WRITING GUIDE

WINDESHEIM HONOURS COLLEGE

Lineke Stobbe
WHC, July 2019
3rd revised version
Table of contents

Introduction 1

1. Presentation and readability 1

2. Structure and content 2

2.1 Cover page 2

2.2 Table of contents 3
2.3 Preface or acknowledgements 4
2.4 Summary or abstract 4
2.5 Introduction 4
2.6 The body 5

2.6.1 Chapters, sections and paragraphs 5

2.6.2 References in the text 6
2.6.3 Paraphrasing and quoting 6
2.6.4 Notes 8
2.6.5 Tables, figures, schemes and boxes 8
2.6.6 Miscellaneous 9

2.7 Conclusion 10
2.8 Recommendations 10
2.9 Bibliography 10
2.10 Appendices 11

3. Checklist 11

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Introduction

This is the writing guide of the Windesheim Honours College; it covers the technical aspects of writing, which hold for all assignments
during your studies. Note that these technical requirements are not only important during your studies, but may also prove useful when
writing reports, articles, and/or other documents afterwards. Hence, the experience you gain during your studies with writing also helps
you develop the writing skills you need later on in your professional life. In this document, we discuss issues regarding presentation and
readability of your written work and subsequently deal with its technical aspects. In addition to this, we included a checklist (Section 3)
you can use to review your work before handing it in.

1 Presentation and readability

It is important that you make sure your written product looks professional. To do this, please make sure your paper or thesis always meets
the following technical requirements:

• (Printed on) A4 paper format;

• Font type: Ensure the size equals Arial 10 pt. For printing purposes please use Ryman Eco 10 pt (http://rymaneco.co.uk/), which is
known to be the most sustainable font and uses 33% less ink than standard fonts.
• Line spacing 1.15;
• All margins 2.5 cm (above/below and left/right);
• Sections and sub-sections should be clearly identifiable, for example through bold or italic letters or through a different font size;
• Do not underline and do not place a full stop or colon (:) after a heading.

Word processors allow you to make up the fonts and pages after you have finished writing. Of course, a paper does not need to be a mini
book, but presentation is important. It is not necessary to put your paper in a plastic folder.

A common error regarding (academic) writing is the idea that the language used should be somewhat pompous and/or formal. This is
certainly not the case. However, it is important that you use terms and definitions consistently. There should be no confusion as regards to
what you mean exactly. For example, in everyday language, terms like ‘government’ and ‘state’ are often used interchangeably. Be aware
that these terms have different meanings. We therefore advise against using synonyms for core terms because ‘you otherwise use the
same word too often’. The basic rule is to avoid ambiguity as much as possible. If you, for instance, use two terms interchangeably, you
should mention this explicitly (e.g., in a (foot) note). 1

Moreover, it is crucial not to make language and spelling errors and to watch out for inconsistencies, such as using both past and present
tense and using sentences without a verb (i.e., sayings). Inaccuracies like these make a text unpleasant to read and therefore distract from
the content. Use either British or American spelling and be consistent in which one you choose.

1Paper, report or essay will be used interchangeably in this text, unless a certain requirement only applies to either type. In the latter case, this will be
spelled out clearly.

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You can fix many inaccuracies yourself by leaving the text untouched for a couple of days, after which you take another look at it. Another
option is to have it checked by someone else. Furthermore, word processors have a built-in spelling checker; make use of this function.
Some additional tips for writing a well readable paper are:
• Avoid popular language or colloquial language;
• Avoid long sentences and tediousness;
• Do not use exclamation marks, the emphasis should be in the text itself;
• Pay attention to the use of punctuation marks, especially the comma and the difference between the colon (:) and the semicolon
(;) (see for more information section 2.6.6).

Active or passive voice?

Your lecturer or supervisor will be able to advice whether the report should be written in the ‘active’ or ‘passive’ voice. The active voice
reads as follows: ‘I recommend ...’ The passive voice reads: ‘It is recommended that ...’ The active voice allows you to write short, succinct
sentences. The passive appears more formal and considerate. Be aware of these differences and avoid mixing the two voices.

2 Structure and content

A paper consists of the following main parts:

• Cover page
• Table of contents
• Introduction
• The body (main text)
• Conclusion
• References or Bibliography

Additionally, and depending on the length and the character of the text, you can use some other components, such as:

• Preface or acknowledgements
• Glossary (list of definitions)
• List with abbreviations or tables/figures
• Summary or abstract
• Recommendations
• Epilogue
• Index (keywords and/or author concordance)
• Appendices

Apart from the main components, in the discussion below a number of sub components are also dealt with. Specifically, these concern the
management or research problem and other matters that are important for writing a paper, report or essay such as paraphrasing,
referencing, and the use of notes. Moreover, given the importance of the preface, summary/abstract, recommendations and appendices
these are also discussed.

2.1 The cover page

On the cover of your paper or thesis, you provide the following information:

• A clear and informative title, if necessary with a subtitle. Together the two should be no longer than 10-15 words;
• Your name;
• Your student number;
• Place and date of writing;
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 • Name of the degree programme (and the course) for which the paper is written;
• Name of the lecturer/counsellor.

The title should make clear what the paper is about; it is the most concise summary of the text2. The contents of the paper should be clear
from the title to attract the correct group of readers. If you use a so-called informative title, a subtitle is not necessary. If you wish to use a
subtitle, the (broader) title is accompanied by a more specific subtitle. Also a catchy or inciting title is very well possible, but should always
be accompanied by an informative subtitle. Moreover, note that if you have a catchy or inciting title, its meaning should become clear
from reading the paper.

You might want to add a picture to the cover page. When you do, make sure the reference is included at the back of the cover page.

All assignments you deliver during your studies should be accompanied by a cover page with the above mentioned information. In case
you write a report for a client, a second cover page might be required/added.

2.2 The table of contents

The table of contents is placed directly after the cover page. The goal of a table of contents is to provide an overview of the material
presented in the paper. In this table, you can emphasize the structure of the text by making use of different font sizes, indented lines, etc.
Make sure to classify the sections carefully. State both the number and title of the individual (sub-)sections and include page numbers. Use
a maximum of two levels of headings, meaning that there are no numbers consisting of more than two numbers (e.g. 1.1).
Since papers and reports are usually of limited in size, structure your paper using sections and NOT chapters.

Do not use 'p.' or 'page' in the table of contents (i.e., ‘Introduction 1’ and not ‘Introduction p. 1’ or ‘page 1’). The page numbering
always starts at the introduction.

The cover page is not reproduced in the table of contents and is not given a page number. The table of contents, a possible
foreword/acknowledgements, summary/abstract also do not receive a page number.
You may want to follow the approach taken usually in official publications, which is to give the preliminary matters (table of contents,
foreword, list with tables, figures and/or abbreviations, glossary) roman numbers (i, ii, iii,…). In any case, the introduction starts always on
page 1. All components of the paper listed in the table of contents (other than the preliminary pages) should be given a page number.

The hierarchy of the various components of a paper is as follows:

• Cover page
• Table of contents
• (Preface/acknowledgements)
• (Summary or abstract)
• Introduction
• The body: main text consisting of various sections (number them, but avoid using ‘section 1 title’)
• Conclusion
• (Recommendations)
• References or Bibliography
• (Appendices)

2 You cannot use the title of the assignment (e.g. argumentative essay or concise research report) as the title of your work. You should choose a title that
informs the reader about the content of your work and/or sparks the reader’s interest.

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The items that are placed between brackets can, but do not need to appear in a paper; in reports and theses they usually do. We advise
you to make use of the automatic the table of contents generator of your word processor.

2.3 Preface or acknowledgements

A preface is not obligatory. If you add one, limit yourself to a personal note. Write in the first person and discuss issues such as your
personal interests, the reason of involvement with the topic, and thanking those persons who and institutions that helped you or made
your internship possible. Finish with your name, the place of writing, and the date. In the preface, you do not yet discuss the content of
your paper. The preface is placed before the introduction. If you limit yourself to thanking the people and institutions that helped you or
made your internship possible, you should have a heading that reads acknowledgements instead of preface. In reports you generally use
the heading acknowledgements.

2.4 Summary or abstract

A summary or abstract is in fact a shorter version of your original paper. It might not be obligatory for all papers, but writing one enables
you to show that you are capable of telling your audience briefly what your paper is about and what your main conclusions are. It is also a
good exercise if you have to prepare a presentation about your paper. In general, a summary or abstract should be concise, informative
and readable independent of the paper.

Reports, especially those written for a business context, normally include a summary. This summary is also known as an executive
summary. The executive summary should include a summary of all of the key points including recommendations, of your report. The idea
is that an executive can read the summary and if it appears logical and in line with the expectations, the recommendations can be followed
without the need to further read the report.

In general, an executive summary represents roughly 10% of the written report and includes:
• Why the report has been written (the purpose or objective);
• Scope (what issues are covered and what issues are not covered);
• How (brief summary of research methods);
• What (important results and findings);
• So what (major conclusions and recommendations);
• All covered in the same order as in the paper.

For research reports and articles usually have an abstract. The abstract can follow the same structure as the executive summary. For the
concise research report (Bachelor Internship) we require you to use the following structure for your abstract:

• Background (covers the why)

• Purpose (covers the what)
• Methodology (covers the how)
• Results
• Conclusion
• Cross-organisational relevance

2.5 The introduction

In the introduction, you introduce what your paper is about, what the motive is for writing the paper, what the problem definition is, and
how you are going to find an answer to this problem. You must be clear from the start what you are being asked to do. You will probably
be given an assignment but you may need to discuss this further to find out the precise subject and purpose of the paper or report is. Why
have you been asked to write it? Knowing your purpose will help you to communicate your information more clearly and will help you to
be more selective when collecting your information.
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An introduction usually begins with something interesting that intrigues the reader and causes him or her to want to read on. This could be
an interesting quote or event that illustrates the topic of your paper. Thereafter you introduce the business or research problem, the
objective and – if applicable – the central question:

• The objective indicates why you write the paper. Formulating an objective means answering the question why your paper is
important. Stated differently, the objective points out the relevance of your work to the reader. A paper can have a scientific, a
business and/or societal relevance.
• The central question deals with the research topic: what are you going to study? Formulate your central question in such a way
that answering it results in meeting the objective. Consequently, the answer to the central question should amount to knowledge
that (critically) contributes to a theory or a model and/or to the formulation recommendations.

Furthermore, you should both explain the main concepts used and discuss the scope of your report/paper. In short, you need to make your
point of departure as explicit as possible. If you operationalised your central question into sub questions, you present them here as well.
Sub questions are in fact a good way to structure your paper. Hence, at the end of the introduction, you always highlight what is coming. In
other words, the introduction includes an outline of the rest of the paper.

Again, the introduction always starts at page 1.

2.6 The body

The body of your writing is the main part of the paper that contains all important materials and data necessary for the research of the
issue. The body includes – in general – several sections, i.e. a literature review, a methodology section, a results or findings section, an
analysis and discussion section. Literature review helps you place your research study into a specific context and show its significance as
well as critically analyse articles and books, which relate to your topic. Methodology presents the research strategy and methods, which
you used in your research. Besides, in this section you must explain why you have chosen these methods and discuss the validity and
reliability (quality) of the research. Results and findings section contains the presentation of the results of your research (data). It might
include figures and tables. The analysis and discussion section shows the way you use your findings and how you compare them with
findings of others.

2.6.1 Sections, sub-sections and paragraphs

In order to guide the reader through the argumentation, it is very important that the different components of the argument flow logically
and naturally. Sub-divisions are made by means of sections, sub-sections and paragraphs. Sections deal with a part of the argument. Each
section should have its own clear title covering the section’s content. Sections begin with a clear formulation of the topic central to it. The
relationship with the central topic or research question should be clear at all times. Make sure to be consistent in structuring the sections.
End each section with a conclusion that summarises succinctly the main point(s). A conclusion should not add new information. If you want
to, you can use the conclusion to make the link to the next section.

Each sub-section consists of a number of interconnected paragraphs that deal with one theme, sub question, or aspect. Try to be as
consistent as possible in using sub-sections (like with sections). Sub-sections begin with a clear formulation of the theme or sub question
discussed in the sub-section. Please make sure your sub-sections are not too short. A section never contains only one sub-section
(minimum is two) and sub-sections always consist of several paragraphs.

Paragraphs are mini-arguments within a (sub-)section; they deal with one topic or idea and they should be linked to both the preceding
and following (paragraphs). In an average paragraph, the central idea is presented in the opening sentence, also known as topic sentence.
This sentence is followed by the development or explanation of that idea and a transition sentence to the next idea (and hence paragraph).
Paragraphs should thus always consist of several sentences – in practice this is usually 3 to 5 sentences.

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The beginning of a new paragraph can be marked by using an indented line (tab) or a blank one. The use of indented ones force the author
to make the various components match. Blank lines are mostly used in reports and memorandums. Similarly, you can use a blank line in
your text if you want to indicate the distance between various parts of your argument, especially if adding a heading would make the
distinction too large. This means you can use both indented lines and blank ones in the same text, but that their function differs. Note that
indented lines are never used at the beginning of a section or immediately after a sub-section heading, table, citation, etcetera, or at
the beginning of a new page.

Also pay attention to the titles of (sub-)sections. These should be informative and clear, as they are – as indicated earlier – the structure-
indicators of your paper. Hence, make sure that the thread of your argument is visible through the titles you have chosen. A title should
stand alone in the sense that you should not refer to the title in the first sentence of your (sub-)section (e.g. not: ‘as the title of this section
indicates’).

To sum up, requirements for the main text of a paper are:

• Sections deal with the separate main themes of your paper, such as the sub questions;
• Each section has its own title, which covers its content, and is numbered;
• Each section includes an introduction and conclusion;
• Paragraphs are the components of (sub-)sections and are separated by indented lines;
• Paragraphs are not numbered.

Note: as you might have noticed, you have to use sections and not chapters; only books consist of chapters.

2.6.2 References in the text

Whether a paper is trustworthy or not depends crucially on correct referencing. All ideas and statements in a paper should be verifiable.
Therefore, you should always make clear what the source of a certain viewpoint, idea, or quote is. Also when you are using your own
words to present another author’s idea, you need to refer to the source. Note that using sources without referring to them is called
plagiarism, and is not allowed. The WHC has a very strict policy on plagiarism. All written products will be checked for plagiarism. In case
of suspected plagiarism, the lecturer or counsellor is required to report the case with full documentation to the Examination Board. The
Examination Board will rule on the basis of all relevant information. Possible sanctions vary from an automatic fail for the course in
question, up to suspension from registration in the programme and participation in any course or examination.

In-text referencing is based on the simple ‘surname(s) author(s), year of publication’ rule. In some cases you have to add the page number
as well.
For proper referencing we refer to the APA style. Please use the following guide: APA Style Guide to Electronic References, Sixth Edition
(2012) (ISBN 978-1-4338-0704-6)

2.6.3 Paraphrasing and quoting

When you write a paper or report, you not only make extensive use of the ideas and opinions of other authors, you also frequently use
information provided by other authors that cannot be assumed to be generally known as well as uncontroversial. Statements like ‘Obama
was president of the US’ or ‘Paris is the capital of France’, do not need a reference. However, claims like ‘last year, the labour productivity
rose faster than the wages’, or in ‘the run up to the war in Iraq president Bush ordered the CIA to find as much information as possible, no
matter how far-reached, to link Saddam Hussein to Islamic terrorism’ do. You can present these opinions and information in two ways: in a
paraphrase or as a quote.

In a paraphrase, you present the opinion or findings of others in your own words, while still given credit to an author.

Three examples:

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 Several studies show that to maximize the chances of success, HIV/AIDS campaigns should adhere to well accepted principles of effective
campaign design and evaluation (Maibach et al., 1993; Noar, 2006; Palmgreen et al., 2008; Randolph & Viswanath, 2004; Rogers & Storey, 1987;
Salmon & Atkin, 2003).

There are several approaches businesses can use to become sustainable. The Corporate Social Responsibility approach (Porter & Kramer, 2006)
and the Triple Bottom Line approach (Elkington, 2004), better known as People, Planet and Profit or simply triple P, are well-known and
frequently used ones. Other approaches are the Bottom of the Pyramid (Prahalad, 2005; Prahalad & Hammer, 2002) Cradle-to-Cradle (Braungart
& McDonough, 2007 ), the Ecological Footprint (Wackernagel & Rees, 1996) and The Natural Step (Robért, Hawken & Holmberg, 1997).

According to Scholte (2000, p. 15-17), globalisation is best defined as a development whereby territories play an increasingly less important role
in social interactions.

The first two paraphrases refer to the general line of the paraphrased literature. The third example, conversely, refers to a specific part of
the author’s argument. In the latter case, you are encouraged to also provide the page number.

A quote is a literal record of an author’s text and can consist of:

• A few words or part of a sentence;
• A sentence or definition;
• A piece of text.

In most cases, paraphrasing is preferred over quoting. Quoting extensively breaks the style and unity of your argument, which is
unpleasant for the reader. Furthermore, paraphrasing indicates that you have understood the other author’s text since paraphrasing
means you have to present the argument in your own words instead of simply copying it.

Quotes should support your argumentation and in that way they resemble illustrations and figures. You should avoid treating quotes as if
they ‘speak for themselves’, which you do by integrating them into your text and by making a remark about it. The quote should always be
embedded in your argument. You use a quote if in your view a certain author has made a very forceful statement or because you would
like to take over a certain definition or description to build on it. There are some rules for quoting:

Short quotes of maximal two sentences can be placed in the text. To indicate that a piece of text is a quote, you place the text between
double quotation marks (“). After the quote, you list the author, year, and page number.

For example:

Prahalad and Hammond (2002) discuss the business case for the bottom of the pyramid approach. They argue that “businesses can gain three
important advantages by serving the poor – a new source of revenue growth, greater efficiency, and access to innovation” (2002, p. 6).

Quotes longer than two sentences are separated from the text by a blank line (i.e., two hard returns) above and below the quote,
whereby the margins on the left are wider than with the rest of the text (using indented lines). In this case, the quotation marks should not
be used because it is clear that all passages with a wider margin are quotes. For example:

In the book Organisation and Management Marcus and Van Dam define organisational behaviour as:

An interdisciplinary science that is concerned with the study of the behaviour of organisations as well as the factors that determine this
behaviour, and the manner in which organisations can be directed (2007, p. 6).

Skipping parts of the quote is indicated with three dots between brackets. When you begin the quote in the middle of a sentence and/or
you do not quote the entire sentence, the three dots come at respectively the beginning or end of the sentence (without brackets). For
example:

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 “They focus on the tension between business and society rather than on their interdependence. (…) Consequently, none of them is sufficient to
help a company identify, prioritize, and address the social issues that matter most or the ones on which it can make the biggest impact” (Porter
& Kramer, 2006, p. 5).

According to Prahalad and Hammond “... 65% of the world’s population earns less than $2.000 a year…” (2002, p. 5).

Quotes should be displayed precisely as in the original source; errors in quotes are obvious indicators of inaccuracy. You should take over
the words as they appear in the original source. This means that if there are possible typos in that text, you display these too. Quotes in
quotes are displayed in single quotation marks; "quote 'quote' quote".

We advise to use original sources as much as possible as this is the best way to avoid people copying each other’s errors. If it is impossible
or very time consuming to find the original source, always make clear that you are quoting from second hand: (Author A in author B year:
page). Make sure that you list author B in the reference list and not author A. For example:

Easton (as cited in Axford et al., 1997, p. 449) differentiates between different phases in the policy process that each has an impact on the
process as a whole.

To be perfectly clear: you do not add the year of publication of Easton’s work. The reader can find this in Axford et al. and you have not
read the original source.

To sum up - the most important rules for paraphrasing and quoting are :
• Honour your sources: always refer to the original source when taking over ideas;
• In a paraphrase, you present the argument of others in your own words; in a quote, you present the text of your source literally;
• Try to paraphrase instead of to quote; this among others shows you have understood the text;
• A quote of two sentences or less is displayed in the text; longer quotes are presented clearly separated;
• Indicate clearly when you add your own words to a quote, or when you remove text from the original source.

2.6.4 Notes

Remarks that are made ‘on the side’ and which are of secondary importance for the main text can be placed either in footnotes below
each page or as endnotes at the end of the paper. You cannot use footnotes and endnotes simultaneously. If you use footnotes, the
difference between the main text and the notes should be clear, for instance by using a smaller font size for the notes. The numbers of the
notes are always placed behind the punctuation mark in superscript or between brackets. For example:

In this study of the perception of party positions among voters, Van der Brug (1996) used data from the National Election Survey (NKO).1
------------
1. The National Election Survey is a survey about the elections for the Tweede Kamer that is held since 1971, which among others maps the political preferences and voting
behaviour of the Dutch electorate.

A footnote or endnote that provides a piece of text that is not necessary for your argument, but which is considered of interest to the
reader is known as an explanatory note. The rule for these notes is that the main text should always be readable without them. Moreover,
there needs to a balance between the main text and the notes. It is not acceptable to have fifteen pages of notes and a main text of ten
pages. In general, it is advisable to use notes sparsely. In shorter papers, you may want to refrain from using them altogether. The choice
between footnotes and endnotes is up to the author, but you may want to take into account that footnotes save the reader the trouble of
flipping through the pages. Endnotes can be placed at the end of the text (usually after the reference list). If you use Word, inserting
footnotes or endnotes can easily be done though ‘Insert’ and ‘Footnote’.

2.6.5 Tables, figures, schemes and boxes

Tables (or schemes, boxes, figures, etcetera) are given a number (for instance corresponding to the section numbers) as well as a title. The
title should be succinct and cover the content of the table. It is also important that it is clear to the reader what the information or units in
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the table refer to; provide this information preferably between brackets after the title. Also indicate where the information in the table
comes from (own data set, secondary data, a combination of secondary data). The title is displayed above the table and the source below.
The latter holds also for the possible index belonging to the table. You ALWAYS have to refer to the table and its number in the main text.
For example:

Table 5.1 summarizes the global development of democratisation since 1990.

Table 5.1: Global democratisation trend (number of free, partially free and not free countries)
Period Free Partially free Not free
1990-1991 65 50 50
1995-1996 76 62 53
2000-2001 86 58 48
Source: Freedom House (2000, p 20).

In case the table is based on your own data, you do not add the source because it is self-explanatory.

Please use the following checklist to review your tables and figures:
• Are all your tables etc. clearly labelled?
• Do they all have titles?
• Is the link between the text and the table clear?
• Are the headings precise?
• Are the axes of graphs clearly labelled?
• Can tables be easily interpreted?
• Have you abided by any copyright laws when including illustrations/tables from published documents?

2.6.6 Miscellaneous

In this sub-section we discuss the use of abbreviations, punctuation marks, terms in another language and numbers.

• The use of abbreviations

It is best to avoid abbreviations as much as possible. It is allowed to use abbreviations of names such as WHC and UN if you introduce them
when you mention them for the first time. For example:

The Windesheim Honours College (WHC)...

The United Nations (UN)…

In papers a list with abbreviations is usually not necessary. However, if you use a substantial amount of abbreviations quite regularly, add
such a list and place it before the introduction

➢ The use of punctuation marks

 Quotation marks
To avoid confusion between single (‘) and double (“) quotation marks, use double quotation marks when quoting and singles for
quoting within a quote. Avoid the use of quotation marks to give a certain term or concept a different weight. If you use a term
ambiguously, this should be clear from the text. So you never put text other than quotes, like e.g. your research question, in
between quotation marks.

 Colon and semicolon

A colon is always used before an enumeration, whilst semicolons connect two independently readable sentences with one
another. Example:
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 On 1 May 2004, the European Union is enlarged by the following countries: Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia,
Slovakia, and Czech republic. The MATRA programme runs in a number of these countries; this programme aims for the development of civil
society (Foreign Affairs, 2007).

➢ The use of terms in another language

For words in a different language, the basic rule is to translate if a proper English equivalent is available. Display words, or sentences, in a
different language than English in italics.

➢ The use of numbers

The rule regarding numbers is that these are written out until twenty, as are higher round numbers. For instance, '5' and '10,000' are
displayed as ‘five' and 'ten thousand', but four hundred eighty-seven may be written as '487'. With respect to reference to decades, for
example the seventies is either written out fully or, more commonly, as 1970s.

2.6.7 Conclusion

The conclusion connects the lines of your argument. Based on what you already concluded in the different components of the paper, the
conclusion presents your final conclusion. The conclusion summarises your main findings or answers the research question. This also
means that the introduction and the conclusion should have a logical connection. Sometimes, looking back, you realize that your argument
took a different route than originally planned. In this case, check where the diversion occurred and, if necessary, adapt your research
question (or text).

New information should not feature in the conclusion. The conclusion can, however, give rise to recommendations or new questions that
could be tackled in future research. Moreover, in particular with regard to papers written later in the programme, the conclusion is the
place to reflect critically, which is also called a discussion. Critical reflection means going one step further than simply answering your
research question (without offering new information). The goal of discussing your findings is to place them in the academic debate: a new
theoretical finding is emphasized, business relevance or policy relevance is stressed.

To sum up, in the conclusion:

• In case of a research report, you answer (the sub questions and) the central research question and/or you summarise the
thread of the argument without losing precision and nuance;
• You do not bring new elements to the front;
• You return to the relevance of the objective by discussing the consequences of the results for theory and/or practice;
• You can pay attention to the limitations and weaknesses of the research/argument and the consequences thereof for the
validity, reliability, and scope of the conclusions;
• You can discuss avenues for possible future applied research.

2.6.8 Recommendations

You will not need to include recommendations in all the papers you write while at WHC, but reports written for business or (non)
governmental organisations usually do. Recommendations emerge from the conclusions and they include what is to be done, who has to
do it and how/when it is to be done in order to solve the problem you investigated. You write the recommendations in descending order of
importance.

2.6.9 Reference List/Bibliography

At the end of a paper or report, you place the full bibliographical information of all books, book chapters, articles etc. used in the text in a
bibliography or reference list. Literature references allow others to check the presented arguments and, additionally, allow the reader to
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delve more deeply in the topics discussed by the author. Therefore, the reference list should refer as precisely as possible to the location of
the literature used. General rules for the reference list are:

• The literature is ranked alphabetically by the last name of the (first) author;
• There is only one reference list. All sources are summed up alphabetically;
• The references in the list/bibliography are not numbered;
• Only books, articles, reports, etc. to which you refer in the paper or report are listed in the reference list (and vice-versa).

For a proper bibliography or reference list we refer to the APA style (see 2.6.2).

2.6.10 Appendices

Material that does not need to be presented in the main text, but which is important for your argument, can be put in an appendix.
Examples of such type of information include your data collection, research results, a questionnaire, one or more elaborated interviews,
and so forth. The core of the information presented in the appendix or a summary of the presented research material always needs to be
displayed in the main text. As with ‘normal’ tables and figures, you should always refer to an appendix in your text. You do this using
brackets, which you place at the end of the sentences, but before the full stop. For example, … (see Appendix I).

3. Checklist

You can use the following checklist to review your papers, reports and thesis before handing them in.

➢ Cover page
Does this include the :
 Title?
 Author’s name(s)?
 Student number?
 Course details?
➢ Preface/acknowledgements
 Have you acknowledged all sources of help?
➢ Table of contents
 Have you listed all the main sections in sequence?
 Have you included a list of abbreviations/illustrations?
➢ Summary or abstract
Does this state:
 Why the paper has been written?
 The methods used?
 The conclusions reached?
 The recommendations made?
➢ Introduction
Does this include:
 A clear point of departure?
 A clear and demarcated objective (why) and central topic/question (what)?
 Definitions of the employed concepts and scope of the paper?
 The structure of your paper?
➢ Methodology
Does this include:
 The form your enquiry took?
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  The way you collected your data?
 The way you analysed your data?
➢ Findings
 Are your findings presented in a clear and coherent way?
 Are your findings supported by adequate evidence?
 Are your tables and figures clear and simple?
 Are they clearly labelled?
 Do they relate closely to the text?
➢ Discussion
 Have you identified key issues?
 Have you suggested explanations for your findings?
 Have you outlined any problems encountered?
 Have you presented a balanced view?
➢ Conclusion
 Have you drawn together all of your main ideas?
 Have you avoided any new information?
➢ Recommendations
 Are the recommendations clear and concise?
 Are they presented in descending order of importance?
➢ References
 Have you listed all references alphabetically?
 Have you included all the necessary information?
 Are your references accurate (in APA style)?
 Do all references in the bibliography appear in the paper and vice-versa?
➢ Appendices
 Have you only included supporting information?
 Is the link between the text and the appendices clear?
 Do you refer to each appendix in the paper?
➢ Writing style
 Have you used clear and concise language?
 Are your sentences short and jargon free?
 Are your paragraphs tightly focused?
 Have you used the active or the passive voice consistently?
➢ Layout
 Have you clearly labelled each section?
 Is your labelling consistent throughout the report?
➢ Presentation/readability
 Does your paper meet the technical requirements?
 Are your headings clear?
 Have you checked your spelling and grammar?
 Did you use the sustainable font type for work you need to print?

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