A No-Nonsense Guide to Academic Writing

Are you studying a subject in the humanities or social sciences? Do you have a long essay, dissertation, or thesis to write? This short guide is for international students, mature students, all students uncertain as to how to proceed.

You won’t have time to read more than you need to, so the student-friendly text is kept to a minimum. Advice is given concerning your title, what you might cover in your introduction; your review of the literature--your analysis of the ’received opinion’ on the subject; your own counter-argument; your sources and use of evidence; and your conclusion.

A number of short, illustrative passages are included, written by distinguished authors, as well as a summary structure plan, and exemplar essay.

Dr Swatridge studied at the universities of Nottingham, Bradford, Manchester, and London, in the United Kingdom. He taught and was Chief Examiner at Advanced Level and tutored graduate and postgraduate students of the Open University. Since 1998, he has been a visiting lecturer at universities in Budapest, Szeged, Veszprém, and Miskolc, in Hungary; and at Krosno in Poland, and Târgu Mureş in Romania, teaching the art of argument, and an MA course in Central European Studies. His previous books include An Oxford Guide to Effective Argument and Critical Thinking (Oxford University Press, 2014); A Country Full of Aliens: A Briton in Hungary, and Transylvania: Truth, Myth, Perspective (both published by Corvina Books, Budapest, 2017, 2018); and Foolosophy? Think Again, Sophie: Ten reasons for not taking Philosophy too seriously (ibidem, 2023)