Academic writing

Academic writing is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal) and technical. It is formal by avoiding casual or conversational
language, such as contractions or informal vocabulary. It is impersonal and objective by avoiding direct reference to people or
feelings, and instead emphasising objects, facts and ideas. It is technical by using vocabulary specific to the discipline.
Different disciplines also have different styles and structures of writing. For example, some disciplines, such as in the humanities,
expect longer paragraphs, which include topic sentences to show how your argument is structured. Other disciplines, for example in
the sciences, expect short paragraphs, with no topic sentences, which are denser in factual information.
Academic language refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency required to learn effectively in schools and
academic programs—i.e., it's the language used in classroom lessons, books, tests, and assignments, and it's the language that
students are expected to learn and achieve fluency in
To be a good academic writer, you will need to learn the specific styles and structures for your discipline, as well as for each
individual writing task. Some ways to do this are to:
ask for more information from your lecturer/supervisor/tutor
study the writing style of the academic articles in the most prestigious journals in your discipline
look at the successful writing by other students in your subject area.
Formal language
You can make your writing more formal through the vocabulary that you use. For academic writing:
choose formal instead of informal vocabulary. For example, ‘somewhat’ is more formal than ‘a bit’, ‘insufficient’ is more formal
than ‘not enough’.
avoid contractions. For example, use ‘did not’ rather than ‘didn’t’.
avoid emotional language. For example, instead of strong words such as ‘wonderful’ or ‘terrible’, use more moderate words such as
‘helpful’ or ‘problematic’.
instead of using absolute positives and negatives, such as ‘proof’ or ‘wrong’, use more cautious evaluations, such as ‘strong
evidence’ or ‘less convincing’.
Objective language
Although academic writing usually requires you to be objective and impersonal (not mentioning personal feelings), often you may
still have to present your opinion. For example you may need to:
interpret findings
evaluate a theory
develop an argument
critique the work of others.
To express your point of view and still write in an objective style, you can use the following strategies.
Move information around in the sentence to emphasise things and ideas, instead of people and feelings. For example, instead of
writing ‘I believe the model is valid, based on these findings’, write ‘These findings indicate that the model is valid’.
Avoid evaluative words that are based on non-technical judgements and feelings. For example, use ‘valid’ or ‘did not demonstrate’
instead of ‘amazing’ or ‘disappointment’.
Avoid intense or emotional evaluative language. For example, instead of writing ‘Parents who smoke are obviously abusing their
children’, write ‘Secondhand smoke has some harmful effects on children’s health’.
Use modality to show caution about your views, or to allow room for others to disagree. For example, instead of writing ‘I think
secondhand smoke causes cancer’, write ‘There is evidence to support the possibility that secondhand smoke increases the risk of
cancer’.
Find authoritative sources, such as authors, researchers and theorists in books or articles, who support your point of view, and refer to
them in your writing. For example, instead of writing ‘Language is, in my view, clearly something social’, write ‘As Halliday (1973)
argues, language is intrinsically social’.
Different disciplines often have quite different expectations about how objective or subjective your writing can be. For example, in
some fields it is fine to use first person, such as 'my view is that...', while in other fields this is not acceptable. You should look at the
convention used in published articles in your discipline area, and check with your lecturer.

Technical language
As well as using formal language, you also need to write technically. This means that you need to develop a large vocabulary for the
concepts specific to the discipline or specialisation you’re writing for. To do this, take note of terminology used by your lecturer and
tutor, as well as in your readings.
Be careful about the meaning of technical terms. Often the same word has a different meaning in another discipline. For example,
‘discourse’ is a technical term used in multiple disciplines with different meanings.
Make sure you also understand and use the key categories and relationships in your discipline, that is, the way information and ideas
are organised into groups. For example, in the discipline of Law, law is separated into two types: common law and statute law. This
will help you structure your writing and make it more technical and analytical.
Types of academic writing
The four main types of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical. Each of these types of writing has
specific language features and purposes.
In many academic texts you will need to use more than one type. For example, in an empirical thesis:
 you will use critical writing in the literature review to show where there is a gap or opportunity in the existing research
 the methods section will be mostly descriptive to summarise the methods used to collect and analyse information
 the results section will be mostly descriptive and analytical as you report on the data you collected
 the discussion section is more analytical, as you relate your findings back to your research questions, and also persuasive, as
you propose your interpretations of the findings.
Descriptive
The simplest type of academic writing is descriptive. Its purpose is to provide facts or information. An example would be a summary
of an article or a report of the results of an experiment.
The kinds of instructions for a purely descriptive assignment include: identify, report, record, summarise and define.
Analytical
It’s rare for a university-level text to be purely descriptive. Most academic writing is also analytical. Analytical writing includes
descriptive writing, but you also re-organise the facts and information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types or
relationships.
Sometimes, these categories or relationships are already part of the discipline, sometimes you will create them specifically for your
text. For example, if you’re comparing two theories, you might break your comparison into several parts, for example: how each
theory deals with social context, how each theory deals with language learning, and how each theory can be used in practice.
The kinds of instructions for an analytical assignment include: analyse, compare, contrast, relate, examine.
To make your writing more analytical:
 spend plenty of time planning. Brainstorm the facts and ideas, and try different ways of grouping them, according to patterns,
parts, similarities and differences. You could use colour-coding, flow charts, tree diagrams or tables.
 create a name for the relationships and categories you find. For example, advantages and disadvantages.
 build each section and paragraph around one of the analytical categories.
 make the structure of your paper clear to your reader, by using topic sentences and a clear introduction.
Persuasive
In most academic writing, you are required to go at least one step further than analytical writing, to persuasive writing. Persuasive
writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is, information plus re-organising the information), with the addition of your
own point of view. Most essays are persuasive, and there is a persuasive element in at least the discussion and conclusion of a
research article.
Points of view in academic writing can include an argument, a recommendation, interpretation of findings or evaluation of the work
of others. In persuasive writing, each claim you make needs to be supported by some evidence, for example a reference to research
findings or published sources.
The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment include: argue, evaluate, discuss, take a position.
To help reach your own point of view on the facts or ideas:
 read some other researchers' points of view on the topic. Who do you feel is the most convincing?
 look for patterns in the data or references. Where is the evidence strongest?
 list several different interpretations. What are the real-life implications of each one? Which ones are likely to be most useful
or beneficial? Which ones have some problems?
  discuss the facts and ideas with someone else. Do you agree with their point of view?
To develop your argument:
 list the different reasons for your point of view
 think about the different types and sources of evidence which you can use to support your point of view
 consider different ways that your point of view is similar to, and different from, the points of view of other researchers
 look for various ways to break your point of view into parts. For example, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability,
scope of real-world application.
To present your argument, make sure:
 your text develops a coherent argument where all the individual claims work together to support your overall point of view
 your reasoning for each claim is clear to the reader
 your assumptions are valid
 you have evidence for every claim you make
 you use evidence that is convincing and directly relevant.
Critical
Critical writing is common for research, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate writing. It has all the features of persuasive
writing, with the added feature of at least one other point of view. While persuasive writing requires you to have your own point of
view on an issue or topic, critical writing requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.
For example, you may explain a researcher's interpretation or argument and then evaluate the merits of the argument, or give your
own alternative interpretation.
Examples of critical writing assignments include a critique of a journal article, or a literature review that identifies the strengths and
weaknesses of existing research. The kinds of instructions for critical writing include: critique, debate, disagree, evaluate.
You need to:
 accurately summarise all or part of the work. This could include identifying the main interpretations, assumptions or
methodology.
 have an opinion about the work. Appropriate types of opinion could include pointing out some problems with it, proposing
an alternative approach that would be better, and/or defending the work against the critiques of others
 provide evidence for your point of view. Depending on the specific assignment and the discipline, different types of evidence
may be appropriate, such as logical reasoning, reference to authoritative sources and/or research data.
Critical writing requires strong writing skills. You need to thoroughly understand the topic and the issues. You need to develop an
essay structure and paragraph structure that allows you to analyse different interpretations and develop your own argument,
supported by evidence.

What is Summarizing? Summarizing refers to providing an abridged version of the narrative.

What is Summary? Summary (précis) is a synopsis or digest of the essence of an entire text.
Some helpful tips in summarizing:
1. Read the text you are about to summarize over and over again.
2. Identify the main idea of the text you are planning to summarize. Some helpful tips in summarizing:
3. Put your feet into your readers' shoes. Some helpful tips in summarizing:
4. Ensure a smooth flow of ideas. Some helpful tips in summarizing:
5. Limit your summary to a few sentences. Some helpful tips in summarizing:
6. Do not forget to proofread your work.A thesis statement is the single, specific claim that your essay supports.
 A strong thesis answers the question you want to raise; it does so by presenting a topic, the position you wish to defend, and
a reasoning blueprintthat sketches out your defense of your chosen position. A good thesis is not merely a factual statement, an
observation, a personal opinion or preference, or the question you plan to answer.
Parts of a Thesis Statement
The thesis statement has 3 main parts: the limited subject, the precise opinion, and the blueprint of reasons.
1. Limited Subject
Make sure you’ve chosen a subject that meets your instructor’s requirements for the assignment. (It never hurts to ask.)
2. Precise Opinion
The precise opinion gives your answer to a question about the subject. A good precise opinion is vital to the reader’s
comprehension of the goal of the essay.
3. Blueprint of Reasons
A blueprint is a plan. It lets the builder know that the foyer will be here, the living room will be to the east, the dining room to the
west, and the family room will be north.The blueprint of an essay permits you to see the whole shape of your ideas before you start
churning out whole paragraphs.While it’s okay for you to start writing down your ideas before you have a clear sense of your
blueprint, your reader should never encounter a list of details without being told exactly what point these details are supposed to
support.

What is Paraphrasing? Paraphrasing is restating text giving the meaning in another form.
What are the steps to paraphrase?
1. Repeatedly read the passage to be paraphrased until you have completely understood what it says.
2. Do not look at the passage while you are writing your paraphrase.
Plagiarism - an act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression of others as your own
 word by word - known as cut-and-paste plagiarism
 Word order Plagiarism - happens when a writer changes some of the words of another author to make the work look as if
it were his own
 Idea Plagiarism - happens when a writer paraphrases the passage and includes it as his own without giving proper
attribution
What are the steps to paraphrase?
1. Repeatedly read the passage to be paraphrased until you have completely understood what it says.
2. Do not look at the passage while you are writing your paraphrase
3. After writing your paraphrase, read the original passage once again to check if you were able to accurately capture its
meaning. By doing this, you will avoid misquoting your source.
4. Check whether your paraphrase has errors in grammar or mechanics.
5. Always cite your source.

ACADEMIC SUMMARY
An academic summary is a concise representation of an academic text. The summary’s purpose is to enable the reader to
determine, in a limited amount of time, if and why a paper, chapter or book is worth reading.

An academic summary is different from an abstract. An abstract is a brief representation of the main results and conclusions of the
study. An academic summary characteristically shows the (argumentation) structure of the text; the skeleton of the argument
skeleton.

The summary should be a flowing text, written in your own words. This means that copying exact phrases from the original text is
not permitted. Moreover, the text should be written in well-formulated Dutch or English, and intelligible to an audience that is not
acquainted with the original text.

PURPOSE OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Students are expected to be able to quickly penetrate the structure and core ideas of a text, and to reproduce them concisely in
their own words. One way of doing this is writing a summary.

Summarising is pausing in order to get ahead. The purpose of the summary determines at which places to halt and what to see
there. Students usually summarise texts to help them pass an exam. In such cases, a summary prepares the student for possible
exam questions. However, a summary can have other functions as well: students may be asked to summarise a text in preparation
of a critical discussion during a tutorial. Students could also summarise part of a text because they want to use certain data while
writing an essay or thesis.

In short, a summary can serve three functions:

Explaining a text: intended to explore the text type, the main themes, and the theoretical framework; focuses on the general
content (annotated bibliography).
Replacing a text: extracts the most important (sub)themes of a text based on a well-considered selection (extract, exam
preparation, reading report)
Discussing a text: a critical report with an substantiated final conclusion (review, essay, final paper, preparation for a group
discussion)
The purpose for which you are examining a text or the aim of a summary can be different for each course. So, make sure you take a
thorough look at the assignment before you start reading or summarising.

HOW TO WRITE AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Selecting information for the summary can be difficult, yet it is very important. Certain aspects play an important role here:

The general purpose for writing the summary, or the academic audience the target readers – scholarly readers – for whom the
summary is written.
Other researchers or readers should be able to reconstruct the general idea described in the investigation, using the information
provided in the summary. This means that all information essential for this study should be discussed.
The information must be presented as described in the original article. This means that you are not allowed to present the
information according to your own interpretation unless the assignment/course instructor tells you to do so.
A recurring problem is that in a scientific text discussion and conclusion may be intertwined. The discussion found in the original
text has to be excluded from your summary.
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FORM AND CONTENT OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY
The format of an academic summary is nearly always the same. If you have a valid reason, you can deviate from the original order
in which the information is presented by the author. A summary of a research report must contain the following information:

Research question/problem statement

Motivation/relevance
Theoretical framework
Method
Results/arguments
Conclusion
The various components of a summary must be clearly recognisable. These will be discussed below.

Research question/Problem statement

A well-written summary contains a clear research question or problem statement that will be answered or argued in the text by the
author. What exactly is being examined? What is the specific issue the author wants to give insight in? On the basis of which
specific case did he or she do that?
Motivation/relevance
In this section of the summary you will answer the question why this investigation has been conducted. The research question or
the definition of the problem statement is connected to an issue that is of importance to the author, either in a social or academic
context. What is the author’s motivation? What lacuna is the research text trying to fill?

Theoretical framework
Subsequently, you should clarify within what framework the investigation has been conducted. From which theoretical perspective
has the author approached the issue? Which scientific theories or models does the author use as starting point to describe,
analyse, interpret and explain the issue?

Method
In this section you will explain how the investigation has been carried out. Only state the outlines; there is no need to explain in full
detail. Deliver a concise description of how the investigation has been generated, analysed and interpreted by means of a
scientifically proven method. Keep to the most important aspects, such as the structure of the most important data and the
method used in the analysis.

Results/Arguments
In this section you should process the outcome of the investigation. Do not mention all findings in the summary; narrow it down to
the most important findings or arguments relevant for answering the research question or supporting the main thesis. Any
unexpected outcomes are to be mentioned as well.

Conclusion
The research question has to be answered in this part of the academic summary. You are not allowed to submit any new
information.
Your own opinion (optional)

Sometimes, depending on the assignment or the purpose of the summary, it can be useful to provide your own opinion on the
text/quality of the investigation. Was it carried out in a way you agree with? Does the author use valid arguments? Make sure to
provide your own opinion in a separate paragraph; the summary itself has to be objective.

LANGUAGE, STYLE AND SPELLING OF AN ACADEMIC SUMMARY

Word choice, sentence structure, and style are of great importance when writing a summary of a scientific article. As a general rule,
the text should be easy to read and understand. Moreover, your usage should match your scholarly/intended/involved readers.
Naturally, you should not use inappropriate or vernacular language. It is also important to use proper academic style, which means
that the summary must be objective. Formulations must be accurate, so vague terminology such as ‘all sorts’, ‘some’ and ‘a few’
are best avoided. Your text cannot contain any spelling errors, and the grammar must be adequate. Also, be consistent in the use
of grammatical tense.