Te Kete Wānaka
Learning, Teaching and Library
Writing in an academic style
Features of academic writing style
Academic writing is the writing style intended for a scholarly audience. This style is used in research papers, essays, dissertations, academic books and journal articles. It is different from creative writing or the style used in the media.
In academic writing, you include evidence-based arguments and language that is formal, concise and precise.
Writing academically requires you to make research-based or evidence-based arguments. This means you need to show your own perspective on the topic as well as back it up with research findings. One of the most common issues with students new to writing at university level is that their writing has subjective opinions and doesn't have enough evidence.
To make your arguments evidence-based, you will need to read critically, take notes that are relevant to your topic, and support your ideas with evidence when you write.
Spoken language tends to be chatty and informal. In contrast, academic writing uses more formal vocabulary and sentence structure.
Below are some techniques you can use to make your writing more formal.
Use formal language
Let’s have a look at how informal words and phrases have been changed to a more formal style in these two examples.
| Informal style |
Growing herbs at home is great because they're super handy for cooking and they don't need much space or care. |
| Formal style |
Growing herbs in domestic settings offers a convenient source of fresh ingredients for culinary use. Besides, herbs require minimal space and maintenance. |
| Informal style | Can dairy farming be sustainable while protecting the environment and supporting farmers' livelihoods? This essay will answer this question. |
| Formal style | This essay will argue that sustainable dairy farming can both protect the environment and support farmers' livelihoods. |
Here are some tips for writing formally.
- Avoid using contractions such as don’t, shouldn’t, isn't. Instead, use do not, should not, is not etc.
- Avoid personal pronouns such as I, my, our, yours.
- Avoid using rhetorical questions. State your points clearly.
- Use one-word verbs instead of two- or three-word verbs: cancel for call off, implement/conduct for carry out.
- Avoid emotional or subjective language such as ridiculous, amazing, useless, stupid.
- Avoid using exclamation marks (!).
Less is more. Don't pad out your work with unnecessary words or details. Be guided by the given word count whether you are completing assessments or an article for publication. Here are some ways you can make your writing more concise.
- Get straight to the point. Keep your writing direct, explicit and efficient. Start short and sweet with exactly what you want to say, both in the introduction and at the beginning of paragraphs. Only include relevant points in your writing.
- Avoid unnecessary words. Once you have decided on the main points to include, make sure they are expressed in as few words as possible.
- Avoid saying the same thing in more than one way (redundancy)
Look at these examples of how you can cut down the number of words.
Academic writing requires ideas to be expressed precisely and specifically, leaving no room for vagueness or ambiguity. To make your writing more precise:
- Use specific words
Here are some examples of how a word can be replaced by a more specific, more precise, alternative.
|
Vague |
More precise |
|
give |
provide, offer, supply |
|
thing |
item, object |
|
good |
valid (good point), positive (good impact), healthy/ tasty (good food), diligent/ smart (good student) |
|
vary |
increase, decrease, fluctuate |
Also, check if it's ok to use words such as a few, some, several, most, the majority, one third etc or if a precise number such as 23, 95% is needed.
- Check for sentences that can be interpreted in more than one way.
Avoid creating confusion for your reader. Keep your meaning clear.
Here’s one example.
|
The interplay between soil compaction and nutrient availability can either enhance agricultural productivity or exacerbate environmental challenges. |
|
This sentence is ambiguous as it is not clear whether compaction and nutrient availability have primarily positive or negative effects. Let’s see how this sentence can be rewritten in a less ambiguous way. |
|
Soil compaction can enhance productivity by improving moisture retention. However, excessive compaction often reduces nutrient availability, leading to environmental challenges such as runoff and soil degradation. |
- Be cautious
Avoid overgeneralisation or making simplistic statements in academic writing. To write with caution, you can use ‘hedging’ language, including adverbs such as generally, possibly, verbs such as tend to, could, may, or sentence starters such as it could be said that, it is likely that. Be careful not to overuse hedging, though, as it can weaken your argument.
Finally, academic writing requires clarity in sentence structures and accuracy in spelling and grammar. Make sure you follow the instructions carefully and revise your work rigorously before submitting it. Reading extensively in your field will help you learn more about academic writing style.
Get Individual Advice
Talk to Academic Success or attend one of our workshops for help with your study.
