An Introduction to Academic Writing

Link for Video Lecture: Academic Writing

Academic Writing

Students should have the skills of academic writing to be successful in their higher education. They write assignments, research papers, and thesis so they need to have good academic writing skills. However, students enter colleges and universities without proper knowledge of sentence-making. They lack spelling and grammar so they face problems in further studies.

Academic writing is a skill that every student can learn. Moreover, these types of writings have different names but they have the same goals and requirements. You can learn it and work as a freelancer to earn from the freelance market.

General Guidelines

The students should follow these 8 key points;

1. Above all, the purpose of your academic writing should be clear.
2. It should express your point of view clearly.
3. Academic writing should focus on a single goal. All paragraphs should go in the same direction and support your document with the help of examples, quotations, and opinions.
4. Academic writing should follow a standard format. It should have an introduction, main body, and conclusion.
5. You should provide clear, simple, and logical data to your readers.
6. It is good to read material from different reliable sources to have a clear knowledge of the topic.
7. The sources of your knowledge should be mentioned safely if required. These references and citations will support your document.
8. The tone and language should be natural for your documents so don’t be too formal. In short, use your own words for the document.

Steps of Academic Writing

Follow these steps to write Academic writing.

1. You should select an interesting topic. However, you can get ideas from the internet, books, and courses.
2. Make an outline for your academic writing and provide the necessary details. The writer should record the supporting evidence in the form of references and citations carefully.
3. Write the first draft of your academic writing by not worrying about spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
4. Once you have written the first draft then revise your draft, and review the content and logic to make it better. So make changes and write a good draft.
5. Finally, edit and proofread your academic document to make it flawless.

How to Improve Your Academic Writing?

The following tips can help to write a good academic paper.

1. Above all, try to write in an active voice tone.
2. Similarly, use shorter words instead of long and inadequate words.
3. In addition, review sentence structure and words to refine it.
4. Moreover, the logic, flow, and ideas should be connected.
5. Eliminate unnecessary sentences and write a concise and meaningful document.
6. Moreover, there should not be repetition.
7. Finally, you need to go through the document to review and fix errors and mistakes.

Different Types of Academic Writing

The most common types of academic writing are given below;

Essay – It is a short document produced in response to a question.

Research paper – It is an in-depth document based on research. It is often in response to a question by a student.

Thesis / Dissertation – This is a large document, mostly assigned to students at the end of a degree depending on their own choice.

Research Proposal – This document is an outline of a topic and shows the plan for future research projects.

Literature Review – It is a mix of views on existing research on a topic. It informs about the approach to a new piece of information.

Lab Report – It is the written document of the lab experiment showing aims, methods, results, and conclusions.

Annotated Bibliography – It is a document with a list of citations and references with short descriptions.

The requirements of an academic document can vary from type to type. A scientific document has the requirements of providing clear and accurate information but in humanities, the convincing approach is used.

Do’s of Academic Writing

1. Firstly, academic writing is formal and unbiased.
2. The information should be clear and precise.
3. The academic document should be focused and well-structured.
4. It should have references and citations of reliable resources.
5. The information in the document should be correct and consistent.

The Don’ts of Academic Writing

1. The academic document should not be personal.
2. This document should be concise and direct.
3. An academic document is not literary, marketing, or journalistic.