How to Do Well

My History Skills

We have put together some guides for useful skills that will serve you well over the course your history degree. We're happy to add more resources here on request - just let your reps know what you'd like to see, or contact us directly.  There are lots of other tips and tricks in the Assessment section of History Hacks.

University skills support 

The 301 Academic Skills Centre, on Glossop Road (opposite the Students' Union building), offer tutorials and advice on general academic skills. They have a wide range of support on offer through their pages - here we have picked out just a few that may be particularly useful during your time with us:

See the fuller list of 301 skills guides.

If you're keen to work on your academic writing, consider booking a 3o minute online appointment to discuss a piece of your work with the Writing Advisory Service. Run out of the English Language Teaching Centre by experienced language tutors, these can be great, one-on-one sessions for helping you to think about clarity and structure in your written work.   

The University library also provides a number of online tutorials and workshops which focus on digital literacy, reading, and communication.

Making the most of seminars

Seminars make up a key part of the contact time you will have over your degree. We have put together a guide on seminar participation, as well as a sample of how a seminar is structured, to help you make the most out of this type of contact time:

Being an ethical researcher (unfair means)

With the exception of some group assignments, the work you submit must be your own. Learning to quote, paraphrase, and reference properly is a key part of any History degree. Failure to do so can often lead to accidental plagiarism, which can lead to disciplinary action being taken, and may have serious consequences for your degree. There are a range of resources available for you to make sure you don’t fall into plagiarism or unfair means more broadly:

How to Reference with the Sheffield History Style Guide

We expect you to aspire to high levels of professionalism over the course of your studies. Your written work should be formatted in accordance with our style guide, which provides instructions on the likes of footnotes, bibliographies, and layout

We revised the guide in the summer of 2023 and it is now split into different parts. If you're new to referencing, or if you've had feedback that indicates you're making mistakes, we strongly recommend you read the early sections, which set out the basic principles.