Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing End-of-Degree Projects in English

Abstract

In our increasingly international academic community, where English is the lingua franca for writing academic articles and communicating with peers, more and more students are writing their final degree projects for bachelor’s and master’s degrees (TFGs and TFMs) in English. Therefore, in order to support you in this endeavour, we have created this Interuniversity Style Guide for Writing Final Degree Projects in English. Catalan universities are multilingual environments by nature, which gives you a great opportunity to gain proficiency in a second or even a third language, in the case of English, and its use in formal academic contexts. Our team of linguists has the knowledge and resources to support you as you finish your degree programme and step into the working world as a multilingual professional. The Guide offers advice on writing TFGs and TFMs in three ambits – the Humanities, the Natural Sciences and the Social Sciences – focusing on the differences in structure and style in each. Following discussions of the most important aspects of writing a TFG or TFM, we have chosen to focus on topics such as style, structure, references, bibliography, and tips on editing. We have also provided real examples of the recommended way to structure each particular section, and we have suggested how to use a simpler writing style and adapt the tone to the subject matter. Our intention for this Guide is not that you read it from cover to cover, but rather that you use it to answer specific questions about writing a project in your field of study. The fact that it is online means that you can quickly search for the area that interests you and access our advice freely and easily from any device and location. We have also provided a bibliography and list of resources to help you deal with doubts you may have during the writing process. This Guide is the result of our universities’ joint efforts to address the above objectives and we hope it will help you boost your skills in writing academic documents in English and contribute to your multilingual profile as you move into the professional world upon graduation. We wish you the best of luck throughout this final stage of your university degree