I noticed from the unofficial YourPace discord I run, that there is some confusion from international students when it comes to APA style essays. It is your responsibility as a Student to understand how American essays work and what is expected.
How Essays are Done by International Students Sometimes:
In many Asian and Eastern European countries it is very common to find sources, copy the sources, and paste them into a Word Document with references at the bottom. Your job is to find cohesive sources. Very little if any writing is done beyond a reflection.
American Essay Style
In the United States, and much of the Western World essays are typically done in APA or Chicago style. APA is used for most research essays. Chicago is used for most history essays. The big difference in these is APA utilizes in-text site wheras Chicago relies upon footnotes. You need to merge your own thoughts with the sources you find, and make your own connections, creating a new piece of work that is unique and hasn't been seen before.
For most intents and purposes, you should utilize APA 7.
What does APA need:
Many universities point to Purdue Owl. Purdue Owl can be very confusing. I recommend these YouTube videos instead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opp259YvaoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEqRqSsNDjc
How to write an APA essay.
This is good if you're unfamiliar with how western schools write essays. If you've never written a research essay before, please read before you write one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=relYz2hQRUQ
Other Sources
If you need help paraphrasing something or making it sound slightly better QuillBot is a good tool https://quillbot.com/ Please note: do not directly copy/paste others work in QuillBot. Try and type your own summary in your own words, and it can help your grammar.
I also recommend Grammarly.
UMPI Tutoring
UMPI does offer tutoring if you need it. Talk to your learning coach for more inforamtion.
How Essays are Done by International Students Sometimes:
In many Asian and Eastern European countries it is very common to find sources, copy the sources, and paste them into a Word Document with references at the bottom. Your job is to find cohesive sources. Very little if any writing is done beyond a reflection.
American Essay Style
In the United States, and much of the Western World essays are typically done in APA or Chicago style. APA is used for most research essays. Chicago is used for most history essays. The big difference in these is APA utilizes in-text site wheras Chicago relies upon footnotes. You need to merge your own thoughts with the sources you find, and make your own connections, creating a new piece of work that is unique and hasn't been seen before.
For most intents and purposes, you should utilize APA 7.
What does APA need:
- You shouldn't ever directly copy sources word for word. You should paraphrase a source down to one or two sentences and use an in-text citation.
- You should utilize in-text citations for anything you paraphrase.
- Under no circumstances should you ever copy another person's work word for word.
Many universities point to Purdue Owl. Purdue Owl can be very confusing. I recommend these YouTube videos instead:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opp259YvaoE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEqRqSsNDjc
How to write an APA essay.
This is good if you're unfamiliar with how western schools write essays. If you've never written a research essay before, please read before you write one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=relYz2hQRUQ
Other Sources
If you need help paraphrasing something or making it sound slightly better QuillBot is a good tool https://quillbot.com/ Please note: do not directly copy/paste others work in QuillBot. Try and type your own summary in your own words, and it can help your grammar.
I also recommend Grammarly.
UMPI Tutoring
UMPI does offer tutoring if you need it. Talk to your learning coach for more inforamtion.
Dr. Ashkir DHA, MBA, MAOL, PMP, GARA
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)
Their new co-writer feature is pretty cool that lets you find sources while you write, and shows similar sources.
