Writing Textbooks Boundless Writing Introduction to College-Level Writing Introduction to College-Level Writing
Writing Textbooks Boundless Writing Introduction to College-Level Writing
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Basic Principles of Academic Writing

Academic writing presents thoroughly investigated ideas to an informed audience.

Learning Objective

  • Contrast academic and popular writing

Key Points

    • Academic writing makes a claim, or argument, and uses details and facts to support that claim and persuade the reader.
    • Good academic writing is concise; rather than using flowery language and overly complex sentence structures, which can distract from your argument, you should use the simplest language possible to let your ideas shine through.
    • Academic writing usually uses objective language, which allows you to convince the reader that your argument is true rather than just your subjective opinion.

Terms

  • counter-arguments

    Ideas and evidence which refute or oppose the original claim.

  • analysis

    A critical examination by the writer which draws connections (or notes disconnections) between points of evidence. 

  • claim

    An assertion, used as the basis for an academic piece of writing, that must be proven with evidence. 

  • genre

    A category or type of writing, usually in reference to different academic disciplines.

  • academic writing

    Writing that is published or presented to a specialized audience in order to inform, persuade, demonstrate, explore, or achieve some other specific purpose. 

Full Text

"Academic writing" is a broad term that covers a wide variety of genres across disciplines. While its features will vary, academic (or scholarly) writing in general tries to maintain a professional tone while arguing for (or against) a specific position or idea.

There are many different approaches to academic research, since each discipline has its own conventions that dictate what kinds of texts and evidence are permissible. Scholarly writing typically takes an objective tone, even though it argues in favor of a specific position or stance. Academic writing can reach a broader audience through more informal venues, such as journalism and public speaking.

Overarching Principles of Academic Writing

Academic writing comes in many forms and can cover a wide range of subject matter; however, successful writing will demonstrate certain conventions, no matter what is being written about. 

The Thesis Statement: Making and Supporting a Claim

Strong academic writing takes a stance on the topic it is covering—it tries to convince the reader of a certain perspective or claim. This claim is known as the "thesis statement." The majority of an academic paper will be spent using facts and details to "prove" to the reader that the claim is true. How this is done depends on the discipline; in the sciences, a research paper will present an original experiment and data to support the claim; in a literature class, an essay will cite quotations from a text that weave into the larger argument. Regardless of discipline, the overarching goal of most academic writing is to persuade the reader to agree with the claim.

Concision

Concision is the art of using the fewest words possible to convey an idea. Some students mistakenly think that longer words and more complicated sentence structures make their writing "better" or more sophisticated. In reality, the longer and more complicated a sentence gets, the harder it is for a reader to interpret that sentence and stay engaged with your argument. For example, if you find yourself using a phrase like "due to the fact that," you can simplify your wording and make your sentence more powerful by saying "because" instead. Similarly, say "now" or "currently" rather than "at this point in time." Unnecessarily complicated wording distracts your reader from your argument; simpler sentence structures let your ideas shine through.

Objectivity

Most academic writing uses objective language. That is, rather than presenting the argument as the writer's opinion ("I believe that ...", "I think this means ..."), it tries to convince the reader that the argument is necessarily true based on the supporting facts: "this evidence reveals that ..."

Breaking the Rules

There are countless examples of respected scholarly pieces that bend these principles—for instance, the "reader response" school of literary criticism abandons the objective stance altogether. However, you have to know the rules before you can break them successfully. 

Think of a chef putting chili powder in hot chocolate, a delicious but unexpected bending of a rule: typically, desserts are not spicy. In order to successfully break that rule, the chef first had to understand all the flavors at work in both ingredients, and make the choice knowing that it would improve the recipe. It's only a good idea to break these rules and principles if there is a specific, good reason to do so. Therefore, if you plan to dispense with one of the conventions of academic writing, it is a good idea to make sure your instructor approves of your stylistic choice.

Building Academic Writing Skills

Academic work is an excellent way to develop strong research and writing skills. Try to use your undergraduate assignments to build your reading comprehension, critical and creative thinking, research and analytical skills. Having a specific, "real" audience will help you engage more directly with the reader and adapt to the conventions of writing in any given genre. 

The original Dallas Public Library

Across many academic disciplines, research is often required for writing assignments.

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