Academic Writing Centre
USN Academic Writing Centre is a service available to all USN students.
The writing centre offers:
- 45-minute consultations
- help with term papers, bachelor, and master theses
- assistance with all stages of the writing process: thesis statement, outlining, and editing
The writing advisors are master students at USN with experience in academic writing. They can give feedback on texts in Norwegian and English and within all study programs. The writing advisors focus basic principles of academic writing that applies across disciplines. Get to know our writing advisors here.
What can the writing centre help you with?
- logical flow
- structure of the paper
- paragraph cohesion
- developing a concise and precise academic language
Most consultations are digital and conducted on Zoom. It is also possible to meet your writing advisor on campus, but this must be arranged in direct communication with your writing advisor. The service is free of charge, and you book through our booking form bellow. You can only book one consultation per week.
Book a consultation as early as possible. You do not need to have a complete text before booking a consultation, and we can help you the best during the earlier stages of your writing.
What does the writing center not help with?
If you need assistance with literature searches or referencing, contact the university library. The writing center does not offer proofreading services or help with language, nor formatting or technical questions regarding Word or other software.
Digital resources
The writing centre administers our own Canvas room with useful resources on academic writing. Here you can find an intro course on academic writing consisting of videos with questions for discussion, quizzes, and writing assignments where you can work on your own text. The intro course is available in both our Canvas room and on Canvas Commons (for lecturers), in both Norwegian and English with the following content:
- The writing process
- Problem statement
- Paper structure
- Introduction
- Outline
- Writing from sources
- Paragraph structure
- Sentence structure and clarity
The Writing Center's Canvas room also includes the module "Academic Writing and Plagiarism", and a number of modules developed by NMBU Academic Writing Center focused on writing master's theses in natural science. Here you will find videos, texts, and links to useful websites that can assist you in the different stages of writing your master's thesis.
The writing center also has its own facebook group where we post writing tips, and you can ask questions.
Webinars
The writing centre offers webinars on various topics with academic writing. Get more information and sign up in the library course calendar.
For lecturers
The writing center is a new service for USN students since March 2022 and does not replace the role of the lecturer or supervisors by not discussing academic content but focus on basic principles for academic writing. We highly appreciate if you inform your students about our service and we recommend showing the video about what the writing center can offer them. As a digital service, we are available to students on all campuses.
Teaching resources
The Writing Center has developed a intro course in academic writing as a Canvas module that you can download in Norwegian or English. The module consists of videos with basic principles in academic writing with questions, quizzes, discussion questions, and writing assignments related to each topic. It is especially suitable for flipped classroom teaching where students can apply the principles on their own academic text. See more information about the intro course by downloading the module into your own course through Canvas Commons:
- Log into Canvas and go to Commons.
- Search for "Intro course in academic writing".
- Go into the module and choose to import or download and which subject you want to import the module into.
We also contribute with physical teaching if you can gather a larger student group. If you have questions or if you want us to visit your campus, please contact us at: skriveveiledning@usn.no