our academic writing definition

our academic writing definition

Defining Academic Writing: A Comprehensive Analysis

1. Introduction to Academic Writing

Academics mostly produce written outputs with the objective of publishing them in a formal and standardized way. This formal production, known as academic writing, is the medium through which academia communicates its knowledge and insights to the rest of the world. Since other researchers from different disciplines and cultural backgrounds also read and cite these writings quite frequently, it is critical that academics employ diverse strategies while writing these outputs. However, despite its significance, a comprehensive definition of what academic writing is still needs to be undertaken.

This study employs a survey of previous studies and books on academic writing, proposing a simplified set of characteristics that together explain the diversity and interaction of these outputs. In addition, a comprehensive model with three different dimensions is suggested in order to better understand their dynamic characteristics.

Academic writing is about the production of knowledge. This process involves knowledge acquisition and evaluation and also finding gaps in this very knowledge itself. Then, in order for the acquisition, evaluation, and gap-finding process to be evaluated and for the knowledge to be communicated openly, effectively and systematically, a special tool is used: the output of academic writing. The outputs enable the knowledge to travel around the world. They have specific formats and characteristics. Therefore, people do not need to be aware of these outputs’ every single characteristic and pay attention to every single difference within them. They just need to check whether the formats for specific elements are applied when they read them.

However, are the outputs limited to articles and books? Can outputs be written by just academics and for only academics? Are terms of academic writing and scientific writing interchangeable? These questions are not simple to answer. Each individual question has its own characteristics that need to be addressed. So, in order to shed light on some perspectives, this chapter provides some details related to academic writing.

2. Key Characteristics of Academic Writing

In order to demonstrate our understanding of academic writing and to effectively embark on its various types, it is crucial to be cognizant of its key characteristics. These are the areas that one should delve into as he attempts to decipher the nature of academic writing. Academic writing is a formal type of writing and its usage throughout the academic careers is evident. Academic writing serves multiple purposes such as contributing and divulging the gained recognition or understanding of writing within their respective fields of study.

An important attribute of academic writing entails providing a list of credible, scholarly sources to support arguments. These sources aid in validating the gained knowledge and one must adhere to the implication of recognized, established experts in their respective fields. Moreover, academic writing entails effective research that pertains to certain research questions or hypotheses that are formed by a number of individuals. Additionally, academic writing entails using formal language and engaging the readers in an interesting manner. Throughout the academic careers, one would realize that the key role of academic writing rests in prompting interest in their work to be able to persuade and address critical issues or to draw out relevant research that might adequately answer formulated questions. Moreover, engagement is achieved through a two-way communicative process which involves the reader-reader relationship.

3. Types and Formats of Academic Writing

The term academic writing refers to the forms of expository prose used by university students in all fields of study. Assignments that require dense expository writing are commonly referred to as academic essays, but this term also has a broader sense that is transparent in its root, the Latin verb exponere, which means “to expose” or “to explain,” and from which we get other useful words like exposition and expound. Academic writing consists of various types of expository prose, and an interested student of writing will find that these types are related and often overlapping in many ways. Almost every type of academic writing has an expository core that controls its form and function. By closely examining the specific features of various types of academic writing, writers can successfully construct, develop, and perform these forms or modes of writing in two general fields.

1. Assignments The different types of academic writing are assigned by different genres of texts such as books, journals, and textbooks, and also by scorekeepers, such as professors, who in turn are influenced by the university’s academic culture. While academic writing is a large genre that includes everything written on an academic topic, it is made up of smaller genres, like the essay genres particularly common in the undergraduate curriculum. Research genres perform many vital functions, often at advanced levels, for example in books explaining important ideas to readers inside and outside the discipline, in turning theses into articles into books, and research presentations into articles, book chapters, and more public forms of writing designed to communicate useful information to practitioners outside the academy as well as researchers inside it.

4. Importance and Benefits of Academic Writing

Bradshaw, J., & Hinton, M. (2009). Revisiting the importance of language skills in higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 10, 233–244.

In ‘A Welcome Change in International Admissions Policies’ (2006), Phung and Gray corroborate the fact that when the TOEFL and/or IELTS are required for admission to universities worldwide, ‘the implication is that university studies require strong skills in English for Academic Purposes’ (p. 158). Therefore, the Administration of the TOEFL iBT report concluded that the examining of academic language skills, ‘the skills [that] underlie the ability to read, write, speak, and understand English at the university level’ (p. 9), ‘remain relevant’ (p. 60) for international undergraduate students.

In ‘Assessing Valid Traits of Potential Non-Native English Speaking Business Students Using Multiple Measures: A Multi-Method Approach’ (2005), Wagenheim, Bowie, Piccard, and Garcia reviewed the principles of the United States’ AACSB. According to these principles, international business students must understand that the ability to read, write, speak, and understand English is necessary for competently conducting business and understanding the nuances of one’s country’s culture.

5. Best Practices and Tips for Effective Academic Writing

The progress of an academic discipline is measured by the quality of the academic writings produced. Those who are in the process of gaining a specific academic qualification, academics, or people who are in the process of establishing themselves as academics need to be familiar with academic writing. Although this genre of writing is an integral part of any academic discipline, it does not come easy. This is exactly the reason why this chapter has been included in this book: to enhance the understanding of students, academics, and future academics in academic writing. Its main purpose is to provide an overview of key terms, concepts, and habits that are proposed as best practices for creating scholarly documents.

In conclusion, it is quite evident that academic writing is its own genre of writing, which is both challenging and quite rewarding. While a few basic rules can be given, academic writing also has a number of more complex elements and undefined characteristics. These concepts are, however, explained, and some useful tips are given in this chapter to enhance your understanding and encourage you to write even more. What could be the reason that you would spend your valuable time converting spoken words into written ones in the first place? Have you ever asked yourself why academics are expected to spend much of their professional lives sitting behind a desk reading uninspiring documents and providing feedback to the creator? Well, an answer can be provided very easily. Every interaction by academics with their college or academic environment is conveyed by using words or is experienced through the medium of writing. Such documents can describe school, college, or examination rules, provide feedback, writing services among other things.