Writing advice

The free writing advice in the consultation pod in the foyer of the KIT-Library (CS) offers students the opportunity to discuss their own texts with specially trained tutors and to check them for stylistic and formal errors.

Reoccurring questions concerning scientific writing are:

• How do I plan and structure a scientific paper?
• How do I avoid plagiarism?
• What constitutes a good source?
• How do I present my findings scientifically?
• What writing strategies can help me?
• What should I pay attention to when correcting my work?

We discuss those and other questions using your own text. Therefore, bring the text you are currently writing, whether you are just starting or already in the revision phase. The service is aimed at KIT students of all disciplines. The tutors are skilled in helping you with academic German.

For a consultation focused on academic English and raising awareness of its specific features, please use the “academic writing (en)” service.

Note: Seminar papers and theses must be written independently by students. This means that tutors may only provide feedback on up to two pages of continuous text. During the consultation, any errors and suggestions for improvement will be discussed together so that you can then apply them to your entire paper.

The free writing consultation can be booked individually for 30 minutes at a time (see below) and can take place online or in person at the KIT Library. Follow-up appointments can only be scheduled after the currently booked appointment has been completed. Duplicate bookings will be canceled.

Advice on online courses:

The writing advice in the consultation pod in the foyer of the KIT-Library (CS) also supervises the online courses in Scientific Writing, Research Skills, and Writing and Text Competence. Please note that earning ECTS credits is only possible with prior registration for the course via the HoC’s course offering page.

Uploading a text sample:

Please upload your text sample or exposé to ILIAS 48 hours before the scheduled appointment: Link to submission.

Students writing academic texts in English often find themselves facing several challenges in terms of language, style and conventions.

The Schreiblabor at House of Competence offers individual writing consultation to help you write your English academic texts clearly, convincingly and in accordance with the specific conventions of English academic writing. You receive feedback on structure, argumentation, readability as well as language and style. That way, you can develop and improve your English academic writing skills.

Possible questions include:

• What are the key characteristics of academic writing in English?
• What does a good academic sentence in English look like?
• What are the “no-gos” in academic English?
• What reader expectations do I need to take into account when writing in English (e.g., conventions, genre, etc.)?
• How can I improve my academic English?

You can book a 30-minute writing consultation for english academic writing, which takes place online every other Friday between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Uploading a text sample:

Please upload your text sample or exposé to ILIAS 48 hours before the scheduled appointment: Link to submission.

The writing advice offers the option to have your own texts (term papers, bachelor’s or master’s theses) checked with plagiarism detection software. Our specially trained tutors will discuss the results of the plagiarism check with you, based on interdisciplinary and discipline-specific norms and standards. The goal is to help you avoid plagiarism and to give you confidence in handling your sources.

Important: The tutors need some time in advance to scan the texts with the plagiarism detection software and to prepare the consultation. Please upload your text including bibliography to ILIAS no later than 48 hours before the appointment: Link to submission. Each text may only be submitted once for review. Submitting a bibliography is mandatory.

Note on data protection: The student texts analyzed using the PlagAware and PlagScan software are subject to German copyright law according to UrhG (last amendment: 2021) as well as the BDSG and the DSGVO. Outside of the writing consultation, no other use, distribution, reproduction, or processing of the texts takes place. The name, email address, and study program of the student as well as the title and topic of the text are collected. Other personal data are not required. In the event of an appointment cancellation, all collected data will be immediately deleted. The reports generated by the software are commented on by the tutor and made available to the student after the consultation. The submitted text is automatically deleted from the servers of PlagAware and PlagScan after a certain period. Permanent storage of the submitted text and the report on other servers or storage media does not occur.