Introduction
Who this book is for
One of the main ways you are assessed at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts is through writing. If you follow a complete study programme in English or attend modules taught through the medium of English being able to express yourself well in writing and in academic style in English is crucial. Therefore, you will want to learn to write as clearly and accurately as possible, not only to succeed in your current course but also in preparation for your career. In your professional life you will be expected to communicate effectively in English, not only orally. Writing assignments also encourage you to read widely, think critically, improve your communication skills and develop the competence and professionalism needed for your future career.
Additional information – only for students of architecture/interior architecture
As a student of architecture or interior architecture, the major part of your education is the design of buildings executed through drawings, models and other kinds of visual representation. Together with the work space of the architectural studio, the presentations of designs followed by a challenging review (crit or jury) – these are undoubtedly the main elements of architectural education.
However, words too are an integral part of what architecture is all about. Most obviously, words are a necessary explanation of what kind of architecture is referred to in drawings and models (writing about architecture). Words are also a way to explore new territories, new ideas, new kinds of architecture. Without some of the influential writings about architecture – from the Roman architectural theorist Vitruvius to the modern Robert Venturi – there would be no modern architecture. Another reason writing can be a crucial element in a design process is that it can be an aid in the thinking process (writing for architecture).
Academic writing in general
Academic and/ or scientific writing is a social practice. This means you always write with a readership in mind and you always write with purpose, for example to enquire, to explain or to evaluate. What is right and wrong is defined by the user in the social community – at university your teachers, fellow students or companies. Furthermore, academic subjects are classified into different disciplines that have evolved over the time, each with their own traditions and conventions. Generally speaking, a discipline is a broad area – such as arts, engineering or social sciences – in which certain subjects are slotted; each discipline has its own approach to academic study, its own discourse and its own favoured way of writing about its subjects. Different text types of academic writing are known as genres. They have distinct purposes, forms and recognized structures.
This means, the way academic writing is organized and the way language is used for example in an engineering report has developed through centuries of use by practitioners. Writing about design might differ from conventions in engineering diciplines in terms of genre or text types. These discipline-specific conventions must be learned by observation, study and practice. However, this book presents certain basic principles that are accepted in most disciplines.
Academic writing at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences & Arts
During your studies at Lucerne University you might have to write:
- various kinds of reports (lab report, project or scientific report)
- a seminar paper
- a case study
- bachelor thesis
- master thesis
A scientific report is not an essay: Students who have to write a scientific report for a project should be aware that this is a completely different genre than an essay. Many students coming from upper secondary education or international schools have practised essay writing, which is a genre often associated with academic writing in higher education in English speaking countries such as the UK or the US, or countries following these traditions. However, the requirements for a technical or scientific report at a Swiss university differ from these traditions, which is another reason for writing this guidebook.Whatever the genre, there are certain things that are common to all. Academic writing:
- uses evidence to support points it makes
- uses a logical structure and order to guide the reader through the writing
- contains references to anyone else’s ideas or work used
You will also always need to:
- select relevant information from a wide range of sources
- understand ideas, evaluate and summarize them
- develop your own ideas, questions and theses
- present theories, research and study results with appropriate language
- visualize content
- plan your writing
- interact with peer students and lecturers.
How this book is organized
This book mainly consists of guidelines for academic and technical writing based on the latest research and best practice in this field. Besides the theory, you find 
special notes or links to other websites, 
many activities (with or without key), 
interactive exercises or 
food for thought, additional information only for students of architecture/ interior architecture.
Go to Content to find the main chapter and sub-chapters. In brief what each part contains.
What is research
This part briefly explains the concept research.
Writing process
This part is about the various stages of the writing process. It covers pre-writing processes, finding a research question, effective ways of finding and evaluating sources, how to conduct research, methodological aspects, writing and re-writing drafts, the overall organization of academic texts as well as the building stones of texts and how they are connected.
Writing the parts of scientific reports
This part provides detailed guidelines on how to write the various sections of scientific reports, starting with the abstract but also considering what to put into the appendix.
Academic style guide
One of the essentials of scientific or academic writing is clarity, which means your text should be clear, simple and well-ordered. This part deals with various issues regarding clear academic style including vocabulary and grammar aspects but also how to write numbers or deal with abbreviations in a scientific document.
Avoiding plagiarism
This part discusses the reasons for acknowledging sources in academic texts and provides relevant guidelines for in-text-references, quoting or paraphrasing and summarising previous research.
Using non-text material
An essential element of scientific manuscripts is the quality and function of non-text material such as tables and figures, which is presented in this part.
Guidelines on APA or DIN citation standard
This part provides detailed guidelines and further links on the ‘mechanics’ of references, the formal details of in-text citations and a list of references according to APA citation and DIN citation standard.
How to use this book
The structure of this book follows the logic of a systematic research and writing process and should support novice writers to submit work which is consistent with expectations of their academic community. However, more experienced writers might be interested in reading about specific aspects and will go to these sections immediately.