Academic writing refers to the formal style of writing used in scholarly publications, universities, and journals. It is utilized in publications or academic topics and is formally used to write dissertations, manuscripts, research papers, and essays. For the most part, these publications follow the same writing conventions, except for their emphasis on content type, structure, and style.

Whether you are a publisher or a student getting started with graduate school, academic writing is an essential skill to master. This form of writing is characterized by strict adherence to formatting style and guide, and while most people find this daunting, breaking down its fundamentals will and examining the rules piece by piece makes academic writing quite easy.

Nearly all media and content platforms have a specific style guide that is unique to them. For academic writers, adhering to an established style is nonnegotiable and, in any case, you risk losing credibility if you veer off a publisher’s established style guide. This article will examine how academic writing works, as well as the dos and don’ts.

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Characteristics Of Academic Writing

What constitutes academic writing? Academic writing follows the conventional process of writing. However, more emphasis is put on the style guide. The main styles used in academic writing include the American Psychological Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), and Modern Language Association (MLA), among others.

Each of these writing styles comes with unique rules regarding text formatting, punctuation, source citation, and document structure. Among others below are the main characteristics of academic writing.

Is Formal and Concise

Academic writing is characterized by formal language that is optimized by conciseness and clarity. It lacks all the colloquialism and metaphors but uses elaborate language that puts across the author’s point. To that extent, the sentences lack the wordy jargon or complexity but only serve to express coherent thoughts and perspectives without the use of literary devices.

Overall, formality, clarity, and conciseness are key to academic writing. Writers utilize well-sourced content but stick to a tone, objective, and detached stance that is far from the subject matter. These rules necessitate the writer to use passive voice, especially when handling disciplines rooted in science, astronomy, and society.

Depends On the Specific Style Guide

Away from the actual text itself, academic writers need to format their work based on the style guide indicated in their assignment by the publisher. Style helps the writer to know the order of your cover page, how to format citations and references, and the number of pages, as well as the header and footer content. In the MLA style guide, for example, authors on the ‘References’ page are listed starting with their last names before their first initials. Overall, each style guide has its own rules that writers must adhere to.

Uses Prescriptive Grammar

Mastery of grammar in academic writing is an essential component. That said, this form of writing adheres to specific style and grammar rules to submit a quality publication. Style guide indicates the appropriateness of using hyphenated words, numerals vs numbers, etc., or lack of it. Other usual conventions of writing in the third person or passive voice, as well as maintaining a detached tone are outlined in academic writing grammar rules.

Proper grammar, as opposed to casual language, is not appropriate in this form of writing. Unlike other literary grammar applications used to beef up clicks in blogging and copywriting, appropriate grammar should be used in academic writing for effective communication when putting across the author’s point. Punctuation rules, for instance, require that you steer clear of ellipses, exclamation marks, or prepositions when ending sentences.

The Structure of Academic Writing

Academic writing covers numerous research and scholarly works, and each type of publication has a stipulated writing structure. Examples of academic publications include essays, research papers, and more. This section will outline the main types of academic writing and their structure:

Essays

Essays are often short pieces of writing that start with a topic, with the content featuring arguments that support a specific point.

Research Proposals

A research proposal is essentially a document written to request support or sponsorship based on facts established by an author’s academic research. A proposal outlines the author’s intention of conducting the research, their motivation, and their ultimate objective.

Theses and Dissertations

A thesis and a dissertation are essentially lengthy project papers that are a culmination of a master’s and doctoral program, respectively. Authors usually demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter by posing an intellectual question, followed by provoking question and a persuasive argument. These papers are quite lengthy, usually 150 to 300 pages, and are accomplished through research and support from academic supervisors.

The Writing Format of An Academic Paper

While academic writing conforms to formal language and strict adherence to the style guide, structure is important. The structure depends on the type of writing, but here is the general outline of an academic paper:

• The introduction outlines a clear objective or thesis.
• The Position, Findings, or Supporting content for your thesis.
• Challenges or position regarding your supporting content.
• The conclusion.

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Citations

This is another prominent characteristic that differentiates academic writing from other forms of literary work. Content has to be adequately researched, and sources cited accordingly. How to format your citations is guided by the type of paper and style guide. And while the format varies a bit depending on the style guide, key information to cite include:

• The name of the author.
• Their work.
• The copyright date.
• Publisher

Some of these citation styles include the American Psychological Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), and Modern Language Association (MLA), among others.

The Bottom Line

Academic writing is significantly different from writing other forms of literary works, including fiction, blog posts, emails, or other forms of written presentations. This form of writing adheres to a strict style guide and specific grammar rules and vocabulary that is void of metaphors, colloquialism, and other facets of literature.

Content is expressed in a well-sourced, appropriately structured, clear, and concise manner. Among other tips, be sure to adhere to the style guide, actively avoid plagiarism and contractions, and use a tone that is detached from the subject matter.