Free Guide to Writing a Good Academic Review

Amy Wilson By Amy Wilson, 13th Feb 2017 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL
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Writing a Good Academic Review

Students face a lot of different assignments throughout their education. The diversity of their assignments is crucial for them since they will acquire different skills to use later in life. Writing an academic review is an assignment all students face throughout their education and it's a task that should be approached with extra caution. Most students want to find a scheme which should be able to provide some basic information about undertaking such a task because no one really bothers to explain it to you. This article will explain what a good academic review should look like and it will explain each step of the process.
First of all, you should take note of everything you read. In order to write a high-quality review, you need to understand it well. Note down everything you consider vital in the academic paper or the book you need to review. Research the topic before reading the paper in order to get some basic information about the subject. Try to keep yourself organized and keep your notes in one place. Additionally, make sure you mark the most important information in the text, along with some parts you consider hard to understand.
Include some citations and paragraphs you consider the most informative. Someone who is going to read your review should also be able to see the author's original words. Some ideas that are often mentioned throughout the academic paper or some parts who explain the main idea should be cited in your review. There are some rules you need to consider while citing the author's original words. It should be clear for the reader to distinguish your words from the original words the writer of the academic paper or the book. Most rules and instructions can be found on universities web sites.
Read different critics about the paper you want to write a review about. Different people might have different opinions about the paper but it shouldn't affect your opinion. Your review should be 100% percent original. The statement and opinion of the author can be different than your own. An academic paper often offers a statement and a conclusion and you might disagree with the author's opinion. However, you should leave out your personal opinion and focus on what the author has tried to explain to us and how well was he able to do it.

The review should start with a proper introduction. The introduction should be able to provide basic information about the text. Mentioning some background about the author is also necessary. The reader should be able to get to know the author better, along with some additional things such as what inspired the author to write a book or a paper on this specific topic. The introduction should also contain some interesting facts about the book and maybe even a short anecdote about the author’s writing process.
The main part of your academic review is the most important one. You should be able to provide a summary of the text and explain some main ideas mentioned by the author. Anyone who happens to read your review should be able to understand the text without actually reading it. It's vital to summarize the text in your review, along with an explanation of what the author tried to accomplish. For instance, if you are writing a book review, you should mention the main characters and explain their personalities. Their distinct characteristics are often crucial to understanding the book and your reader needs to get to know them better. Additionally, you need to summarize the plot of the book without missing some crucial messages or ideas and provide a general comment about the book.
The final part of your review is the conclusion. The conclusion needs to include your general critical opinion along with the reasons that made you think that way. You need to provide strong support for everything you state or else your opinion can be considered invalid. If you want to find out everything a research paper needs to contain, visit this page. Complete your review with a message to your readers telling them whether or not you recommend this specific book or academic papers to them. Let them know if the text is worth reading.

Mentioning different examples is a prerequisite when it comes to academic writing. A good research paper should rely on the standard template and offer something new to your audience. It should also be rich in quotes, citations, and statements supported by some scientific research. Things like this help your paper sound more competent and your readers will understand your statement better if they see your idea is supported by other people. Reviewing an academic paper is not easy so try to remember guidelines listed above when you are confronted with a task like that.


Academic, Guide, Review

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