A critical requirement in the lives of students is the ability to research and produce well-written papers that meet the requirements of their learning levels. As a college student, for instance, you may be already familiar with the heavy workloads and writing expectations placed on your shoulders. However, as established by the 2011
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 24% of twelfth-graders can write proficiently, while only 3% are advanced writers. Such findings demonstrate the need for tools and guidelines to help students with their academic writing.
In this article, I am going to look at seven top tools that are integral to your writing, and which will help you thrive. Whether you are writing a research report or an essay, these tools will help improve the quality and structure of your writing.
Tools That Turn Students into Better Academic Writers
Here are the seven tools every academic writer needs:
Bubbl.us Mind Mapping Tool
Mind mapping offers students a great way of brainstorming new ideas and laying out the ideas that they already have. Instead of merely using simple lists, mind mapping tools allow you to link your ideas in numerous ways, allowing you to think more creatively. In mind mapping, the student begins with the big idea and works their way down to smaller concepts. While there exist several other mind mapping tools, one of the top tools available now for free is Bubbl.us. The website allows students to create a map of their ideas. It is easy to use, allowing the painless organization of ideas using customization of text size, bubble color, and formatting. You should
Mind mapping is a relatively easy concept, often requiring an application that can handle whatever is thrown at it. Choose a mind mapping tool that helps you structure your chaotic ideas.
try it out.
Copyscape Anti-Plagiarism Tool
In academic writing, the emphasis is increasingly placed on originality and scholarly integrity, meaning that plagiarism is severely punished. While referencing helps reduce the incidence of plagiarism, it is prudent to ensure the authenticity of your content.
Copyscape is definitely a top plagiarism detection tool, which will ensure that your text does not match other material already published online. This tool offers a platform for plagiarism detection by comparing your text to other material available online, giving you an approximated percentage relating to the originality of your writing.
StayFocusd
Do you find yourself distracted every time you try to research information online? If so, then this is the tool you need. True to its name, Stayfocusd, which is an app on Google Chrome, allows students to limit the time that they spend on unnecessary websites.
The tool is so customizable that users can block subdomains, entire websites temporarily, and even in-page content such as games and videos. The user also has the choice of how long he or she wishes to block the content. Finishing your assignment in time depends on how well you manage your time, and getting rid of distraction is a crucial starting point.
Grammarly Grammar and Proofreading Tool
Of course, a crucial aspect of quality writing will depend on how well you proofread and edit your paper, making sure that you eliminate typos and errors. Without paying attention to word usage, grammar, punctuation, and spelling, your writing cannot sound great. After writing your first draft, read through it carefully, asking yourself whether you:
- Followed each grammar rule
- Spelled your vocabulary words properly
- And punctuated your sentences correctly
Making sure that your paper meets the grammar and punctuation requirements of academic writing at the top level can be challenging to accomplish manually. That is why you need to take advantage of the Grammarly proofreading tool.
Grammarly is an extensive content checker that identifies and fixes typos and errors in your writing, providing suggestions on how you can improve your paper. The tool scans your text for more than 400 grammar error types, proofreading for article use, subject-verb agreement, modifier placement and many others. With the Grammarly app, you can be sure that your paper will have fewer errors.
Evernote Note-Taking Tool
An important aspect of academic writing depends on how you research and use reliable sources. To make sure you recall the main points researched and the sources from where they were obtained, you need to take clear notes. Evernote is one of the best note-taking tools available in the market. The app helps users recall aspects of their research, and is available as a desktop application as well as for mobile and online platforms.
What makes Evernote the ideal note-taking app is the fact that it is not only cross-platform, but is also created for taking, organizing, and archiving notes. The app's functionality allows you to create an unlimited number of notebooks and search through them quickly. Some of the amazing features include the ability to:
- Collect, write and capture ideas in the form of searchable notebook, notes, to-do-lists, and checklists.
- Take notes in various formats, including photos, sketches, video, audio, web clippings, and PDFs.
- Sync your content across your multiple devices for easy access.
- Share, collaborate and discuss productively with fellow students, ideal for group work
EndNote Citation Manager
The hallmark of top quality academic writing is the accurate referencing of sources used to support your points, both within the text as well as in a list at the end of the document. While it may be possible to manually organize the sources you have consulted in producing the document, such a manual entry leaves much room for mistakes that could compromise the quality of your writing. Using a good citation manager ensures that your sources are accurately identified within the text and that a corresponding bibliography list is properly formatted.
EndNote citation tool is ideal for you since, being web based, it can be accessed from any computer that has access to the internet. You will be able to sort through years of work within seconds as the tool allows you to search through journal articles and metadata quite fast. Your citations will also be stored locally on your PC. Another amazing feature is the fact that the tool allows you to share groups with other students registered for the service.
Losing a document that you have worked on for weeks can be a devastating experience. To make sure that you do not lose your resources or assignments due to mechanical issues, you need to use a virtual storage space like Dropbox. Using these tools will significantly improve the quality of your writing. However, even with these tools, there are times when, due to personal or professional commitments, you may not be able to complete your assignment on time, or may need further assistance. In such instances, getting assistance from Dropbox is a creative and collaborative space that allows users to reduce busywork by bringing all their files together for easy access from any point. The tool also helps when sending large files. You can access your files even when offline.
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