Help

Writing Assistance

On Deciding Your Topic

Bring forward creative ideas. The best way to add creativity would be by answering questions you have that other people may also have. Another way is to add your own opinions, experiences and voice as a narrator's voice. For your writing to truly be yours, you need to give it something unique to you. And the best way to do that would be to add your voice and your personality. Find a topic that fascinates you or has been on your mind, one that you would enjoy learning about. 

On Formatting

For formatting, check out our website and recent pieces. It’ll be easier for you to understand through example rather than explaining every intricacy of the format. But there is usually:

On Writing Style

Depending on your piece, try to include a personal element in your writing. You can add:

• A story of how this affected your life

• A small segment on your opinion and experiences

• Why this topic interested you

• Mention if something in the news caught your eye and prompted you to write this

• Tell a story or give a historical example

• Give fun facts

• Et cetera.

Be humorous or thoughtful. It will add originality to your writing. If not, it may read as artificial or copy-pasted from another source.

(As plagiarism and AI-generated writing are strongly prohibited, we deeply recommend that you try to add this element. It will read as far more original, and we will look upon this favorably.)

On In-Text Citations

In-text citations for any articles or research papers are mandatory. This is so other people know what specific piece of information comes from which source, and they can be sure it's credible. Furthermore, this helps them find other websites with further information in case they want to explore that topic.

For example, you might write:

"The armadillo is a mammal. [1] It has lungs, a heart, a stomach, and other organs. It has 7 to 11 keratinous bands across its back which form a carapace. [2]"

And on your last page, where all your references are listed, you would put:

"[1] https://www.britannica.com/animal/armadillo-mammal

[2] https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Dasypus_novemcinctus/"

Basically, after every single section of information that you got from a source, put the number of the source at the end. This shows that the information “The armadillo is a mammal.” was obtained from source 1, and “It has lungs, a heart, a stomach, and other organs. It has 7 to 11 keratinous bands across its back which form a carapace.” was obtained from source 2.

Never hesitate to ask any questions if you are struggling with this.

Policies

On Paraphrasing

It can be difficult not to paraphrase/copy other sources, especially in scientific or medical writing, since topics are so technical and it can be hard to find a way to rewrite it.

Some methods to prevent this are:

• Break down fancy words. Scientific jargon is hard for the common reader to understand. Make sure to state the meaning of any scientific term you mention.

• Make it easier to visualize what the source is saying through real life comparisons.

  • E.g. "DNA is like a cookbook, and each gene is a recipe that makes a protein meal".

On AI

The use of AI in writing nowadays cannot be totally avoided. It's a powerful tool.

You can use AI for:

• A starting point to find sources

• Create a basic structure and framework for your article

You can’t use AI for:

• A source of information

  • AI is often inaccurate because it doesn't have access to copyrighted works. You cannot use it in lieu of real sources.

• To physically write your article

We will run your article through AI checks. Please do not attempt to write an article using AI. We will be able to tell.

On Grammar-Enhancing AI

Do not use them. Your writing will seem like it was completely AI-generated.

Grammar-enhancing AI definitely makes things smoother. However, do not worry about grammar in your articles. We will always look over all the articles and give them a very thorough editing.