academic writing rules

academic writing rules

The Importance of Following Academic Writing Rules

1. Understanding Academic Writing Rules

An academic paper is an exercise in persuasion. When you are asked to write a paper, you are basically asked to convince your reader about your understanding of an issue. A successful paper requires you to perform research, craft an argument, and cite other experts’ views on the subject. A teacher will expect the student to rely on more than simple opinion, and instead back up his/her claims with research from primary sources. An academic paper provides an interpretation of a topic based on solid evidence. This is why research and documentation is so important. Using scholarly sources and providing the reader with a list of references gives the paper an air of credibility. This is what sets academic writing apart from other forms of writing. An academic paper should be clear, unambiguous, focused, and the language should be concise.

2. Benefits of Adhering to Academic Writing Rules

Many of the skills involved in adhering to writing an academic essay will be relevant when you come to write up a report or a thesis. At university level, this is an equally important skill that will be necessary for a huge array of careers, so the time spent learning how to write in the style that an academic paper requires will not be wasted. The learning process will, in turn, greatly benefit your writing and communication skills as a whole.

Being required to adhere to the formatting standards of an academic style guide also improves the general quality of your writing. It gives you a structure to adhere to and ensures that you do not deviate from that structure. This, in turn, makes the process of writing and editing easier. The reason it is easier is because it gives you a clear idea of what you are trying to achieve with each piece of written work. This is beneficial because often one of the problems with writing is that once you have many ideas about a subject, it can be difficult to determine which one is the best to express and which ideas fit together in the best way. Planning will make this process clearer, and clearer writing means better understanding.

Increased writing and editing ability

3. Common Academic Writing Rules to Follow

3.2 Proper referencing It is the way of acknowledging works and ideas of others which are included in our work. In academic writing, it is only proved through documentation. Any subject has its own history and has been developed by the contribution of others. Beforehand, acknowledging this fact, it is unfair to claim that the whole work is one’s own. So giving a reference shows from where an idea has been taken so that the reader can further study that idea to get a better understanding.

3.1 General rule This is the most important aspect of academic writing. It is also its basic requirement. Academic writing is completely based on a well-researched work. It is done for the purpose of research. So there has to be evidence that what is presented in the article is done through a methodical study and the work is not a random conclusion.

Every field has its own courteous ways of communication. These ways or rules are the ideal tools to make somebody comprehend the exact meaning of the message. Academic writing is no different. It is the way or the style of writing and presenting a subject. Only an extensively formal and standard way of writing develops a subject to produce better understanding. Following are some common rules to be followed.

4. Consequences of Ignoring Academic Writing Rules

Another consequence of not following academic writing rules is that it can hinder the publication of findings and the opportunities for further research in the field. This can happen due to poorly constructed assignments with unclear ideas or concepts, as a result of not following rules such as correct use of referencing or citation. Incorrectly using someone else’s ideas or findings through not referencing properly can be seen as plagiarism and may result in serious implications for the student or researcher, such as legal action. On the other hand, incorrect referencing can lead to the ideas or concepts being attributed to the wrong source, which is still detrimental to both the source and the person responsible.

Ignoring academic writing rules can have serious impacts on the quality and credibility of your work. Some of the most serious consequences of doing this include: Firstly, the final work will not achieve its full potential for success. Having taken time to study and construct an assignment, any student will be keen to receive a good mark. Regardless of how well the assignment is written, taking away due credit through not referencing properly or providing accurate sources for an assignment will result in a grade that does not reflect the level of work put into the assignment. This is demotivating for the student and may discourage them from putting effort into future assignments.

5. Tips for Mastering Academic Writing Rules

Tips to ensure you engage in the grammar quest are to take heed of the structure as you write on the computer paper. Print a copy of an essay and with a pen in hand, scrutinize your work word by word as if it were a fine painting. It may seem tedious and time-consuming at first, though quality long-term results will soon make it a worthwhile undertaking. The next step is to check for logic in your work. A common writing fallacy is to convey a thought in a disjointed manner. These thoughts, in their very nature, may be intelligent, but if not presented in an orderly progression, they can be difficult to follow. A good technique is to write a descriptive plan and use it as a reference point for logic when writing. This habit is beneficial in that professors often require an essay plan or the essay question to be phrased into a thesis statement. This statement must be clear and concise. If you cannot understand what you have written and articulate it in spoken word, then it is likely you need further development of the issue in order to understand it yourself.