Online Resources
Please see below for some online resources you can consult on a range of writing topics. We make every effort to be current, but sometimes links change. We appreciate your patience with any unworkable links. Please email writingcenter at duq.edu, if you find broken links or have suggestions for links to add.
Check out our Writing and Research Resources as well.
general | grammar | citation | dictionaries | research | source evaluation
General
Purdue Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a great, well-respected resource for advice on all things writing. It provides links to explanations of a wide variety of topics, from creating a thesis statement to developing an outline; from citing sources in MLA and APA to writing cover letters, memos, and scientific documents; from starting the writing process to quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. This searchable web site is a good first stop for clearly comprehensible discussions of writing topics.
International Writing Centers Association: Resources for Writers
https://writingcenters.org/resources/
The IWCA offers links to resources on language, style, citation, and a variety of other writing issues. A hub of writing center activity, the IWCA web site can be a good starting place when looking for resources on writing center work.
The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/
The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill maintains a helpful list of handouts on writing processes, citation, style, specific assignment conventions, and writing across the disciplines.
Excelsior College Online Writing Lab
Excelsior College's Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides a series of modules on topics from locating information and writing with sources to brainstorming to avoiding plagiarism in order to assist writers with activities throughout their writing processes. It also includes a module specifically for writers whose native language is not English.
Duke Graduate School Scientific Writing Resource
https://cgi.duke.edu/web/sciwriting/
Duke provides a free online course/tutorial in principles of effective science writing. Each modules takes about 45 minutes to complete. If you are working on or teaching science writing, you may find this resource helpful in isolating the conventions of science writing.
The Dragon and the Mouse
http://rachelluckenbill.wordpress.com
One of the Writing Center's former consultants, Rachel Luckenbill, maintains a blog to help writers who use dictation software think through the unique challenges they face.
University of Illinois Writers Workshop
https://writersworkshop.illinois.edu/resources-2/writer-resources/
This resource provides a variety of compositional tools for academic writers.
Overcoming Writer's Block
https://www.purdueglobal.edu/blog/student-life/7-ways-overcome-writers-block/
Purdue University has compiled a list of seven useful tips to overcome writer's block.
Grammar
Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
This is a fun web site for seeking answers to nagging grammar questions. Grammar Girl offers podcasts on a host of grammar topics, from the correct use of single and double quotation marks and the difference between affect and effect to the correct use of prepositions and the difference between i.e. and e.g.. Explanations are provided as audio podcasts and written transcripts.
Tongue Untied
http://www.grammaruntied.com/blog/
This blog provides useful information and quizzes to help you brush up on your grammar.
Citation
APA (American Psychological Association) Citation Style
https://medium.com/swlh/apa-changes-in-the-new-seventh-edition-4a9d12cec62b
The article, "APA Changes in the New Seventh Edition" gives deep insight and instruction on the variety of changes to the APA rules with the seventh edition. It outlines each change with an explanation of how the seventh edition requires it to be formated. The article offers writers a step by step guide on how to adapt to the new APA edition. It serves as an excellent resource.
http://guides.library.duq.edu/c.php?g=965669&p=7144809
The page "What's New in the 7th Edition?" overviews the new changes in the American Psychological Association citation style's seventh edition. The page covers the bias-free guidelines, the simplification in the in-text citations, as well as the new style of referenceing. This page aims to help students adapt to the new edition and simplify these new changes in a one-stop-shop for the students reference.
http://guides.library.duq.edu/apastylecentral
APA Style Central is the official and ultimate resource on APA Style. Style Central's goal is to help you think and write like a seasoned professional. Consult the digital library of APA Style quick guides and tutorials to refine your writing. Learn how to plan sound research with the research tools, and build a reference library with customized APA Style reference templates. Translate your research into concise, powerful articles that are formatted for style. When your work is ready, use the browse and search features to identify the best journals for publication.
http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx
The APA web site provides a helpful FAQ page with an hyperlinked table of contents that you can search for answers to some of the most common questions regarding APA style.
The APA maintains a blog that is a good source for answers to questions you cannot find elsewhere as it addresses current and tricky topics..
MLA (Modern Language Association) Citation Style
http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/citation/mla/
The MLA citation handbook at the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois provides explanations of how to cite specific kinds of sources in MLA style. It provides examples of each that offer models for what these citations look like. These examples are broken down into easily searchable categories (e.g., citing corporate authors, citing items in an anthology).
Chicago Citation Style
http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
This web site companion to The Chicago Manual of Style provides examples for both Chicago documentation systems: notes and bibliography (generally used in the humanities) and author-date (generally used in the sciences).
Turabian Citation Style
This website from the University of Chicago provides guidance on Turabian Citation Style, which is drawn from Chicago Citation Style.Also see the Chicago Citation Style section above.
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/citation-guide.html
AMA (American Medical Association) Citation Style
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/ama_style/index.html
The AMA citation handbook provides explanations of how to cite specific kinds of sources in AMA style.The Purdue OWL has simplified this handbook into an easy to follow guide.
AJA (American Journal of Archaeology) Citation Style
https://www.ajaonline.org/submissions/references
The American Journal of Archaeology provides sample citations and explanations on how to format notes in archaeoogy writing. Information on how to cite maps and auction catalogues are also provided, which may prove useful in this genre of writing.
Dictionaries and Thesauri
Dictionary.com
http://dictionary.reference.com/
This web site offers a searchable dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedia. Results are provided from multiple different sources (e.g., multiple different dictionaries). The site offers handy links to what citations of results would look like in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus
This web site offers online searchable versions of Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and thesaurus.
Visual Thesaurus
http://www.visualthesaurus.com/
A new spin on the traditional thesaurus, this web site provides a visual representation of the relationships between synonyms. While you must now pay to subscribe to the full service, you can look up a few terms for free.
Research
Gumberg Library
The library's web site provides a good first step in conducting research. If you have questions, feel free to ask a librarian.
http://guides.library.duq.edu/dbs
This page provides links, organized by title and subject, to the databases to which Gumberg Library subscribes, many of which offer full-text articles.
Google Scholar
A preferable alternative to regular Google when searching for scholarly sources, Google Scholar screens its search results to provide those from scholarly publications, making its results more suitable to use in an academic paper.
Directory of Open Access Journals
This web site provides links to free, full-text scholarly journal articles.
Internet Public Library
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/hum60.60.00/
The IPL provides access to free, full-text books.
PALCI E-ZBorrow
http://guides.library.duq.edu/e-zborrow
The Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc. E-ZBorrow system allows you to request books from academic libraries across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia.
AccessPA
AccessPA provides access to academic and public libraries across Pennsylvania.
Source Evaluation
Librarians' Internet Index
The LII provides links to librarian-approved web sites on a wide variety of subjects.
WhoIs
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.jsp
This web site allows you to determine who registered a domain name for a web site to help you determine its credibility.