Academic Writing and Referencing for your Policing Degree

If you are embarking on a university criminology, policing or other law enforcement professional degree, the books in this series will help you acquire and develop the knowledge, skills and strategies you need to achieve your goals. They provide support in all areas important for university study, including institutional and disciplinary policy and practice, self-management, and research and communication. Tasks and activities are designed to foster aspects of learning which are valued in higher education, including learner autonomy and critical thinking, and to guide you towards reflective practice in your study and work life.

Academic Writing and Referencing for your Policing Degree provides you with a sound knowledge and understanding of:

• what constitutes good academic writing in policing
• a range of strategies for writing successful essays and reports
• the importance of clarity and coherence in your writing about policing
• how to improve your academic style, grammar and punctuation, and formatting and presentation
• referencing conventions in the field of policing, and of how to avoid plagiarism.

...One of the strengths of Academic Writing and Referencing is the focus on criticality, and developing an argument in academic essays. This can be challenging for inexperienced writers at degree level, but criticality and rhetorical writing is very important as social work students move into practice....

Lucy RaiBritish Journal of Social Work

Martin Wright was a police officer for 30 years and is now an Honorary Professor at the Centre for International Law Enforcement at Nottingham Trent University. He currently holds several other positions: council member of the Institute of Administrative Management, visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Canterbury Centre for Policing Research at Canterbury Christ Church University and managing editor of Oxford University Press’ Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice.

Jane Bottomley is a freelance writer, teacher and educational consultant. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Senior Fellow of BALEAP, the global forum for English for Academic Purposes practitioners. She has helped students from a wide range of disciplines to improve their academic skills and achieve their study goals, including 14 years as a Senior Language Tutor at the University of Manchester. Jane is the editor of the Critical Study Skills series, which covers nursing, education and social work. This series includes books on critical thinking, and all books in the series are characterised by a critical approach to study.

You can visit her website at: /

Steven Pryjmachuk is Professor of Mental Health Nursing Education in the School of Health Science's Division of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work at the University of Manchester and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His teaching, clinical and research work has centred largely on supporting and facilitating individuals – be they students, patients or colleagues – to develop, learn or care independently. In December 2014, Steven was elected as vice Chair (2015-16) and Chair (2017-18) of Mental Health Nurse Academics UK, an organisation representing 65 Higher Education Institutions providing education and research on mental health nursing.

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