I frequently provide feedback to graduate students regarding their writing with a few phrases I have found help provide the necessary imagery. I might say, “I need you to connect the dots for me.” Or, “show me how you got from point A to point B.” The expanded version of that advice includes details about how to make salient links between theory and practice and between the research they have done for assignments and the writing they submitted to prove it. How they got from “X is true” to and “Y is the impact of knowing that.”

Often, this feedback comes into play when:

students have pulled together a lot of good information but not quite shown the path between the research and their thesis or assignment requirements.
papers read more like paragraphs of research notes or very rough drafts.
there is a lack of citation in the assignment, a very frequent issue in graduate work.

Research & Citation - The Dot Connectors

The default in academic writing should be to include support for each section and major argument. As I often tell students in classes I teach, you are not the expert, you are using the work of experts to show me what you now know. In citing sources, you are focusing on answering the says who of writing that I argue is essential.

Failure to fully cite is a very common issue for many reasons, and frankly, intentional plagiarism is the least likely reason I see at the graduate level. It is often dependence on artificial intelligence. Often, students are not yet aware of expectations (more commonly believable of undergraduate students I would argue). Perhaps they are not yet “bought in” to the idea that academic writing requires support from genuine research. To be clear, this is not because most students are anti-research or against learning how to do this in most cases, but rather because we live in a world where anyone can post anything on the internet (here I am!). And the world of social media persists in telling us what is true and how loud we should be about it.

Additionally, it is worth calling out that those of us who spend our lives in academia usually feel pretty comfortable finding and using scholarly sources. Libraries and source review can be a very intimidating process for those who are less experienced - and the “gatekeepers” of degrees would be wise to offer support here when that lack of experience is most evident.

Map Making - Crafting Arguments

The other key aspect of writing at a higher level in grad school, is learning to be not just a map reader but a map maker. Becoming a cartographer of your own work creates the lines or routes you take your reader on in the journey from Point A to Point B.

A frequent example I provide to students is the phrase “dogs are great.”

Now, I - clearly - believe that to be fact. Truthfully this is fairly easy to state without sources, because a lot of people buy into this idea in our culture. And yet, if I am writing about it academically, I need to do the research to support it. And so (using some imaginary sources for illustration):

Dogs are great for companionship, support with medical needs, and adding a level of delight to day-to-day life (Author, 2023; Person, 2021; Writer, 1982).

The difference in stating it and stating it with sources, is I have answered “says who” rather than stating things as fact without support from multiple other sources.

The next challenge is to answer “so what?” and ensure that what I am writing supports the goals of my writing (for students, that is generally the assignment requirements or guidelines). This means learning to edit your own work well, in part, but also to ensure that sources and arguments form tight logic that get us from Point A to Point B.

In the case of my “dogs are great” argument, if the paper’s goal was actually to focus on reasons to adopt a cat I have not done a great job of answering “so what?” If the goal is, instead on why to consider adopting a dog, I have a good start. The next challenge is to connect the dots or draw the route from “here are reasons dogs are great” to perhaps “here are reasons why you want to personally adopt a dog.”

Practical Advice for Cartographers

Here are some solid tips for students looking to connect dots and plan a route well.

Outline your work. I give this advice although I sometimes loathe to take it myself, but the truth is that outlining your work based on the assignment requirements helps build a solid foundation. It can feel like an extra step in a busy week of meeting your Sunday by 11:59 p.m. deadline in Canvas. But following an outline can also help ensure you submit well-organized work, bookended with an intro and conclusion. It helps double check you included all other required sections. When I outline writing, I also like to start “dropping sources” into the relevant sections to help me know where I might like to include a certain reference, quote, etc.
Research early and often. In a fast-paced grad course where you are sometimes writing a paper a week, grouping your research sessions into longer stretches that focus on more than one assignment might be useful. Or you might find spending 10 minutes a day on research best suits you. Whatever works for you, make sure you are working on source selection early and more than once to find the best sources. Relying on AI to find your sources for you is super dicey, especially since many are fake or incorrectly attributed.
Learn to use the library and ask for help. Reaching out to a professor can be a helpful place to start with research, but librarians are the top experts when it comes to searching for sources and learning to do so efficiently. Make use of online resources for learning to use your library and request interlibrary loans. But also, ask for help! I am yet to meet a librarian who is unwilling to help you find a source (and I worked in libraries for a long time).
Make space to edit and proofread. My advice is to create intentional space to walk away from your work to get some distance. It allows you to come back to it with a fresher mind and eyes and you are more likely to find errors or think differently about your approach when you do that.
Print your work and read it out loud. We live in a fast-paced world where top news organizations manage to publish important articles with obvious errors. If that gets past editing, imagine where that leaves me! When I have academic work to submit, I print it on real paper many times (yes, we still have a printer!) and I read it out loud. I find that reading my work aloud allows me to hear it as both writer and audience more effectively and that I am much more likely to catch errors, repeated use of the same word, awkward sentence structure, etc.
Triple check yourself and honestly answer: did I account for says who? and so what? Before you submit your work, ensure you have answered “says who?” in using the work of others to support your work. Cite as you write to ensure you do not plagiarize or risk failing to provide proper support. Also ask yourself “so what?” about each major piece of your writing, each quote, etc. Can you make the same point in less words? Are you being repetitive? Is this fact/quote/anecdote interesting but not really necessary? Solid work shows evidence of thorough self-editing (it gets easier with practice!).