Academic Writing

Definition
Academic writing is a type of writing produced by
students and professionals in an academic setting. Its
main purpose is to inform and persuade not
entertain. The most common type of academic
writing include academic essays, book reviews,
literature reviews, research reports, project
proposals, position papers, and reaction papers.

Compared to other forms of writing, academic

writing is impersonal and formal. It is impersonal
because it usually uses the third person perspective and does not have a direct reference
to persons and feelings. It is formal because it strictly adheres to formal English and avoid
word contractions (e.g. don't, shouldn't).

You also need to build a wide-ranging, field-specific vocabulary. this refers to the
specialized words that are excusive to a specific field of study such as psychology,,
medicine, linguistics, and sciences.

In terms of mechanics, make sure to follow the guidelines for language use and
mechanics in well-written texts. Citation and referencing are also two essential
elements of any academic writing.

Components of Academic Writing

Components of Academic Writing

Context refers to the situation where professional writing is performed. It includes the
people involved, relationship between the people involved in the communication, time
and place, and some possible interferences.

Message refers to the content of your document. It includes the main topic, and the
details that support it. These details may be in the form of facts, statistics, testimonies,
and observations.

Language refers to the channel used to convey the message. It can either be visual or
textual, formal or informal, verbal or non-verbal.

Purpose is the reason or motive that you have when communicating. It also helps you
determine the reactions you want to elicit from your target audience.

Audience is the receiver of the message.

Product refers to the output that you intend to produce after considering all the other
components.

Some examples of outputs produced through academic writing are; Academic essay,
Thesis, Dissertation, Library research, Coursework, Reaction paper, Book review,
Literature review, Research report, Project proposal, Position paper.

Types of Academic Writing (Book Review or Article Critique)

1. Book review or article critique is a specialized form of academic writing evaluates the
contribution of scholarly works such as academic books and journal articles. A book
review which usually ranges from 250 to 750 words, is not simply a summary. It is a
critical assessment, analysis, or evaluation of a work.

As an advanced form of writing, it involves your skills in critical thinking and recognizing
arguments. It is different form movie review that you see in newspapers. Although movie
reviews involve the analysis of a work, they are written for a general audience and
primarily aim to offer a persuasive opinion. On the other hand, a book review addresses a
more specific audience and usually offers a critical response to a published scholarly
work.

Structure of a Book Review or Article Review

Types of Academic Writing (Literature Review)
2. Literature Review provides an overview of a specific topic. It surveys scholarly work
such as academic books (but not textbooks), computerized databases, conference
proceedings, dissertations/theses, journal articles, monographs, and statistical handbooks.

A literature review critically analyzes the relationship among different scholarly works and
the current work.

Doing a literature review will test your ability to seek literature efficiently and identify
useful scholarly work. It will also test your ability to evaluate studies for their validity and
reliability. Hence, writing a literature review involves research, critical appraisal, and
writing. Everything else included, a student may take 40 hours to finish a well-written
literature review.
Structure of a Literature Review

Types of Academic Writing (Research Report)

1. TITLE PAGE - contains an informative title that describes the content of the paper,
the name of the author/s, addresses or affiliations, and date of submission.

2. ABSTRACT - contains the summary of the research findings and conclusions.

3. INTRODUCTION - explains the current state of the field and identifies research
gaps.

4. LITERATURE REVIEW - contains the summary and synthesis of all available sources
directly related to the study.

5. METHODOLOGY - describes how the experiments or tests in the research were

conducted.

6. RESULTS - factually describes the data gathered and the tables and graphs that
summarize the collected data.
7. DISCUSSION - provides an explanation of all the results in relation to the previous
studies presented in the literature review.

8. CONCLUSION - contains the restatement of the major findings, the limitations of

the study, the recommendations, and the implications,

9. REFERENCES - contains the different sources used in the study.

Types of Academic Writing (Project Proposal)

ypes of Academic Writing (Parts of a Project Proposal)

Types of Academic Writing (Position Paper)

1. Introduction

Ø Uses a lead that grabs the attention of readers

Ø Defines the issue and provides a thorough background

Ø Provides a general statement of the writer’s position through a thesis statement

2. Body

Ø States the writer’s main arguments and provides sufficient evidence (e.g. statistics,
interviews with experts, and testimonies) for each argument

Ø Provides counter arguments against possible weaknesses of the arguments presented

in the paper

3. Conclusion

Ø Restates the writer’s position and main arguments

Ø Suggests a course of action

Ø Explains why the writer’s position is better than any other position

Ø Ends with a powerful closing statement (e.g. quotation, a challenge, or a question)

Choosing the issue

1. The issue should be debatable. You cannot take any position if the topic is not
debatable.
2. The issue should be current and relevant.
3. The issue should be written in a question form and answerable by yes or no.
4. The issue should be specific and manageable.