writing tips

What is the Background of the Study in Research? The background of the study is the first section of a research paper and gives context surrounding the research topic. The background explains to the reader where your research journey started, why you got interested in the topic, and how you developed the research question that […]

Red roofs accent the golden buildings positioned neatly around the Stanford University campus. Amid the buildings, newly admitted undergrads and graduate students walk around with vivid “I got into Stanford” expressions. What does it take to get into a Stanford graduate program? A lot. Stanford admissions requirements can be intimidating, and the current averageacceptance rate […]

Grades, GPA, and transcripts are important components when applying to college. But numbers only tell part of the story. Thecollege admissions essayplays a much more powerful role in telling your personal story to college admissions officers. So while university admissions departments may set initial cut-offs based on numbers, they make their final decision based on […]

The college application essay has become the most important part of applying to college. In this article, we will go over thebest college essay format for getting into top schools, including how to structure the elements of a college admissions essay: margins, font, paragraphs, spacing, headers, and organization. We will focus on commonly asked questions […]

In 2023, the Common Application announced that the Common App essay prompts will remain unchanged from the 2022-2023 school year. The Common App essay prompts have remained almost the same for the past five years, but crafting a strong and compelling essay to respond to these prompts has remained as important as ever to getting […]

What is a case study? A case study is a research approach that provides an in-depth examination of a particular phenomenon, event, organization, or individual. It involves analyzing and interpreting data to provide a comprehensive understanding of the subject under investigation. Case studies can be used in various disciplines, including business, social sciences, medicine (clinical […]

What is an academic essay? Academic essays are a common form of writing in higher education and play a crucial role in shaping a student’s future academic success. An academic essay is a piece of writing that presents an argument based on evidence and provides the reader with a clear and well-structured understanding of a […]

What are research methods? Research methods are the techniques and procedures used to collect and analyze data in order to answer research questions and test a research hypothesis. There are several different types of research methods, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Common Types of Research Methods There are several main types of research […]

When conducting research for an academic paper, it is important to understand the differences between primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are original, firsthand accounts of an event or phenomenon, while secondary sources are any materials that are not primary sources, such as books or articles that analyze or interpret primary sources. This article will […]

Specific rules for citing visual media (paintings, infographics, maps, etc.) in papers and formal presentations are often not included in the basic how-to guides, but they do exist and vary depending on the style guide you have to follow. Here we explain what information you need to cite and how—see below for examples in APA, […]

You are probably familiar with (or know where to look up) in-text and reference list citation rules for books, online articles, and websites, but that’s not always enough these days—how do you use a YouTube video as a source and correctly cite it? Here, we show you how to do that in all the common […]

According to Merriam Webster, a preposition is “a word or group of words that combines with a noun or pronoun to form a phrase that usually acts as an adverb, adjective, or noun”. You have probably heard explanations like this one many times. But you might still be a bit unsure what a preposition is […]