Academic writing is not the same as a conversation or of you simply putting your point of view. The idea is to leverage the years of work that some of the brightest people on the planet have put into thinking about problems to help you in the pursuit of answering a question. This answer should be impersonal, formal and analytical rather than personal, informal and descriptive.

To do this type of writing you need to spend a large amount of time and effort time digesting and thinking about the question you are answering and finding and understanding the academic literature on your subject. You will need to put into context and test the ideas and theories you find in academic literature in the pursuit of the answer to the question you have been set.

Your writing should not be over-dependent on lecture material. Lectures are only the starting point or introduction to the reading on the subject.
Your writing should not merely state your opinions, without reference to the academic literature.

Your approach

You must consider whether your approach is appropriate to answering the question. Consider whether you have tackled the issues in an appropriate way in terms of your method (the step by step approach to get to an answer) and conceptually (the appropriate concepts and theories for your question).

For example you might deploy an historical approach or an in-depth case study to illustrate broader issues, or the analysis of industry procedures, technologies or detailed textual analysis of a cultural artefact such as a film or television programme or piece of journalism.

Be wary about presenting too much history. It may be that you have to explain the concepts rather than explain the history of something. Sometimes students present undigested historical background that does not get to the question. This is because they have not been able to think through the problem – perhaps they started too late. So they are presenting what they know rather than applying what they know to the question (which is the point).

Your research

Because academic writing stands on or relies on previous academic interpretations you must ensure you have used the highest quality research possible. This will mean that academic sources such as books and academic papers are your starting point – guided by your course materials. Do not jump to a search engine such as Google because this material does not have the same rigour and has not been tested to the extent that academic literature has by the review of other academics (i.e. peer review). With much of online material the quality is variable: it can be too basic, impressionistic or descriptive for what you want to achieve.

Your approach to the material you use and analyse should be critical. Critical does not mean to say: “it is bad”. Rather critical means testing one argument against another for logic and as to whether it fits the evidence.

Your understanding of relevant academic literature

As part of your presentation you will need to outline the arguments and ways of thinking used in literature which has already covered your topic or which feed into your topic. You must show how you have built on these concepts and ideas or perhaps criticised them in order to develop your own argument.

Remember that critical engagement does not necessarily mean criticising a reading so much as responding to it, commenting on it and evaluating its strengths, weaknesses or usefulness for your own work.

Avoid simplifications such as “plus points”/”negative points”. This is not secondary education: you are testing quality through analysis and critical comparison not simply listing strengths and weaknesses.

Your writing

You must try to make your writing as clear, accessible and enjoyable a style as possible while retaining an exact use of language and clarity of meaning. You must maintain academic conventions i.e. quotes, references, bibliography in the course of your argument.

Academic style and vocabulary

(Adapted from Cottrell, S. (1999) The Study Skills Handbook London: Macmillan)

Remember to use a formal (but not a pretentious) tone in your work. Academic writing demands that you avoid the personal. Personal writing tends to be emotional, intuitive, uses the active voice (e.g. ‘I find that’), is anecdotal, uses data from one source, and is subjective and does not get to the point.

Academic writing should be logical, use reasoning, evidence and data from a range of sources, be objective and keep to a logical sequence. Such writing often uses the passive voice, e.g. ‘it was found that’.

Using three types of words can improve academic writing style significantly:

Vocabulary: emphasis markers

Use this kind of language to show clearly what you think is most important but avoid using personal language like ‘I think’.

Adjectives: main, crucial, important, significant, essential, key
Nouns: focus, element, concept, theory, aspect, part, idea, point, argument, discussion, debate.
Verbs: to emphasise, to summarise, to focus, to highlight.

For example:

The key aspect of this argument is…
The most crucial point made so far is…
To summarise the essential elements of the discussion up to this point…
It is important to emphasise that…

Using these phrases will make what you say appear more authoritative.

Vocabulary: evaluative language

 

Use this kind of language to show more clearly what you think about different points.

Adjectives (positive):       remarkable, innovative, complex, interesting, profound, logical, comprehensive, powerful, sensitive, incisive, rigorous, systematic, considered
Adjectives (negative):     flawed, modest, unsatisfactory, inadequate, limited, restricted.
Nouns:  synthesis, survey, topic, study, history, concept, area, theme, overview, analysis, system.
Verbs:  explain, survey, discuss, study, present, describe, bring into focus, consider, explore, illuminate, introduce, analyse, constitute.

Vocabulary: modals

The group of 11 words called modals can help you avoid over-generalisations. These words express degrees of certainty and possibility, thereby avoiding making statements which claim too much or suggest you know everything about a subject.

The 11 modals are:

can, may, could, might, will, would, shall, should, ought to, must, need not.

By far the most useful are can, could and might.

 

Checklist

Content and argument:
The text answers the question or fulfils the brief set.
Sufficient attention has been given to the most important points.
All the information included is relevant to the set question.
The main line of argument is clear.

Research material:
There are sufficient examples and evidence to prove or illustrate your points.

Structure and grouping:
The text is in an appropriate structure or format.
Each paragraph is well structured.
Ideas are presented in the right order.
It is clear how each paragraph links to the others.

Style:
The style is appropriate, i.e. not chatty or flippant and free from slang and colloquialisms.
Technical vocabulary is used correctly.
The words used are your own – and suitably referenced when they belong to someone else.
The text is not repetitive.
The text can be read aloud easily.

Clarity:
There is nothing the reader will find confusing.
The language is clear and straightforward.
The reader will easily follow the line of reasoning.
Sentences are of reasonable length and are uncomplicated.

General:
The introduction and conclusion are clear and accurate.
Spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct.
References and bibliography are correct and accurate.
You have taken into account feedback you received for earlier work.