books/eBooks, reputable websites and any other sources highlighted by your lecturers.

Lacks depth

This normally means you have tried to fit too much into your assignment and have therefore been unable to go into sufficient detail on the key points. You need to prioritise the main points of discussion in your answers and concentrate on covering these in sufficient detail within the given word count. May also indicate that you have rushed the assignment and failed to research enough material.

Needs a more balanced argument

You need to present evidence for the other sides of the argument as well as your own in order to be more persuasive and indicate that you have considered opposing views.

Needs greater synthesis/integration of sources

A lack of synthesis can lead to your assignment reading more like a list of research rather than an argument; using the Library Academic Support Centre’s Assignment Planning Guidelines can help you connect information from different sources.

Need to present a cohesive argument

You may have found some suitable sources, but not used them effectively in your assignment. Revisit the Assignment Planning Guidelines to see if that can help you better organise the evidence from your sources in your notes for future assignments.

Overuse of quotations

This can restrict the amount of space you have to portray your understanding of the topic as you are too reliant on the exact wording of your sources. Instead, try and paraphrase more of your research and at the same time remember to analyse/evaluate this information in the context of what you are writing about.

Poor sentence structure and grammar

Check your work with a more thorough proofread before submitting. Aim to leave your work for a day or two, before doing a final check. Use the Library Academic Support Centre’s Revising & Editing and Proofreading guides.

A reasonable attempt

While this indicates that you have done okay, there is clearly room for improvement. Review all aspects of your writing using the library guides and see where you could do better. Alternatively, ask for further feedback from your lecturer or the Library Academic Support Centre to help identify where you can improve.

Too descriptive / Lacks analysis / Lack of critical engagement

Aim to be more critical (see above). Take a more questioning approach with information from sources included in your writing. Avoid just describing what the source says – analyse and evaluate your sources, developing your argument; why is this information important/significant in the context of your overall discussion? Analytical writing identifies the significance of ideas, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, weighs one piece of information against another or shows the relevance of links between them. Make this clearer, this is how you show your understanding of the topic.

Use more evidence to support your work / Use a greater range of sources / Inadequate background reading and research

Avoid basing too much of your work on just one or two references. Instead, try to make claims in your writing by backing them up with evidence from a number of good quality sources (journal articles, academic books/eBooks, reliable websites). Sometimes you can feel so confident in your understanding of a topic, that you can forget, in an academic setting, it is important to show evidence to support your claims. This strengthens your argument; without this evidence, it is just your own unsubstantiated opinion and a much less persuasive argument.

Use more formal/academic language

Check the Library Academic Support Centre’s guides on using appropriate academic language in your assignments to help you avoid wording and a writing style that is too informal. See Key Features of Academic Writing.

Use more up to date sources

Pay more attention to the age of the sources you use – unless you are using sources highlighted and featured by your lecturer in their class material and Moodle page, concentrate on using up to date sources. Generally speaking, you are being asked to be current in your discussion about the issues you research so the age of the sources/evidence you use should reflect that.

What is your point?

Be sure to clearly state your argument in your introduction and conclusion, and ensure each paragraph includes an explanation of how each point supports or links to your overall argument. Spend more time planning and structuring your assignment so your argument and main points are clearer to the reader.

Writing is hard to follow

Check to see if your sentences are too long. Do each of your paragraphs stick to one main point? Check your grammar and punctuation for any recurrent errors.

Your argument/discussion lacks clarity

Be sure to clearly state your argument in your introduction and conclusion, and ensure each paragraph includes an explanation of how each point supports or links to your overall argument. Examine your topic sentences and make sure that they all contribute directly to your overall discussion and that they signal one main idea per paragraph.

You haven’t answered the question

Make sure all your arguments and material are relevant and clearly linked to the question, and you are not simply writing everything you know about the topic. Pay closer attention to the assignment brief and guidelines and make sure that these are printed out next to you in large font during the whole reading, researching and writing process. Take a look at the Understanding Assignment Titles guide to see where you could improve; pay attention to the directive/instructional words. Plan your work to ensure that all parts of the question are addressed in your answer using the Assignment Planning Guidelines to help you organise your notes.

Your work seems rushed/incomplete

Suggests poor time management. Take a look at The Writing Process and Planning Your Assignments guides – both of these can help you better plan the writing process for your assignments.

Your writing lacks flow

Have you used a list of points without clear connections? Were these points fully developed in paragraph form? Were they presented in a logical order consistently linking to your main point? Consider using the Library Academic Support Centre’s Assignment Planning Guidelines to help you better plan and logically structure your assignments.

Your writing needs to be more academic

This may mean that your assignment did not use enough good quality evidence to back up your discussion. It could also mean you need to take a look at your writing style, it may be too informal; take a look at the library guides to see if you are following the most common academic writing conventions - see Key Features of Academic Writing. In addition, the feedback may also indicate that there is insufficient analysis and evaluation of sources in your writing.