the importance of research in academic writing

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11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Why do we write? The importance of academic writing in research

The #MadeAtUni campaign, launched in December, is popping up all over Twitter, highlighting just how many incredible breakthroughs come out of teaching and research carried out at universities. Dr Stuart Archer, Researcher Developer at the University of Derby, looks at why academics need to communicate their research - and why academic writing is so important.

By Stuart Archer - 24 January 2019

Let's start by taking a step back and asking another question - are you reading this blog via the internet? In most cases, the answer is probably yes. The internet, or, more accurately, the technology that underpins it, is a prime example of why it's important to communicate research.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is the most well-known name associated with the history of the internet, and was certainly instrumental in its inception. He didn't invent everything to do with the internet, however. Much of the technology already existed in government and university research labs around the world, waiting for someone with the right vision to come along and link them all together. This wouldn't have been possible unless this work had been written down and published for all to find.

"If I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants" - Sir Isaac Newton

It may seem obvious, but this is one of the key principles behind any kind of research. Whether you are trying to find a cure for cancer, unpick the secrets of the universe or simply find out how to cook a different type of quiche, that vast repository of existing human knowledge can show you where to start.

In order to do something new and original, you need to know what people have done before you, so that you can build on it. Even Einstein's ground-breaking work on relativity, as famous as it made him, was re-imagined from other renowned physicists' work, such as Hendrik Lorentz and Hermann Minowski.

It's not just of benefit for other researchers. One of the main reasons for writing up academic research is to persuade someone that the conclusions from your research are correct . A sticking point for many researchers (myself included) is that the writing process is often seen as separate to research itself.

This may be more of an issue in the physical sciences or disciplines with a large amount of field work. You might be collecting results in a lab or in the field to write up later, whereas in many of the humanities, research and writing tend to go hand in hand. Writing about your research can help you criticise existing results, pick out any gaps in your evidence or argument that need to be filled, or simply just help organise your thoughts.

"Research isn't research until it's written down" - Anon

There is also the matter of accountability. A large proportion of research carried out in the UK is funded by public money, which is accounted for by the Research Excellence Framework (REF). One of the principles behind the REF is " open access " - research should be made freely available to the public and not kept behind inaccessible paywalls.

Open access and open research could form the topics of several blog posts, but fundamentally it comes down to ensuring research is communicated freely and transparently. Which, of course, leads us neatly back to writing!

Why people find writing so challenging

If you mention thesis writing to most research students, odds are this will bring them out in a cold sweat. The prospect of any kind of academic writing can bring out stress and anxiety in the best of academics. Everyone will have different reasons why, but there certainly are a few common themes.

One of the biggest concerns is that you are putting your professional opinions out for scrutiny by other academics and the wider world. You need to have the evidence and research to back it up, all presented coherently and formatted neatly, taking into account all of your discipline's idiosyncrasies in style, with the right tools to hand, and enough time to do it.

Time is a big factor for many academics, particularly those who are heavily responsible for teaching, as finding a slot in your timetable to sit and write up your research can be extremely challenging. Being able to write both with speed and quality takes a lot of practice - which is going to be even more difficult if you are short on time.

There is also a huge variation across universities in both the quality and content of how undergraduate and postgraduate students are taught how to write academically. It's not unheard of to find people who have written their doctoral thesis, who are now publishing in journals as a researcher, that have never had any formal academic writing education at university.

What we are doing to help

In November, we took part for the first time in WRITEfest2018 - a collaborative celebration of academic writing between a number of universities around the world. It is designed to promote skills and good practice in academic writing, and to get academics away from their desks and just "shut up and write".

As part of this, we ran masterclasses to help researchers with writing strategies to better structure their writing, making use of short blocks of available time. We have run workshops on specific styles of academic writing, such as bid writing, publications in journals and books. This is in addition to workshops for our research students and a 12-week academic English module mainly aimed at international students.

We have also blocked out protected writing time slots so researchers can put the skills from these masterclasses into practice. The overall goal is to help remove the barriers to writing, so researchers can more easily communicate the great research they are doing with the wider world.

For further information contact the press office at [email protected] .

About the author

Stuart archer former researcher (researcher development).

Stuart Archer is the former Lead for the Researcher Development Programme at the University of Derby. He is also a research chemist by training.

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The Role of Research in Academic Essay Writing

| Danielle McLeod

Danielle McLeod

Danielle McLeod is a highly qualified secondary English Language Arts Instructor who brings a diverse educational background to her classroom. With degrees in science, English, and literacy, she has worked to create cross-curricular materials to bridge learning gaps and help students focus on effective writing and speech techniques. Currently working as a dual credit technical writing instructor at a Career and Technical Education Center, her curriculum development surrounds student focus on effective communication for future career choices.

Academic essay writing hinges on robust research. It is a scholarly endeavor that demands a well-articulated argument underpinned by carefully sourced evidence. Research provides substance to an academic essay, offering the depth and credibility necessary to make compelling points.

This article will outline the key elements of conducting effective research for academic writing. It will discuss the process of selecting appropriate sources, employing diverse research methodologies, and critically evaluating the information collected. By the end of this article, you will possess strategies to improve your research skills and produce well-informed, trustworthy, and persuasive essays.

Conducting thorough research is essential for academic writing. If you’re ready to elevate your essay-writing abilities, read on to discover the secrets of effective research.

Why Is Research Integral to Academic Essays?

Academic writing , such as essays, necessitates diligent research to create well-informed, credible, and understandable content. Merely resorting to “ essay writing service ” does not guarantee the depth of research required for an academically rigorous essay. Instead, you must invest time and effort to source reliable materials that bolster your arguments.

The research process involves gathering information from various scholarly sources, evaluating their credibility, and synthesizing the findings to support a clear argument. This research-driven approach is essential for academic essays, as it allows writers to delve into a topic, uncover complex perspectives, and build a compelling case backed by dependable evidence

What Constitutes Effective Research in Essay Writing?

Conducting thorough research is an important part of crafting high-quality academic essays. The research process involves consulting a range of reliable and authoritative sources and employing research methods to ensure an understanding of the topic. 

Additionally, critical thinking skills are essential in this stage, as writers must carefully evaluate the credibility, relevance, and potential biases of the information they gather. 

Effective research for academic essays involves using a range of reliable and authoritative sources, such as:

• Peer-reviewed journal articles
• Books from reputable academic publishers
• Government reports and policy documents
• Industry or organizational whitepapers
• Scholarly databases (e.g., JSTOR, Google Scholar, ProQuest)

The research process should also employ various methodologies, such as:

• Conducting database searches using relevant keywords and Boolean operators
• Consulting library catalogs and online resources
• Reviewing bibliographies and reference lists from credible sources
• Reaching out to subject matter experts for interviews or recommendations
• Analyzing statistical data from trusted organizational websites

Critical thinking skills are crucial in this stage, as writers must evaluate the following:

• Quality of the research methodology and conclusions
• Relevance of the information to the essay’s topic and argument
• Potential biases or agendas of the authors or publishers
• Currency and timeliness of the source material
• Corroboration of findings across multiple reliable sources

How Does Research Improve the Quality of an Academic Essay?

Research is the foundation of a strong academic essay. By thoroughly investigating a topic, writers can identify key debates and perspectives and craft a well-reasoned argument. Integrating research findings allows for a more persuasive essay as the writer can draw upon credible evidence to support their claims. 

Additionally, research helps writers avoid plagiarism by properly attributing ideas and information to their sources.

What Are the Common Challenges in Research for Essay Writing?

One of the primary challenges in conducting research for essays is navigating the abundance of information available, both online and in physical sources. Writers must develop strategies to efficiently locate, evaluate, and synthesize relevant information from various sources. 

Additionally, maintaining academic integrity by properly citing sources and avoiding plagiarism can be a complex process that requires careful attention to citation standards.

What Steps Are Best When Evaluating Sources for Academic Essays?

Evaluating the credibility and relevance of sources is likely the most important step in the research process for academic essays. This evaluation stage helps ensure that writers are incorporating high-quality, authoritative information into their work.

When evaluating sources for academic essays, writers should consider the following factors:

Author’s expertise

• Is the author an established expert in the field?
• Do they have the necessary credentials and background to be a credible source?

Publication’s reputation

• Is the source published by a reputable academic press or journal?
• Does the publication have a track record of reliable, well-researched content?

Currency of information

• How recent is the source material?
• Is the information up-to-date and relevant to the current academic discourse?

Objectivity and accuracy

• Is the source free from obvious biases or agendas?
• Does the information presented appear to be well-researched and factually accurate?

Reliable sources typically include peer-reviewed journal articles, books from reputable publishers, and reports from established organizations or government agencies. By carefully evaluating these factors, writers can ensure that the research integrated into their academic essays has the highest quality and credibility.

Where Should Research Integration Occur Within an Essay?

Effectively integrating research into the structure of an academic essay is crucial for producing a well-informed and persuasive piece of writing. Research findings should be integrated seamlessly throughout the essay to support the central argument.

In the introduction, writers can use research to:

• Provide context and background information on the topic
• Highlight the significance or relevance of the issue being discussed
• Establish the essay’s central thesis or claim

Throughout the body paragraphs, research should be used to:

• Substantiate key points and claims
• Offer diverse perspectives on the topic
• Provide evidence to support the overall argument

In the conclusion, research can be leveraged to:

• Reinforce the main argument
• Suggest broader implications or applications
• Identify areas for further research or discussion

How to Effectively Integrate Research into an Essay

When incorporating research into an academic essay, it is important to:

• Seamlessly include direct quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from sources
• Clearly attribute ideas and information to the original sources using proper citation styles
• Analyze and interpret the research findings to demonstrate an understanding of their significance
• Avoid overreliance on direct quotes, which can disrupt the flow of the writing
• Maintain a consistent and logical structure that guides the reader through the essay’s argument

By strategically integrating research at key points throughout the essay, writers can create a well-supported and compelling academic work.

How Does Research Shape the Argumentation in Essay Writing?

Research is a crucial component of crafting high-quality academic essays. The research process involves consulting various sources and employing diverse methods to develop an understanding of the topic. 

This may include reading peer-reviewed journal articles, which undergo editorial review to ensure accuracy and reliability. It could also involve analyzing reports published by government agencies or nonprofit organizations, often providing data and insights on complex issues. 

Additionally, writers may conduct interviews with experts to gain first-hand perspectives to further support their analysis. Evaluating source materials’ quality, relevance, and biases is also part of the research stage. This approach allows essay writers to build a foundation of evidence to support their arguments, drawing upon credible and informative resources. Investing time and effort into rigorous research enables students to craft well-informed and persuasive academic essays.

What Citation Styles Are Common in Academic Writing?

When writing academic essays, adhering to common citation styles that provide standardized guidelines for properly attributing sources is important. The two most widely used citation formats are APA (American Psychological Association) and MLA (Modern Language Association). These styles serve several crucial purposes:

• Standardized Guidelines for Source Attribution
• Specify proper formatting for in-text citations, including author names, publication dates, and page numbers
• Provide structures for compiling comprehensive reference lists at the end of the essay
• Demonstration of Academic Integrity
• Proper citation shows the writer has thoroughly researched the topic and gives credit to relevant sources
• Avoids plagiarism by clearly distinguishing the writer’s own ideas from those of other authors
• Facilitation of Source Verification
• Allows readers to easily locate and access the sources used in the essay
• Enables the assessment of the breadth and quality of the research conducted

By adhering to common citation styles like APA and MLA, academic writers can ensure that their essays demonstrate proper research and ethical practices, allowing readers to become more involved with the source material.

How Can Technology Aid Research for Essay Writing?

Technology has revolutionized the research process for academic essay writing. Online databases, search engines, and reference management software can greatly simplify and speed up the gathering and organization of research materials. 

Tools like plagiarism detection software can help writers maintain the integrity of their work by identifying any unintentional plagiarism. 

Research is an integral component of academic essay writing. It allows writers to develop a deeper understanding of a topic and create a well-supported argument. Effective research involves a range of reliable sources and critically evaluates the information gathered. 

By integrating research findings throughout the essay, writers can produce a more substantive, persuasive, and credible academic writing. Overcoming the challenges of research, evaluating sources, and properly citing sources are all essential skills for success in academic essays.

Check out some others we covered:

• Best Essay and Paper Checker
• Comparative Essay Writing

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• Academic Writing Style
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
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• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
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• Primary Sources
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• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
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• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
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• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
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• Bibliography

Academic writing refers to a style of expression that researchers use to define the intellectual boundaries of their disciplines and specific areas of expertise. Characteristics of academic writing include a formal tone, use of the third-person rather than first-person perspective (usually), a clear focus on the research problem under investigation, and precise word choice. Like specialist languages adopted in other professions, such as, law or medicine, academic writing is designed to convey agreed meaning about complex ideas or concepts within a community of scholarly experts and practitioners.

Academic Writing. Writing Center. Colorado Technical College; Hartley, James. Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Guide . New York: Routledge, 2008; Ezza, El-Sadig Y. and Touria Drid. T eaching Academic Writing as a Discipline-Specific Skill in Higher Education . Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2020.

Importance of Good Academic Writing

The accepted form of academic writing in the social sciences can vary considerable depending on the methodological framework and the intended audience. However, most college-level research papers require careful attention to the following stylistic elements:

I.  The Big Picture Unlike creative or journalistic writing, the overall structure of academic writing is formal and logical. It must be cohesive and possess a logically organized flow of ideas; this means that the various parts are connected to form a unified whole. There should be narrative links between sentences and paragraphs so that the reader is able to follow your argument. The introduction should include a description of how the rest of the paper is organized and all sources are properly cited throughout the paper.

II.  Tone The overall tone refers to the attitude conveyed in a piece of writing. Throughout your paper, it is important that you present the arguments of others fairly and with an appropriate narrative tone. When presenting a position or argument that you disagree with, describe this argument accurately and without loaded or biased language. In academic writing, the author is expected to investigate the research problem from an authoritative point of view. You should, therefore, state the strengths of your arguments confidently, using language that is neutral, not confrontational or dismissive.

III.  Diction Diction refers to the choice of words you use. Awareness of the words you use is important because words that have almost the same denotation [dictionary definition] can have very different connotations [implied meanings]. This is particularly true in academic writing because words and terminology can evolve a nuanced meaning that describes a particular idea, concept, or phenomenon derived from the epistemological culture of that discipline [e.g., the concept of rational choice in political science]. Therefore, use concrete words [not general] that convey a specific meaning. If this cannot be done without confusing the reader, then you need to explain what you mean within the context of how that word or phrase is used within a discipline.

IV.  Language The investigation of research problems in the social sciences is often complex and multi- dimensional . Therefore, it is important that you use unambiguous language. Well-structured paragraphs and clear topic sentences enable a reader to follow your line of thinking without difficulty. Your language should be concise, formal, and express precisely what you want it to mean. Do not use vague expressions that are not specific or precise enough for the reader to derive exact meaning ["they," "we," "people," "the organization," etc.], abbreviations like 'i.e.'  ["in other words"], 'e.g.' ["for example"], or 'a.k.a.' ["also known as"], and the use of unspecific determinate words ["super," "very," "incredible," "huge," etc.].

V.  Punctuation Scholars rely on precise words and language to establish the narrative tone of their work and, therefore, punctuation marks are used very deliberately. For example, exclamation points are rarely used to express a heightened tone because it can come across as unsophisticated or over-excited. Dashes should be limited to the insertion of an explanatory comment in a sentence, while hyphens should be limited to connecting prefixes to words [e.g., multi-disciplinary] or when forming compound phrases [e.g., commander-in-chief]. Finally, understand that semi-colons represent a pause that is longer than a comma, but shorter than a period in a sentence. In general, there are four grammatical uses of semi-colons: when a second clause expands or explains the first clause; to describe a sequence of actions or different aspects of the same topic; placed before clauses which begin with "nevertheless", "therefore", "even so," and "for instance”; and, to mark off a series of phrases or clauses which contain commas. If you are not confident about when to use semi-colons [and most of the time, they are not required for proper punctuation], rewrite using shorter sentences or revise the paragraph.

VI.  Academic Conventions Among the most important rules and principles of academic engagement of a writing is citing sources in the body of your paper and providing a list of references as either footnotes or endnotes. The academic convention of citing sources facilitates processes of intellectual discovery, critical thinking, and applying a deliberate method of navigating through the scholarly landscape by tracking how cited works are propagated by scholars over time . Aside from citing sources, other academic conventions to follow include the appropriate use of headings and subheadings, properly spelling out acronyms when first used in the text, avoiding slang or colloquial language, avoiding emotive language or unsupported declarative statements, avoiding contractions [e.g., isn't], and using first person and second person pronouns only when necessary.

VII.  Evidence-Based Reasoning Assignments often ask you to express your own point of view about the research problem. However, what is valued in academic writing is that statements are based on evidence-based reasoning. This refers to possessing a clear understanding of the pertinent body of knowledge and academic debates that exist within, and often external to, your discipline concerning the topic. You need to support your arguments with evidence from scholarly [i.e., academic or peer-reviewed] sources. It should be an objective stance presented as a logical argument; the quality of the evidence you cite will determine the strength of your argument. The objective is to convince the reader of the validity of your thoughts through a well-documented, coherent, and logically structured piece of writing. This is particularly important when proposing solutions to problems or delineating recommended courses of action.

VIII.  Thesis-Driven Academic writing is “thesis-driven,” meaning that the starting point is a particular perspective, idea, or position applied to the chosen topic of investigation, such as, establishing, proving, or disproving solutions to the questions applied to investigating the research problem. Note that a problem statement without the research questions does not qualify as academic writing because simply identifying the research problem does not establish for the reader how you will contribute to solving the problem, what aspects you believe are most critical, or suggest a method for gathering information or data to better understand the problem.

IX.  Complexity and Higher-Order Thinking Academic writing addresses complex issues that require higher-order thinking skills applied to understanding the research problem [e.g., critical, reflective, logical, and creative thinking as opposed to, for example, descriptive or prescriptive thinking]. Higher-order thinking skills include cognitive processes that are used to comprehend, solve problems, and express concepts or that describe abstract ideas that cannot be easily acted out, pointed to, or shown with images. Think of your writing this way: One of the most important attributes of a good teacher is the ability to explain complexity in a way that is understandable and relatable to the topic being presented during class. This is also one of the main functions of academic writing--examining and explaining the significance of complex ideas as clearly as possible.  As a writer, you must adopt the role of a good teacher by summarizing complex information into a well-organized synthesis of ideas, concepts, and recommendations that contribute to a better understanding of the research problem.

Academic Writing. Writing Center. Colorado Technical College; Hartley, James. Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Guide . New York: Routledge, 2008; Murray, Rowena  and Sarah Moore. The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach . New York: Open University Press, 2006; Johnson, Roy. Improve Your Writing Skills . Manchester, UK: Clifton Press, 1995; Nygaard, Lynn P. Writing for Scholars: A Practical Guide to Making Sense and Being Heard . Second edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2015; Silvia, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2007; Style, Diction, Tone, and Voice. Writing Center, Wheaton College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.

Strategies for...

Understanding Academic Writing and Its Jargon

The very definition of research jargon is language specific to a particular community of practitioner-researchers . Therefore, in modern university life, jargon represents the specific language and meaning assigned to words and phrases specific to a discipline or area of study. For example, the idea of being rational may hold the same general meaning in both political science and psychology, but its application to understanding and explaining phenomena within the research domain of a each discipline may have subtle differences based upon how scholars in that discipline apply the concept to the theories and practice of their work.

Given this, it is important that specialist terminology [i.e., jargon] must be used accurately and applied under the appropriate conditions . Subject-specific dictionaries are the best places to confirm the meaning of terms within the context of a specific discipline. These can be found by either searching in the USC Libraries catalog by entering the disciplinary and the word dictionary [e.g., sociology and dictionary] or using a database such as Credo Reference [a curated collection of subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, guides from highly regarded publishers] . It is appropriate for you to use specialist language within your field of study, but you should avoid using such language when writing for non-academic or general audiences.

Problems with Opaque Writing

A common criticism of scholars is that they can utilize needlessly complex syntax or overly expansive vocabulary that is impenetrable or not well-defined. When writing, avoid problems associated with opaque writing by keeping in mind the following:

1.   Excessive use of specialized terminology . Yes, it is appropriate for you to use specialist language and a formal style of expression in academic writing, but it does not mean using "big words" just for the sake of doing so. Overuse of complex or obscure words or writing complicated sentence constructions gives readers the impression that your paper is more about style than substance; it leads the reader to question if you really know what you are talking about. Focus on creating clear, concise, and elegant prose that minimizes reliance on specialized terminology.

2.   Inappropriate use of specialized terminology . Because you are dealing with concepts, research, and data within your discipline, you need to use the technical language appropriate to that area of study. However, nothing will undermine the validity of your study quicker than the inappropriate application of a term or concept. Avoid using terms whose meaning you are unsure of--do not just guess or assume! Consult the meaning of terms in specialized, discipline-specific dictionaries by searching the USC Libraries catalog or the Credo Reference database [see above].

Additional Problems to Avoid

In addition to understanding the use of specialized language, there are other aspects of academic writing in the social sciences that you should be aware of. These problems include:

• Personal nouns . Excessive use of personal nouns [e.g., I, me, you, us] may lead the reader to believe the study was overly subjective. These words can be interpreted as being used only to avoid presenting empirical evidence about the research problem. Limit the use of personal nouns to descriptions of things you actually did [e.g., "I interviewed ten teachers about classroom management techniques..."]. Note that personal nouns are generally found in the discussion section of a paper because this is where you as the author/researcher interpret and describe your work.
• Directives . Avoid directives that demand the reader to "do this" or "do that." Directives should be framed as evidence-based recommendations or goals leading to specific outcomes. Note that an exception to this can be found in various forms of action research that involve evidence-based advocacy for social justice or transformative change. Within this area of the social sciences, authors may offer directives for action in a declarative tone of urgency.
• Informal, conversational tone using slang and idioms . Academic writing relies on excellent grammar and precise word structure. Your narrative should not include regional dialects or slang terms because they can be open to interpretation. Your writing should be direct and concise using standard English.
• Wordiness. Focus on being concise, straightforward, and developing a narrative that does not have confusing language . By doing so, you  help eliminate the possibility of the reader misinterpreting the design and purpose of your study.
• Vague expressions (e.g., "they," "we," "people," "the company," "that area," etc.). Being concise in your writing also includes avoiding vague references to persons, places, or things. While proofreading your paper, be sure to look for and edit any vague or imprecise statements that lack context or specificity.
• Numbered lists and bulleted items . The use of bulleted items or lists should be used only if the narrative dictates a need for clarity. For example, it is fine to state, "The four main problems with hedge funds are:" and then list them as 1, 2, 3, 4. However, in academic writing, this must then be followed by detailed explanation and analysis of each item. Given this, the question you should ask yourself while proofreading is: why begin with a list in the first place rather than just starting with systematic analysis of each item arranged in separate paragraphs? Also, be careful using numbers because they can imply a ranked order of priority or importance. If none exists, use bullets and avoid checkmarks or other symbols.
• Descriptive writing . Describing a research problem is an important means of contextualizing a study. In fact, some description or background information may be needed because you can not assume the reader knows the key aspects of the topic. However, the content of your paper should focus on methodology, the analysis and interpretation of findings, and their implications as they apply to the research problem rather than background information and descriptions of tangential issues.
• Personal experience. Drawing upon personal experience [e.g., traveling abroad; caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease] can be an effective way of introducing the research problem or engaging your readers in understanding its significance. Use personal experience only as an example, though, because academic writing relies on evidence-based research. To do otherwise is simply story-telling.

NOTE:   Rules concerning excellent grammar and precise word structure do not apply when quoting someone.  A quote should be inserted in the text of your paper exactly as it was stated. If the quote is especially vague or hard to understand, consider paraphrasing it or using a different quote to convey the same meaning. Consider inserting the term "sic" in brackets after the quoted text to indicate that the quotation has been transcribed exactly as found in the original source, but the source had grammar, spelling, or other errors. The adverb sic informs the reader that the errors are not yours.

Academic Writing. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Academic Writing Style. First-Year Seminar Handbook. Mercer University; Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Cornell University; College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Murray, Rowena  and Sarah Moore. The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach . New York: Open University Press, 2006; Johnson, Eileen S. “Action Research.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education . Edited by George W. Noblit and Joseph R. Neikirk. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020); Oppenheimer, Daniel M. "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly." Applied Cognitive Psychology 20 (2006): 139-156; Ezza, El-Sadig Y. and Touria Drid. T eaching Academic Writing as a Discipline-Specific Skill in Higher Education . Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2020; Pernawan, Ari. Common Flaws in Students' Research Proposals. English Education Department. Yogyakarta State University; Style. College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Invention: Five Qualities of Good Writing. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012; What Is an Academic Paper? Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Improving Academic Writing

To improve your academic writing skills, you should focus your efforts on three key areas: 1.   Clear Writing . The act of thinking about precedes the process of writing about. Good writers spend sufficient time distilling information and reviewing major points from the literature they have reviewed before creating their work. Writing detailed outlines can help you clearly organize your thoughts. Effective academic writing begins with solid planning, so manage your time carefully. 2.  Excellent Grammar . Needless to say, English grammar can be difficult and complex; even the best scholars take many years before they have a command of the major points of good grammar. Take the time to learn the major and minor points of good grammar. Spend time practicing writing and seek detailed feedback from professors. Take advantage of the Writing Center on campus if you need help. Proper punctuation and good proofreading skills can significantly improve academic writing [see sub-tab for proofreading you paper ].

Refer to these three basic resources to help your grammar and writing skills:

• A good writing reference book, such as, Strunk and White’s book, The Elements of Style or the St. Martin's Handbook ;
• A college-level dictionary, such as, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ;
• The latest edition of Roget's Thesaurus in Dictionary Form .

3.  Consistent Stylistic Approach . Whether your professor expresses a preference to use MLA, APA or the Chicago Manual of Style or not, choose one style manual and stick to it. Each of these style manuals provide rules on how to write out numbers, references, citations, footnotes, and lists. Consistent adherence to a style of writing helps with the narrative flow of your paper and improves its readability. Note that some disciplines require a particular style [e.g., education uses APA] so as you write more papers within your major, your familiarity with it will improve.

II. Evaluating Quality of Writing

A useful approach for evaluating the quality of your academic writing is to consider the following issues from the perspective of the reader. While proofreading your final draft, critically assess the following elements in your writing.

• It is shaped around one clear research problem, and it explains what that problem is from the outset.
• Your paper tells the reader why the problem is important and why people should know about it.
• You have accurately and thoroughly informed the reader what has already been published about this problem or others related to it and noted important gaps in the research.
• You have provided evidence to support your argument that the reader finds convincing.
• The paper includes a description of how and why particular evidence was collected and analyzed, and why specific theoretical arguments or concepts were used.
• The paper is made up of paragraphs, each containing only one controlling idea.
• You indicate how each section of the paper addresses the research problem.
• You have considered counter-arguments or counter-examples where they are relevant.
• Arguments, evidence, and their significance have been presented in the conclusion.
• Limitations of your research have been explained as evidence of the potential need for further study.
• The narrative flows in a clear, accurate, and well-organized way.

Boscoloa, Pietro, Barbara Arféb, and Mara Quarisaa. “Improving the Quality of Students' Academic Writing: An Intervention Study.” Studies in Higher Education 32 (August 2007): 419-438; Academic Writing. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Academic Writing Style. First-Year Seminar Handbook. Mercer University; Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Cornell University; Candlin, Christopher. Academic Writing Step-By-Step: A Research-based Approach . Bristol, CT: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2016; College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Style . College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Invention: Five Qualities of Good Writing. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012; What Is an Academic Paper? Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College.

Writing Tip

Considering the Passive Voice in Academic Writing

In the English language, we are able to construct sentences in the following way: 1.  "The policies of Congress caused the economic crisis." 2.  "The economic crisis was caused by the policies of Congress."

The decision about which sentence to use is governed by whether you want to focus on “Congress” and what they did, or on “the economic crisis” and what caused it. This choice in focus is achieved with the use of either the active or the passive voice. When you want your readers to focus on the "doer" of an action, you can make the "doer"' the subject of the sentence and use the active form of the verb. When you want readers to focus on the person, place, or thing affected by the action, or the action itself, you can make the effect or the action the subject of the sentence by using the passive form of the verb.

Often in academic writing, scholars don't want to focus on who is doing an action, but on who is receiving or experiencing the consequences of that action. The passive voice is useful in academic writing because it allows writers to highlight the most important participants or events within sentences by placing them at the beginning of the sentence.

Use the passive voice when:

• You want to focus on the person, place, or thing affected by the action, or the action itself;
• It is not important who or what did the action;
• You want to be impersonal or more formal.

Form the passive voice by:

• Turning the object of the active sentence into the subject of the passive sentence.
• Changing the verb to a passive form by adding the appropriate form of the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb.

NOTE: Consult with your professor about using the passive voice before submitting your research paper. Some strongly discourage its use!

Active and Passive Voice. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Diefenbach, Paul. Future of Digital Media Syllabus. Drexel University; Passive Voice. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.  

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Successful Scientific Writing and Publishing: A Step-by-Step Approach

John k. iskander.

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Sara Beth Wolicki

2 Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Washington, District of Columbia

Rebecca T. Leeb

Paul z. siegel.

Scientific writing and publication are essential to advancing knowledge and practice in public health, but prospective authors face substantial challenges. Authors can overcome barriers, such as lack of understanding about scientific writing and the publishing process, with training and resources. The objective of this article is to provide guidance and practical recommendations to help both inexperienced and experienced authors working in public health settings to more efficiently publish the results of their work in the peer-reviewed literature. We include an overview of basic scientific writing principles, a detailed description of the sections of an original research article, and practical recommendations for selecting a journal and responding to peer review comments. The overall approach and strategies presented are intended to contribute to individual career development while also increasing the external validity of published literature and promoting quality public health science.

Introduction

Publishing in the peer-reviewed literature is essential to advancing science and its translation to practice in public health ( 1 , 2 ). The public health workforce is diverse and practices in a variety of settings ( 3 ). For some public health professionals, writing and publishing the results of their work is a requirement. Others, such as program managers, policy makers, or health educators, may see publishing as being outside the scope of their responsibilities ( 4 ).

Disseminating new knowledge via writing and publishing is vital both to authors and to the field of public health ( 5 ). On an individual level, publishing is associated with professional development and career advancement ( 6 ). Publications share new research, results, and methods in a trusted format and advance scientific knowledge and practice ( 1 , 7 ). As more public health professionals are empowered to publish, the science and practice of public health will advance ( 1 ).

Unfortunately, prospective authors face barriers to publishing their work, including navigating the process of scientific writing and publishing, which can be time-consuming and cumbersome. Often, public health professionals lack both training opportunities and understanding of the process ( 8 ). To address these barriers and encourage public health professionals to publish their findings, the senior author (P.Z.S.) and others developed Successful Scientific Writing (SSW), a course about scientific writing and publishing. Over the past 30 years, this course has been taught to thousands of public health professionals, as well as hundreds of students at multiple graduate schools of public health. An unpublished longitudinal survey of course participants indicated that two-thirds agreed that SSW had helped them to publish a scientific manuscript or have a conference abstract accepted. The course content has been translated into this manuscript. The objective of this article is to provide prospective authors with the tools needed to write original research articles of high quality that have a good chance of being published.

Basic Recommendations for Scientific Writing

Prospective authors need to know and tailor their writing to the audience. When writing for scientific journals, 4 fundamental recommendations are: clearly stating the usefulness of the study, formulating a key message, limiting unnecessary words, and using strategic sentence structure.

To demonstrate usefulness, focus on how the study addresses a meaningful gap in current knowledge or understanding. What critical piece of information does the study provide that will help solve an important public health problem? For example, if a particular group of people is at higher risk for a specific condition, but the magnitude of that risk is unknown, a study to quantify the risk could be important for measuring the population’s burden of disease.

Scientific articles should have a clear and concise take-home message. Typically, this is expressed in 1 to 2 sentences that summarize the main point of the paper. This message can be used to focus the presentation of background information, results, and discussion of findings. As an early step in the drafting of an article, we recommend writing out the take-home message and sharing it with co-authors for their review and comment. Authors who know their key point are better able to keep their writing within the scope of the article and present information more succinctly. Once an initial draft of the manuscript is complete, the take-home message can be used to review the content and remove needless words, sentences, or paragraphs.

Concise writing improves the clarity of an article. Including additional words or clauses can divert from the main message and confuse the reader. Additionally, journal articles are typically limited by word count. The most important words and phrases to eliminate are those that do not add meaning, or are duplicative. Often, cutting adjectives or parenthetical statements results in a more concise paper that is also easier to read.

Sentence structure strongly influences the readability and comprehension of journal articles. Twenty to 25 words is a reasonable range for maximum sentence length. Limit the number of clauses per sentence, and place the most important or relevant clause at the end of the sentence ( 9 ). Consider the sentences:

• By using these tips and tricks, an author may write and publish an additional 2 articles a year.
• An author may write and publish an additional 2 articles a year by using these tips and tricks.

The focus of the first sentence is on the impact of using the tips and tricks, that is, 2 more articles published per year. In contrast, the second sentence focuses on the tips and tricks themselves.

Authors should use the active voice whenever possible. Consider the following example:

• Active voice: Authors who use the active voice write more clearly.
• Passive voice: Clarity of writing is promoted by the use of the active voice.

The active voice specifies who is doing the action described in the sentence. Using the active voice improves clarity and understanding, and generally uses fewer words. Scientific writing includes both active and passive voice, but authors should be intentional with their use of either one.

Sections of an Original Research Article

Original research articles make up most of the peer-reviewed literature ( 10 ), follow a standardized format, and are the focus of this article. The 4 main sections are the introduction, methods, results, and discussion, sometimes referred to by the initialism, IMRAD. These 4 sections are referred to as the body of an article. Two additional components of all peer-reviewed articles are the title and the abstract. Each section’s purpose and key components, along with specific recommendations for writing each section, are listed below.

Title. The purpose of a title is twofold: to provide an accurate and informative summary and to attract the target audience. Both prospective readers and database search engines use the title to screen articles for relevance ( 2 ). All titles should clearly state the topic being studied. The topic includes the who, what, when, and where of the study. Along with the topic, select 1 or 2 of the following items to include within the title: methods, results, conclusions, or named data set or study. The items chosen should emphasize what is new and useful about the study. Some sources recommend limiting the title to less than 150 characters ( 2 ). Articles with shorter titles are more frequently cited than articles with longer titles ( 11 ). Several title options are possible for the same study ( Figure ).

Two examples of title options for a single study.

Abstract . The abstract serves 2 key functions. Journals may screen articles for potential publication by using the abstract alone ( 12 ), and readers may use the abstract to decide whether to read further. Therefore, it is critical to produce an accurate and clear abstract that highlights the major purpose of the study, basic procedures, main findings, and principal conclusions ( 12 ). Most abstracts have a word limit and can be either structured following IMRAD, or unstructured. The abstract needs to stand alone from the article and tell the most important parts of the scientific story up front.

Introduction . The purpose of the introduction is to explain how the study sought to create knowledge that is new and useful. The introduction section may often require only 3 paragraphs. First, describe the scope, nature, or magnitude of the problem being addressed. Next, clearly articulate why better understanding this problem is useful, including what is currently known and the limitations of relevant previous studies. Finally, explain what the present study adds to the knowledge base. Explicitly state whether data were collected in a unique way or obtained from a previously unstudied data set or population. Presenting both the usefulness and novelty of the approach taken will prepare the reader for the remaining sections of the article.

Methods . The methods section provides the information necessary to allow others, given the same data, to recreate the analysis. It describes exactly how data relevant to the study purpose were collected, organized, and analyzed. The methods section describes the process of conducting the study — from how the sample was selected to which statistical methods were used to analyze the data. Authors should clearly name, define, and describe each study variable. Some journals allow detailed methods to be included in an appendix or supplementary document. If the analysis involves a commonly used public health data set, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System ( 13 ), general aspects of the data set can be provided to readers by using references. Because what was done is typically more important than who did it, use of the passive voice is often appropriate when describing methods. For example, “The study was a group randomized, controlled trial. A coin was tossed to select an intervention group and a control group.”

Results . The results section describes the main outcomes of the study or analysis but does not interpret the findings or place them in the context of previous research. It is important that the results be logically organized. Suggested organization strategies include presenting results pertaining to the entire population first, and then subgroup analyses, or presenting results according to increasing complexity of analysis, starting with demographic results before proceeding to univariate and multivariate analyses. Authors wishing to draw special attention to novel or unexpected results can present them first.

One strategy for writing the results section is to start by first drafting the figures and tables. Figures, which typically show trends or relationships, and tables, which show specific data points, should each support a main outcome of the study. Identify the figures and tables that best describe the findings and relate to the study’s purpose, and then develop 1 to 2 sentences summarizing each one. Data not relevant to the study purpose may be excluded, summarized briefly in the text, or included in supplemental data sets. When finalizing figures, ensure that axes are labeled and that readers can understand figures without having to refer to accompanying text.

Discussion . In the discussion section, authors interpret the results of their study within the context of both the related literature and the specific scientific gap the study was intended to fill. The discussion does not introduce results that were not presented in the results section. One way authors can focus their discussion is to limit this section to 4 paragraphs: start by reinforcing the study’s take-home message(s), contextualize key results within the relevant literature, state the study limitations, and lastly, make recommendations for further research or policy and practice changes. Authors can support assertions made in the discussion with either their own findings or by referencing related research. By interpreting their own study results and comparing them to others in the literature, authors can emphasize findings that are unique, useful, and relevant. Present study limitations clearly and without apology. Finally, state the implications of the study and provide recommendations or next steps, for example, further research into remaining gaps or changes to practice or policy. Statements or recommendations regarding policy may use the passive voice, especially in instances where the action to be taken is more important than who will implement the action.

Beginning the Writing Process

The process of writing a scientific article occurs before, during, and after conducting the study or analyses. Conducting a literature review is crucial to confirm the existence of the evidence gap that the planned analysis seeks to fill. Because literature searches are often part of applying for research funding or developing a study protocol, the citations used in the grant application or study proposal can also be used in subsequent manuscripts. Full-text databases such as PubMed Central ( 14 ), NIH RePORT ( 15 ), and CDC Stacks ( 16 ) can be useful when performing literature reviews. Authors should familiarize themselves with databases that are accessible through their institution and any assistance that may be available from reference librarians or interlibrary loan systems. Using citation management software is one way to establish and maintain a working reference list. Authors should clearly understand the distinction between primary and secondary references, and ensure that they are knowledgeable about the content of any primary or secondary reference that they cite.

Review of the literature may continue while organizing the material and writing begins. One way to organize material is to create an outline for the paper. Another way is to begin drafting small sections of the article such as the introduction. Starting a preliminary draft forces authors to establish the scope of their analysis and clearly articulate what is new and novel about the study. Furthermore, using information from the study protocol or proposal allows authors to draft the methods and part of the results sections while the study is in progress. Planning potential data comparisons or drafting “table shells” will help to ensure that the study team has collected all the necessary data. Drafting these preliminary sections early during the writing process and seeking feedback from co-authors and colleagues may help authors avoid potential pitfalls, including misunderstandings about study objectives.

The next step is to conduct the study or analyses and use the resulting data to fill in the draft table shells. The initial results will most likely require secondary analyses, that is, exploring the data in ways in addition to those originally planned. Authors should ensure that they regularly update their methods section to describe all changes to data analysis.

After completing table shells, authors should summarize the key finding of each table or figure in a sentence or two. Presenting preliminary results at meetings, conferences, and internal seminars is an established way to solicit feedback. Authors should pay close attention to questions asked by the audience, treating them as an informal opportunity for peer review. On the basis of the questions and feedback received, authors can incorporate revisions and improvements into subsequent drafts of the manuscript.

The relevant literature should be revisited periodically while writing to ensure knowledge of the most recent publications about the manuscript topic. Authors should focus on content and key message during the process of writing the first draft and should not spend too much time on issues of grammar or style. Drafts, or portions of drafts, should be shared frequently with trusted colleagues. Their recommendations should be reviewed and incorporated when they will improve the manuscript’s overall clarity.

For most authors, revising drafts of the manuscript will be the most time-consuming task involved in writing a paper. By regularly checking in with coauthors and colleagues, authors can adopt a systematic approach to rewriting. When the author has completed a draft of the manuscript, he or she should revisit the key take-home message to ensure that it still matches the final data and analysis. At this point, final comments and approval of the manuscript by coauthors can be sought.

Authors should then seek to identify journals most likely to be interested in considering the study for publication. Initial questions to consider when selecting a journal include:

• Which audience is most interested in the paper’s message?
• Would clinicians, public health practitioners, policy makers, scientists, or a broader audience find this useful in their field or practice?
• Do colleagues have prior experience submitting a manuscript to this journal?
• Is the journal indexed and peer-reviewed?
• Is the journal subscription or open-access and are there any processing fees?
• How competitive is the journal?

Authors should seek to balance the desire to be published in a top-tier journal (eg, Journal of the American Medical Association, BMJ, or Lancet) against the statistical likelihood of rejection. Submitting the paper initially to a journal more focused on the paper’s target audience may result in a greater chance of acceptance, as well as more timely dissemination of findings that can be translated into practice. Most of the 50 to 75 manuscripts published each week by authors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are published in specialty and subspecialty journals, rather than in top-tier journals ( 17 ).

The target journal’s website will include author guidelines, which will contain specific information about format requirements (eg, font, line spacing, section order, reference style and limit, table and figure formatting), authorship criteria, article types, and word limits for articles and abstracts.

We recommend returning to the previously drafted abstract and ensuring that it complies with the journal’s format and word limit. Authors should also verify that any changes made to the methods or results sections during the article’s drafting are reflected in the final version of the abstract. The abstract should not be written hurriedly just before submitting the manuscript; it is often apparent to editors and reviewers when this has happened. A cover letter to accompany the submission should be drafted; new and useful findings and the key message should be included.

Before submitting the manuscript and cover letter, authors should perform a final check to ensure that their paper complies with all journal requirements. Journals may elect to reject certain submissions on the basis of review of the abstract, or may send them to peer reviewers (typically 2 or 3) for consultation. Occasionally, on the basis of peer reviews, the journal will request only minor changes before accepting the paper for publication. Much more frequently, authors will receive a request to revise and resubmit their manuscript, taking into account peer review comments. Authors should recognize that while revise-and-resubmit requests may state that the manuscript is not acceptable in its current form, this does not constitute a rejection of the article. Authors have several options in responding to peer review comments:

• Performing additional analyses and updating the article appropriately
• Declining to perform additional analyses, but providing an explanation (eg, because the requested analysis goes beyond the scope of the article)
• Providing updated references
• Acknowledging reviewer comments that are simply comments without making changes

In addition to submitting a revised manuscript, authors should include a cover letter in which they list peer reviewer comments, along with the revisions they have made to the manuscript and their reply to the comment. The tone of such letters should be thankful and polite, but authors should make clear areas of disagreement with peer reviewers, and explain why they disagree. During the peer review process, authors should continue to consult with colleagues, especially ones who have more experience with the specific journal or with the peer review process.

There is no secret to successful scientific writing and publishing. By adopting a systematic approach and by regularly seeking feedback from trusted colleagues throughout the study, writing, and article submission process, authors can increase their likelihood of not only publishing original research articles of high quality but also becoming more scientifically productive overall.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge PCD ’s former Associate Editor, Richard A. Goodman, MD, MPH, who, while serving as Editor in Chief of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Series, initiated a curriculum on scientific writing for training CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers and other CDC public health professionals, and with whom the senior author of this article (P.Z.S.) collaborated in expanding training methods and contents, some of which are contained in this article. The authors acknowledge Juan Carlos Zevallos, MD, for his thoughtful critique and careful editing of previous Successful Scientific Writing materials. We also thank Shira Eisenberg for editorial assistance with the manuscript. This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement no. 1U360E000002 from CDC and the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. The findings and conclusions of this article do not necessarily represent the official views of CDC or the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Names of journals and citation databases are provided for identification purposes only and do not constitute any endorsement by CDC.

The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions.

Suggested citation for this article: Iskander JK, Wolicki SB, Leeb RT, Siegel PZ. Successful Scientific Writing and Publishing: A Step-by-Step Approach. Prev Chronic Dis 2018;15:180085. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd15.180085 .

What is Academic Writing? (and Other Burning Questions About It)

Posted on: June 15, 2021

In this blog  Zhihui Fang , author of  Demystifying Academic Writing , discusses what academic writing is, why it's important as well as essential skills for academic writing.

What is academic writing?

Simply put, academic writing is the writing done for academic purposes. It is entering into a conversation with others, but the way this conversation is carried out differs from how everyday conversation unfolds. Yes, academic writing involves expressing your ideas, but those ideas need to be presented as a response to some other person or group; and they also need to be carefully elaborated, well supported, logically sequenced, rigorously reasoned, and tightly stitched together.

There is more than one kind of academic writing. In academic settings, we write for many different purposes. We write reading responses, book reviews, argumentative essays, literature reviews, empirical research articles, grant proposals, conference abstracts, commentaries, memoranda, and many other text types. Each of these types of academic writing has its own purpose, organizational structure, and linguistic features.

Why is academic writing important?

Academic writing is a means of producing, codifying, transmitting, evaluating, renovating, teaching, and learning knowledge and ideology in academic disciplines. Being able to write in an academic style is essential to disciplinary learning and critical for academic success. Control over academic writing gives you capital, power, and agency in knowledge building, identify formation, disciplinary practices, social positioning, and career advancement.

What makes academic writing ‘academic’ and challenging?

Compared to everyday writing, academic writing tends to be more formal, dense, abstract, objective, rigorous, and tightly knit.

• Formality . Academic writing uses a unique set of grammatical devices that helps the author achieve precision and informativity, avoid ambiguity and misinterpretation, and establish authority and credibility.
• Density . Academic writing uses long noun phrases with multiple modifiers to pack a heavy load of information into the sentence.
• Abstraction . Academic writing deals principally with concepts, ideas, generalizations, and interpretations, instead of concrete individuals or tangible things.
• Objectivity . Academic writing foregrounds ideas and arguments and backgrounds the author who presents the ideas or makes the arguments. 
• Rigor . In academic writing, the author is expected to be meticulous in both word choice and logic of argument. Ideas or arguments are presented with care and then restated, clarified, explained, exemplified, and reasoned.
• Tightly-Knit . Academic writing presents information and develops arguments in a highly structured way. Sentences and paragraphs are woven together to create an information ‘flow’ and a smooth texture within the text.

These six features are interrelated, and together, they are what makes a piece of writing at once ‘academic’ and challenging for academic neophytes.

What is the role of language in academic writing?

Language is not a set of prescriptive rules or grammatical conventions. It is, instead, a creative resource for making meaning. Writers use language by choosing from the grammatical options it provides to present information, develop argument, infuse points of view, incorporate others’ ideas and voices, engage readers, sharpen focus, and organize discourse in a way that realizes their intentions and meets their audience’s needs. One major source of writing struggles for non-native and native English speakers alike is language. In other words, it is unfamiliarity with the grammatical patterns of academic writing, above and beyond a lack of deep knowledge of the topics to be written about, that contributes principally to the difficulties that many students and scholars experience in writing for academic purposes.

What are the essential skills for academic writing?

Academic writing communicates complex ideas in a clear, precise, logical, reasoned, and evidence-based way. It is an advanced literacy task that requires a host of demanding skills. Learning to write for academic purposes involves, for example, learning

• how to contextualize your ideas and arguments in the existing scholarship of the field
• how to synthesize, summarize, paraphrase, quote, source, and evaluate others’ work
• how to define and explain concepts
• how to describe things or processes
• how to express surprises or counter-expectations
• how to classify/categorize and compare/contrast things
• how to agree or disagree with others’ points of view
• how to provide examples and offer explanations
• how to engage with opposing views
• how to integrate visual images with the linguistic prose
• how to acknowledge limitations and make recommendations
• how to express appreciation or make disclaimers, and
• how to connect sentences, link paragraphs, and structure discourse

Developing these advanced literacy skills and a repertoire of linguistic resources and strategies that instantiate them is a challenging process that takes time, experience, and support.

How can I improve my academic writing?

Developing expertise in academic writing is a lengthy and challenging process that can take many years and involves constant mental and emotional struggles. It is simply not realistic to expect one to become a good writer overnight, let alone a good writer for academic purposes, by just attending one workshop, taking one course, reading one book, or completing a few sets of exercises. It takes time, effort, awareness, experience, reflection, stamina, and support to become proficient in academic writing. Here are six tips for improving your academic writing:

• Foster productive writing habits that work for you
• Read deeply within your field and widely in related fields
• Develop linguistic awareness and grammatical sensitivity
• Persevere through the recursive writing process of planning, outlining, drafting, revising, polishing, and presenting/publishing
• Attend to key elements of academic writing, such as audience, purpose, organization, style, clarity, flow, and appearance
• Overcome cultural barriers

How do I increase my chances of getting published?

Writing for publication can be a mysterious process that intimidates novice writers and academic neophytes. Developing and honing academic writing skills is key to having a successful publication record. Additional knowledge, skills, and dispositions are needed to increase your chances of getting published. These include

• Write about something that you really care and know about
• Know the publication outlet you are targeting
• Find people of like interest to collaborate with
• Be patient and persistent
• Simulate dialogues with potential reviewers
• Embrace feedback of all kinds to improve writing

The road toward publication may seem long and rough, but you will find that the journey becomes less bumpy the more you have traveled on it.

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What is Academic Writing — Quick Guide for 2024

Table of Contents

Academic writing is potentially the most crucial skill in an educational environment since writing is one of the primary modus operandi of scholarly communication . Its quality strongly influences the readers’ perception of the author. It is highly valued both by academic institutions and academics who wish to acquire knowledge. The ability to write academic papers is one of the critical factors that distinguish scholars from excellent scholars.

Academic writing can be defined as the writing form that aims to transmit scientific or other knowledge through clear and concise means. The main idea behind academic writing is objective and practical in terms of presentation as it needs to be understood by thousands of readers and not just a single person. It enables you to express your ideas and develop them into a structured written format. Academic writing is not just about proving ideas but creating them. Getting an academic paper written on a high level requires experience, so let's dive into it.

What are the characteristics of academic writing?

Academic writing is a genre of writing with several characteristics that make it different from other  prose or creative writing forms. Therefore, the characteristics of academic writing are imperative to understand. Five main features of academic writing are often discussed as follows:

1. Formality

Academic writing aims to convey the relevant ideas to suit the nature of the subject being discussed and support opinions with reasoned arguments. It is not about making flowery statements or indulging in superfluous language. It is about communicating your thoughts with the audience accurately and succinctly.

You need to realize that academic writing requires you to be direct, analytical, and precise. The objective is to demonstrate that you can convey your meaning accurately, in context, without uncertainty. To make your writing more formal, you can try to:

• Avoid conversational words and expressions
• Avoid contractions such as "don't," "can't," and "isn't. Replace them with the two-word version of the contraction
• Avoid rhetorical statements like “What is the meaning of life?”.

2. Accuracy

A word's meaning is an important factor that determines whether it should be used or not in a writing piece. The more accurate the writer is while creating a paper, the better his chances are for obtaining a high-grade paper. All words should be defined clearly and concretely so that their exact meaning can be easily traced. Academic writing does not use words loosely. It must accurately distinguish between "orthocenter" and "orthocenter," etc., and use these words correctly. By using known technical terms correctly, you reflect your proficiency in a particular subject.

Hedging is an action that can be used to reduce the risk of making claims. They are used to avoid answering a question, making a clear, direct statement, or committing yourself to a particular action. Early-career academic writers or authors may find it hard to always convey themselves and their work in their papers using solid and unequivocal statements. Having said that, many academic writers feel compelled to use what is called hedging techniques when writing their academic papers.

Making decisions about the stance you take on a topic is often done by using hedging verbs. These are words that place some kind of limitation or qualifier on your claims. Such as ‘seem,’ ‘appear,’ ‘suggest,’ ‘may’ and ‘might’. For example, Extended screen time can contribute to a range of eyesight problems and may have a negative effect on mental health.

4. Objectivity

Writing is impersonal and uses nouns more than verbs. Think about it! Fewer words that refer to us place greater emphasis on what we have to say. Phrases like “I feel” or “I believe” should be kept out of the picture especially if you are reporting any research findings. For instance “I feel there is life on Mars” should be replaced with “These findings suggest that there is life on Mars”. The reader is therefore left to concentrate on the information you provide and the arguments you make. Objectivity can be induced while writing an academic paper if you do not talk about opinions, but provide valuable information and valid arguments. Readers focus on what the writer knows rather than what they think or feel. This allows the writer to sound more objective and authoritative.

5. Responsibility

Academic writing is as different from every day, ‘general’ writing as a race-horse is from a donkey. Academic writing has rigorous standards and conventions that must be followed. Academic writing attempts to add new information, knowledge, or understanding to an existing body of theory. The key things to note in this criteria are the claims you make,  the evidence that needs to be provided for those claims, and citations; you must cite any sources of information you use at any cost to avoid plagiarism. You should also avoid self-plagiarism .

What are the four major types of academic writing?

If we are talking about “What is Academic Writing”, we must not miss its types. There are four major types of academic writing that you should know about:

1. Descriptive

One of the basic types of scholarly writing is descriptive. It can be divided into several subcategories: a summary, description, narration, explanation, and so on. The goal of descriptive writing is to present facts or information. A report will tell what participants did or did not do during an experiment, how they responded to various stimuli, and what results were obtained. It supplies details such as how many people were involved in the study, when it was conducted, and where.

2. Analytical

Analytical writing is the process of re-organizing (and possibly adding to) the collection of ideas or information that you have organized into a suitable structure, such as categories, groups, parts, or relationships. Analyzing is a way of discovering whether an argument is valid, coherent, and relevant in a logical way to the topic under discussion. To polish your analytical writing, you can:

• Give careful consideration to the subject matter. After you've summarized the facts and ideas, try different ways of grouping them in order to clarify what's important.
• Categorize your work under different segments like advantages, disadvantages, importance, etc.
• An introduction that gives the reader a framework for understanding your paper and a topic sentence for each paragraph will clarify the structure of your paper.

3. Persuasive

Persuasive writing is just analytical writing plus your own point of view. You may be required to analyze an argument, evaluate the credibility of a claim, or explain why a position is correct. Most essays, including research articles, are written to convince the reader of some viewpoint. Following are the keystones to remember about persuasive writing:

• To understand your own take on a topic, a wise thing to do would be to examine all the major viewpoints on a given topic and see what you find the most convincing!
• As you think about what arguments to make, it is important to cite evidence to support your point of view. Break down your ideas. For example when writing about a concept car, ask yourself: How cost-effective is it? How environmentally friendly is it? What are the real-world applications?
• Your argument should only be presented after you are clear about your assumptions, claims, and evidence.

4. Critical

Critical writing involves your own point of view, but also that of at least one other person. You may explain a researcher's argument and then show how it is flawed, or offer an alternative explanation.  For this, you must first be well aware of what the other researcher is attempting to portray through his study. Doing this requires you to read plenty of research papers, which can be challenging at times since a lot of them carry jargon, maths, and complex language. To save time and effort you can use SciSpace Copilot to get simplified explanations of parts of the research paper you don't understand and get the relevance of any math or table by just clipping it. Adding on to that, if you need more clarification on the subject, you can even ask more questions related to the paper, and the research assistant can give you prompt answers.

Also read - SciSpace Paraphrasing Tool: Better academic writing made easy

What are the advantages of academic writing?

Academic writing can help the writer gain some unique characteristics and qualities. It is ultimately up to you whether these advantages are good enough to spend your time polishing this craft.

1. Increased Focus

Focus has become a very important trait, especially in today's generation as distractions are literally everywhere you look. It is not something everyone is born with but it is something that can certainly be inculcated over time. Academic Writing is one of the finest ways to help you do that. It takes a good amount of focus to turn a blank piece of paper into something knowledgeable. If you like the topic you are working on, you will be surprised to see how easy it can get to focus and get it done.

2. Better Logical Thinking and Improved Knowledge

It takes a serious amount of time, focus, and thinking to write a worth-reading academic paper. You cannot just know everything about the topic you’re working on, therefore, a lot of research and analysis is required to come up with an informative piece of paper that is valuable. Writing a lot of papers can not just increase your knowledge in the fields you’re writing on but can also improve your logical thinking skills.

3. Discovering The Delight Of Writing

Avid academic writers have experienced a change in how they felt about writing in general. Although sometimes for a lot of writers, academic writing becomes anxiety-inducing. But for most, writing becomes joyful and gives an amazing sense of accomplishment.

Studies have shown that attending and participating in retreats have made academics more motivated and less fearful of writing. The key reasons behind it are mainly the peer support that they manage to get and their writing capabilities going over the roof.

4. Boost In Creativity

Academic writing is not just about blatantly stating stuff about your chosen topic, but it is also about creatively analyzing and conveying ideas concisely. This definitely requires creative thinking. Writing on a regular basis can prove to increase your creativity not just in writing but also in real life. It gives the writer a chance to develop out-of-the-box ideas.

The Significance of Clarity in Academic Writing

Clarity is essential in writing. It is a guiding principle that helps writers decide what to say and how to say it. If people don’t understand what you’re trying to say, how much value can you actually add? Below are the five principles for creating a lucid copy:

A Research Writing Platform

If you're doing research, you might be juggling between multiple writing and task management tools. Before you start using them, think about how you want to organize your research and how you'll be using the information you collect. A platform especially designed to meet the basic as well as advanced requirements of academic writers, SciSpace (formerly Typeset ) intends to be the perfect bridge between academic writing and academic publishing, providing the ease of intuitive research writing and collaboration with the combined power of LaTeX and MS Word. A comprehensive, automated research writing and journal production platform like SciSpace that has integrated plagiarism checkers is what you need to kickstart your academic writing!

We recommend you take a look at SciSpace discover since you're looking for platforms that simplify research workflows. It offers access to over 200 million articles covering a wide range of topics, optimized summaries, and public profiles that allow you to showcase your expertise and experience.

Our personalized suggestion engine allows you to stay on track while gaining an in-depth understanding of a subject from one location. Any article page will contain a list of related articles. In addition, the tool lets you determine which topics are trending, which authors are leading the charge, and which publishers are leading the pack.

Whether you are writing a report, a thesis or a research paper, the points covered in this article can help you furnish your project in a formal and structured format. Remember that you need to write your research paper in a professional manner. Avoid conversational language and slang. Now that you have a profound understanding of academic writing, try to apply the best practices practically and take your academic writing skills to greater height.

Frequently Asked Questions

To write academic papers effectively, ensure clarity, use credible sources, and follow proper grammar and citation rules. Structure your work with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Yes, AI can be used for academic writing tasks including idea generation, writing improvement, citation suggestions, plagiarism detection, and more.

For academic writing, consider tools such as SciSpace GPT, Grammarly, Turnitin etc. It They” with “SciSpace GPT is the best tool avaialble for academic writing.

Academic writing has a purpose. It may provide background information, the results of other peoples' research, the critique of other peoples' research, your own research findings, your own ideas based on academic research conducted by others, etc.

In academic writing, numbers can be written as numerals (e.g., 5, 10, 100) or spelled out (e.g., five, ten, one hundred) depending on the style guide used and the context of the writing.

You can use italics to emphasize important words, introduce foreign phrases, and highlight titles of books or journals for clarity and emphasis.

To avoid plagiarism in academic writing:-

If  you  found the above article insightful, the following article pieces might interest you:

• The 4-Step Guide That Will Get Your Research Published
• How to write a research paper abstract?
• How to become good at academic research writing?
• Top reasons for research paper rejection
• How to increase citation count of your research paper?

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• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing
• A step-by-step guide to the writing process

The Writing Process | 5 Steps with Examples & Tips

Published on April 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Good academic writing requires effective planning, drafting, and revision.

The writing process looks different for everyone, but there are five basic steps that will help you structure your time when writing any kind of text.

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

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• Academic style
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Table of contents

Step 1: prewriting, step 2: planning and outlining, step 3: writing a first draft, step 4: redrafting and revising, step 5: editing and proofreading, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about the writing process.

Before you start writing, you need to decide exactly what you’ll write about and do the necessary research.

Coming up with a topic

If you have to come up with your own topic for an assignment, think of what you’ve covered in class— is there a particular area that intrigued, interested, or even confused you? Topics that left you with additional questions are perfect, as these are questions you can explore in your writing.

The scope depends on what type of text you’re writing—for example, an essay or a research paper will be less in-depth than a dissertation topic . Don’t pick anything too ambitious to cover within the word count, or too limited for you to find much to say.

Narrow down your idea to a specific argument or question. For example, an appropriate topic for an essay might be narrowed down like this:

Doing the research

Once you know your topic, it’s time to search for relevant sources and gather the information you need. This process varies according to your field of study and the scope of the assignment. It might involve:

• Searching for primary and secondary sources .
• Reading the relevant texts closely (e.g. for literary analysis ).
• Collecting data using relevant research methods (e.g. experiments , interviews or surveys )

From a writing perspective, the important thing is to take plenty of notes while you do the research. Keep track of the titles, authors, publication dates, and relevant quotations from your sources; the data you gathered; and your initial analysis or interpretation of the questions you’re addressing.

Check for common mistakes

Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.

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Especially in academic writing , it’s important to use a logical structure to convey information effectively. It’s far better to plan this out in advance than to try to work out your structure once you’ve already begun writing.

Creating an essay outline is a useful way to plan out your structure before you start writing. This should help you work out the main ideas you want to focus on and how you’ll organize them. The outline doesn’t have to be final—it’s okay if your structure changes throughout the writing process.

Use bullet points or numbering to make your structure clear at a glance. Even for a short text that won’t use headings, it’s useful to summarize what you’ll discuss in each paragraph.

An outline for a literary analysis essay might look something like this:

• Describe the theatricality of Austen’s works
• Outline the role theater plays in Mansfield Park
• Introduce the research question: How does Austen use theater to express the characters’ morality in Mansfield Park ?
• Discuss Austen’s depiction of the performance at the end of the first volume
• Discuss how Sir Bertram reacts to the acting scheme
• Introduce Austen’s use of stage direction–like details during dialogue
• Explore how these are deployed to show the characters’ self-absorption
• Discuss Austen’s description of Maria and Julia’s relationship as polite but affectionless
• Compare Mrs. Norris’s self-conceit as charitable despite her idleness
• Summarize the three themes: The acting scheme, stage directions, and the performance of morals
• Answer the research question
• Indicate areas for further study

Once you have a clear idea of your structure, it’s time to produce a full first draft.

This process can be quite non-linear. For example, it’s reasonable to begin writing with the main body of the text, saving the introduction for later once you have a clearer idea of the text you’re introducing.

To give structure to your writing, use your outline as a framework. Make sure that each paragraph has a clear central focus that relates to your overall argument.

Hover over the parts of the example, from a literary analysis essay on Mansfield Park , to see how a paragraph is constructed.

The character of Mrs. Norris provides another example of the performance of morals in Mansfield Park . Early in the novel, she is described in scathing terms as one who knows “how to dictate liberality to others: but her love of money was equal to her love of directing” (p. 7). This hypocrisy does not interfere with her self-conceit as “the most liberal-minded sister and aunt in the world” (p. 7). Mrs. Norris is strongly concerned with appearing charitable, but unwilling to make any personal sacrifices to accomplish this. Instead, she stage-manages the charitable actions of others, never acknowledging that her schemes do not put her own time or money on the line. In this way, Austen again shows us a character whose morally upright behavior is fundamentally a performance—for whom the goal of doing good is less important than the goal of seeming good.

When you move onto a different topic, start a new paragraph. Use appropriate transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas.

The goal at this stage is to get a draft completed, not to make everything perfect as you go along. Once you have a full draft in front of you, you’ll have a clearer idea of where improvement is needed.

Give yourself a first draft deadline that leaves you a reasonable length of time to revise, edit, and proofread before the final deadline. For a longer text like a dissertation, you and your supervisor might agree on deadlines for individual chapters.

Now it’s time to look critically at your first draft and find potential areas for improvement. Redrafting means substantially adding or removing content, while revising involves making changes to structure and reformulating arguments.

Evaluating the first draft

It can be difficult to look objectively at your own writing. Your perspective might be positively or negatively biased—especially if you try to assess your work shortly after finishing it.

It’s best to leave your work alone for at least a day or two after completing the first draft. Come back after a break to evaluate it with fresh eyes; you’ll spot things you wouldn’t have otherwise.

When evaluating your writing at this stage, you’re mainly looking for larger issues such as changes to your arguments or structure. Starting with bigger concerns saves you time—there’s no point perfecting the grammar of something you end up cutting out anyway.

Right now, you’re looking for:

• Arguments that are unclear or illogical.
• Areas where information would be better presented in a different order.
• Passages where additional information or explanation is needed.
• Passages that are irrelevant to your overall argument.

For example, in our paper on Mansfield Park , we might realize the argument would be stronger with more direct consideration of the protagonist Fanny Price, and decide to try to find space for this in paragraph IV.

For some assignments, you’ll receive feedback on your first draft from a supervisor or peer. Be sure to pay close attention to what they tell you, as their advice will usually give you a clearer sense of which aspects of your text need improvement.

Redrafting and revising

Once you’ve decided where changes are needed, make the big changes first, as these are likely to have knock-on effects on the rest. Depending on what your text needs, this step might involve:

• Making changes to your overall argument.
• Reordering the text.
• Cutting parts of the text.
• Adding new text.

You can go back and forth between writing, redrafting and revising several times until you have a final draft that you’re happy with.

Think about what changes you can realistically accomplish in the time you have. If you are running low on time, you don’t want to leave your text in a messy state halfway through redrafting, so make sure to prioritize the most important changes.

Editing focuses on local concerns like clarity and sentence structure. Proofreading involves reading the text closely to remove typos and ensure stylistic consistency. You can check all your drafts and texts in minutes with an AI proofreader .

Editing for grammar and clarity

When editing, you want to ensure your text is clear, concise, and grammatically correct. You’re looking out for:

• Grammatical errors.
• Ambiguous phrasings.
• Redundancy and repetition .

In your initial draft, it’s common to end up with a lot of sentences that are poorly formulated. Look critically at where your meaning could be conveyed in a more effective way or in fewer words, and watch out for common sentence structure mistakes like run-on sentences and sentence fragments:

• Austen’s style is frequently humorous, her characters are often described as “witty.” Although this is less true of Mansfield Park .
• Austen’s style is frequently humorous. Her characters are often described as “witty,” although this is less true of Mansfield Park .

To make your sentences run smoothly, you can always use a paraphrasing tool to rewrite them in a clearer way.

Proofreading for small mistakes and typos

When proofreading, first look out for typos in your text:

• Spelling errors.
• Missing words.
• Confused word choices .
• Punctuation errors .
• Missing or excess spaces.

Use a grammar checker , but be sure to do another manual check after. Read through your text line by line, watching out for problem areas highlighted by the software but also for any other issues it might have missed.

For example, in the following phrase we notice several errors:

• Mary Crawfords character is a complicate one and her relationships with Fanny and Edmund undergoes several transformations through out the novel.
• Mary Crawford’s character is a complicated one, and her relationships with both Fanny and Edmund undergo several transformations throughout the novel.

Proofreading for stylistic consistency

There are several issues in academic writing where you can choose between multiple different standards. For example:

• Whether you use the serial comma .
• Whether you use American or British spellings and punctuation (you can use a punctuation checker for this).
• Where you use numerals vs. words for numbers.
• How you capitalize your titles and headings.

Unless you’re given specific guidance on these issues, it’s your choice which standards you follow. The important thing is to consistently follow one standard for each issue. For example, don’t use a mixture of American and British spellings in your paper.

Additionally, you will probably be provided with specific guidelines for issues related to format (how your text is presented on the page) and citations (how you acknowledge your sources). Always follow these instructions carefully.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
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• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
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Revising, proofreading, and editing are different stages of the writing process .

• Revising is making structural and logical changes to your text—reformulating arguments and reordering information.
• Editing refers to making more local changes to things like sentence structure and phrasing to make sure your meaning is conveyed clearly and concisely.
• Proofreading involves looking at the text closely, line by line, to spot any typos and issues with consistency and correct them.

Whether you’re publishing a blog, submitting a research paper , or even just writing an important email, there are a few techniques you can use to make sure it’s error-free:

• Take a break : Set your work aside for at least a few hours so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.
• Proofread a printout : Staring at a screen for too long can cause fatigue – sit down with a pen and paper to check the final version.
• Use digital shortcuts : Take note of any recurring mistakes (for example, misspelling a particular word, switching between US and UK English , or inconsistently capitalizing a term), and use Find and Replace to fix it throughout the document.

If you want to be confident that an important text is error-free, it might be worth choosing a professional proofreading service instead.

If you’ve gone over the word limit set for your assignment, shorten your sentences and cut repetition and redundancy during the editing process. If you use a lot of long quotes , consider shortening them to just the essentials.

If you need to remove a lot of words, you may have to cut certain passages. Remember that everything in the text should be there to support your argument; look for any information that’s not essential to your point and remove it.

To make this process easier and faster, you can use a paraphrasing tool . With this tool, you can rewrite your text to make it simpler and shorter. If that’s not enough, you can copy-paste your paraphrased text into the summarizer . This tool will distill your text to its core message.

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What is academic writing and why is it important?

Dec 27, 2020 | Academic Writing , College Applications , Englist blog , TOEFL Prep | 0 comments

Academic writing has become an increasingly important part of education as parents and educators realize the value of critical thinking skills and preparing students for college. 

Still, many students, parents, and even other teachers don’t have a great grasp on this area of learning and why it is so critical.

As such, at Englist we find it is important to not only teach academic writing, but also help everyone understand why it is imperative to the development of thoughtful and capable students.

What is academic writing?

First, what is academic writing? Most students see writing as something they just have to do because a teacher says so, and it becomes a painful and time-consuming assignment. Our mission is to end this kind of thinking.

Simply put, academic writing is teaching students how to write essays. That sounds pretty simple, but there is a lot more to it than that.

Essay writing is the process of sharing complex ideas, thoughts, or opinions. Writers learn to construct a rather complicated argument or explanation by combining sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into an essay.

Academic writing demands writers become clear in their explanations and reasoning, direct in their communication, and most importantly, able to make readers understand their topic and thesis.

Textbooks and handbooks and manuals will have a secondary function for chemists and physicists and biologists, of course. But in the sciences, articles are the standard and  preferred publication form. 

In the social sciences and humanities , where knowledge develops a little less rapidly or is driven less by issues of time-sensitivity , journal articles and books are more often used together.

Not all important and influential ideas warrant book-length studies, and some inquiry is just better suited to the size and scope and concentrated discussion that the article format offers.

Journal articles sometimes just present the most  appropriate  solution for communicating findings or making a convincing argument.  A 20-page article may perfectly fit a researcher's needs.  Sustaining that argument for 200 pages might be unnecessary -- or impossible.

The quality of a research article and the legitimacy of its findings are verified by other scholars, prior to publication, through a rigorous evaluation method called peer-review . This seal of approval by other scholars doesn't mean that an article is the best, or truest, or last word on a topic. If that were the case, research on lots of things would cease. Peer review simply means other experts believe the methods, the evidence, the conclusions of an article have met important standards of legitimacy, reliability, and intellectual honesty.

Searching the journal literature is part of being a responsible researcher at any level: professor, grad student, concentrator, first-year. Knowing why academic articles matter will help you make good decisions about what you find -- and what you choose to rely on in your work.

Think of journal articles as the way you tap into the ongoing scholarly conversation , as a way of testing the currency of  a finding, analysis, or argumentative position, and a way of bolstering the authority (or plausibility) of explanations you'll offer in the papers and projects you'll complete at Harvard. 

• Next: Subject Databases: Organizing Research Conversations >>

Except where otherwise noted, this work is subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , which allows anyone to share and adapt our material as long as proper attribution is given. For details and exceptions, see the Harvard Library Copyright Policy ©2021 Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Why Is The Audience Important In Academic Writing?

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Apr 19, 2021 | How To Get Published | 0 |

Why Is The Audience Important In Academic Writing? The need for academics and scientists to write about their research in ways that will successfully communicate with a varied audience is not new. Formal publications of advanced research have in the past tended to be produced for specialists and experts, but not in all cases – some books and articles have always assumed a more general readership as well. When writing grant applications, research proposals and progress reports, scholars have traditionally had to anticipate readers who will know a great deal about their subject area as well as readers who know very little even about the discipline. The internet as a powerful tool for disseminating research and building careers has greatly increased the need to write for a wide and varied audience, and even the most specialised academic and scientific journals will now ask that manuscripts submitted for publication be written in ways that are accessible to readers of widely varied knowledge bases.

The problem for scholars is that advanced research is often complex, based on a long history of scholarship, intimately connected to the methodologies and language specifically developed in the discipline and thick with analyses, logical speculation and critical thinking. No one would argue that such material is easy to communicate effectively to any audience; far more challenging is a richly mixed readership in which one person might be intimately familiar with the field and its recent developments, whereas another might be entirely new to the material. The following tips may make the task a little easier.

• Organise your content carefully for a logical progression and be sure to use effective transitions in your text to develop your arguments clearly for your readers. • Give your document a structure that outlines both your research processes and your primary argument. Using divisions and headings of various levels to break complex information down into smaller bites renders difficult material more palatable and digestible. • Explain the importance of your research in ways that tend to be appealing to universal audiences. Does it develop and test new methodology that challenges the assumptions of earlier researchers? That is an excellent point to highlight for the specialists in your audience, but the results that confirm the seriousness of the challenge and the validity of your approach among experts will also interest a more general audience that is affected by the problem under investigation. • Use visual aids wherever possible. If you have reams of data to report, set them in tables or lists. If you have complicated laboratory settings to describe, provide images. If your argument will take readers to places they may not know, give them maps. Be sure to label each one with care and to refer accurately to them in your discussion so that you guide readers to your visual aids at appropriate moments in your research story. • Play up the story aspects of your research as much as possible. Everyone loves a story, even senior researchers, and they are the ones who will best understand the plot of your research and appreciate its new twists. • Never forget the power of space. It can provide breaks and by its varying size suggest levels of division. It offers a break for the mind as well – a precious moment to absorb new information before moving on to the next point or topic – and it can even calm readers while contributing to an attractive document. Use it well. • Proofread and correct your text with care. Errors are particularly confusing for readers who are trying to absorb new and complex material, and they are especially obvious to those who know the field and its scholarship well.

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Punctuation in Research Paper

Learn the importance of punctuation in research papers. Discover essential rules to enhance clarity and professionalism in your writing.

Proper punctuation in a research paper is essential for clarity, precision, and professionalism. Correct punctuation not only helps the reader understand the content but also ensures that your arguments are presented logically and coherently. From the correct use of commas and full stops to the appropriate placement of colons and semicolons, mastering punctuation in research paper writing can significantly enhance the readability of your work. In this document, we will delve into the various punctuation marks and their correct usage within the context of academic research, providing practical examples and tips to help you avoid common pitfalls.

Importance of Punctuation in Research Papers

Enhancing clarity and precision.

Using punctuation correctly in a research paper is vital for enhancing clarity and precision. Punctuation marks act as signposts for the reader, guiding them through the complexities of your arguments and evidence. For instance, commas can break down lengthy sentences, making them easier to comprehend. A missing comma can lead to ambiguous or nonsensical sentences, impacting the clarity of your writing. Full stops signal the end of a complete thought, allowing the reader to pause and absorb information. Colons and semicolons can introduce lists or separate closely related ideas, adding nuance to your writing. Misplaced or missing punctuation can lead to confusion, misinterpretation, and a lack of coherence. Therefore, attention to punctuation not only improves readability but also ensures that your scientific arguments are conveyed accurately. By mastering punctuation, you can present your research more effectively, making it accessible and persuasive to your academic audience.

Avoiding Misunderstandings

Punctuation plays a crucial role in avoiding misunderstandings in a research paper. Common comma mistakes can cause misunderstandings and alter the intended meaning of your sentences. Incorrect or inconsistent use of punctuation can alter the meaning of a sentence, leading to potential misinterpretations. For example, a misplaced comma can change the entire context of a statement, causing confusion among your readers. Similarly, the absence of a full stop might merge two distinct ideas, muddling your arguments. Properly used punctuation marks like colons and semicolons help to clearly separate and connect ideas, ensuring that the logic of your paper is easy to follow. Additionally, quotation marks and parentheses can provide context, clarify references, and add important supplementary information without disrupting the main narrative. By paying careful attention to punctuation, you can minimize the risk of misunderstandings, ensuring that your research is communicated clearly and accurately to your audience.

Improving Readability

Improving readability is one of the primary functions of proper punctuation in a research paper. Well-placed punctuation marks help break down complex information into manageable chunks, making your paper easier to read and understand. Introductory phrases, commonly used in academic writing, can separate adverbial or transitional phrases from the main clause to develop a line of argument. For instance, commas can be used to separate items in a list, making it clear that each item is distinct. Full stops indicate the end of a thought, providing a natural pause for the reader to digest the information. Hyphens and dashes can create emphasis or clarification within a sentence, enhancing understanding. Moreover, colons can introduce explanations or lists, signaling to the reader what to expect next. By carefully using punctuation, you can control the flow of your writing, making it more engaging and less daunting. This not only keeps your readers interested but also helps them grasp the nuances of your research more effectively.

Common Punctuation Marks

Full stops and commas.

Full stops and commas are among the most frequently used punctuation marks in research papers. Full stops, or periods, signify the end of a sentence, providing a clear boundary between separate ideas. This makes your writing more digestible and allows readers to pause and reflect on each point. Commas, on the other hand, serve to separate elements within a sentence. They can list items, separate clauses, or provide breaks in complex sentences to enhance readability. For example, in a compound sentence, a comma before a conjunction like “and” or “but” helps clarify the relationship between the two clauses. Misusing commas can lead to run-on sentences or sentence fragments, which disrupt the flow of your writing and confuse the reader. By mastering the use of full stops and commas, you can significantly improve the clarity and coherence of your research paper.

Additionally, the Oxford comma, which is placed before the final ‘and’ or ‘or’ in a list of items, is crucial for avoiding ambiguity. While it is mandatory in American English, it is used in British English primarily for clarity. Consistent use of the Oxford comma within a manuscript ensures that lists are clear and unambiguous.

Semicolons and Colons

Semicolons and colons add depth and complexity to your research paper. In technical writing, semicolons and colons are essential for clear and precise communication. Semicolons are used to link closely related independent clauses, creating a smoother transition than a full stop. For instance, “The experiment was successful; the results were conclusive” uses a semicolon to connect two related ideas without the abruptness of a full stop. Colons, in contrast, introduce lists, explanations, or quotations. They signal that what follows will elaborate on the preceding clause. For example, “The study focused on three areas: climate change, pollution, and conservation.” Colons can also introduce a statement or a quote that directly relates to the preceding text, adding emphasis and clarity. Misplaced semicolons and colons can confuse readers and disrupt the flow of your work. Correct usage of these punctuation marks can enhance the structure and readability of your research paper, making your arguments more compelling and easier to follow.

Parentheses and Brackets

Parentheses and brackets are useful tools for adding supplementary information without disrupting the main narrative of your research paper. Parentheses are often used to include non-essential information, such as additional explanations, citations, or clarifications. For example, “The results were significant (p < 0.05), supporting the hypothesis.” This extra information helps to expand on your point without breaking the flow of the text. Brackets, on the other hand, are typically used for editorial comments, corrections, or translations within quoted material. For instance, “The author stated, ‘The results were inconclusive [due to a lack of data].'” Using brackets ensures that the original meaning of the quoted text is preserved while providing the necessary context for the reader. Misusing these punctuation marks can lead to confusion and disrupt the coherence of your paper. Proper use of parentheses and brackets can enhance the readability and precision of your academic writing.

Punctuation in Citations and References

In-text citations.

In-text citations are a fundamental aspect of academic writing, providing credibility and context to your research paper. Proper punctuation is essential in in-text citations to ensure clarity and adherence to academic standards. Different citation styles, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, have specific punctuation rules. For example, in APA style, a typical in-text citation might look like this: (Smith, 2020). The comma separates the author’s surname and the publication year. In MLA style, a citation appears as (Smith 2020), without the comma. Punctuation also plays a role when incorporating citations within the text. For instance, “According to Smith (2020), the results were conclusive,” uses parentheses to include the citation seamlessly within the sentence. In-text citations must be punctuated correctly to maintain the flow of your writing and ensure that readers can easily locate your sources. Proper punctuation in citations contributes to the professionalism and credibility of your research paper.

Reference List Entries

Reference list entries must be meticulously punctuated to ensure accuracy and consistency in your research paper. Different citation styles dictate specific punctuation rules for listing references. For instance, in APA style, a typical reference might look like this: Smith, J. (2020). The impact of climate change . Journal of Environmental Studies, 12(3), 45-67. Here, commas separate the author’s surname and initials, the publication year, and the title. Italics are used for the title of the book or journal, followed by commas and full stops to separate other elements. In MLA style, the format is slightly different: Smith, John. The Impact of Climate Change . Journal of Environmental Studies, vol. 12, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45-67. Commas and periods are used to separate the elements, with italics for the title. Proper punctuation in reference list entries ensures that your sources are easy to locate and verify, contributing to the credibility and professionalism of your research paper.

Quotation Marks Usage

Quotation marks are essential for indicating direct quotes and borrowed phrases in a research paper. Proper usage of quotation marks ensures that the reader can distinguish between your original ideas and those of other authors. In British English, single quotation marks (‘ ’) are typically used, with double quotation marks (“ ”) reserved for quotes within quotes. For example, ‘Smith (2020) states, “The data clearly shows…”’. Punctuation marks like full stops and commas should be placed outside the closing quotation marks unless they are part of the quoted material. When incorporating quotations, ensure that they are introduced and integrated smoothly into your text. For instance, “According to Smith (2020), ‘The data clearly shows…’” provides context and clarity. Proper use of quotation marks not only gives credit to original authors but also helps maintain the integrity and readability of your research paper.

Punctuation in Complex Sentences

Handling compound sentences.

Handling compound sentences correctly is vital for maintaining clarity and coherence in your research paper. A compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (such as “and,” “but,” or “or”) or a semicolon. Proper punctuation is crucial to signal the relationship between these clauses. For example, “The results were significant, and the hypothesis was confirmed” uses a comma before the conjunction to separate the two independent clauses. If the clauses are closely related but do not require a conjunction, a semicolon can be used: “The results were significant; the hypothesis was confirmed.” Misplacing punctuation in compound sentences can lead to run-on sentences or comma splices, which disrupt the flow and readability of your paper. By mastering the punctuation of compound sentences, you can present complex ideas more clearly and ensure that your arguments are easily understood by your readers.

Using Punctuation in Lists

Using punctuation in lists is essential for clarity and organization in your research paper. Lists can be either bulleted or numbered, and the punctuation used can vary depending on the style guide you are following. In a sentence, commas are commonly used to separate items in a simple list: “The study examined air quality, water pollution, and soil erosion.” For more complex lists, semicolons can be used to separate items, especially if the items themselves contain commas: “The study examined several factors: air quality, affected by industrial emissions; water pollution, influenced by agricultural runoff; and soil erosion, caused by deforestation.” When listing items with bullet points, each item can start with a capital letter, and full stops are used at the end if the items are complete sentences. Proper punctuation in lists ensures that your information is presented clearly and logically, making it easier for readers to follow your arguments and findings.

Managing Subordinate Clauses

Managing subordinate clauses effectively is crucial for maintaining clarity and coherence in your research paper. To achieve this, it is important to use proper punctuation to separate subordinate clauses from the main sentence clauses. Subordinate clauses, also known as dependent clauses, provide additional information but cannot stand alone as complete sentences. They are usually introduced by subordinating conjunctions such as “because,” “although,” or “which.” Proper punctuation helps to integrate these clauses seamlessly into your writing. When a subordinate clause precedes the main clause, a comma is typically used to separate them: “Although the experiment was challenging, the results were promising.” However, if the subordinate clause follows the main clause, a comma is often unnecessary: “The results were promising because the experiment was meticulously conducted.” Misplacing punctuation in subordinate clauses can lead to confusion and disrupt the flow of your writing. By correctly managing subordinate clauses, you can enhance the readability and precision of your research paper, ensuring that your complex ideas are conveyed clearly.

Common Punctuation Mistakes

Misplaced commas.

Misplaced commas are common punctuation mistakes that can significantly affect the clarity and readability of your research paper. Commas are used to separate elements within a sentence, but placing them incorrectly can lead to confusion and ambiguity. For example, “The results, were significant” incorrectly places a comma between the subject and the verb, disrupting the sentence flow. Another common error is the comma splice, where two independent clauses are joined by a comma without a coordinating conjunction, as in “The experiment was successful, the results were inconclusive.” This should be corrected by using a semicolon or a conjunction: “The experiment was successful; however, the results were inconclusive.” Omitting necessary commas can also cause confusion, such as in lists where items run together. By paying close attention to comma placement, you can avoid these common pitfalls and ensure that your research paper is clear and easy to understand.

Overuse of Exclamation Marks

Overuse of exclamation marks is a common punctuation mistake that can undermine the professionalism and seriousness of your research paper. Exclamation marks are typically used to express strong emotion or emphasis, which is rarely appropriate in academic writing. For instance, writing “The results were astounding!” might convey enthusiasm, but it can make your paper seem informal and less credible. Instead, academic writing should rely on clear language and logical arguments to emphasize points. If emphasis is needed, consider using italics or bold text sparingly. Overusing exclamation marks can also make your writing appear subjective, detracting from the objective tone required in research papers. To maintain a professional and authoritative tone, it is best to avoid exclamation marks altogether unless they are part of a direct quote. By doing so, you ensure your paper remains focused, precise, and credible.

Incorrect Apostrophe Usage

Incorrect apostrophe usage is a frequent punctuation mistake that can detract from the professionalism of your research paper. Apostrophes are primarily used to indicate possession or to form contractions. For possession, the apostrophe is placed before the “s” for singular nouns (“the student’s book”) and after the “s” for plural nouns (“the students’ books”). A common error is using an apostrophe to form plurals, which is incorrect: “The result’s were significant” should be “The results were significant.” Similarly, contractions such as “it’s” for “it is” should not be confused with the possessive “its.” Misplacing apostrophes can lead to ambiguity and misunderstandings. For example, “The researchers’ data” correctly indicates data belonging to multiple researchers, while “The researcher’s data” implies it belongs to one researcher. By ensuring correct apostrophe usage, you can enhance the clarity and credibility of your academic writing.

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