Writing Centre
The Writing Centre is now open for appointments in person and online, book below!
Our mission is to help all students become confident and competent writers at third level and beyond.
The Writing Centre offers guidance with academic writing to all undergraduate and postgraduate students through the provision of online writing resources, live workshops and individual appointments. Our individual appointments provide students with the opportunity to receive expert advice from a peer tutor. Tutors are studying at PhD level and are trained and supervised by the DCU Student Learning team, who also provide sessions on occasion. Students may visit the Centre during any stage of the writing process: planning an assignment, writing a first draft, or revising and editing a document. Appointments are booked online and are free of charge.
Please note: support with citing and referencing is provided by the DCU Library.
Writing Resources
Introduction to Academic Writing
Assignment Writing
Analyse the Question
Brainstorm the Question
Plan your essay
Paragraphs
Introductions
Conclusions
English Literature Essay Writing
Writing a Research Report
Writing a literature review
Case studies
Critical Thinking
Critical Writing
Revising and editing
Reflective writing
Discover Assignment Writing
Log on to Discover Assignment Writing 24/7, a short interactive course on how to write a clear and focused academic paper.
Are you a first-year student? Please access this course via MyDCU: Discover Active Learning.
Discover Critical Thinking and Writing
Log on to Discover Critical Thinking and Writing 24/7, a short interactive course to develop your critical thinking and writing skills.
Essentials of Academic Writing
- Introduction To Academic Writing video
- Key Principles of Academic Writing Infographic
- Academic Language Infographic
- The Passive Voice Infographic
- Using Quotations (University of Toronto: Fair use policy.)
- Paraphrasing e-tutorial
- Paraphrasing infographic
- Signposting
Essays
- Assignment Writing Video
- Assignment Steps infographic
- Analyse the Question infographic
- Essay Question Verbs infographic
- Essay Template
- Paragraph Structure
- Introductions and Conclusions infographic
- Revising and Editing (University of Toronto: Fair Use Policy)
- Assignment Planner infographic
Literature Reviews
- Writing a literature review infographic and accessible version here
- Writing a literature review video
Research Report Writing
- Research Report Writing video
- Research Report Writing Infographic and accessible version available here
Writing for the Sciences
- Sciences (by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, available under CCBY-NC-ND 4.0.
Literature Essay Writing
Critical Thinking & Writing
- Critical Thinking Infographic and accessible version available here
- Critical Writing Infographic and accessible version available here
Reflective Writing
Case studies
Book Review or Article Critique
Annotated Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliography (Olin Library Reference, Research & Learning Services, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY, USA. Permission received via Fair Use Policy)
Referencing
Writing Feedback
Workshops
Our weekly writing workshops, open to all DCU students, can now be booked centrally via our new events portal. Just log in with your DCU credentials below to view all upcoming workshops and to register with one click.
Log in to My Events Hub
In Semester 2 2022/23 we will provide the following highly demanded sessions:
- Seven Steps to Assignment Success
- How to Build an Argument - NEW!
- Writing Critically at University
- Reflective Writing
- Writing Literature Reviews
- Write Here, Write Now! - NEW!
Make an Appointment
Select your preferred location below to access the booking calendar.
Appointments will be available to book one week in advance. Please check the booking calendar regularly, as new appointments become available throughout the day. Last-minute appointments may also become available due to cancellations.
About the Writing Centre
Students often ask what the Writing Centre can help them with. Here are the most common areas students seek support with during a Writing Centre appointment:
- For guidance on how to structure an assignment at third level.
- For advice on how to research and read effectively for an assignment.
- To discuss difficulties with specific aspects of writing, e.g., introductions, conclusions, essay flow or editing.
- For advice on how to improve writing to move up a grade.
The Writing Centre gathers student feedback after every single appointment. In 2020-21, 298 students provided feedback. Of these, 99% stated that their appointment was either 'excellent' or 'very good'.
Students' comments:
- "The best one to one teaching ever received."
- "Brilliant I went in feeling lost and left feeling so positive. Invaluable advice and (the tutor was) so nice."
- "I found the 'virtual' option extremely handy as I am working full time and studying part time and would struggle to get into DCU for a face to face appointment. The advice given was excellent and I left feeling much more positive and enabled to write my assignment."
- "I feel that my approach to writing has improved dramatically. I came out with a new and improved perspective."
Beatrice Monciunskaite
Beatrice Monciunskaite - specialist in Law, Humanities and Social Sciences
Beatrice is a PhD student in the School of Law and Government
Emine Ay
Emine Ay - specialist in Humanities and Social Sciences
Emine is a PhD student in the School of Law and Government
Hannah Millington
Hannah Millington - specialist in Arts and Humanities
Hannah is a PhD student in the School of Theology, Philosophy and Music
Hayley Brabazon
Hayley Brabazon - specialist in Arts and Humanities
Hayley is a PhD student in the School of History and Geography
Maeve Goodall
Maeve Goodall - specialist in Health Sciences
Maeve is a PhD student in the School of Nursing and Human Sciences
Alicia Menendez Tarrazo
Dr. Alicia Menendez Tarrazo - specialist in Arts and Humanities
Alicia is Senior Student Learning Officer within Student Support and Development and coordinates the Writing Centre
- Appointments are 30 minutes long.
- In-person appointments are held in the O'Reilly and Cregan libraries.
- Online appointments are held via Zoom. You will receive the meeting link in your booking confirmation email.
- Before your appointment, please email your assignment brief or question and any work you've done so far to writingcentre@dcu.ie. If you are not working on an assignment but would like to discuss a particular aspect of academic writing, please let you tutor know.
- The Centre is not a proofreading or editing service, but rather works with students to strengthen their abilities as writers, and encourages them to become editors of their own work.
- Appointments are made using any of the booking calendar links. Check the online calendars to get the latest updates on availability. Appointment slots open 7 days in advance.
- Please reschedule or cancel an appointment well in advance if you cannot attend through the links provided in your confirmation email. Students who repeatedly book and cancel appointments at the last minute will lose booking privileges.
- We advise students to make no more than one appointment per week and a maximum of five per semester. This is to keep the limited number of appointments open to as many students as possible.