our academic writing style

our academic writing style

Mastering Academic Writing Style: A Comprehensive Guide for University Students

1. Introduction to Academic Writing Style

Academic writing has traditionally represented research or scholarship. Yet, while the impetus underpinning a substantial amount of academic writing is still a desire to inform or to create new knowledge, such writing is now also seen as a central learning tool in theses, dissertations, research articles, and professional studies. Furthermore, in the context of “college rhetoric,” while students’ typical papers and papers written for upper division courses all concentrate on some problem, either theoretical or practical, most often theses or long research papers are assigned to deal with larger problems. These problems are meant to be similar in size to those that students will face in their chosen professions after they have completed their formal education.

In short, you are unlikely to graduate from university without having written at least two or three research papers about substantive matters, and possibly without having written a much longer, sustained piece of research as part of a requirement for a postgraduate course of study. If your papers are assigned at every step, yet you are expected to do both short and long, as well as sustained, research projects in the social, natural, and applied sciences and in the humanities, and these projects are likely to take place in a structured, predictable fashion, then you will definitely labor under the pressure many academic writing students experience in learning your trade.

2. Key Elements of Academic Writing

In their influential 2018 book, “How to Write an Essay in Five Easy Steps,” Dr. Samantha Carr and Dr. Stephanie Brown identified the following as key elements of academic writing: correct punctuation, grammar, and spelling; reflective writing; sentence construction; writing in relation to the topic; argument; academic writing style; using (and referencing) experts’ opinions; and consistency in essay writing. On their list, they distinguished between reflective writing and academic writing, correctly arguing that both are essential elements in academic study. Under academic writing style, however, they correctly homed in on a fundamental issue: while you, as the essay writer, bring your own voice to your writing, you do so in an academic context in which you must engage with the work of others in a specific way. In the right measure, expertise and opinion are important, since most academic essays are, in fact, argumentative essays that seek to persuade the reader of your perspective on a particular topic.

Since this handbook’s overall focus is on mastering academic style, most of the chapters are about the specifics of academic writing. They cover many of the items on the Carr and Brown list, focusing largely on academic style. They also focus, for the most part, on the art of writing the discussion section of an empirical thesis or research paper. This is the toughest part of writing research because it is where credibility in the work is presented. If your research does not seem credible, it will not move forward. But if it does move forward credibly, others will seek to reference it. As a result, a key aim for PhD students should be to engage the interest of the reader. If they stop reading, you have failed. As such, the emphasis in academic style should indeed be on recognizing and mastering – and continually exercising – a broad set of specialist punctuation, grammar, and spelling rules. You must know the rules. If you do not, your examiners will pick you up. But if you allow them to be dominant structural influences on your academic text, it will be rejected.

3. Structuring Your Academic Paper

In this section, you will learn how to structure academic papers effectively. Structuring an academic paper can be a daunting task for new learners of academic writing due to a number of challenges. First, structuring an academic paper requires an understanding of the different sections that these academic papers must conform to. Second, recognition of the unwritten conventions that govern the structuring of academic papers is important. If you are not careful in this respect, your paper can be read as an essay. Yet, structuring your academic paper in a way that matches the unwritten conventions assists your readers in tracing the argument in your paper. The unwritten conventions determine where the different sections of your paper should be placed.

Third, it should be recognized that the different sections of an academic paper start at specific points in the larger document of which they form a part. Again, if not properly handled, your paper is very likely to be read as an essay. The unwritten conventions define the parameters within which sections are placed. We ignore such lessons at our peril. Fourth, structuring an academic paper in a way that it can be read as an academic paper is crucial due to the paramount importance of signposting in academic writing. After the introduction, all the sections of this guide will deal with different sections of academic papers. It is my view, indeed, that these different sections are part of a general structure of academic papers.

4. Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work and presenting it as if it were one’s own. It is a serious breach of a researchers’ or a student’s’ integrity and, in an academic context, can ruin their professional and academic career. Some brief examples illustrate different shades of plagiarism. Having borrowed carefully at how other people word a particular statement, an inexperienced or careless student would accidentally reproduce much of the content of the original source. Furthermore, they would write that thought in their own words. The same student might blink twice and then accused of copying a part of a text directly. Deaf ears might be turned to a request for leniency or a second chance as expensively as copying a well-copied territory twice would be done.

Formal criteria in academic writing limit writers’ use of texts by others and require accurate citing of both direct quotations and any re-interpretation or rewording of content in other sources. Writers can knowingly or unknowingly steal content from others rather than using their own work. Plagiarism should be readily apparent, but outside of the times at least one researcher or permission, detecting of adverse clues and considerable difficulties. Any written evidence that a row has been guilty of plagiarism could have serious career consequences, especially for academic authors. Legal judgment’s about the rights and wrongs of harvesting material for research institutions, departments and field themselves as part writer student and of discussions. English rub shoulders with various academic and other referencing formats, depending on institutions and allegiances preferences. Although referencing styles only vary widely encounters, the most important aspects of avoiding piracy practising on his writing apply under all. Disagreements about splicing research institutions, departments and field themselves as part writer student and of discussions. Naivety also guidance and policies vary, as does the guidance given by different tutors and written assignments.

5. Polishing Your Academic Writing

Well-organized, coherent, and error-free writing is crucial in academic circles. Academic manners include conformance to the presentation styles of individual disciplines, an awareness of the need to be explicit about the relevance of the findings you present to others’ research work, as well as a polite and considerate style. Obviously, the opening chapter focused on these issues, but the purpose of the present tune-ups is to increase the already good writing habit you have and nudge you to work on areas that need improvement. The secret is to have someone else read your papers before you submit them to an instructor so every problem does not end up with a squirt of White-out. No paper is ever perfect on the first draft, but a real effort should be made to make it as close as possible.

That being said, content is still most vital (and mentioned in every chapter). Clean up should come after you are sure the organization, the arguments, and the supporting information are strong. Only then should you worry about clarifying your expressions. Despite your enthusiasm, if you only have an hour to work on your final copy, you may do nothing more demanding than converting a rough draft to a typewritten final product. Improvements that are more complex, thus more time-consuming, include: checking your spelling, punctuation, and grammar; improving the morphology of sentences; enhancing creativity; maximizing the clarity of expression; knowing when to cite a reference; knowing which words to delete; and using stylistic differences to foster and illuminate relationships between ideas and to enhance the tone of your prose.