What are the key characteristics of academic writing?

It is almost impossible to define good academic writing exactly. However, it is certainly possible to identify some key characteristics. The ones listed on the right are four of the most important features.

Academic writing:

- is more objective

- is more complex

- has a more formal structure

- uses more referencing

Academic writing is more objective.

Phrases such as I think, I believe and In my opinion should not be used in academic writing. Academics are not looking for what you think or believe - they want to see what you can show,

demonstrate and prove through evidence. Three specific strategies for achieving objectivity (illustrated in more detail in Steps 21-23) are outlined below:

Standard writing: I think there are 4 main areas where I can see big differences between standard writing and academic writing.

Academic writing: Generally speaking1, there are2 four main areas where differences between standard writing and academic writing can be seen3 ...

Strategy 1: Hedging Language {generally speaking) increases the ‘distance’ between the writer and the text, thereby creating more objectivity.

Strategy 2: Empty introductory phrases (there are) provide a platform for objective statements.

Strategy 3: The passive voice (can be seen) removes the need for a subject in the sentence.

This can be particularly useful to avoid using.

Academic writing is more complex.

As a general principle, academic writing is more complex than other forms of writing. This is because academic writing often discusses difficult, challenging ideas which can only be expressed with particular grammar and language. Areas where this complexity may be seen include:

Formality of language

Academic language is more formal than the vocabulary used in other writing.

Standard writing: big differences

Academic writing: most significant distinction

Note

Do not mistake ‘complex’ and ‘complicated’. Academic writing should not be complicated.

It should be relatively easy to follow, written in a clear, direct style.

Therefore, you should not:

• use long, difficult words which you do not understand.

• use difficult grammatical structures that you are not confident with.

• make strong statements about issues which you are unable to justify.

• mmmm

Grammatical structures

There are particular grammatical forms which appear more frequently in academic writing than other writing. For example: the passive voice , noun phrases and, as below relative clauses

Academic writing: A specific set of sub-skills which are required for successful performance.

Density of language

In the passage on page 11, the average number of letters per word of the e-mail is 4.8, whereas it is 5.4 for the sample of academic writing. This ‘density’ can be achieved through a greater use of content words (such as verbs and nouns) rather than structure words (such as prepositions and conjunctions). In the example below, the adjective form found in general writing is substituted with a verb form in academic writing.

Standard writing: Academic English and general English are different...

Academic writing: ‘Academic English’ is differentiated from ‘general English’ ...

Academic writing has a more formal structure

All writing has some kind of structure. The structure of academic writing is more formal than

other types of writing. The following characteristics may be observed:

The text as a whole has a specific, formalized structure - the introduction, main body and conclusion.

The text must have cohesion and coherence - it must link together clearly so that it is possible to follow the writer’s argument. Paragraphs should be roughly the same length throughout, so there is a good overall balance. Paragraphs often follow a similar structure - topic sentence, outline of argument, supporting evidence, short conclusion and transition to the next paragraph.

Academic writing uses more referencing

Building on the ideas of other people is one of the central features of academic writing. In order

to show where these ideas come from (and to avoid plagiarism ), a reference system is used.

Standard writing: I believe academic English and general English are different for the main reason that they have very different goals.

Academic writing: ‘Academic English’ is differentiated from ‘general English’ in its focus on ‘those communication skills in English which are required for study purposes in formal education systems’ (Jordan, 1997: 1)