Writer Jobs

Writer jobs

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:22:47 +0200

Academic Knowledge, one of the UK's biggest freelance writing agencies, are still recruiting for writers and have just updated their writer jobs application form. It's a lot simpler than it used to be, with no scanned documents required up front and a decision on your writer job application within 24 hours. Great work there from Academic Knowledge - check them out if you have a degree and you're looking for writing work.

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Great writer site

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:20:18 +0200

I found a great site this evening with loads of tips on writing essays and dissertations: Essays Online. It's a site that's been going since January 2009 and has loads of tips on writing essays, writing dissertations or as they say, "all things essays, dissertations and coursework". The site has loads of links to free resources like these ones on dissertations. Enjoy!

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Getting published as a writer - marketing (for books)

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:25:53 +0100

Once the book is published the publishers normally expect that the writer participates actively in his work's marketing strategy. Writers having their web-sites also actively advertise it together with their new books.

Do you enjoy writing? Want to make money from it? Join Academic Knowledge - they are recruiting for freelance writers - or visit their writing advice section for loads of tips and advice.

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Getting published as a writer - literary agents

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:25:03 +0100

Literary agents www.writers-publish.com suggests to search for them at the relevant literary events such as writers conferences, write them directly or some contacts of yours may recommend you someone appropriate.

www.LiteraryAgents.org
http://www.bookpublishingagent.com/
and
www.FictionAddition.net

may be right places to start looking from.

There is also internet-resource http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/ with lists of agents and practical advice for dealing with them.

In www.writer-publish.com it is advised to check carefully the list of works that the agent arranged to be published, not to sign contract until checked by your solicitor and to be careful with agents charging upfront fees for reading your work.

Also, the estimate fee of literary agents is said there to be at the level of 10-15% with any expenses to be charged separately. Ideally the agent should be a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives www.aar-online.org, but Scott Hoffmann in his article “Is your agent legit?”on http://www.writersdigest.com/ considers this factor as non-decisive so far as quality of services is concerned, provided that good references are in place.

Do you enjoy writing? Want to make money from it? Join Academic Knowledge - they are recruiting for freelance writers - or visit their writing advice section for loads of tips and advice.

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Getting published as a writer - pitching to publishers

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:22:47 +0100

Pitching to potential publishers is a competitive process.

There is a guide about preparing right query letters for writer publishing with sample letters provided - “The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters” by freelance writer and editor Wendy Burt Thomas.

The site of Andrea Shavick (author and poet) www.shavick.com/getpublished.htm also provides a helpful guide for pitching publishers.

First of all, make sure you are contacting a publisher who may be potentially interested in the kind of work you are promoting.

Then, in a pitch normally a work description is expected, explanation why it was written and what purposes it serves, describing the target auditorium.

For books also - competitors and marketing strategy should be outlined; it is also desirable to have influential referees from your field who could recommend your work to the public. Marcia Yudkin on her web-site www.yudkin.com - http://www.yudkin.com/ gives recommendations about how to make your work look more attractive, prove that people need this kind of work with examples of existing demand, doing research in relevant internet-resources.

She avoids obvious steps, trying to find original solutions.

Thus, for scientific articles she suggests to use the style “catching a reader's eye” and metaphors.

With magazine articles she advises to think about cover-worthy titles, which may significantly increase the chances of success, to be original and not to try writing about something already covered.

With contacting publishers maintaining accurate record of your submissions is highly recommended.

With some publishers it is said that no submissions are accepted without literary agent, therefore finding one may happen to be necessary.

Also, agents may have much experience with presentation of work to the publishers with chances of desired outcome to be achieved better with them (provided that you chose a right person to represent you).

Do you enjoy writing? Want to make money from it? Join Academic Knowledge - they are recruiting for freelance writers - or visit their writing advice section for loads of tips and advice.

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Getting published as a writer - overview

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:20:36 +0100

The process of writer publishing comprises of the following stages:

pitching potential publishers;
approval by editors
signing contract with a publisher and publishing itself
marketing campaign (books only)

In self-publishing the pitching is excluded and these are cases where the writer either applies for publishing grants (applicable for scientific works), looks for potential sponsors / lenders that may be interested in the work's subject or uses his own money to publish.

A writer normally looks at self-publishing as a last resort option, with the most important (apart from marketing) part of the writer publishing to be successful pitching with tips on which available on www.writers-publish.com, www.yudkin.com, www.writersmarket.com and others.

There is also no harm visiting writers' forums and blogs such as http://forum.writersdigest.com and http://blog.writersdigest.com where useful information, tips and advice can be found.

As a starting point www.writers-publish.com recommends two main things to be done giving also some guidelines:

- finding a right approach in contacting publishers and
- hiring a literary agent.

On www.yudkin.com Marcia Yudkin, author of 11 books (including “6 steps to free publicity” and “Persuading on paper”) and 1000 magazine articles shares secrets for successful writer publishing and pitching publishers.

Marcia advocates DIY approach with energetic problem-solution attitude showing her entrepreneurial spirit in goal achievement process including successful publishing and marketing campaigns.

Do you enjoy writing? Want to make money from it? Join Academic Knowledge - they are recruiting for freelance writers - or visit their writing advice section for loads of tips and advice.

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Putting out a website - some tips and tricks

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:16:46 +0200

No matter how fantastic the product or service you’re offering is, it’s useless if people don’t know about it. The success of your business therefore depends on getting your message into the minds of your potential buyer. If you’ve chosen to do this by means of a website, you’re probably looking for ways to get it promoted and listed.

Firstly, some basics.

Like it or loathe it, Google is the God of the internet. If you want people to visit your site, you’re going to have to do things the Google way. What’s the Google Way? Follow their Webmaster guidelines as closely as possible – these can be found by typing 'google webmaster guidelines' into Google (I can't publish the URL here because it keeps throwing back an error).

There are guidelines on design and content, technical guidelines and quality guidelines. All three sets of guidelines need to be considered together – so for example, whilst it’s important to develop interesting content that users want to find (per the Google quality guidelines), their advice to “think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it” is telling you to make the pages keyword rich too (per the Google design and content guidelines) without keyword spamming.

When you understand all of these, and you’re happy you’ve followed all the rules, you need to get to grips with the way Google ranks sites – an article on this can be found here: http://www.google.com/corporate/tech.html

If you’re confident with all of this, you’ll know that your two main goals are to obtain:
* Keyword rich quality content
* Quality links to your site from other trusted websites

So let’s think about how you can attain these goals.

1. Finding keywords

To do this, we can use a free tool that Google provide. Type Google Keyword Tool into a search engine and decide on common words or phrases that you think describes your niche content (make sure you check the ‘use synonyms’ box to get the best variety of results)

When you have some results, click on the "Approx Avg Search Volume" header to sort by the average monthly volume. You are going to take each of the search terms that look like good possible keywords and run a search on Google for them. You’re looking for keywords that don’t have much competition – so what you need to record is the number of matching pages. This appears on the right hand side of your search results, e.g ‘Results 1 - 10 of about 99 for thiskeywordterm. (0.55 seconds)’. You can also get an idea of the competition from the results under the column ‘Advertiser Competition’. Don’t forget to keep track of your results – either write them down or download the results in CSV format (this can be opened in Microsoft Excel or another similar spreadsheet program).

When you have that information for a good handful of keywords you want to come up with a success potential ratio for each. It's easy. Just divide the "Approx Avg Search Volume" by the number of pages for that keyword on Google. This is your success potential ratio. The higher the number, the better.

Example A: Approx Avg Search Volume (6,500) / Matching Pages on Google (100,000) = .065 is your Success Potential Ratio

Example B: Approx Avg Search Volume (9,750) / Matching Pages on Google (233,000) = .042 is your Success Potential Ratio

Example B has a lot more searches performed, but has even more competition than A. This means the keyword from Example A is likely our best bet to target.

When you’ve got your keywords, concentrate on making your content keyword rich for these. It will also help if you read some articles on SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) so you know what factors Google and other search engines take into account. These are good articles:

* http://www.seomoz.org/article/bg1
* http://www.seomoz.org/article/search-ranking-factors

2. Set up Wordpress

Wordpress is a great tool for search engine friendly content. It’s very easy to use and update, and you don’t need to be a programmer to work it (although lots of programmers do use it because it’s a fast way to get websites live). Here’s a link to the website: http://wordpress.org/ - if you’re not very web savvy, there’s a Dummies Book you can buy to help you create your site.

3. Create Content

You need to create your main pages – About / Contact Us / Your Order Page etc but you also need keyword rich content that will help search engines find your page.

There are several ways you can go about doing this.

* Purchase 6-10 articles based on the keywords that you have chosen (2 keywords per article). This is a bit hit and miss because you need to find good writers. Essaybay (http://www.essaybay.com) is a good place to find writers for this – people bid on your work and you can read their reviews (and samples of their work)
* Get another 6-10 articles from article sites. There’s a list of article sites below. Forget what you’ve been told about duplicate content. It’s okay to have some – as long as your entire site isn’t made up of these articles.
* Find 3-4 videos from youtube etc that are relevant to your service (obviously not advertising anyone else’s of course)
* Publish 5 of your articles to start (begin with the original ones) then 1-2 every few days

4. Get Links

You need to get quality links to your website. You can do this by circulating your articles around the web and including links to your site both in the articles and underneath in your ‘signature’.

Submit around half of the articles to:

1. EzineArticles
2. GoArticles
3. WebProNews
4. ArticleDashboard
5. SearchWarp
6. ArticleBase
7. Buzzle
8. ArticleCity

And the other half to:

9. IdeaMarketers
10. Site Reference
11. Article Alley
12. Web Source
13. Amazines
14. Submit Your Article
15. TheWhir
16. Excellent Guide
17. Directory Gold
18. Articles Factory
19. Content Desk

You then need to submit the site to around 20 web directories, and as many of the following as possible:

www.icerocket.com
www.kaboodle.com
www.spicypage.com
www.spotback.com
www.wagg.it
www.mister-wong.com
www.ratemysite.com
www.ratemysite.net
www.ratemyeverything.net

Finally, try to adapt the articles as news articles and submit to

www.zimbio.com
www.digg.com
www.humsurfer.com
www.buzzle.com

5. You’re done – for now.

Submit your site to Google and the other top search engines. But don’t stop now. To make a success of your site, you need to repeat the process as often as you can – writing articles with links to your site and submitting them to the article directories frequently. There are far more article directories than I have listed – at least 50 good ones. If you submit two articles a week and get an average of about 200 people reading each of your articles on each directory per month, that's 80,000 readers a month. If just 20% of readers click through to your website, that’s 16,000 visits a month. If you can spare the time to submit an article a day, you’re looking at over 50,000 visits a week sourced just from articles.

Are you an IT professional or graduate who enjoys writing? If you'd like to earn a great rate of pay for freelance writing, visit Academic Knowledge Freelance Writer Jobs.

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Students can earn up to £30 an hour - too good to be true?

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:47:47 +0200

Midlands research company Academic Knowledge, until recently, wouldn't consider taking on any writer that had less than a 2.1 degree in a recognised subject. But the Company have opened their door to student writers and are offering up to £30 an hour for the completion of writing projects. So what's changed?

New services
Academic Knowledge have launched a range of new, lower priced services that offer model answers and written projects that are completed to pass or 2.2 standard. These are in addition to their regular first class and 2.1 guaranteed standard writing services. Their student writers will only be able to write for the pass and 2.2 services, where customers know they are employing the help of a student.

Rates of pay
AK's pay rates for students aren't the same as for graduate writers. Graduate writers get paid a fair bit more and are offered a wider variety of projects. However, when you consider that the average weekly student wage in the Midlands is £95 it doesn't take a genius to work out that 3-4 hours work a week writing in the comfort and warmth of your cheery student accommodation is a far better option than slogging it out over a bar serving customers who could knock you out with the level of alcohol on their breath alone.

The Road Crew
AK have said that they're sending out a road team over the next two weeks to top universities to recruit undergraduate writers. Students will be able to talk to the team and ask questions. The list of univesities is under wraps but I'm told all are in the top 10.

The verdict...
Whether freelance writing's the job for you as a student is very much going to depend on your attitude towards working whilst studying. It does mean more essays and if you hate writing to begin with, you probably won't want to sit down after writing your own coursework to start on someone else's. However, if you struggle to earn enough in the little time that you have to spare, this opportunity does allow you to work less for more. Visit the Academic Knowledge student recruitment page to find out more.

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Finding work as a freelance writer - how?

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:34:39 +0200

A quick search on Google will reveal hundreds of links to freelance writing websites with adverts for writers to complete specific projects. Competition is stiff though - and you may want to consider some alternative ways to generate work as a freelance writer. Writing for an agency is one such way.

There are a good number of writing agencies, like Academic Knowledge, that are constantly recruiting for writing talent. The assignments you can expect from a freelance writing agency include:

* freelance writing services for business clients – these may include business reports, marketing reports, company research and business presentations in a variety of mediums

* freelance writing services for teachers – these may include lesson plans and teaching materials

* freelance proofreading assignments for undergraduate, postgraduate and international students – these may include proofreading only or proofreading and critiquing

* freelance research and model answers to assist students in fully understanding the courses they are studying

* freelance copywriting assignments – typically this will be for website content

* freelance translation services – for writers who have a second language

If you work as a freelance writer for a reputable agency, you’ll find that work is regular and the rate of pay is good. Most agencies pay bi-monthly or monthly either into your bank account or to Paypal. It’s better to get payments direct into your bank as Paypal takes a cut of any money you receive.

Interested in freelance writing for an agency? Try Academic Knowledge.

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Getting more work as a freelance writer

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:42:19 +0200

Now you've found your perfect job as a freelance writer that offers you so many benefits, how do you make a good impression with your Agency so that get more work in the process?

* If you are new and have offered yourself for a few briefs without success, the key is not to get disheartened. You haven't had the chance to prove yourself yet so you're less likely to get chosen for work and of course, you're bidding against more established names. However, before much longer, you'll find that you've come forward for a piece that nobody else has. This is your opportunity to prove that you're a great writer and you can do the job well.

* Make sure you check the level of required expertise and the availability of any sources listed as 'essential' or 'requested' before offering yourself for a brief. If you bid for work that is allocated to you and it transpires you can't complete it, the Agency are unlikely to use you again.

* Once you do get accepted for your first piece, it's crucial that you do a great job. First impressions really do count. Always bear in mind that the standards of your work, especially your first piece, will define your reputation with the agency that you work for, and the amount of work you receive in the future.

* Always read the brief thoroughly - failure to do so is a crucial error and may mean that you stray down the wrong route from the beginning. Whilst it may be possible (and you may be willing) to amend the brief where you've gone wrong, it doesn't look professional and many agencies will judge writers on their amendments ratio (i.e. how many pieces of work need amending, out of all the ones they have completed)

* As you're writing, always stay within the context of the brief - keep thinking - is what I am writing actually relevant to the brief title - and why is it relevant?

* Your agency is looking for evidence that you can write in an interesting, fresh and engaging way. For example, when writing a subjective piece, look at the referenced thoughts of others on the subject - compare and contrast them, and then offer your own thoughts - how are other views different? Why do you agree or disagree? At all times, make sure you are referring to respected opinions but don't be afraid to go out on a limb and argue things a different way, as long as you can back up what you have said. This is the mark of first class writing.

If you want to increase your work load, you need to check your email (or the online area, if the agency has one) regularly during office opening hours - the quicker you respond to offers of work, the more likely you are to be accepted. When an agency has an order from a customer, as soon as they receive a bid from an eligible writer, they will phone the customer to take payment. If you leave it too long, other more established writers may bid and get chosen.

Some further points to note:

* Always, always back up your work every 15 minutes - agencies will rarely accept your PC crashing as an excuse, particularly as you can back things up to a memory stick or portable hard drive and Word has an 'auto save' feature.

* Never, ever, plagiarise. This is a breach of other people's copyright, as you are selling the work on to your agency. You'll find that most agencies use plagiarism detection software and you'll be caught, and probably liable for a large fine under your contract, as well as being subject to civil litigation from third parties. Some agencies use turnitin - others have developed their own plagiarism software and scan every piece of work using it. They also maintain a large database of texts and journals, electronic books and previous essays.

* Take regular breaks - rushing is not a good idea because in the long run it means your quality will slip and when that happens, you'll end up with a lower fee as well as being less likely to receive work in the future.

* Always read your final piece over at least once after completion - reading out loud is better. Does it make full sense? Are there grammatical error or the use of incorrect language (use the built in spelling and grammar checkers in Word but be careful - the grammar checker can give some interesting suggestions!) Would the work be genuinely useful to you if you were the client? If you carefully check your work, this is likely to save you time and money later on.

* Deliver added value to the customer. Although your contract sets out certain obligations regarding amendments, you should try and be as accommodating as possible with customers' demands. A good attitude will attract the Agency's attention and will mean you're more likely to receive further work.

Are you looking for work as a freelance writer, editor or proofreader? Try Academic Knowledge.

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What is an outline answer?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:05:39 +0200

The outline shows the structure of the work that will be written. It shows the order of the various topics that will be discussed, the relative importance of each, and the relationship between the various parts. It is usually acceptable to use bullet points and note form, although your work should still be well presented and make sense. The most common order in which to write an outlines is to go from the general to the specific. This means you begin with a general idea and then support it with specific examples.

Note that an outline differs from a proposal, in that the outline actually includes all of the facts and answers needed to address the question. A proposal says what you are going to do - an outline answer actually does it but only in brief. It is an answer in note form, which needs 'fleshing out'.

Are you a great writer? Apply to Academic Knowledge for freelance writing work.

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How do I write a dissertation proposal?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:56:03 +0200

The dissertation proposal will usually contain the following:

* An introduction to the proposed area of study

* Aims of the research project - what do you hope to achieve overall? Is there a hypothesis that needs to be answered?

* The main objectives of the research project - what do you hope to find out?

* List your methodology / methods - state why have you chosen these methods and why not other methods.

* Scope and limitations of the study - is there anything that is beyond the scope of investigation? Why? (e.g. cost/time constraints)

* Resources - what sources do you expect you will use? Where will you find your information?

* Timetable - proposed timetable for completion of each section.

* Proposed chapter headings (not just 'introduction, methodology etc but the actual sub headings)

A proposal is fully referenced and has a bibliography.

Are you a great writer? Work for Academic Knowledge as a freelance writer and earn great rates of pay, whilst enjoying completely flexible working hours.

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What are the standard parts of a dissertation?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:54:30 +0200

The standard parts are as follows (you may be asked for a different structure and a different number of words for each section - for example, sometimes a longer introduction rather than a separate introduction and background is expected. Check with your institution or writing agency what is required of you).

* Title Page - Shows the title of the dissertation and the author

* Abstract - 150-300 word summary of what the reader can expect to find in the dissertation

* Table of contents - An index of everything in the dissertation - it should not include the title and contents page!

* Introduction - A summary of 100 – 200 words, stating what the objectives are/what you are going to write about

* Background - A section written with the assumption that the reader knows nothing, and it should therefore give them a full account of what they need to know to appreciate the issues at stake

* Methodology - States what you are going to do and how you plan on doing it. The methodology should be approximately 200 – 300 words (+read more)

* Literature Review - A review of relevant theory and the most recent published information on the issue

* Evidence - What you have discovered and what you have concluded from it

* Conclusion - States what you have discovered and what you have concluded from it. You should not be presenting new ideas or new sources in the conclusion

* Recommendations - Should emerge from the conclusion, suggest what is to be done, who is to do it and how/when it is to be done, and be justified based on findings, not just the opinion of the writer

* Referencing - You need to reference all of your sources properly

* Appendix - Any graphs or diagrams you have used when writing your dissertation

If your institution or agency has not given you any guidance, or has suggested a 'standard structure' or the like, it is acceptable to use the structure set out here.

Can you write to a good standard? Apply to Academic Knowledge for great rates of pay and flexible working as a freelance writer.

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What is an acceptable level of direct quotes in written work?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:46:21 +0200

There is nothing wrong with students using direct quotes in their work. Sometimes, authors present material in a way that is so good, there would just be no point in paraphrasing it.

Having said that, when you write an assignment for an agency, you're being paid for original words - just as when you write for your university, the tutor wants to know how well you understand the material. A piece of work that uses direct quotes excessively is hardly original.

As a general guideline, I would not expect the word count of your work to be taken up by more than 10% of direct quotes.

Using Direct Quotes - Some Guidance

If you need to change a word within a direct quote, the word gets put in brackets:

Original text: “Now the one-size-fits-all phase of education has ended for Jane & John in our classes” (Smith, 2003, p. 7).

Change: “Now the one-size-fits-all phase of education has ended for [students] in our
classes” (Smith, 2003, p. 7).

If you need to leave out an unnecessary section within the quote, you use '...':

Original text: “Now the one-size-fits-all phase of education has ended for Jane & John in our classes” (Smith, 2003, p. 7).

Change: “Now the one-size-fits-all phase of education has ended… in our classes” (Smith,
2003, p. 7).

If you need to incorporate a piece of a quote into your own sentence, you do it like this:

Original text: “Now the one-size-fits-all phase of education has ended for Jane & John in our classes” (Smith, 2003, p. 7).

Change 1: I will no longer be using the old model of “one-size-fits-all education” (Smith, 2003, p. 7) in my classroom.

Change 2: “One-size-fits-all education” (Smith, 2003, p. 7) just does not work anymore.

Are you a good writer? Are you looking for freelance writing work? Apply to Academic Knowledge.

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How do I mark work?

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:41:30 +0200

Presented with a student's paper for the first time, you may wonder what the best way of marking work is.

Here's a list of guidance you might want to provide:

General Comments

Include any general comments here – be encouraging!

Specific issues with spelling and grammar

Include any specific issues you have noticed about the student’s spelling or grammar here. You may want to explain any rules that they frequently break, or point out any persistent spelling errors.

Comments on structure and flow

Comments on referencing

Make sure you understand which referencing style the student is trying to use, and explain to them if they are making mistakes with this.

Comments on use of language

Is the use of language appropriate to the level and type of assignment? Is it too basic? Too complex? Does the student use a good range of vocabulary? Are there acronyms that they have failed to explain?

Comments on presentation

You might want to give the student some layout/presentation tips here. If you think their work might benefit from a contents page, title page, headings etc, this would be a good place to include suggestions.

Comments on how well the question has been addressed

How well has the student answered the question? Have they missed any key issues?

Comments on use of material

Is there any material the student should consider reviewing? How well have they selected and interpreted the material in their essay? Have they selected a sufficient number of quality sources?

Can you mark work? Do you have marking experience? If you're interested in freelance writing, proofreading, editing and marking work, apply to Academic Knowledge today.

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What goes into a written report?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:38:21 +0200

You may be asked to write any piece in the style of a report. If you have not been given a structure, there is a standard structure I suggest for presentation:

* Title Page - showing the title of the report, the author, the person for whom the report is prepared, and the date of completion

* Summary/Synopsis/Executive Summary (approx 10% of word count) - this will identify:

The purpose of the report

The scope of the report

Issues covered/not covered

The important results and findings

The conclusions and recommendations

Acknowledgement of any assistance in researching and compiling the report

* Table of contents - not including the title and contents page!

* Body of report – this will include: Introduction – what is the report about

* Discussion – divided into sections and sub sections, presented clearly and confined to fact rather than analysis/opinion

* Conclusion – this should: Relate back to the findings in the body of the report, include a clear summary of the main points and outline the findings of the research. There should be nothing in the conclusion that has not already been mentioned in the body of the report.

* Recommendations – these should emerge from the conclusions, suggest what is to be done, who is to do it and how/when it is to be done and be justified based on findings, not just the opinion of the writer

* Bibliography

* Appendix/Appendices - containing supplementary material too detailed for the main body of the report, such as tables, charts, statistics, questionnaires etc

Can you write reports, essays, dissertations and other projects? Do you want to earn a great wage as a freelance writer? Click here to apply to Academic Knowledge.

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How do I write to Masters standard?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:35:00 +0200

General features of masters level work

I'd suggest that the following represent features you'd expect in Masters level written work:

* Demonstration of an in-depth of knowledge regarding the subject in question

* Ability to identify important questions and formulate essay titles around these

* Ability to identify key issues in a debate and critically assess, reflect upon and contextualise the evidence and arguments related to that debate

* Evidence of initiative, independent thought and, possibly, originality

* Content that appropriately addresses and maintain focus on the essay question/title

* Well structured work leading to a suitable conclusion (where applicable)

* Answer supported with well-chosen examples

* Demonstratration of wide reading around the subject

* Demonstration of ability to find suitable and well-targeted sources using own initiative

* Demonstration of appropriate bibliographic and referencing skills, using the appropriate system

* Appropriate accompanying illustrations/appendix where appropriate, which are put to good use, suitably captioned and suitably referred to in the text

* Demonstration of suitable writing skills (i.e. is the work in a suitable academic style; are the grammar, spelling and punctuation correct; is the writing suitably concise and precise?)

* Work is well proof read

* Excellent standard of presentation

Can you write at this level? Apply to Academic Knowledge for a freelance writing job.

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Plagiarism - a shameful practice for the writer

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:33:03 +0200

As a freelance writer or student writer, your work should be 100% original. Work that is not original is plagiarised.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism can be any of the following:

* Passing off someone else’s words as your own

* Passing off someone else’s ideas as your own

* Rewording a source but retaining the original ideas it contains, without giving due credit (example).

* Failing to put a quote in quotation marks

* Copying large sections of someone else’s words or ideas, even if credit is given or quotation marks are used

* Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation – for example, citing a source that the real author has found and used, that you do not have a copy of

* Changing the words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit

These are just examples and are not exhaustive.

Plagiarism can also be the re-use of material you have written yourself - for example, for your university, for another person, or for any other academic institution, body or publication. Using old material is NOT original and will be regarded as plagiarism.

Many institutions have different views of what plagiarism is. This article can only provide general guidelines on plagiarism.

How much copied work must there be for a claim of plagiarism to succeed?

Clearly, one direct quote of 10 words that the writer accidently fails to put in quotation marks will not lead to a claim for plagiarism. But I am reluctant to put a percentage or definite figure down for what would constitute a claim.

As an example, I recently review the following work which had:

* A 4,000 word appendix made up of copied material (which she included as part of her 19,000 words) most of which she did not attribute to any source

* A section of 1,000 words which was at least 50% 'paraphrased' from a report. The researcher had changed a few words around, replaced some words with her own, and maintained the entire structure of the report.

* Padded the bibliography with around 40 sources (only 11 were used within the actual text)

The first example - the appendix - is a simple case of plagiarism. Even if the writer had attributed the material to sources, it would still not be 4,000 words of original material the client had paid her to write.

The second example she refused to accept as plagiarism because, she said, 50% of 1,000 words in a 19,000 word essay is nothing (about 3% of the overall word count). I disagree - as would the majority of academic institutions. That section was heavily plagiarised. It does not matter that, substracting from 19,000 words the 4,000 word 'appendix' and the 1,000 word section leaves 14,000 words that were relatively well written. There was evidence of substantial plagiarism in at least those two parts of the work. The final point about the padded bibliography is a quality issue rather than one of plagiarism. 11 sources in a 19,000 word masters level dissertation is nothing short of a joke.

In a 1,000 word essay, it is highly unlikely that anyone would regard a 3% match as plagiarism. So as you can see, it depends on so many different factors and I cannot put a percentage on what is, and what is not, plagiarism. I know some academic institutions disregard a match of below 5% but as you can see from the above example, this might not always work where the brief is quite long.

If you can write to a good standard (originally!) and you're looking for a writing opportunity, why not check out Academic Knowledge? They are recruiting for writers in all subject areas now.

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Writing at PhD level - a challenge

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:28:05 +0200

What is a PhD?

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph.D. (American English) or PhD (British English) is an advanced academic degree. In the English-speaking world it has become the most common denomination for a research doctorate and applies to graduates in a wide array of disciplines in the sciences and humanities. The detailed requirements for award of a Ph.D. vary throughout the world - however there are a number of common factors. A candidate must submit a thesis or dissertation consisting of a suitable body of original academic research, which is in principle worthy of publication in a peer-refereed context. In many countries a candidate must defend this work before a panel of expert examiners appointed by the university (in the form of an oral exam sometimes referred to - at least in the United Kingdom, Ireland and India, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth - as a viva, and in the United States simply as the "oral defense"). In other countries the dissertation is examined by a panel of expert examiners who stipulate whether the dissertation is in principle passable and the issues that need to be addressed before the dissertation can be passed; no oral defense takes place (e.g. Australia).

How do I write at PhD level?

This is an extremely difficult question to answer! PhD standard means work carried out that requires independent thought and independent research. Your work must contribute something to the area of study that no other person has written about before.

However, typically, PhD students show these qualities in their work:

* A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice

* A comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship

* Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline

* Conceptual understanding that enables the student to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline and to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses

* The ability to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences

* Demonstration of self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level

* Continuation of advancement in their knowledge and understanding, and development of new skills to a high level

* Demonstration of qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility, decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations and the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development.

These guidelines are very general because PhD level work is extremely difficult to categorise. It must be publishable quality, faultless, written to an exceptional standard and contribute original ideas to the academic field (not just rehash or analyse other people's ideas).

If you're interested in writing professionally, why not apply to Academic Knowledge?

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Good referencing is the hallmark of a great writer

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:25:43 +0200

Good referencing is a must for all the work you undertake, either as a student or as a professional writer. Poorly referenced work may be of an outstanding standard, but will be of little or no use to the reader who may find it difficult to ascertain where you have gathered your information from and follow up on the sources that you have noted.

A common mistake is under-referencing work - in essence meaning that the work may appear to be nothing more than a stream of consciousness or just a loosely founded writer's opinion. Likewise, over reliance on a handful of sources can be another problem - with the final brief often amounting to nothing more than a summary of a few chosen texts. Achieving a fine balance between originality and adequate referencing is crucial.

Referencing MUST DOs:

* You must ensure the majority of your material that you use relates to the primary topic area

* You must support everything you say with references to good quality source material. Do not assume anything is 'general knowledge'.

* You must not use poor quality sources like Wikipedia. It is suggested that for a quality piece, no more than 25% of sources may be to internet websites.

* You must use a number of sources that is appropriate for the level and quality standard of the work.

You must properly reference any material you use in the specified referencing style. If the university or agency does not specify a referencing style, you should use footnotes and provide a bibliography. Details such as page numbers, publishers and publication year should also be stated, in addition to the name of the author(s) and publication. Excessive use of references in a way that pads the word count will often lead to your marks being penalised.

If you're interested in writing and would like to earn money from this, why not apply to Academic Knowledge?

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Developing your writing style and research skills - help for writers

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:18:59 +0200

Your lecturer or agency may request a particular type of writing style and you must stick to this as closely as possible. For example, they may ask for the piece to be written in the style of a legal journal or, as for a recent brief, in the style of a 'House of Lords judgment'.

Writing Style (general)

Your writing should be concise, factual and to the point. Expect to lose marks (or if you're writing for an agency, money) for work that is padded with unnecessary words and content.

You should aim for an exceptional standard of presentation and avoid colloquial language as far as possible. Think of your work as a published journal - you would not expect professional writers to include chatty, informal language; neither would you expect to read what amounts to a regurgitation of existing work with little or no analysis or comparison.

If you're an agency writer, don't forget that your client is using your work as a springboard for their own research and writing; much like they would use a text book or journal that they have found on exactly the topic they require. It therefore needs to be clearly presented and easy to understand, and every part of it needs to be of value to them in terms of writing their own piece.

Research Skills

If you're writing for a living, you need to have excellent research skills - these are essential to producing a quality piece of work. The following represent poor practice:

undertaking a quick Google search on the topic and summarising your findings;

paraphrasing books or journals; or

reworking old research that you have done.

The core research skills you need to develop are set out below:

Task Definition: Your first step is to DEFINE THE PROBLEM.

This means taking the following steps:-

Read the relevant background information.

Write a statement or question that clearly identifies the information problem.

Identify and define key words which you will use for your research strategy.

You then need to identify the research requirements of the problem.

If you're writing for an agency, what are the essential sources that the client has specified? Obtain and review them

What are the requested sources that the client has specified? Obtain and review as many as possible of these.

What are the most recent works in the subject area? For example (for a legal piece) Government white papers, consultation papers, responses to consultations, studies, recent case law, legislative developments, industry opinions

What are the leading sources for this subject area? Consider use of books and journals but make sure they are sufficiently up to date unless you are using them for historical background. Amazon now allows you to search inside many books and you may find this useful for identifying appropriate sources. University electronic databases will also be a key research tool for identifying works appropriate to your assignment.

What secondary sources will you use? Newspapers and electronic sources for example are okay but bear in mind that they are not regarded as quality sources and so should not be used in excess. As to what is an 'internet source', Wikipedia and websites ARE internet based - Government white papers, journals and consultation papers are NOT internet based just because they can be accessed online. Most institutions will not allow use of souces such as Wikipedia - as they are open source projects which can be updated by anybody, and may (and frequently do) contain errors in the information they provides.

You will need to develop a priority listing of your selected resources, particularly where there is an abundance of information in the subject area, based on importance to the assignment and their availability. You will then need to weigh up the relevance of the information you find, and develop a critical awareness of the positions represented in what you read - in some cases, authors may be explicitly expressing a particular viewpoint but in others there may be hidden bias, which can be misleading.

Snowballing: Don't forget that one of the best ways to source relevant material for your essay is to ‘snowball’ your reading: i.e. to use the footnotes and bibliographies of the books you already have to extend your reading list on a subject. Your reading lists will already include many of the most important writers; by checking their bibliographies and works cited in those articles, you will have access to the most up-to-date writing on the topic.

If however you find a quote from Smith in an article by Jones, you must not cite Smith's quote as if you have used his actual journal. You must instead cite such examples as "Smith (2003), cited in....Jones (2005)..." and then give the full reference to both Smith and Jones' work in your bibliography.

Use of sources: You must be very careful to reference your sources fully and do not overuse other people's material. For more information on how you can use other people's work, please visit the originality page.

Writing a framework

It will be useful to first write a skeleton answer to your assignment before beginning to evaluate your sources. You can then create a set of notes, typing or pasting in sources and quotes as you find them relevant to each part of your answer, that you intend to evaluate. You will save time by adding an entry to your bibliography as you go along for each source you use. Write down anything you find that is good - and where you found it (including page numbers and search terms so that you can repeat your search if needs be). Don't depend on your memory! Don't forget to pay close attention to the referencing requirements of the brief - if none are stated then footnotes and a bibliography must be included as standard.

Evaluating your finished work

Once you have completed the brief, you need to read over what you have done and decide whether or not the assignment meets the criteria of the brief. Keep in the forefront of your mind that as a student or professional writer, you have been engaged to provide an exceptionally high quality and fully original piece of research and writing.

If you're a great writer and you're looking for work, try Academic Knowledge.

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Finding a graduate job in London

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:11:44 +0200

Finding a graduate job in London is particularly challenging. The competition is extremely fierce but as the cost of living is generally far higher, you can’t afford to offer your services at a particularly competitive price. How can you succeed in finding the perfect graduate job?

The answer, as for most competitive marketplaces, is to accept that you may have to accept a lower wage to get your foot in the door. Once you’ve shown the Company what you can do, then you are in a better position to negotiate over your salary, but until then, you are just one of many faceless applicants looking for a graduate job, likely with no experience and similar qualifications to your contemporaries.

When you apply for graduate jobs in London, therefore, you may want to pitch your starting salary at a lower rate than the usual market rate. Another tactic is to apply for a job in the Company that is not the job you want. For example, if you have a law degree, you could apply for a job as a legal secretary (assuming you have some typing skills). Not only will you gain valuable work experience but you’ll also have the opportunity to show what you can do, and it is a known fact that companies prefer to promote from within – you have your foot in the door and can apply for a better position as and when the opportunity arises.

So how do you support yourself if your graduate job doesn’t pay as well as you need it to? The answer may be to do some freelance work for another company. This may mean devoting 2-3 hours of your social time to finding and completing freelance writing jobs but they generally pay better than ordinary jobs and if you work for a reputable company, you’ll have the chance to establish yourself and command higher rates of pay. One such company is Academic Knowledge, a UK based research house established in 2003, currently recruiting for graduate writers in all disciplines.

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Do model answers encourage students to cheat?

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 22:09:18 +0200

There is no greater educational tool available then a focused piece of research written to address a student's exact question. Not only will such a piece educate about the topic, it will provide useful insight into overlooked areas, intriguing arguments that had not been identified, concepts that were not even comprehended and elucidate definitions that the client believed had long eluded them.

Moreover, it will demonstrate not just a good writing style, but also an excellent writing style; it will enlighten the reader with its cohesive, well-structured approach and highlight many useful and often hard to find sources of reference for further investigation.

Perhaps even more importantly, over and above the assistance that any book, journal or tutor could ever provide, the help of a model answer service is specifically targeted to assist its clients (usually students) in the production of their own work, work that will be subject to the grading process.

Whilst the help of such companies has an honest use, it cannot be denied that such help is open to abuse – but writers, who understand how strong the competition is for writing jobs – may be tempted to write for such a company without first considering the ethical arguments against such a job.

The solution is to find a research company that firmly stands by the integrity of its service. A company that believes that the dishonest minority have never stopped any academic from publishing a book, journal or website through the fear that their work may be misused, and refuses to allow the same dishonest minority to deny the vast majority that want to learn and learn honestly.

The growth of the academic writing industry relies on your efforts in being selective about who you write for, and continuing to only serve honest companies, rejecting those that encourage cheating. Any writing company that sells the copyright of the work you produce, or places token disclaimers on their websites to mask their lack of integrity, cares nothing for the damage that promoting cheating will cause. Instead, find a company that actively encourages their clients to seek guidance on how or if they can use the work provided, and who stands by the policy that they will not serve anyone they suspect of dishonest intentions.

The media has also been guilty in recent years of attempting to brand any sort of internet education company as a facilitator of the downgrading or ‘dumbing down’ of the academic process – but not every writing company is the same. Academic Knowledge is an example of an honest writing company that cares about enforcing its policies and does everything possible to prevent the misuse of the service it provides.

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