Critical Reading and Writing for Postgraduates: Student Success

This updated and expanded edition contains a welcome revision of a very useful guide to critical reading, writing and thinking in academic work.  It provides an extremely detailed step-by-step guide to engaging with several types of academic literature and it presents numerous worked examples of how critical writing should be done. The book should be regarded as essential reading for postgraduate students, especially with regard to the preparation of dissertations and theses.  It will also be of great value for academics engaged in the critical review of literature in their respective fields and for critical reflection upon their own work for publication.
This book will be a must read for my research students. It is practical with its various techniques and strategies, without being prescriptive. It will build your confidence in critically engaging with what you read and, because the authors treat reading and writing as an intertwined process, it will help with evidencing your own claims, identifying gaps in your arguments and seeing the assumptions you forget you are making. Indeed this book has the capacity to support us all to become better writers.

This book demystifies the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of critical reading and writing in a highly accessible way. Scaffolded activities which encourage self-reflection provide essential practice for postgraduates wishing to develop their critical sub-skills, and are also an invaluable resource for Learning Development professionals working to foster these sub-skills in their students, whatever their disciplinary context or cultural background.

Becoming a Critical Reader and Self-Critical Writer
What it Means to Be Critical
Making a Critical Choice
A First Look: Interrogating Abstracts
Getting Started on Critical Reading
Getting Started on Self-Critical Writing
Creating a Comparative Critical Summary
Developing an In-Depth Analysis
A Mental Map for Navigating the Literature
Tools for Thinking and Ways of Thinking
Reasons for Conducting the Research
Knowledge Claims and their Key Characteristics
Developing a Critical Analysis of a Text
A Worked Example of a Critical Analysis
Developing your Argument in Writing a Critical Review of a Text
Putting your Critical Reviews to Work
Focusing and Building up your Critical Literature Review
Integrating Critical Literature Reviews into your Dissertation
Critical Literature Reviews in Alternative Dissertation Structures
Tools for Structuring a Dissertation
Using the Literature in Research Papers and Oral Presentations