The Student's Guide to the Academic Writing Style

Lengthy, boring, tedious, verbose - that's what many of us think of academic writing in form of essays, papers, journals, and other publications. But now that you are a student, you've got to learn to churn out your own form of academic writing at some point. 

Academic style may be clinical, but it is highly precise and reliable. Where you're writing dissertations, essays, or research papers in an academic writing style, you're expected to stick to the strict academic writing format and guidelines. 

The expert academic writers at Help for Assessment put this guide together to help students stay on top of their assignments. Whenever you're stuck, the team is always here to get your work done fast and reliably. We invite you to check out our samples to get a feel of what we can do.

What Is Academic Writing

Academic writing is a formal writing style used in academic material. It is highly structured, clear, and evidence-based, although not usually complex or overly technical unless necessary. 

Academic writing is usually used to expound on theories, describe research, or set forth clear ideas to colleagues. That's why structure is so important, to help make understanding easier.

Academic Writing Structure 

A regular academic writing paper has three parts; introduction, body, and conclusion. 

Introduction 

An introduction is essential for a writing project as it provides background information about the given topic. The introduction also has the thesis statement, which forms the basis of everything you write. That is one of the principles of writing a good essay. 

Body 

The body is the central part of the academic writing project. It has all the details you need for the given topic. It contains ideas, details, and evidence for the thesis statement. 

Conclusion 

The body is all about reaffirming the thesis statement and summarizing what was proven in the body. It shows the significance of what was proven and the probable next steps of action. 

Elements of Academic Writing 

Academic writing has several elements that make it unique from any other type of writing. These elements include;

Uses third-person point of view 

Academic writing tends to use the third person point of view, which uses pronouns like him, her, she, he, they, and them. The third works well for objectivity as it places the writer away from the evidence and topic. 

The first-person point of view makes you the center of the topic. It shows personal thoughts and opinions, which can be biased. You can only use it for reflective writing in educational papers. 

The second person is not ideal in academic writing since it sounds like instructing the reader what to do. It is ideal for guides such as this one where you are explaining how to do something. 

Includes academic vocabulary 

Academic writing involves the use of high-level academic vocabulary. Master the academic vocabulary, then use them appropriately within the text. However, remember not to use too much of them as the writing can become hard to understand. 

Includes research and references 

Unlike the other writing types that allow opinions and personal perspectives, academic writing relies on research from credible sources. You must get information from sources like journals, books, interviews with experts, and reputable newspapers. 

Academic writing also provides specific ways to summarize and cite the sources. These must follow various style guides such as APA, MLA, and others. The references also come in handy during presentations.

Clear and precise 

Academic writing is all about being clear and precise in your ideas so that readers understand exactly what you mean. Avoid being vague and hedging claims. 

For example, instead of saying, people have been looking into the issue for a long time, say researchers have been interested in the issue for five years. 

Even though academic writing uses jargon, it's all to make the writing clearer. 

Correct and consistent 

Academic writing does not compromise on the use of proper grammar, citation, and punctuation. It comes with specific guidelines on how to write numbers, abbreviations, tenses, capitalization, and other writing styles. 

Even though some might allow variations, you have to stick to a single format in a single project. 

Types of Academic Writing

The level and style of academic writing you use will depend of the type of project you're doing. For example, it might be literary if you're writing a book review, or technical if you're doing a capstone project. For academics, they are likely to write for publishing in journals, books, and reports. However, these are the common types of academic writing for students;

• Essay – a short argument with resources from the class set up to respond to a teacher's question. The essay is one of the simplest forms of academic writing. 
• Research paper – a more in-depth investigation using information from various sources in response to a teacher's question. 
• Thesis/dissertation paper – the final research done at the end of a degree on a student's topic of choice. 
• Research proposal – detailed information about a potential topic for a dissertation. 
• Literature review – a detailed analysis of existing research on a topic. It helps understand an approach to the given topic.

Reasons to Learn Academic Writing 

Academic writing is stressful for most students. The time and resources that go into writing an academic paper can be daunting. This makes most students wonder if it is worthwhile. 

Learning academic writing for students is essential for various reasons. These include;

Improves Analytical thinking 

Academic writing focuses on how much you can write information that makes sense to the reader. Research only forms the basis for the work. Afterward, you have to analyze the information and present it in the best format. The analytical skills will be useful in several subjects other than academic writing.

Professionalism 

Academic writing values professionalism. An ideal academic paper follows all the guidelines on grammar, citations among other rules. You also have to present your work free from any mistakes, ensuring you have the best quality work. 

Research skills 

The other reason to learn academic writing is to master research skills. Researching a topic is more than just typing a few words on a search engine bar. You need information from various sources, even when researching a single topic. 

Improve grades 

Everything you have learned about academic writing all comes down to improving grades. You need the best of grades to complete your course and proceed to further studies if you wish. Learning how to write essays, dissertations, and other academic writing forms will come in handy all through your academic life.

Once you master everything that academic writing is all about and apply, you are assured of high grades.

Get Help With Your Academic Assignment Now

Mastering the basics of academic writing does not make assignments any easier, but it does bring that top grade nearer to your grasp. If you're still lost on how to do your assignment, stop worrying! Let our experts handle your academic writing work for you. 

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