File Cabinet

Abstracts & Executive Summaries

• Abstracts — Provided by TAMU Writing Center

• Abstracts: Descriptive v. Informative — Handout provided by UNC at Chapel Hill Writing Center

• BLUF in Intelligence Report (PDF online-UTEP writing resources)

• Executive Summary Checklist

• Executive Summaries — Provided by TAMU Writing Center

• Executive Summaries-Templates & Examples (by TemplateLab)

• RAND reports

• What Managers Want to Know

Blogs

• Blogs — UNC handout provides guidelines for creating blogs and writing effective posts

• National Cybersecurity Alliance Online Safety + Privacy Basics

Book Reviews

• Book reviews — Provided by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center

• Writing a critical book review — Writing resources provided by Australian National University

Capstones & Reports

• Academic Essays, Books Reviews, Intel Reports, & Mixed Methods Writing -- UTEP Writing Resource

• BLUF in Intelligence Report (PDF online-UTEP writing resources)

• Canva (Useful templates for reports and other deliverables)

• Capstone Research & Writing Process

• Executive Summaries — Provided by TAMU Writing Center

• Gantt Chart — How to create a Gantt chart in Excel

• QuaNtitative v. QuaLitative Research (Xavier University Library)

• Report Types — Good description of different report types, including purposes and outlines for each

• TAMU QEP (Sample technical report)

• Technical Communication resource (a PDF of Mike Markel's 11th edition of his textbook)

Correspondence

• Beginning a new message 

• Discourse Communities 

• Memo revision exercise

• Memo revised.docx

• Memo Template (Bush School)

• Memo Writing Steps

• Tech Memo Process

• What if you do not know the recipient's name

Document Design

• Document Design slideshow

• Mini Resumes

Editing

• Academic v. Professional Writing (aka Data v. Message-Driven Writing)

• Achieving Good Tone

• Active v. Passive Voice

• American Chemical Society Guide to Scholarly Communication

• The Analyst's Style Manual

• Can you say it clearly using fewer words?

• Claims, Reasons, Evidence

• Clarity Calculator

• Cutting the Fat

• DOD Style Guide

• Editing rubric

• Expression

• Foreign Service Officer Practice Test

• Framing your message

• Freelance editors — This list is provided by the TAMU University Writing Center to help students locate editors.

• Grammarbook.com — Good resource for grammar, usage, and mechanics.

• Grammar-Khan Academy — These videos include grammar instruction and practice exercises for native and non-native English speakers.

• Howdy or Hello? Technical and Professional Communication, OER for Technical Writing, 2nd edition, from the Department of English

• Less v. Fewer — Grammar girl provides an easy way to remember: singular uses "less" (including time, money, weight, and distance) and plural uses "fewer."

• Levels of Edit

• Levels of Editing Pyramid

• Nine Easy Steps to Longer Sentences — Plainlanguage.gov

• Nouns are Needy

• PaperRater — This free resource allows students to receive immediate feedback on plagiarism detection, grammar, and style. Caution: Use the feedback judiciously.

• The Passive Engineer

• Plain Language.Gov — Improving Communications from the Federal Government to the Public

• Plain Language (DOD) — Includes video tutorials, examples, and writing guides

• Plain Language Style Guides — Includes lists of guides for federal governement, state, government, and international community

• Plain Language Writing Guide-Health & Human Services

• 5 Steps to Plain Language (Center for Plain Language)

• The Power of Words

• The Protocol School of Washington's Honor and Respect — The Official Guide to Names, Titles, and Forms of Address by Robert Hickey, Deputy Director

• Repetition v. Redundancy

• Revising Your Paper: Where and How to Revise (Courtesy of the Odegaard Writing & Research Center http://www.dept.washington.edu/owrc. Adapted from www.dartmouth.edu/~writing/materials/student/ac_paper/revise.shtml)

• Style Sheet Template (complete form and revise as needed for your project)

• TAMU UWC Interactive Lessons — Interactive writing lessons, including tutorials and quizzes to help students improve their writing skills

• Umbrella Statements

• When to Use Articles before Nouns — Grammar girl explains the basics in using "the," "a," "these," etc. before nouns

• Why Your Spelling and Grammar Can Ruin Your Job Hunt — Undercover Recruiter (17 October 2013)

• Writer v. Reader Viewpoint

• Writer's Diet (an AI tool that identifies problem areas in your writing that need to be addressed)

• Writing about your research: Verb Tense -- (University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Office of Graduate Studies)

• Your Errors Will Steal Your Show

Grant Writing

• Planning and Writing Grant Proposals: the Basics (The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Infographics

• Canva, Picktochart, Visme (include free templates and tutorials for creating infographics)

• How to Create Embed Codes for Your Infographics — Infographic sharing techniques from Pamela Vaughan in HubSpot

• How to Get a Job at Google — Eye-catching infographic examples from Jorgen Sundberg at Undercover Recruiter

• Policy Writing an Overview — Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (University of Michigan)

• Venngage--free templates (The Bush School has a pro account for a limited number of users. Contact Cindy Raisor if you want more information.)

• Why Your Brain Craves Infographics — NeoMam Studios explains the effectiveness of using infographics in your presentations

• 11 Untranslatable Words from other Cultures

IRB

• Export Controls Presentation 2016 (Katherine A. Rojo del Busto, J.D., TAMU Research Compliance Officer)

• HHS Human Subjects Decision Chart

• Red Flags

Literature Review

• "Get Lit" video — Workshop from the TAMU University Writing Center includes a video for conducting and writing a graduate-level literature review. 

• Literature Review Matrix (handout)

• Literature review matrix (slideshow)

• Literature Review Rubric

• Literature Reviews — Included in The Writer's Handbook provided by the University of Wisconsin-Madison (The Writing Center)

• Literature Review Sample.pdf

• UNC Literature Review — Describes different ways to organize a literature review

Op-Eds

• How to Write an Op-Ed or Column--from Harvard Kennedy School Communications Program

• Checklist for Writing Your Op-Ed Assignment (Bush School Writing handout)

Plagiarism & Attribution

• APSA Citation Guide — Includes instructions on citing online sources and more

• APSA Style Manual (print)

• Best Practices for Attribution — Examples provided from Creative Commons wiki 

• Citation Formats — List compiled by MIT

• Citation Generators — Free, easy-to-use online generator for creating citations in several formats.

• Citation Name and Sequence Systems — The Council of Science Editors uses a system that numbers citations (either by author's name or order of appearance in the document). In-text citations include only the number of the source or sources where the information is cited. Very easy to use!

• Citing AI

• Citing Government Documents--in multiple style formats, from Douglas College Libary

• Creative Commons: Choosing a License — Provides you with free copyright licenses to let you share your creative work

• Incorporating source material (correct and incorrect examples) -- TAMU-UWC

• Introducing and explaining source material-verbs, templates, and more --TAMU-UWC)

• Legal Citations to Legislation — Recommended by Dr. Kerr

• How turnitin.com reports source material (image)

• Understanding and Preventing Plagiarism — Strategies and resources for students and teachers from Accredited Schools Online.org

Policy Documents

• How to Write a Policy Brief — Basic description of steps, parts, and tips provided by wikiHow.

• How to Write a Policy Brief — International Development Research Centre (toolkit)

• Policy Brief Template-MS Word (by TemplateLab)

• Policy Memos (Guide from Harvard Kennedy School)

• Policy Memos (from the Broad Institute, a collaboration between MIT and Harvard)

• Policy Memo Writing Worksheet (from the Graduate Writing Center at Middlebury Institute of International Studies)

• Policy Paper (A Political Science Guide by Michael Nelson from Monmouth College)

• Policy Scenario Activity

• Policy Scenario Solutions and Visuals 

• Public Policy Memo Writing (infographic) — An overview of policy memo-writing from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

• Writing a Policy Memo — PLNU Ryan Library resource page

Presentations

• How to create a better research poster in less time — Created by Mike Morrison. Develop and design a poster using a message-driven approach (i.e., BLUF). 

• QUAD Chart (brief explanation and examples)

Publishing

• Where have our Bush School students published? — a work in progress

Reading Critically

• How to read a scholarly journal article — Video

• How to (Seriously) Read a Scientific Paper — Advice also applies to journal articles

• Claims-->Reasons-->Evidence.docx

Research Papers

• Informed Arguments: A Guide to Writing and Research, 3rd edition, from the TAMU Department of English

• ProQuest Tutorial by Ellie.mov

• Writing a Research Paper-Rice University — Resources for integrating data analysis and more

Rubrics, Peer Review Worksheets, & Self Assessment

• 5P Rubric (People, Problem, Product, Process)

• AACU VALUE Rubrics.pdf

• Career Goals Rubric.pdf

• CHEN 414 and 433 Lab Report Rubric.docx

• Diagnostic Writing Prompt Rubric.docx

• Executive Summary Peer Review

• Army Fellows Strategy Paper (short) Peer Review

• Army Fellows Strategy Research Paper (long) Peer Review

• Infographic Rubric.docx

• Internship Rubrics.docx

• Literature Review Rubric

• Self-Assessment Rubric

• Self-Assessment Worksheet

Teamwork

• Good Managers Lead through a Team — Linda Hill & Kent Lineback (Harvard Business Review)

• Teamwork Reflection Prompt

• Teamwork Scenarios

• Teamwork Skills Inventory

• Writing in Teams

Tech Tools

• Canva (Useful templates for reports and other deliverables)

• How to create a Gantt chart (video tutorial)

• Piktochart — A free, easy-to-use online resource for creating infographics (includes templates)

• PowToons.com — Create animations for free!

• Venngage--easy-to-use online resource for creating infographics and reports

Visuals

• Before and After Drug Labels

• Figures and Charts (UNC Writing Center)

• iStock Free Image Site

• Pexels — Free images site

• Piktochart — A free, easy-to-use online resource for creating infographics (includes templates)

• Policy Scenario Visuals Exercise

• Smart Art Cheatsheet

• The Definitive Guide to Using Images on Your Blog (by Ginny Mineo)

• You can use a picture if....Guideline for Image Copyrights (infographic by Curtis Newbold)

Writing Essentials

• Convention

• Expression

• Organization

Writing Process

• 5P Toolkit

• Analysis (John S. Knight Institute, Cornell)

• Consumer Reports

• Discourse Communities

• Evaluation &  Report Writing Steps

• What does your client need to know?

• Inside-Out (Star Wars Infographic)

• Inside-Out (practice worksheet)

• Inside-Out (Project Proposal Memo-4P's)

• Plan Well to Write Well

• Set Up for Success

• Structured Analytic Techniques — A Tradecraft Primer for Improving Intelligence Analysis published by the CIA (2009)--URL to be provided

• Tackling the Writing Project--One Stage at a Time

• Using Framing Devices to Create Beginnings and Endings — article by Romana Hillebrand

• Writing Hierarchy

• Writing a Good Product: Adapted Literature Review Matrix & Other Resources