Guides to Writing in Different Fields

For resources to help your students with writing in your field, see below. And if you have a resource to recommend, please send us a note.

WRITING IN THE HUMANITIES

• “A Guide to Writing in Religious Studies.” Harvard University.
• Chudnoff, Elijah. “A Guide to Philosophical Writing.” Harvard University.
• Dir Yanni, Robert. “Sound and Sense: Writing About Music.” Journal of Basic Writing(Spring/Summer 1980): 25.
• “Drama.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• “Essays that Analyze Music.” Aaron Copland School of Music – Queens College.
• “Literature (Fiction).” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• Pop, Andrei. “How to Do Things with Pictures: A Guide to Writing in Art History.” Department of History of Art and Architecture. Harvard University.
• Syba, Michelle. “A Brief Guide to Writing the English Paper.” Harvard College Writing Center.
• “Visual Analysis.” Duke University Writing Program.
• “Writing in Literature.” The Purdue OWL, Purdue University.

WRITING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

• “Communication Studies.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• Day, Susan. “Producing Better Writers in Sociology Classes: A Test of the Writing-Across-the-Curriculum Approach.” Teaching Sociology 17 (October 1989): 458-64.
• King, Laurie. “Writing Guide for Anthropology Students 2019.” Georgetown University Anthropology Department.
• “Grant Proposals (or Give me the money!)” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• Olsen, Kristina and C.A. Meyersburg. “A Brief Guide to Writing the Psychology Paper.” Harvard College Writing Center.
• Parish, Steven. “The Student’s Practical Guide: Writing Term Papers for Anthropology.” UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences.
• “Political Science.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• “Sociology.” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.
• Smith, Douglas Bradley. “Teaching Anthropology Is a Good Way to Teach Writing” College Composition and Communication 28 (October 1977): 251-256.
• “Tips for Writing History Papers.” Boston College Department of History.
• Neugeboren, Robert and Mireille Jacobson. “Writing in Economics.” Harvard University.

WRITING IN THE SCIENCES

• Balu, Alan and Kumar, Mahesh. (new window)“Annotated Guide to Writing Lab Reports.”
• “A Student’s Guide to Writing in the Life Sciences.” Harvard University.
• Crannell, Annalisa. “A Guide to Writing in Mathematics Classes.” Franklin and Marshall College.
• Huber, Tom. “Checklist for Writing Scientific Papers.” Gustavus Adolphus College Physics Department.
• “Linking Communication and Software Design Courses for Professional Development in Computer Science” by W. J. Williamson and Philip H. Sweany. Language and Learning Across the Disciplines 3.2.
• McLean, James. “Physics Writing Guide.” State University of New York at Geneseo.
• Powell, Alfred. “A Chemist’s View of Writing, Reading, and Thinking Across the Curriculum.”College Composition and Communication 36 #4 (December 1985): 414-418.
• Julie Reynolds’ resources on science writing, including BioTAP (Biology Thesis Assessment Protocol)
• “Using Writing in Mathematics.” Puget Sound University.
• “Writing Guide for Chemistry.” Oregon State University Department of Chemistry.

WRITING IN BUSINESS

Online Resources for Students:

• O’Leary, Michael and Soule, Ed. “Good Written Communication” Memo. Georgetown University.
• Professional and Technical Writing section of the Purdue OWL.
• Business Writing: An Introduction and Business Email, from the Writing Across the Curriculum Clearinghouse.
• Advice on business writing from the Harvard Business Review (links to articles).

Widely-used Books About Business Communication:

• Heath, Chip and Heath, Dan. Made to Stick (a guide for writing messages that people remember).
• Minto, Barbara. The Pyramid Principle (almost a bible within the world of McKinsey Consulting).
• Reynolds, Garr. Presentation Zen (Recently updated classic for crafting PowerPoint slide decks).
• Duarte, Nancy. Resonate (from a TED Talks legend, this is Duarte’s guide to using a story structure in presentations).
• Duarte, Nancy. Slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations (guide to creating slide decks for both in-person presentations and as “leave-behinds” or books).
• Kimble, Jospeh. Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please (a law professor’s guide to better legal writing and business writing).
• Nielsen, Jakob How Users Read on the Web (focused on creating web content, this is also a great intro to the world of usability).
• Cairo, A., Alberto. The Truthful Art (the best single volume on creating charts, maps and other data displays for communication).

Articles About How to Teach Business Communication:

• Bechard, Bonnie. “Using Writing in Business Departments to Pursue Excellence.”
• Brizee, Allen and Langmead, Joseph. “Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Fostering Professional Communication Skills in a Graduate Accounting Certificate Program.”
• Campbell, Nittiya. “Getting Rid of the Yawn Factor: Using a Portfolio Assignment to Motivate Students in a Professional Writing Class” and “Communicating Visually: Incorporating Document Design in Writing Tasks.”
• Moore, P., Daniel “Exploring Voice in Business Writing.”
• Nathan, Phillip. “Academic Writing in the Business School: The Genre of the Case Report.”