| Course | BUS 700 Introduction to Business Administration in Doctoral Study (BUS/700) |
|---|---|
| Week | 3 |
| Paper type | Doctoral scholarly writing paper |
| Length | about 1,153 words, 4 double-spaced pages plus title page and references |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | University of Phoenix |
| Program | DBA |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUS 700 Week 3
Rewriting a Board Memo as Scholarly Prose: Scholarly Writing and APA Style for a Doctoral Manager
[Student Name]
University of Phoenix
BUS/700: Introduction to Business Administration in Doctoral Study
Week 3 Assignment
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The doctoral student and all examples are composites written for a model paper.
After his first doctoral paper, Marcus Bell, the composite bank director followed in this course, received feedback on his first doctoral paper: strong ideas, informal tone, unsupported claims and inconsistent citations. His writing habits came from 18 years of board memos and emails designed to persuade busy executives quickly, a style that served him well at the bank but works against him in doctoral work. Business writing asks readers to act; scholarly writing asks them to believe only what the evidence supports, and the difference shows in nearly every sentence. This paper documents how Marcus learned scholarly writing and APA style.
How Scholarly Writing Differs
Booth et al. (2016) describe research writing as an argument built from claims, reasons and evidence, offered to readers who may doubt it. Scholarly writing values precision over flourish, matches the strength of claims to the strength of evidence, acknowledges limitations and positions the writer's argument within existing research. Business writing values brevity and persuasion and often omits sources.
The Original Memo
Marcus's memo to the bank's executive committee read: "Branch closures are killing our small business relationships, and everyone knows older customers hate apps. We need to invest in better mobile tools now or we will lose them." The memo was effective internally but contains unsupported generalizations, emotional language and no evidence.
Revising for Evidence and Precision
The revised version reads: "Research suggests that bank branch closings are associated with a lasting decline in local small business lending (Nguyen, 2019). Studies of technology acceptance indicate that beliefs about a tool's usefulness and ease explain adoption better than age alone (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh et al., 2003). These findings imply that the bank's mobile tools could help retain small business customers affected by closures if the tools are perceived as useful and easy to use."
What Changed
The revision replaces "killing" with "a lasting decline," replaces "everyone knows" with findings from cited research, uses hedges such as "suggests" and "indicate" that fit the evidence and draws a conclusion that follows from the sources rather than demanding action.
From Summary to Synthesis
Early doctoral writing often summarizes one source per paragraph. Synthesis organizes paragraphs around ideas and uses several sources to support each, noting agreements and differences. Marcus's revised paragraph connects a lending study with technology acceptance research to make a point neither source makes alone.
Paraphrasing With Integrity
A paraphrase restates an idea in the writer's own words and sentence structure, with a citation. Changing a few words in the original sentence is patchwriting and can count as plagiarism. Marcus now reads a passage, closes the article, writes the idea from memory and then checks for accuracy and citation.
Quoting Sparingly
Direct quotations are best reserved for definitions or wording that matters, since a paper built from quotations shows that the writer has collected sources but not yet understood them. Short quotations require page or paragraph numbers in the citation. Marcus now paraphrases most material, quoting only key definitions and phrases whose exact wording carries the point.
APA In-Text Citations
APA style uses author and year in text (American Psychological Association, 2020). One or two authors are named each time; works with three or more authors are cited by the lead author's surname followed by et al. every time. Parenthetical citations list multiple sources alphabetically and separate them with semicolons.
APA Reference Entries
Each reference includes authors, year, title, source and a DOI when available. Journal article titles use sentence case, while journal names use title case and italics. Every in-text citation must match a reference entry, and every reference must be cited.
Building Paragraphs
Scholarly paragraphs usually open with a topic sentence stating a claim, follow with evidence from sources, interpret that evidence and end by linking to the next idea. Marcus's memos jumped from point to point; his doctoral paragraphs now develop one idea at a time. He checks each paragraph by asking whether its first sentence tells the reader what the paragraph will show and whether every later sentence supports it.
Hedging and Certainty
Research findings carry degrees of certainty, and scholarly writing signals them. Verbs such as shows and demonstrates fit strong, replicated findings; suggests, indicates and is associated with fit correlational or single studies. Overstating certainty undermines credibility, while excessive hedging makes writing vague. Marcus learned to choose verbs deliberately based on each study's design.
Writing Process for Doctoral Work
Doctoral writing is a process, not an event. Marcus outlines arguments before drafting, writes rough drafts quickly without editing, sets them aside for a day and then revises. Writing 500 words several times a week, as he planned in Week 1, keeps ideas moving and reduces the stress of large deadlines.
Headings, Numbers and Tone
APA style uses levels of headings to organize papers. Numbers 10 and above are written as numerals, and smaller numbers as words except in certain cases such as statistics. The tone is formal, avoiding contractions, slang and first-person overuse, though first person is acceptable for describing the writer's own actions.
Bias-Free Language
APA guidelines call for precise, respectful language about people. Marcus replaced "the elderly" with "small business owners aged 55 and older," which is more specific and avoids stereotyping.
A Revision Routine
Marcus now revises each paper in four passes: argument and structure, evidence and citations, sentences for clarity and precision and APA formatting. He reads drafts aloud to catch awkward sentences and uses a checklist for citations and references, comparing every in-text citation against the reference list before submitting.
Common Errors in Early Doctoral Writing
Faculty feedback on Marcus's cohort identified recurring errors: claims without citations, citations without page numbers for quotations, references missing DOIs, inconsistent verb tense in literature discussions, overuse of passive voice and paragraphs that describe sources without interpreting them. Recognizing these patterns early allows students to fix them before they become habits that are harder to break in the dissertation.
Academic Integrity
Integrity goes beyond avoiding plagiarism. It includes representing sources accurately, not citing articles one has not read, reporting findings that contradict one's argument and acknowledging help from others. Writing tools that generate text raise new questions; Marcus follows his university's policy, which permits limited use for grammar checking but requires that ideas and analysis be his own and that any permitted use be disclosed.
Using Writing Support
The university's writing center, peer review in his cohort and feedback from faculty help Marcus see problems he misses. He keeps a log of recurring errors, such as missing hedges or et al. mistakes, to check in future drafts.
Conclusion
Moving from board memos to scholarly prose required Marcus to replace assertion with evidence, emotion with precision and summary with synthesis, while learning APA rules for citations, references, headings and language. A revision routine and writing support turn these lessons into habits that will carry through the dissertation.
References
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., & FitzGerald, W. T. (2016). The craft of research (4th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319-340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Nguyen, H.-L. Q. (2019). Are credit markets still local? Evidence from bank branch closings. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11(1), 1-32. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20170543
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425-478. https://doi.org/10.2307/30036540
What the BUS 700 Week 3 instructions ask
The third BUS 700 paper typically asks doctoral students to demonstrate scholarly writing and APA style. Common requirements include explaining the features of scholarly writing, such as precision, objectivity, evidence and synthesis; constructing a clear argument; paraphrasing and citing correctly; avoiding plagiarism; applying APA rules for in-text citations, references, headings and bias-free language; and revising a sample of the student's writing. Some prompts ask students to compare their writing before and after revision. Show concrete examples, explain each change, follow the current APA edition and cite writing guides and sources in APA format. Choose a sample of your own writing that shows real habits, not a polished piece, so the revision demonstrates growth.
How this BUS 700 Week 3 example is built
A bank director's memo that says branch closures are "killing" small business relationships and "everyone knows" older customers hate apps is persuasive in a boardroom and unacceptable in a doctoral paper, and the paper shows the revision. Scholarly writing replaces assertion with evidence, hedges claims to match the strength of findings and uses precise terms. The revised paragraph synthesizes three studies rather than summarizing each. Paraphrasing guidelines and citation practices prevent plagiarism. The paper reviews APA in-text citations, reference entries, headings, numbers and bias-free language, explains paragraph structure and hedging and ends with a revision checklist the student will use for every assignment.
BUS 700 Week 3 grading rubric: where the points go
Strong scholarly writing papers demonstrate improvement with specific examples rather than only describing rules. Faculty credit a clear explanation of how scholarly writing differs from business writing, revisions that show precision, appropriate hedging and synthesis, correct paraphrasing and citation, accurate application of current APA style and a practical revision routine. Attention to bias-free language and to the ethics of attribution shows maturity. The paper itself must model the qualities it describes, with clean prose and correct APA formatting throughout. Faculty also notice whether the writer explains why each change was made, since understanding the reason behind a rule is what allows a student to apply it in new situations, and whether the revision keeps the original idea while improving its support.
BUS 700 Week 3 help: mistakes to avoid
Students often list APA rules without showing their own writing improve. Include before-and-after examples. Another frequent gap is confusing paraphrasing with changing a few words. Rewrite in your own structure and cite the source. Students also overuse quotations. Paraphrase most material and quote only when wording matters. Avoid absolute claims such as proves or everyone knows; match language to evidence. Check that every in-text citation appears in the reference list. Use headings to organize. Finally, build a revision routine, since good scholarly writing comes from rewriting, not first drafts. Keep a log of your recurring errors and check each new draft against it.
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BUS 700 Week 3 questions, answered
What does BUS 700 Week 3 usually cover?
It usually covers scholarly writing and APA style: features of academic prose, argument structure, synthesis, paraphrasing and citation, plagiarism, APA formatting and revision of the student's own writing.
Where can I find a free BUS 700 Week 3 sample paper?
The full scholarly writing paper with before-and-after revisions of a manager's memo, plus APA notes, is on this page. Students who share a writing sample can get a complimentary draft.
How is scholarly writing different from business writing?
Scholarly writing emphasizes evidence, precision, cautious claims, synthesis of sources and formal citation, while business writing emphasizes persuasion, brevity and action.
What is the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing?
Paraphrasing restates a specific passage in your own words and structure with a citation, while summarizing condenses the main points of a longer work, also with a citation.
What is synthesis in academic writing?
Combining findings from several sources to show patterns, agreements and differences around a point, rather than describing each source separately.
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