Guides
The answers, written out properly
Every guide leads with a direct answer, then explains it. No sign-up wall, no “contact us for more”, no padding to hit a word count.
Dissertation
- 8 min read
How to write a dissertation abstract (with examples)
A dissertation abstract is a 250–300 word standalone summary containing six elements: the problem, the aim, the method, the key findings stated with actual results, the implications, and the main limitation.
Updated
- 7 min read
How to write a dissertation conclusion
A dissertation conclusion answers your research question directly in the first sentence, then covers five things: the answer, the contribution, the implications for practice or policy, the limitations, and specific directions for future research.
Updated
- 9 min read
How to structure a literature review
A literature review is organised by theme, not by source.
Updated
- 10 min read
How to choose a dissertation topic you can actually finish
A dissertation topic must pass four tests: the question is narrow enough to answer in your word count, the data is genuinely accessible to you, the method is one you can actually execute, and enough literature exists to build an argument on.
Updated
- 9 min read
Writing a research proposal: structure and worked example
A research proposal states what you will investigate, why it matters, what is already known, how you will find out, and whether you can actually do it.
Updated
- 8 min read
Psychology dissertation topics that pass ethics
A viable undergraduate psychology dissertation topic avoids clinical populations, deception, and anything requiring diagnosis or distress induction — those routes need approvals an undergraduate timeline cannot absorb.
Updated
- 9 min read
How to write a methodology chapter
A methodology chapter explains what you did and, more importantly, why that was the right way to answer your question.
Updated
Writing
- 10 min read
Reflective writing: how to do it properly
Reflective writing analyses your own experience against theory to change your future practice.
Updated
- 9 min read
Essay structure: how to build an argument
A university essay is built on an arguable thesis statement, supported by paragraphs that each advance one claim through a topic sentence, evidence, analysis and a link.
Updated
- 7 min read
Personal essay topics, and how to write one that is not a diary
A personal essay uses one specific experience to make a point that matters beyond you.
Updated
- 6 min read
Is this sentence grammatically correct? How to check your own writing
To check whether a sentence is grammatically correct, test four things: that it has a subject and a main verb, that the subject and verb agree in number, that every clause is either joined properly or separated into its own sentence, and that each pronoun clearly refers to one specific noun.
Updated
- 6 min read
Adviser or advisor? 30 spellings students get wrong
Both 'adviser' and 'advisor' are correct.
Updated
- 9 min read
How to write an essay introduction
An introduction does four things: establishes why the question matters, defines the terms that carry weight, states your position, and says how the essay will proceed.
Updated
- 10 min read
Paraphrasing without plagiarising
A real paraphrase is written from your understanding, not from the sentence in front of you.
Updated
- 9 min read
Rhetorical devices with examples
Rhetorical devices are patterns of language that produce an effect on a reader.
Updated
- 9 min read
Annotated bibliographies
An annotated bibliography is a reference list where each entry is followed by a short paragraph — usually 100 to 200 words — that summarises the source, evaluates it, and says what it contributes to your project.
Updated
- 8 min read
Punctuating quotations correctly
In British and Australian usage, punctuation goes inside the quotation marks only if it belongs to the quoted material — otherwise outside.
Updated
- 9 min read
Argumentative essay structure
An argumentative essay stakes a position and defends it with reasons, evidence and a response to the strongest objection.
Updated
Career
- 8 min read
How to write a CV in the UK
A UK CV is a maximum of two pages with no photograph, no date of birth and no marital status.
Updated
- 6 min read
How to write a character reference
A character reference states your relationship to the person and how long you have known them, gives two or three specific evidenced examples of the relevant quality, makes a plain recommendation, and provides your contact details.
Updated
- 10 min read
The UCAS personal statement: the three-question format
The statement is now three structured questions rather than one free-form essay: why you want to study the course, how your qualifications have prepared you, and what else you have done that is relevant.
Updated
- 9 min read
Cover letters that are not a repeat of your CV
A cover letter argues that you fit this specific role; the CV lists what you have done.
Updated
- 10 min read
Writing a graduate scheme application
Graduate schemes screen in stages, and each stage removes most of the remaining applicants.
Updated
Business
- 9 min read
How to write a PESTEL analysis (with an Apple example)
A PESTEL analysis examines six external forces — Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal — that shape an organisation's operating environment.
Updated
- 10 min read
How to write a case study analysis
A case study analysis identifies the decision the protagonist actually faces, analyses the situation with two or three frameworks applied properly, and reaches one specific recommendation with a cost, an owner, a timeline and a named risk.
Updated
- 10 min read
SWOT analysis: how to make it analysis, not a list
A SWOT analysis sorts strengths and weaknesses, which are internal and within the organisation's control, from opportunities and threats, which are external and are not.
Updated
Study skills
- 7 min read
Debate topics that actually produce a debate
A good debate topic is one where a reasonable, well-informed person could genuinely argue either side.
Updated
- 7 min read
Speech topics, and how to pick one that works
The best speech topic sits where three things overlap: something you genuinely care about, something your audience has a reason to hear, and something narrow enough to cover properly in the time you have.
Updated
- 8 min read
The first six weeks: a study system that survives the semester
Set up four things in your first six weeks and the rest of the semester becomes manageable: one note system you actually use, a reading method that produces notes rather than highlights, a reference manager started before your first essay rather than during it, and a calendar containing every assessment deadline in the module handbooks.
Updated
- 6 min read
How to balance chemical equations
To balance a chemical equation, adjust only the coefficients in front of each formula — never the subscripts, because those define the substance.
Updated
- 6 min read
What is a specialised cell? Structure, function and examples
A specialised cell is one that has developed a structure suited to a particular function, through differentiation — the process by which an unspecialised stem cell switches on some genes and switches off others.
Updated
- 10 min read
How to revise for university exams, according to the evidence
The two techniques with the strongest evidence are retrieval practice — testing yourself rather than reviewing notes — and spacing that testing across days instead of massing it.
Updated
- 6 min read
Should homework be banned? What the evidence says on both sides
The evidence splits by age.
Updated
- 9 min read
Working while studying: the rules and the reality
Every study visa in the five markets restricts work, and the limits change — often at short notice and sometimes mid-year.
Updated
- 9 min read
Note-taking methods compared
No method is best in general; each suits a different kind of material.
Updated
- 9 min read
Time management that survives a deadline week
Most study timetables fail because they schedule hours rather than tasks and assume every hour is equally productive.
Updated
- 9 min read
Extenuating circumstances applications
Extenuating circumstances are serious, unforeseen events outside your control that affected your ability to complete an assessment.
Updated
- 9 min read
How to read an academic paper efficiently
Read in three passes.
Updated
Referencing
- 9 min read
Which Harvard does your university actually use?
There is no single Harvard style.
Updated
- 7 min read
APA 7: everything that changed from APA 6
APA 7 removed the publisher location, raised the author limit in reference lists from seven to twenty, moved to 'et al.' from the third author onward in every in-text citation, formats DOIs as full https://doi.org/ links without a 'doi:' label, dropped 'Retrieved from' before URLs, and endorses singular 'they'.
Updated
- 8 min read
Citing clinical guidelines, NICE and drug formularies
Clinical guidelines are referenced with the issuing organisation as the author, not an individual.
Updated
- 9 min read
OSCOLA footnotes: ibid, short forms and pinpoints
Use ibid only when the footnote immediately before cites the same source — never after an intervening citation.
Updated
- 8 min read
Notes–bibliography or author–date? Picking your Chicago system
Chicago offers two systems.
Updated
- 7 min read
The referencing mistakes that cost the most marks
The four referencing errors that cost the most marks are: paraphrased ideas with no citation, in-text citations that do not match the reference list, mixing Harvard variants within one document, and citing sources you have not read.
Updated
- 9 min read
How to cite ChatGPT and other AI tools
Cite a generative AI tool as software, not as a person.
Updated
- 8 min read
How to cite a YouTube video, podcast or TikTok
The author of a YouTube video is whoever uploaded it, not whoever appears in it.
Updated
- 8 min read
How to cite lecture slides, seminars and recordings
Cite lecture slides by lecturer surname and initials, year, slide title in italics, the format in square brackets, the module code and name, the institution, and — if they sit on a VLE — the platform and access date.
Updated
- 9 min read
IEEE referencing: numbered citations done properly
IEEE cites by number in square brackets, assigned in order of first appearance and reused thereafter.
Updated
- 7 min read
et al. rules: how many authors before you shorten
In APA 7, use et al.
Updated
- 10 min read
Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote: which reference manager
For most students, Zotero.
Updated
- 8 min read
Secondary citations: when you cannot find the original
A secondary citation credits an idea you met inside someone else's work rather than in the original.
Updated
Subject skills
- 10 min read
How to write a nursing reflective essay
A nursing reflective essay analyses a clinical decision against evidence and professional standards, using a model such as Gibbs' cycle as its structure.
Updated
- 9 min read
IRAC and ILAC: how to answer a law problem question
IRAC structures a legal answer as Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion — repeated separately for each legal issue the facts raise.
Updated
- 9 min read
Nursing assignment help: what support is allowed
Nursing students can get the same legitimate support as anyone else — teaching, draft feedback, proofreading within policy — with one difference that changes everything: a misconduct finding on a nursing programme is a fitness-to-practise matter as well as an academic one, and it can follow you to registration.
Updated
- 11 min read
How to write a nursing care plan
A nursing care plan follows five stages, remembered as ADPIE: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation.
Updated
Frequently asked questions
Are the guides free?
Yes, all of them, with no account, no email address and no paywall. They are the same explanations our tutors give in sessions, written down.
Who writes these guides?
Every guide is bylined and links to its author's profile, which lists the guides that author is responsible for. Nothing here is published anonymously.
How often are the guides updated?
Each one shows its update date at the top. Referencing guides are revised whenever the style authority publishes a change — APA 7 and Chicago 17 both altered conventions that older advice still repeats.
Can I cite these guides in my assignment?
Cite the primary source instead. Our referencing guides point to the style authority itself — APA Style, the MLA Style Center, the Chicago Manual of Style and OSCOLA at Oxford — and that is what a marker expects to see in your reference list.