External resources

• About the Writing Process
• Critical Thinking
• Critical Thinking Skills Cheatsheet
• Editing and Proofreading
• Revising Drafts
• Resources for Multilingual Students

• Evaluating Print Sources
• Identifying a Conversation Among Your Sources
• Online tutorials from the University of Waterloo Library
• Quotation, Paraphrase, and Summary

• A guide to academic essays
• Conclusions
• Distinguishing Between Main Points and Claims
• Features of an Academic Argument
• Introductions
• Paragraphs
• Report writing
• Thesis statements

• Academic Phrasebank
• Avoiding Gender Bias
• Dictionary of English Idioms
• Dictionary of English Phrasal Verbs
• Latin Terms and Abbreviations
• Should I use "I"?
• Use of the passive voice
• Using Transitions
• Using Qualifiers
• Guide to Indigenous Relations

• Article Usage (from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• Article Flowchart 1 (from The University of New Hampshire)
• ESL Writers' Workbook (from The Brief Penguin Handbook)
• Gerund vs. Infinitive from (The Englishpage)
• Grammar Girl
• HyperGrammar 2 (Government of Canada)
• Modal Verbs (from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
• OWL: The Purdue Online Writing Lab
• Prepositions and Preposition Phrase Lists (from the English Club)
• Run-ons and Sentence Fragments (from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• APA
• IEE
• MLA

• Ami, Nancy Natalie Boldt, Sara Humphreys, Erin Kelly. Why Write? A Guide for Students in Canada. Victoria, BC:Academic Writing Program, University of Victoria, 2020. https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/whywriteguide/. Used under a CC BY 4.0 International License.

• Indigenous Corporate Training INC. Indigenous Peoples: A Guide to Terminology. 2021. https://www.ictinc.ca/indigenous-peoples-a-guide-to-terminology.

• Penrose, Ann M. and Steven B. Katz. Writing in the Sciences: Exploring Conventions of Scientific Discourse. 3rd Edition. Open Access Version, 2010.

The following is a list of writing handbooks commonly assigned in courses at the University of Waterloo:

• Aaron, Jane E. and Aimée Morrison. The Little Brown Compact Handbook. 5th Canadian ed.  Toronto: Longman, 2012.
• Harris, Muriel and Judi Jewinski. Prentice Hall Reference Guide for Canadian Writers. Toronto: Pearson, 2009.
• Hogue, Ann. The Essentials of English: A Writer’s Handbook. New York: Longman, 2003.

Spiral-bound with built-in tabs for easy reference, each book covers the basics of writing and research, including grammar, usage, sentence structure, punctuation, and citation style.

The following two books cover a variety of topics related to research and writing:

• Northey, Margot and Joan McKibbin. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing. 7th ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Ruszkiewicz, John R. and Jay T. Dolmage. How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.

Both books offer clear, in-depth explanations of the main academic genres (essays, book reports, lab reports, oral presentations, and examinations), as well as professional ones (résumés and letters of application). As its title suggests, How to Write Anything covers a great range of writing genres — more than Making Sense.

The following two books cover a variety of topics related to research and writing:

• Northey, Margot and Joan McKibbin. Making Sense: A Student's Guide to Research and Writing. 7th ed. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2012.
• Ruszkiewicz, John R. and Jay T. Dolmage. How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference with Readings.  Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.

Both books offer clear, in-depth explanations of the main academic genres (essays, book reports, lab reports, oral presentations, and examinations), as well as professional ones (résumés and letters of application). As its title suggests, How to Write Anything covers a great range of writing genres — more than Making Sense.

• Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012.

This book covers much of the same ground as Making Sense, but this one is designed for English language learners, including “Language Focus” sections and exercises throughout.

• Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, Walter E. Oliu. Handbook of Technical Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008.

Covering a wide range of topics, this handbook includes brief entries on a variety of technical genres (e.g., grants, white papers, proposals), as well as on formal e-mails, cover letters, and resumes.