The most reliable scientific information, i.e. sources, can be found in peer-reviewed publications. In articles, peer review is usually quite easy to see right from the front page (peer reviewed, peer reviewed, referee, scholarly), but it is sometimes difficult to find information about peer review in write my essay, for example. In such cases, it is worth looking on the publisher's website to see if the publisher uses peer review. For example, textbooks, bachelor's or master's theses or pro-graduate theses are not usually peer-reviewed. However, you may be able to find peer-reviewed sources in their bibliographies. For tips on finding information, please consult the courses in the university library systems. You can also ask a teacher in your field or your fellow students if they have any suggestions for interesting sources.

The perspective (i.e. the research question/hypothesis) may begin to emerge gradually as you read the sources and write down your ideas. It is now a good time to stop and ask if you have narrowed down your perspective enough. In fact, it is almost impossible to narrow down a scientific text too much. More often than not, the problem is rather that it is too loose. So you may have to zoom in during the writing process.


Tip: It is a good idea to form your point of view by writing it down little by little, and eventually summarise it in one or a few sentences, which you can then update as necessary. You can keep the updated perspective sheet handy as you write, so it's easier to remember what the point of the text is.

Let's assume you now have some idea of the research question and a couple of sources. Start writing a rough draft, which you can gradually shape into the form typical of an essay. Then come the treatment paragraphs, in which you weave together your own reflections and the ideas of your sources. In the final section, you return to the question posed at the beginning, i.e. what you have found out and what you can now conclude. This is the final structure of the text. However, it may be easiest to start writing from the middle, so you do not necessarily have to write the introduction first.

To help you distinguish the ideas of the sources from your own, you should also find out how the sources are referenced. You can look for a model of peer-reviewed publications in your discipline or look for writing guidelines in your discipline, if available. Choose one method and use it consistently throughout the paper. It is important to distinguish between the ideas of your sources and your own thinking.

What about style? For a beginning university student, an essay might remind you of school papers or a material-based essay for a university entrance buy a persuasive essay. An academic essay is different from these, because it tends to be objective and factual. It does not usually contain the personal reflection or fictional devices typical of school subjects. In a school essay, for example, the writer may try to show linguistic skill with picturesque phrases, which is not the style of an academic essay. Of course, compared with a review, for example, the academic essayist may express his or her own views a little more forcefully and take a stand, but this must be done in a well-argued way. In general, the very fact that the text is based on reliable scientific works enhances its scientific credibility. So forget about entertaining the reader with juicy phrases! The information itself is interesting.

Let's summarise the main points: outline a question or argument that you could address in your essay. Include a few sources. Introduce the research question/hypothesis first, then elaborate on it in a couple of paragraphs (or more, depending on the length requirement), and conclude with a summary of what you found out. In long essays, you can use subheadings to help you understand the structure.

Incidentally, the word essay comes from the French verb essayer and the humble reflections of a writer called Michel de Montagne from the late 16th century. With this in mind, I find it somewhat comforting to think of the essay as an attempt - an attempt by a small person to understand something about the larger world and to bring his or her knowledge to bear on the understanding of a subject that has been collectively constructed by the scientific community.

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