ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS WRITING

Similarities

Even though business and academic writing are different, both have similarities as well.

One of the crucial things in common in both is having a strong point while writing a paper.

Point

Writing academic writing, a thesis per se needs to have a strong hypothesis or an idea,

and the rest of the article is about supporting that. Moreover, in business writing, one needs to

have a strong opening, and then the rest are facts and evidence backing it up [ CITATION

Wor19 \l 1033 ].

Evidence/Examples

Both writings need concrete examples, and these examples should not be personal;

instead, they should be cited from authentic sources. For a dissertation, it needs to be backed by

literature, government statistics, etc.

In contrast, in business writing (project proposal), it needs to be backed by evidence such

as statistics, customer surveys, etc.

Format

Both these writeups need to be organized so that it is easy for the readers to read them

and find specific information in them.

Grammar

Lastly, grammar matters! Grammatical errors need to be avoided at all costs in both

writeups as both have a level of formality they need to follow.

 Differences

Moving on to the differences between the two. Academic writing is when the writer

writes to learn, and business writing is when the writers write to get work done or give

recommendations on how to get the job done [ CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 ].

Prompt

Firstly, their instructors prompt them to write something for academic writers, whereas

business writers often create their tasks and work since it is expected of them or is needed.

Audience

The audience is different for the two as well, where academic writers write for a niche,

business writers write for their stakeholders, who are a mass group of complex people.

Type of Writing

The type of writings is different, as well. In academia, one needs to write a thesis,

assignments, research papers, journals, essays, etc. In business writing, one writes memos,

business letters, business proposals, executive summaries, etc. [ CITATION Smi18 \l 1033 ].

Ownership

Apart from this, business writers write for their organization's entirety, whereas, in

academic writing, the writer is graded individually.

Process
 The process behind business writing is different, as well. It needs constant feedback from

the higherups to make sure there are such discrepancies when it is published, since one lousy

hand may tarnish the image of the whole company. Hence there is a lot at stake while writing a

business writeup. But as far as academia is concerned, the process is not hectic, as it is sent to the

instructor immediately for grading.

Formatting

The paper format is different as well, as academia follows a strict form (double spaced,

1" margin, 12-point font, etc.), but business writers need to beautify their document according to

the stakeholder needs.

Example

Academic writing: According to an article by Petress (2018), active learning helps

students be a part of the learning process and quickly understand the lecture. Information

retention is maximized. Hence, it is intimated that the students are taught actively instead of

passive teaching.

Business Writing: we surveyed the class, and the majority believe it is easier to learn

when they are a part of the whole process.

Works Cited

Big, Smith. "Similarities and Dissimilarities between Academic and Business Writing." 18 2
2018. My Venture Pad . Blog. 16 12 2020.

White, Mary Gormandy. "Comparison of Business and Academic Writing." n.d. Your Dictionary
. Document . 16 12 2020.
Worth, Maggie. "How Are Academic & Business Writing Similar?" 12 3 2019. The Nest. Article
. 16 12 2020.