the academic writing wiki

Writing for the Reader
Books and websites on essay writing very often give you a list of dos and don'ts, but without making much attempt to explain why you're being asked to write in this way. Although this website does offer a few basic rules to follow when you're writing an essay, its emphasis is on explaining the expectations which surround university essays, and academic writing more generally, since if you understand the reasons why you need to provide referencing, for example, you're much more likely to remember actually to do it.