Blog 14 | PFAU

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IMG 3283 1024x768 Improve your Relationships: Healthy Communication Strategies with Jill Gillbert on Tuesday, February 26th at 6pm

IMG 20190208 192914646 1 2 1024x768 Improve your Relationships: Healthy Communication Strategies with Jill Gillbert on Tuesday, February 26th at 6pm

Friendships comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

The third event in our Valuable Life Skills Student Speaker Series we will be discussing the impact of our relationships style and that of others on overall quality of life and academic performance. Relationships can provide support, care, encouragement, and opportunities for growth. Or, relationships can cause stress, trauma, hurt, and pain. Thus, it is important to reflect upon our communication and attachment style in relationships, and how that impacts both ourselves and others. Our guest speaker, seasoned student, and qualifying psychotherapist, Jill Gilbert will provide participants with some insights into how you might be able to improve your own relational realities.

OUR SPEAKER

%name Improve your Relationships: Healthy Communication Strategies with Jill Gillbert on Tuesday, February 26th at 6pm — **Jill Gilbert, MA, PhD, RP (Qualifying)**

Jill is a therapist with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Guelph. Jill believes that the root of depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns are entrenched in our social relations. Our relationships have the power to both harm and heal us; thus, it is essential to be able to identify, cultivate, and engage in healthy transformative relationships. Jill’s own experience in Grad School deconstructing and reconstructing support systems propelled her towards the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy to train to become a psychotherapist who can help others to develop and expand their healthy relationships with themselves and others. Jill has an affinity to students as she spent so many years within the post secondary system, and has a particular understanding of the struggles many students face on a day-to-day basis. Jill currently practices near Ossington station, in Toronto’s West End, while completing the final years of her training.

Join us at PFAU: Academic writing, editing, and coaching experts office for a light meal and enlightening discussion on Tuesday, February 26th from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. The address here is 300 Bloor Street West (Room 34 of Bloor Street United Church).

Please register via Eve ntBrite!

Should I stay or should I go? Tips on adding/dropping courses by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

By Pfau2018

February 9, 2019

705 Views

Blog, Student Life

It happens to even the most planned and studios of students. There comes a point in our academic career when we are faced with potentially having to adjust our course schedule by adding or dropping a course part way through the semester.

AddDropComic 1024x205 Should I stay or should I go? Tips on adding/dropping courses by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

I was usually pretty good with planning out my schedule in advance and choosing the right courses by reading course descriptions, familiarizing myself with course requirements, keeping up-to-date necessary credits for graduation, and asking friends for opinions about Profs and courses. However, in second year, I registered for a French course in order to meet my language requirement, and found that I had no idea what the Prof was saying. I was terrified that I would fail. After careful consideration and discussion with my friend and the Prof, I decided to stay in French 100, but transferred to another instructor where the where requirements were slightly lower and I had a friend in the course to help me with problem areas. I didn’t do wonderfully, but I passed and got the language credit out of the way. This decision allowed me to focus on more important courses in the final two years of my degree. Therefore, when trying to figure out the best way to amend your academic schedule consider both your long-term and short-term goals.

I would say the most important aspect of planning your course schedule throughout your degree is knowing which courses you need to take and grades you need to achieve in order to graduate. It is common for most Bachelor’s degrees to have the requirement that you take a course in all disciplines in order to create an overall well-rounded degree, even if have a specific major and minor. You also will be required to take a certain number of courses in your major and minor in order to receive accreditation for them on your diploma.

For example, as an Arts student, I was still required to take a certain number of credits in Math and Science in order to graduate. I also had to take courses in languages, English, and Fine Arts, even though those were not my major or nor minor in order to receive a Bachelor of Arts. This requirements can sometime wreck havoc on your GPA if are not interested in them, or wired to do well at them. For example, university level Math was a bit daunting for me. The good thing about these courses is that you have more flexibility in how and when you complete them. I tend to recommend doing them earlier on in your degree with your grades are less important to getting into Grad School or professional programs. Doing them early also allows you to drop one, if you feel it is a struggle and taking energy away from more important course; and then, making it up in the summer or taking a different course in order to receive the same credit.

When it comes to courses related to the major and minors, deciding to add or drop can be more complex as many of these courses require prerequisites and many not be offered every semester. Thus, you need to think long-term about how you will ensure you complete not only one course, but subsequent courses in time for graduation. In some cases, it may be better to bit the bullet and power through a prerequisite earlier on in your degree in order to create more freedom in your third and fourth year. However, you also need to keep in mind that the grades in courses related to your major and minor are more significant than optional courses. Therefore, if you truly think you may fail a key course, and have time to take it next year, dropping it and replacing it with another course you had originally intended to take next year might be a good option.

Of course, there are other elements to consider beyond career requirements, such as personal life, budget, academic skills, and social supports. However, knowing your degree requirements and being clear about your long-term and short-term goals is a great place to start. Once you know what you want to do, make sure you check add/drop deadlines and penalties so that you can make the most informed and best decision for you.

IMG 20190209 143304 541 e1549740980594 691x1024 Should I stay or should I go? Tips on adding/dropping courses by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang — What do you think? Should Pfau-pfau drop ECON 101? She is currently an Education major, with a focus on Psychology and Philosophy. What advice would you give her?

**All content in this blog post is created by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang. You are very welcome to share any of this content (written and images) as long as appropriate credit is given to the authors and creators. Thank you for respecting our intellectual property rights. 🙂

Overcoming Scary Standardized Exams by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

By Pfau2018

February 1, 2019

712 Views

Blog, Exam Prep, Study Tips

LSATComic 1024x205 Overcoming Scary Standardized Exams by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang — Overcome exam stress and excel.

I remember when I wrote my GRE. It was the most stressful exam of my life. The first time I took it, I wasn’t worried at all since I had no idea what to expect. I was smart and I was sure that I would score decently. Wow! I totally misjudged the exam. First, you need your passport, you go into a little cubicle, you can’t go to the bathroom for hours, you can’t bring anything in, and the questions start and disappear once the time is up, there’s no time to think…. The second time around I literally was crying in the hallway floor before heading down to the exam centre. So much stress!!!

Eventually, I did master the stress and exam though. There are a few things you can do to help yourself too:

Give yourself 3-6 Months to Prepare:

Unlike most exams in high school or university, you can’t just memorize all of the material in a short period of time. You need to understand how the exam works, identify different types of questions, and know the content so that you can answer everything quickly without the stress of the situation getting to you.

Use the Library:

There are numerous exam prep books out there. Instead of buying them all, check them out from the library and do as many practice questions as you can. You can also find lots of resources online. The best bet is to go to official test sites for practice tests, as well as well-known exam prep companies for books. Make sure that you have the most updated versions for practice tests, but you don’t necessarily need the most updated exam texts for practice unless there has been a major change in the exam. The majority of the questions remain the same, so don’t worry too much about using older editions for drills, as long as you have a few up-to-date practice exams from the official website that you can use for a full practice.

Create Flashcards:

There’s a ton of material to memorize in order to score well on the exam, particularly if there is a vocabulary section or math section. The best way to deal with it is to create flashcards and work on memorizing terms and equations while you’re riding the transit, working out at the gym, or waiting for an appointment. It is a good idea to keep track of what you remember and what you still need to work on by putting the flashcards aside that you feel you’ve already mastered and replacing them with others that you aren’t fully confident about. You can also find several free apps that generate flashcards and quizzes to help your review.

Do Short Drills:

Speed is a key element of succeeding on standardized exams. There’s no time to think about your answer, you just need to know it. Practicing sections of the exam under time pressure allows you focus on mastering certain types of questions while increasing your speed and accuracy. Different sections tend to require different skills sets, so once you feel comfortable with one section, you can move onto the next. By mastering one section at a time, it makes doing the full exam under time pressure a lot less daunting.

Note Your Mistakes:

Every time you get a question wrong, go to the back of the workbook and read the explanation. You will likely start to see patterns in your errors and certain types of questions that you struggle with. If you can identify those patterns, then you can slowly recognize the correct response in different cases. Don’t beat yourself up about making any mistakes, but take this as an opportunity to learn and improve. These exams don’t test your intelligence, but you’re ability to master the exam.

Cracking standardized exams isn’t easy, but it is possible. There is no secret weapon to getting a good score, but hard work, lots of practice, and understanding what the exam is all about sure does help. And remember, if you need extra help, don’t hesitate to reach out to us to set up a free 30 minute consultation with a qualified exam prep tutor.

IMG 20190128 094757 1024x1024 Overcoming Scary Standardized Exams by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang — Pfau-pfau gets frustrated with her LSAT practice.

The content of this post is created by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang. You are welcome to share this post, but please do not replicate any of this material without our permission. Thanks!

Student Speaker Series 2: Maximize your Academic Experience without Breaking the Bank

By Pfau2018

January 25, 2019

715 Views

Blog, Events, Student Life

PFAU: Academic writing, editing, & coaching and the Bank of Montreal (Bedford & Bloor Branch)

IMG 20190115 211746734 1024x768 Student Speaker Series 2: Maximize your Academic Experience without Breaking the Bank — Pfau-pfau is overwhelmed by money issues.

Pfau: Academic writing, editing, & coaching experts and the Bank of Montreal (Bedford & Bloor Branch) will be collaborating in 2019 to bring students a personalized speaker series geared towards increasing financial literacy, awareness, and planning towards meeting specific academic or career goals. Each session will begin with a brief overview of academic themes/questions relevant to the semester timetable, followed by a speaker in the financial sector who will link those academic goals to financial awareness and planning.

IMG 20190123 190847848 e1548467818274 883x1024 Student Speaker Series 2: Maximize your Academic Experience without Breaking the Bank — Pfau-pfau learns to use a credit card.

Come Join Us!

Tuesday, February 13^th

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Bloor & Bedford Bank of Montreal (242 Bloor Street West)

Our first speaking event will focus on teaching the basics of understanding financial resources both on campus and within financial institutions. Lisa Pfau (CEO & Senior Coach at PFAU) will provide an overview of how to access cost-saving students services and maximize your tuition fees. Meng Sun (Financial Services Manager at BMO) will discuss the basics of banking products and services and how to decide what is best for you. She will outline the differences between Savings & Chequing Accounts, how to use a Credit Card wisely, how to obtain and utilized a Line of Credit or Personal Loan. The goal of this event is to teach students how to best us their time on campus to gain professional and academic skills without breaking their budget.

OUR SPEAKERS

slideshow4 e1548468234175 1024x987 Student Speaker Series 2: Maximize your Academic Experience without Breaking the Bank — Lisa Pfau & Pfau-pfau

Lisa Pfau is an academic life coach with over 10 years experience helping students and young professionals to reach their full potential on the page, and in life. She focuses on developing not only exceptional communication and analytical skills through teaching essay writing and editing academic papers, but also coaches her clients in self-awareness, understanding professional environments, and how to create and implement realistic strategies that will help them to reach their academic and professional goals. She has a combination of strong academic skills and a kind and supportive mentoring style. Lisa has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Political Science and History from the University of Alberta, Chinese Language & Culture Certificate from Peking University, and Master of Arts in Political Science & Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. Lisa has worked in government, academic, and entrepreneurial settings throughout Canada, the US, and China. She loves helping students to succeed and is very excited to be able to partner with BMO to make this speaker series happen.

Meng professional shot Student Speaker Series 2: Maximize your Academic Experience without Breaking the Bank — Meng Sun, Financial Services Manager at BMO

Meng Sun is an experienced Financial Services Manager at the Bank of Montreal with a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) in Finance and Economics from the University of Toronto – Rotman School of Management. Meng is originally from China, and enjoys using her unique language and cultural experience in both China and Canada to help international students to understand the Canadian financial environment. She believes that teaching financial literacy and understanding how to choose the right products for her customers is essential to being a competent and conscientious financial manager.

Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev

By Pfau2018

January 19, 2019

791 Views

Blog, Events, Student Life

Comic 14 Buying Textbooks 1024x205 Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev

This past week we were very fortunate to have Boyan Lepoev come in to chat with us about living on a student budget.

IMG 20190116 235756 908 1 e1548468719995 Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev

Boyan Lepoev works as Investment Analyst at Bridgeport Asset Management, a boutique investment management firm in Toronto. Previously, he was Market Risk Manager at the Bank of Nova Scotia. Boyan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, a Masters in Finance degree from Queens University and a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University. Most importantly, Boyan learned the hard way the importance of staying on a tight budget while paying his way through school, and is now though these lessons he is now the proud owner of a house in Toronto, as well as, enough savings to continue to travel the globe and explore culinary adventures on weekends with his girlfriend and friends.

BoyanLepoev 1 Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev

Boyan, after experience as an immigrant and long-time student, believes that the most important thing about living on a budget is to actually create a structure that provides guidelines for daily choices and behaviors that can minimize wasted cash, and maximize savings. Managing your money well will help you to be able to invest in supports and services that can help to enhance your student experience and career development throughout your student experience, rather than rushing to find a job penniless the day after graduation. During his talk, Boyan provided us with 7 areas where you could reduce your daily expenditures as a student.

UNI REAL COST Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev — Original diagram from MacClean’s article. Click for hyperlink.

– Housing:

o Living alone is an excellent way to learn independence, but it is also needlessly expensive, especially in Toronto. A more adventurous alternative is to find a rooming house or enter into a roommate arrangement. Not only it is potentially 30-50% cheaper, but living with others is also likely to positively impact one’s social life.

– Transportation:

o Toronto is a very large city, but has adequate transit system (just ignore the delays). For the cost of a $3 ticket, one can traverse the city for more than 2 hours or $116.75 for a student monthly pass. Add some healthy walking or cycling and most areas in the city and the GTA are open for you to explore. Compare this with a typical $20-30 uber ride or leasing a car ($200+ in lease and another $250 insurance/month)

– Food:

o Toronto has an amazing food scene – foods from across the whole world are available for you to buy, typically stuffed with salt, sugar and a variety of preservatives. Cooking, on the other hand, is more economical and healthy. Whereas a typical budget meal would cost $10, home cooked food averages below $4 per serving. Moreover, knowing your way around the kitchen will make you more independent and it is attractive to the opposite sex.

– Banking:

o Today’s society is rapidly moving away from transacting with cash. Instead, we use mobile payments and plastic cards. While more convenient, cashless payments make it really easy to overspend, so always keep an eye on your statement. A great way to do this is with tracking apps, such as MINT.

o Moreover, the “banking” we do is not free unlike cash – the banks are here to make money from you. Utilize the 21 day “grace free” period for credit cards, but be careful to pay the full balance by the due date or face 25% interest rate. Financing a larger purchase with a line of credit is often cheaper (6-13% interest rate), but interest accrues the moment you use the money. Even bank accounts do not come free – “all-inclusive” accounts cost as much as $30/month while a no-frills account could be free, but charge per transaction. Find what works for you and makes the bank the least amount of money!

– Tuition:

o It is surprising how many people do not know about available stipends and student loans. There is also hidden money on campus or in the community, so if are studying something unique or from a particular regional or ethnic group research possible grants, bursaries, and scholarships. Research OSAP – even with the government changes, they will remain interest free while in school and you can negotiate your payment schedule with them after you graduate.

– Books / school supplies

o It is probably safe to assume things have not changed over the last few years and universities still profit immensely from textbook sales. While certain courses necessitate a brand new book for some special software, other courses only require a recent version. Hit the second-hand stores, your school forums or your peers. A second hand book would cost a fraction of the price. A favorite of Boyan’s is www.abebooks.com.

– Everything else – clothes, supplies, entertainment:

o Everyone has different needs, but there are couple rules of thumb I like to follow. Do not buy things you do not need/won’t use more than few times – try and borrow them instead. Utilize second hand virtual marketplaces such as Kijiji and Facebook to find items you need on deep discount (including small electronics which get obsolete quickly).

IMG 20190116 235756 909 Living on a Budget by Lisa Pfau & Boyan Lepoev — Boyan meets Pfau-pfau and imparts important advice.

Boyan’s keystone piece of advice is not to spend to impress someone else; instead, spend on what will make your life easier, happier or more adventurous.

Closed for the Holidays

By Pfau2018

December 22, 2018

622 Views

Blog

Holiday Hours 1024x768 Closed for the Holidays

We will be closed from Monday, December 24th until Thursday, January 10th. We wish you all a very restful holiday season. See you in the new year!! 🙂

4 Tips on how to Maximize your Holiday Break

By Pfau2018

December 22, 2018

624 Views

Blog, Study Tips

It is easy to promise yourself that you will get caught up or get ahead during the holiday break, but once family come over, the parties start, and all the distractions begin it becomes almost impossible. Then, before you know it, you are back to work and even further behind that before. Here are four simple things you can do to try to make the most of your time off, while still enjoying the festivities. Check out our YouTube video

Happy Holidays!

By Pfau2018

December 19, 2018

683 Views

Blog, Student Life

PFAU 21 Christmas Card Comic smaller file Happy Holidays!

Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Clients:

I thought that this year I would do something a little bit different and write you a Christmas letter about all the changes that have been happening at PFAU: Academic writing, editing, & coaching experts over 2018.

As some of you already know, we moved into our own private office space at Room 34, 300 Bloor Street West in February 2018. This space allows PFAU to have multiple students and tutors working at the same time. It also provides privacy and consistency for students. Most of all, I hope it creates an overall feeling of warmth, welcome, and calm that is often lacking in our hectic lives on campus or starting up new careers.

We have also hired a couple new tutors and editors over the past year or so, including: Lief Strong (ESL Expert), Ebony Rose (Law School application process coach), Diana Sparling (technical editor), Christie Wong (Art History & Psychology tutor), and Patricia Huang (student intern). We are hoping to hire more tutors, editors, and coaches in 2019 to meet the growing subject specific tutoring and standardized exam preparation needs of our clients. Feel free to refer any friends or colleagues to me that you think might be interested in joining our team.

I recently got over my fear of social media, and have started posting daily content on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’m also active on LinkedIn, YouTube, My Google Business Page, and of course our website blog. You can find us and follow us by searching for @pfau_academicwriting or Lisa Pfau on any of these sites . My goal is to provide comprehensive tips and support to students and young professionals of the classroom. Plus, it’s kinda fun coming up with inspiring, yet funny content. Looking forward to engaging with you as part of the online community.

Finally, after a long-time in the dreaming stage, PFAU is going to offer a series of student events that are geared towards helping to resolve practical issues that many young people face, such as: financial literacy, budgeting, mental wellness, stress relief, and finding a job after graduation. There are currently four event series scheduled each month between January and May 2019. If all goes well, we hope to continue these mini-events into the following academic year. Our first event will take place on Wednesday, January 16^th from 6:00pm to 7:30pm in our office space (see EventBrite for more details). So, please come out and gives us your feedback. Subscribe to our blog or add us on social media for regular updates.

Have a wonderful holiday break and I look forward to hearing from many of you in the new year!! J

Sincerely,

Lisa Pfau

Sleep-Study Balance by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

By Pfau2018

December 12, 2018

820 Views

Blog, Student Life, Study Tips

PFAU 20 edited 01 Sleep Study Balance by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

It’s the day before your exam. You sit down to review those final 10 chapters. By lunch time, you’ve only managed to get through two. You start reviewing Chapter 5 while eating your dinner. It’s 9:00 p.m. and you’re only halfway through Chapter 7. Midnight creeps up and you still have two more chapters to go. Your exam is at 9:00am. Do you still up late and keep studying or go to bed and get at least 7 hours of sleep? Studies show that a good night’s sleep has a positive impact on your memory and recall compared to cramming in those last two chapters before your exam late at night.

Great, you say, but what if I go to bed early and miss important concepts that are then on the exam! Yeah, that’s a problem too. The key is to create a balance between study and sleep. Here are a three tips to help you out:

Start studying 1-2 weeks in advance: Of course, the most obvious and repeated advice is to start things early so that you aren’t stuck at the last minute. “Easier said than done”, said one procrastinator to another. As a rule of thumb, I would not study any new material the night before the exam, but leave that night for review only. That way if I don’t get through all of my review notes, I am confident that I have the materials somewhere locked in my brain. “Easier said than done,” said the other procrastinator to the first one. Right, so how to put this into action?

First, mark a reminder in your calendar at the beginner of the semester that notifies you three weeks before each exam to sit down and make a study plan. This will force you start thinking about the exam earlier than usual.

Second, during that week, sit down and review all the units that you need to cover before the exam. Figure out how many days you have to study. So, if you are starting two weeks in advance, realistically you 9 days to study (14 days – 1 day for review + 2 weekends where you’ll probably goof off = 9 days).

Third, figure out how many chapters you need to cover each day in order to finish up in 8-9 days. Make sure to account for the other exams you also need to prepare for.

Fourth, write these goals down in your calendar or a notebook, and make sure to start studying on the first day no matter what. Even if you don’t get far, at least you started and are beginning to building up momentum and get your brain set on studying.

Fifth, keep track of your progress, so that you know if you need to put in an extra day or late night. It is easier to catch up over a couple days than it is over a couple hours. Then, if the night before your exam you are focused on review, you can stick to a reasonable bedtime even if you don’t finish everything, knowing that you covered it all at least once.

Only study what you need to know: So often as students we get carried away with wanting to cover absolutely EVERYTHING. That’s not realistic. You need to study smart. There are a few things that can do to help you to identify what to study and what to leave out.

First, attend the review session at the end of term. The TA or Professor will often provide you with a study guide or at least drop some hints. Don’t hesitate to ask what will be covered in the exam a class or two before the end of term, if they don’t explicitly lay in out for you. You’re doing yourself and your classmates a huge favor.

Second, attend lectures and tutorials regularly. The Professor is usually only going to test what he/she covered in class, not the whole textbook. Reading the whole textbook may provide you with useful supplementary information, but it likely will not be necessary for doing well on the exam. Instead, focus on understanding the key concepts, definitions, and examples that the TA and Professor bring forth in tutorials and class. You can also check for bold text or sections in the textbook. These are usually important key terms/concepts. The end of chapter review pages also help you to identify key concepts/terms. Knowing what you’re heading into, can help you to get what you need done before the exam and sleep easier the night before.

Ask for help sooner, rather than later: If you don’t understand something, don’t wait until the day before the exam to ask for help. Ask a friend, your TA, or Professor, if there is a concept in class that you really don’t understand after going to the lecture and reading the appropriate chapter in the textbook. The Professor’s office hours are there for a reasons, so please use them. Moreover, showing that you are engaged and attempting to understand the materials helps you to build a positive relationship with the Professor and TA. This relationship will be important in the future should you require reference letters or want to discuss a grade appeal. Trying to understand a difficult concept while under exam preparation pressure is an almost impossible task, so give yourself a leg up by asking questions early.

Being realistic about your study plan means that you definitely will be able to head to bed early before your exam, and possibly feel more rested during the whole exam period so that your brain is fresh and ready to go on exam day.

**All blog content is original created by Lisa Pfau and Patricia Huang. Please respect our intellectual property rights and do not copy any of this content without our prior permission. However, please do feel free to share widely.

**

Avoid Plagiarism & Maintain your Academic Integrity by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

By Pfau2018

December 5, 2018

725 Views

Blog, Study Tips

PFAU 11 comic book thick edited final 01 Avoid Plagiarism & Maintain your Academic Integrity by Lisa Pfau & Patricia Huang

Recently a well-known and prize winning American poet was accused of plagiarism by her contemporaries and her reputation completely sullied. Plagiarism is a major academic offense, and a very common mistake made by 1st Year Undergraduate students. In order to avoid a failed assignment or scary encounter with your Professor, there a few things that you can do to protect your academic integrity:

When in doubt, cite: Although you can be penalized for citing too much (ongoing debate among Law students), that is a far better offense than citing too little or not at all. You will not be kicked out for being honest about your unoriginality. Thus, if you think that the ideas that you are using in your essay are based upon someone else’s, make sure to cite the article or book that you got them from. Citations are not just for quotations, but paraphrasing as well. Paraphrasing means taking someone else’s words or ideas and putting them into your own. It is often taught in lower grades that paraphrasing can be presented as your original thoughts, but once you get into university and college paraphrasing without a reference is a serious offense. The main idea of a book, the argument/theory in an academic article, or a discussion by your Professor in class needs to referenced. Generally any evidence you are using to prove your point needs to be cited. If you are still unsure about whether or not your are plagiarizing, Turnitin.com has an interesting quiz where you can test yourself. Your analysis of the data is where you have a chance to be creative and present some original work of your own. In other words, you take other’s information and thoughts and provide your own opinion about them. If you are really creative, maybe someone else will cite you one day!

Consult a Style Guide: Another thing to watch out for when referencing material in your essay is the referencing style. Different faculties and departments use different referencing guidelines. The Social Sciences, for example, tend to use APA/ASA style, while Historians prefer Chicago Style and the English department sticks to MLA. If you are confused about the difference between these different referencing guidelines, it is best to consult a style guide and confirm with your TA/Professor. You can usually find reputable style guides in your university or college bookstore, or else online with a quick Google search. Look for one’s that have been published by or reviewed by academic institutions to determine their accuracy and relevance. One of my favorites is OWL Purdue. I find it easy to follow and comprehensive. I also really like how they give you the citation format for both in-text and bibliography, as well as a real example of what the citation would look like when input into your essay. it is a resources I suggest to all of my First-Year students.

Take detailed research notes from the start: Many students avoid putting in citations because they find it tedious, or have lost their references. They read books and articles and know the main ideas, but haven’t noted exact page numbers or even the source while doing their research. Then, when it’s time to write the paper, they remember the content, but not where they have gotten it from. At this point, citing sources seems like a big pain in the butt.

The best way to make citing easy is to take detailed research notes that include the authors name, date, text (if you are using the same author more than once), and page number in one notebook/document that is solely dedicated to your research essay. Every time I write down a quote or paraphrase an idea while reading a text, I write down a simple citation in brackets after each note, even if it’s from the same author and on the same page. It is unlikely that I will remember those details later when I’m writing up the paper.

It is also a good idea to add any materials that you are think relevant to your bibliography immediately. Many university/college libraries have software, such as RefWorks, to help you to organize your research materials and automatically generate bibliographies. Most libraries also provide free courses on how to use the library system and citation software throughout the year. You can usually find this out by consulting your university library information desk.

Don’t risk your academic integrity! Cite any and all ideas that you believe not to be your own. Referencing others work gives credit where credit is due, as well as, helps you to engage in the ongoing academic conversation in a respectful and professional manner.