Video #3

ACADEMIC VERSUS
NON-ACADEMIC
WRITING

Dr. Matthew Robinson

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC USA
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Questions to ask yourself:

1) Who wrote it? (an academic or a

layperson?)

2) Who is it written for? (an academic

audience or the general public?)

Recall that academic writing is writing done

by scholars for other scholars
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

3) Where is it published?
Is it an academic source?
For example, an academic journal
For example, a university press
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
4) Is it blindly reviewed
The blind review process:
a) paper written by a scholar is submitted to
journal
b) editor sends paper to other scholars
(the paper does NOT have the name of the
author on it)
c) the other scholars read the paper to
determine if it should be published
(the identify of those scholars (the reviewers) is
never known by the author of the paper)
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES

1) Academic journal article

Article written by scholar(s)

Submitted to journal

Blindly reviewed
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES

Academic journals
ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
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EXAMPLES
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EXAMPLES
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EXAMPLES

2) University press book

Book written by scholar(s)

Submitted to publisher

Blindly reviewed
ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES

(American Association of University Presses)

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EXAMPLES
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EXAMPLES

University presses
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EXAMPLES
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EXAMPLES

University press books

 NON ACADEMIC WRITING

Articles and books published are often NOT

academic
in magazines
in newspapers
on websites

These might be accurate and they might be

useful
Since they are NOT reviewed, they might NOT
be accurate or useful
 NON ACADEMIC WRITING

You determine this by evaluating the source

Who are the authors?
What are their agendas/biases?

For example, would you trust a report on

climate change by an oil company?
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 NON ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
Examples of NON academic sources
Global Warming & Climate Change
(website from New York Times)

Climate Change/Environment
(website from The Guardian)

How To Talk About Climate Change so People Will Listen

(article in The Atlantic, a magazine)

Climate Change
(article in Discover Magazine)

Climate Change is Here

(article in National Geographic, a magazine)
 NON ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
Lots of websites, too!
 NON ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
Lots of websites, too!
 NON ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
Lots of websites, too!
 NON ACADEMIC WRITING:
EXAMPLES
Lots of websites, too!
 ACADEMIC WRITING:
A SUMMARY

To determine if writing is academic,

remember:

1) Who wrote it?

2) Who is it written for?
3) Where is it published?
4) Is it blindly reviewed