Writing in the Social Sciences

Social science writing is different than writing in other disciplines (such as English, business, or the "hard" sciences); the difference lies in the tone, approach and style of writing. No matter what the professional or academic discipline, effective writing is clear, concise, and coherent. Understand, however, that writing for a particular discipline means more than simply writing good sentences. Writing for the social sciences involves informing the reader, establishing arguments, and making claims supported by research. This type of writing is done through written communications such as reports, proposals, literature reviews and targeted summaries. 

These resources are provided to facilitate teaching students how to write like professional social scientists.