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RESEARCH AND WRITING MANUAL FOR

ACADEMIC FREELANCE WRITERS

Prepared by Levian Indasy Mahmady & Baba Elinyo as a partial

fulfilment of our utilitarian aid of training freelance writers

Developed by Levian Indasy Mahmady & Baba Elinyo, August 2014

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PART 1
CONTENT
Content entails the requirements in the rubric or order instructions. This is the most important
order element that one must keep in mind to excel in this online oil
industry. First, a writer
should be able to digest the order instructions for some minutes. Second, the writer should
develop an intrinsic critical thinking whenever he or she comes across order instructions.
Failure to critically approach the instructions can make a newbie spend the whole day in
agony. It usually results in late submission of orders and heavy penalties to the writer.
Therefore, CONTENT is very important if you want to rise through the ranks and get to the
top as fast as possible.
Illustration
Question: write a 10 page paper on the United States

The above instructions can run a spasm of fear across the spine of a newbie for lack of
comprehensive content. Therefore, to make it easier, one needs to develop the table of
contents (outline) on the same.
PLEASE DONT BE SUBJECTIVE IN REASONING. BE OBJECTIVE AND AVOID
MASS FALLACY.
Most newbies will be like, the united states is a very good country with a lot of
opportunities. The country is big and has everything that an individual needs to survive. The
current president is Obama. His father is Kenyan and the mother is American. Kenyans want
to associate themselves with him although he does not want them. America is all over in the
mainstream media because...
Such content is very shallow, incoherent, absurd and subjective. You should think critically
outside the box and instantly create an outline that uses topical organization rather than
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chronological organization or continuous prose organization as in the above excerpt. 5 pages

and above make a long order
. Therefore, you must include an introduction (with a thesis
statement), body, and conclusion. An experienced writer would approach the same
instructions using the following outline:
The United States
Introduction
Write a vivid description of the US in 150 words. Include the thesis statement at the end of
the introductory paragraph e.g. This paper discusses the United States in terms of its
geographical, social, political, and economic status
Body
1. Geography (2 Pages)
2. Social/Cultural (2 Pages)
3. Political (The Most Important About A Country. Should Be 3 Pages)
4. Economic (2 Pages)
5. Conclusion
NB: The Introduction + Conclusion = 1 Page (Or slightly less)
This will make writing the paper easier and interesting. Without the outline and critical
thinking, one is likely to be repetitive and bored. Therefore, covering the 10 pages becomes
consummate without the punishment of thinking about the next sentence. In this case, writing
the 10 pages should take at most 4 hours, but not 2 weeks with additional problems of power
blackouts and computer malfunction.

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PART 2
SEARCHING FOR CONTENT AND SOURCES
Searching for content can be a great challenge especially when the order question is not from
the newbies area of specialization. However, you should note that nothing is impossible as
far as the applicability of your critical thinking skills and Google are concerned. If you cannot
find something on the internet, chances are high that it would not form a subject of study at a
reputable institution.
Where can one find content?
The easiest way to search for content is by googling
the main sentence/key word/phrase. A
number of websites; including Wikipedia, will appear on the first page. Select any three or
four sites that look genuine. Please avoid obsolete the blogging sites. Triangulation is the best
technique of searching for content.
Select websites that end: dot gov, dot edu, and some dot org.
Using Wikipedia is usually discouraged in all cases. However, I use it most of the times to
cover more than 60 percent of my content. Using Wikipedia is not a problem. The problem is
how to use it effectively like a prolific academician. Some academic Institutions categorically
state that Wikipedia is not a source of information. This does not make it a crime to use
Wikipedia!
You can use Wikipedia and escape unnoticed. However, dont copy paste and then
paraphrase!!!!Just read the content and digest it then let it come out in its own way. Some
people are not good at paraphrasing at all. The paraphrased content sometimes fails to make
sense while others do not relate perfectly with the neighboring sentences. Therefore, use
antonyms and your own words to kill the plagiarism in such sentences.
To find book previews, go to http://books.google.com/ .
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To find eBooks, go to http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23?msg=welcome_stranger

To find journal articles, use http://www.elsevier.com/
Additionally, while searching for key phrases, add something like PDF
at the end e.g.
marketing strategies: PDF
. With this, you will find a list of readable articles that can be
downloaded as well. These articles are usually written by professionals who are considered to
be authorities in the areas concerned.
Now some people are terrified when they discover that they are required to submit tens of
sources. Where do you find such ungodly amounts of sources from? It is easy. Just revisit the
Wikipedia page that you were using to research and drop down to the bibliography area at the
end. Copy all books and journal articles that were not published more than 10 years ago. You
can also visit Google books and type the key words of the area of interest and pick some
related books. Additionally, you can download a related journal article and copy paste its
bibliography.
What should you do when some of the elements of the found sources are missing? Remember
all academic sources should be inclusive of the author(s), title, city, date, publisher, and
edition (sometimes). When you find a source that lacks at least one of the above, go to
http://www.bibme.org/ , type the title, and make a bibliography of the sources on the same
website before copy pasting.
Rule: Never List A Large Number of Websites In The Bibliography Even If You Got
100% of The Content From Websites. Make a Related Bibliography Using Books and
Journals and Cite Them in The Text.

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PART 3
PARAGRAPHING, PLAGIARISM, WRITING STYLES, AND PAPER
FORMATTING
1) Paragraphing
Majority of new writers fail to decipher the real meaning of paragraphing. Therefore, it is
intuitive to firmly assert that paragraphing is a technique that requires specific paradigms of
arranging words or sentences. The following are the most applicable principles of
paragraphing:
a. A paragraph should never be ONLY one sentence LONG.
b. It should be composed of ideas on the same topic. Never mix ideas or talk of different
ideas in the same paragraph. Start a new paragraph for a new idea. c. It should be composed
of at least three related sentences.
d. It should contain an introduction sentence, at least one supporting sentence(s), and one
conclusion sentence (See Example.1).
Example 1
Reliable resources allege that the United States is the greatest nation in the world. The
country boasts of a strong military, stable political environment, and a great economic power.
The only competition that the US faces is from Russia and other rising economies such as the
Republic of China. However, it will still remain the worlds super power for unknown
number of years.
Note: The first sentence is introductory, the second and third sentences are supportive (they
can be several including descending opinions and other arguments), and the last sentence is
conclusive.

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e. A good sentence should not be in excess of three lines. I.e. a grammatically correct
sentence should be 1.5 lines in length. This technique mitigates gibberish such as the use of
because
etc.
f. A good paragraph should have at least six lines and at most 12 lines (if requested by the
client).
g. The unintelligent use of however
usually creates ambiguous sentences. Make sure the
however
comes after a period and should be followed by a comma. (See Example 2)
Example 2
There is no difference between human beings and the other animals. However, human beings
are intelligent because they can queue.
OR There is no difference between human beings and the other animals; however, human
beings are intelligent because they can queue
h. The word therefore
should always be placed between two commas.
i. Insert at least one citation in every paragraph unless the paragraph is made up of your
opinion.
j. Reduce the use of passive voice.
k. Use Office first to check for spelling and grammar mistakes in the text before subjecting it
to any other software.
Example 3
Wrong: Jackie was promoted by the Manager to head the department.
Correct: The Manager promoted Jacky to head the department
.
NB: You should only reduce the use passive voice because it can be totally unavoidable in
some circumstances.

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2) Plagiarism
Plagiarism is a killer disease in the writing industry. Avoid Plagiarism by using original
ideas, paraphrasing, or by using direct quotes and citing them. After you complete the paper,
you should run it through a plagiarism checker to confirm and reduce the percentage of
plagiarism detected.
A reliable checker is Grammarly.
You can also check via http://www.customwritings.com/check-paper-for-plagiarism.html
Note: Some words or phrases usually appear as plagiarized but you can do nothing to avoid
it. These may be undisputable facts, headings, or names of organizations, among others.
3) Writing Style
Do not concentrate too much on the writing style. Put down a grammatically correct paper
first before thinking of citations and the list of resources. The main writing styles are APA,
HAVARD, MLA, and CHICAGO/TURABIAN. OSCOOLA is mainly used for law papers
only. (Arranged in the order of complexity)
Preview of Citations
a. APA (author, date) e.g. (Smith, 1999)
a. 2 authors (Smith & Howard, 1999)
b. MLA (author page) e.g. (Smith 22)
a. 2 authors (Smith and Howard 22)
c. Harvard (author date: page) e.g. (Smith 1999:22)
a. 2 authors (Smith & Howard:22)
d. Chicago/Turabian (footnotes)

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4) Formatting
Formatting is the process of placing the whole paper in the context of the writing style,
instructions and paragraphing.
It includes the Title page, Font, Grammar, spacing and List of Sources. The most popular font
with academic institutions is font 12 Times New Roman.
Note: For your work to look neater, you should justify it. This does not mean proof of what
your work is about! It means making your work have uniform margins on both sides. You
can do this by highlighting the work and using CTRL + J. Alternatively, you could select
then proceed to the Microsoft word Menu Bar. Move to the Paragraph section and click on
the fourth option (immediately before the Line and Paragraph Spacing Tab) to justify your
work.
PART 4
GENERAL TIPS
1) Revisions
No one is perfect. Occasionally, that ten page paper may be returned to you for revision even
five days after you submitted and forgot about it. Do not panic and sulk. A request for
revision often indicates that you did not follow some important instructions that would make
the paper better. Read the revision instructions carefully and follow them to the letter. If you
revise the paper diligently and according to the instructions, you will earn your money. You
should take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes and move on. Some clients are too
difficult to please and may make you revise the paper even four times or more if a particular
effect is not realised. That should not stop you from writing though.

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2 Language Use
You should be familiar with both British and American English. A paper from an institution
in the UK will demand that you use British English while one from an American institution
requires American English. There are differences in the spelling of some words in British and
American English. Sometimes, the same thing is identified by different names depending on
the type of English.
Examples
a) In British English, trouser
is commonly used while in American English, the equivalent
term is pants

b) Example of words with different spelling but same meaning
1) Tire (U.S. English) and Tyre (British English)
2) Center (U.S. English) and Centre (British English)
3) Meter (U.S. English) and Metre (British English)
Practice
Find out about color and colour, favour and favor, liter and litre, honour and honor
Note: when American English is used to spell when writing in British English, spelling
mistakes arise due to the clash in spelling as demonstrated above.
3) Country specific Requirements
Some papers require the use of materials from specific countries. If such materials are not
used, the paper will be rejected due to irrelevance. For instance, when handling a law paper
or anything that requires legal knowledge, find out from which country or state it is from. No
one will accept a paper that uses Zimbabwean law instead of US or UK law. It will be totally
irrelevant. NEVER USE KENYAN BOOKS FOR INTERNATIONAL ORDERS!!!
PRETEND TO BE IN THE U.S OR WHEREVER INTERNATIONAL
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Parting Shot
To be a successful writer, you dont have to be a genius. You just need to focus on delivering
quality work and work towards it. Keep an open mind and learn new tricks every day.
Always share knowledge with others whenever you come across something new. Be patient
and learn quickly.

Developed by Levian Indasy Mahmady & Baba Elinyo, August 2014