1. Discuss your topic and ideas with experts or colleagues. This can only improve your ideas and provide new perspectives to your research.
2. Do a thorough check on sources of information on your subject/topic such as books, journals, news magazines, online databases, internet, DVD/VCD, etc.
(Note: This includes critical checks e.g. are the sources biased? unstated assumptions of certain arguments? inconsistencies of certain arguments? etc.)
3. When researching, visit SAFTI Library which contains a wide range of materials and information on subjects relevant to POINTER.
4. Make sure your facts and statistics are accurate and up to date. Check with more than one source if possible.
5. Does your essay answer or address the topic selected by you? Hint: Reflect on suitability of your essay title frequently. After completion of essay, take a break & then read it to see whether the content answers the essay topic.
(Note: The Introduction and Conclusion should be reviewed and polisged as well since the main arguments are finalised by this stage.)
6. Be focused in your writing and be clear in your goal. Ask yourself whether all the points provided in the essay are relevant to the topic.
7. If background information is neccesary, be very selective in including only the key information. Remember not to exceed two paragraphs for such information and to summarise the information for your readers.
