Effective Academic Writing
Effective academic writing doesn’t come naturally to anyone. The language is formal, the structure firm and critical thinking and concise phrasing are paramount. Most people develop academic writing skills at college, with some participating in designated workshops to maintain and sharpen their competencies further. Academics and higher education staff must produce texts bearing all the hallmarks of stellar academic writing. Such is the appreciation of excellent academic writing that job candidates demonstrating outstanding skills set themselves apart from other applicants. In business, academic writing elevates communication, resulting in much-improved business outcomes. This post outlines the characteristics of academic writing and delivers advice on how to excel.
What Are Academic Writing Skills?
Before looking at the bones of academic writing, one must grasp the conventions and rules thereof. Only then can one commence cultivating the skills. Academic writing differs from other forms of communication, requiring logical organisation, structure, and formal language. The writing process stands apart too, combining in-depth research, analysis, structuring, planning, and draft editing and proofreading. The aim is to produce a well-structured, logical piece delivering a well-thought-out concept in formal language, free of spelling and grammar errors.
Academic writing produces information in a structured way and formal register to enable peers and collaborators to assimilate the information with speed and ease.
When writing an academic paper or business communication in an academic style, some basic rules apply:
Formal Language
The register of academic writing is far more formal than other communication styles. Phrasal verbs, for instance, will never make their way into an academic paper. Instead of ‘figuring something out’, one would ‘determine’ it, whilst peers do not ‘talk about’ a topic but ‘discuss’ it. ‘Find out’ becomes ‘investigate’, while ‘omit’ replaces ‘leave out’. In brief, the verb originating from Latin takes precedence over the Anglo-Saxon equivalent.
Academic writing never abbreviates, meaning ‘isn’t’ must be ‘is not’, and the ‘UK’ is the ‘United Kingdom’.
Statements must clearly and concisely convey the information and lack fluff without fail. The information must be accurate, verifiable, and specific. Crafting concise sentences always triumphs over writing lengthy, convoluted phrases.
When using references, critical thinking can help to analyse and extract information to support the paper’s hypothesis. The references add weight to the piece, enhancing authority and making theorems compelling.
Objective Voice and Hedging Language
The tone is always objective, with theories, statements, and hypotheses outlined succinctly and devoid of judgment. Adverbs or adjectives adding emotion or drama are redundant in academic writing. When putting forward a theory, the language must remain neutral yet compelling, with data and references supporting it. Referencing guidelines must apply, with the bibliography an integral part of any academic paper.
Information conveyed in academic writing often lacks certainty. Hypotheses are yet to be substantiated, hence academic writers use the language of possibility rather than absolutes. This language is referred to as hedging language, another essential element of academic writing. Used, it conveys an openness to consider alternative viewpoints and enter a discourse, even if it means stepping back from the point put forward.
Structure, Paragraphs, and Flow
Every academic paper has a clear structure, concise paragraphs, and a logical flow. While the basic structure in academic writing follows the ‘introduction-body-conclusion’ pattern, each section uses paragraphs to make the document more legible. As a result, the internal flow of paragraphs and the paragraph sequence demand much attention.
As the building blocks of a paper, paragraphs make the information more readily available. Internally, they must feature an introductory statement followed by an explanation, supporting evidence, comments, and a conclusion. The closing paragraph sentence must lead to the next paragraph.
Paragraphs follow a logical order, each introducing information, adding depth and reinforcing the overall theorem.
Why Are Academic Writing Skills Important?
Excellent academic writing skills facilitate clear communication and improve collaboration. In higher education, they help introduce new concepts, while in business, they refine communication between stakeholders.
Beyond the written word, academic writing skills feed into oral presentations, allowing those with stellar skills to excel with the spoken word, too. Critical and analytical thinking, clear and logical structures, and compelling argumentation elevate any project in any field.
Effective Academic Writing – The Process
The ensuing process applies to writing academic papers and business documents. Its clear and logical structure provides a framework for oral presentations too, be that in a higher education or business settings. Preparing concise, specific, and clear information to partners or peers streamlines communication and facilitates collaboration.
Understanding the Task
It is crucial to fully grasp the task before taking any other steps. In business and academia, consider your audience and the information they seek. Bring to mind your objectives and marry them to your audience’s goals.
Research and Information Gathering
Once you are clear on the assignment, gather information blending your knowledge well with supporting authority sources. Introduce data, facts, figures, surveys, and other materials underpinning your theorem. Bear in mind time and word count constraints and filter out non-essential documentation.
Structure Your Paper
Using the traditional model (intro-body-conclusion) plan your paragraphs noting down all points you want to put forward. Once you have your paragraphs sequence them in a logical and consequential manner.
Write, Read, Rewrite, Edit, Perfect
Write the first draft quickly and review it to evaluate the quality of your structure. If necessary, restructure, and once you are happy with the format, examine individual paragraphs. Read over your work repeatedly, rewrite what sounds off, edit, eliminate spelling and grammar errors, and read over your document once more.
Use grammar and spelling tools and a thesaurus while looking up additional information if unsure about an aspect of your work. Remember to eliminate lengthy sentences and vague or overly complex words. Remove redundancies, meaning only make every point once.
If possible, find someone to read your work and critique it.
Academic Writing at Atlantic
Our Academic Writing Skills Course helps higher education staff, lecturers, and other professionals structure and refine their writing. We spoke to Michael Hamilton, Atlantic’s Academic Writing Tutor to find out what he considers ingredients for excellent academic writing and asked him for actionable advice.
On the first day of class, I always ask my students about their writing struggles. In virtually every class, someone will mention that they they have a good grasp of the English language, yet their writing feels clunky or awkward.
In response, one of the most useful techniques we cover at Altantic is ‘Theme & Rheme’.
Theme & Rheme is a way of structuring information to bring fluency to writing. The theme is the sentence substance, and the rheme is the focus or comment on that “theme”.
Think of it like a relay race. The first runner runs their section of the race, reaches the next runner and passes on the baton. In much the same way, each sentence will have a theme and a rheme, with the rheme becoming the theme of the following sentence.
For example, instead of saying, “I (theme) was born in Glasgow (rheme). The largest city in Scotland (theme) is Glasgow. (rheme)” You could say, “I (theme) was born in Glasgow (rheme). Glasgow (theme) is the largest city in Scotland (rheme).”
Students often find this a helpful technique for developing writing fluency.“
Effective academic writing skills elevate your communication and cooperation beyond the written word. Apart from helping you to produce top-quality text including reports, papers, and emails, these skills establish a framework for outstanding work performance.