Introduction to Academic Writing

Conventions of academic style

Academic Style

It is usual to write in the third person (he, she it, they), not using the ‘I’ voice.

Check expectations in the assignment instructions. If in doubt check with your tutor for what style they require. If your assignment involves some reflection, of course you’ll need to write using ‘ I’. Most of the time you need to aim for an objective, fairly formal voice in your writing.<

We can’t write from our common-sense knowledge in university writing, instead we have to acknowledge where credible ideas come from; ideas could come from theory, research, prior learning in a field and from experts. Your evidence base supporting your ideas will come from extensive, recent reading and reliable sources of information (textbooks and articles, preferably peer-reviewed) within your field.  Therefore, a convention is that all ideas are referenced using the APA referencing format. It is usual to include the author’s name and date of publication if paraphrasing. If you use a direct quote, use the author’s name, date of publication and page number. You can find more information in the online referencing guide from Hallam Library.

Another convention is that ideas are presented with formality, reflected by the use of formal language. A good tip would be to read out some of your work to yourself. Listen for chatty, colloquial expressions and try to replace them with more formal alternatives (synonyms).

If when you read your work it sounds as if it’s conversational, as if when talking to a friend, the chances are it needs to be more formal and needs revising.

There are tools to help you; there is also a synonym search function within word. Select a word, right click your mouse over it and select synonyms from the drop-down list. This generates a list of alternative words. If you are not sure how to use these words, check a thesaurus and see it written in a sentence to understand how it might be used in context. If English is not your first language, use linguee.com. You can easily find translations and find lots of examples of words used in context.

If the thought of finding more formal words interrupts your flow when you are writing, underline words or add coloured highlighter to remind you to return to edit them later.

This table shows some colloquial first drafts with more formal revisions in the right hand-column.

Achieving a formal style

Avoid contractions

Avoid contractions such as don't, can't, won't; write them fully: do not, cannot, will not. It helps to be direct and precise in your writing. Avoid padding out your sentences with repetition, obvious points or generalisations:

Example:

As Baronowski (2019) suggests, two-way communication in organisations is important and forms the cornerstone of trust and cohesion.

Edited:

Baronowski (2019) suggests, two-way communication in organisations forms the cornerstone of trust and cohesion.

Use reporting verbs

When introducing ideas using reporting verbs avoid colloquial verbs such as says, mentions and reckons that. The verbs you choose can help with signalling the function of the writing.

Passive voice

Using the passive voice is one way of achieving an objective style and some people suggest it is more appropriate for academic writing.

Example:

The study was designed by Hutton (2014) and data were collected from three sources.

Instead of:

Hutton designed the study (2014) and we collected data from three sources.

While the passive voice can be useful for avoiding personal pronouns and achieving objectivity, it can also make sentences longer and more difficult to read. Some subject areas (including Education) prefer an active voice (see Active vs. Passive Voice in Scholarly Writing: Source: Walden University) and the use of the passive can make sentences difficult to read or make them longer. It is probably best to aim for a mixture of both active and passive structures.

Example:

It is clear from the research that increasing numbers of schools are experiencing poor student behaviour (Hutton, 2014).

Avoiding long sentences

Using a mixture of long and short sentences makes the writing easier to read. If a sentence takes up more than three lines, it probably needs to be divided into two or more shorter sentences.

Example:

Researchers are increasingly recognising the value of pre-school education and what is becoming evident from numerous studies is that not only does pre-school education prepare children for primary school it also enhances their performance in a number of key areas of development including social, emotional and cognitive domains of development.

Edited:

Researchers are increasingly recognising the value of pre-school education. What is becoming evident from numerous studies is that pre-school education not only prepares children for primary school; it also enhances their performance in a number of key developmental areas including social, emotional and cognitive domains.

Read your writing aloud. This will help you to check the flow of your ideas and whether your language sounds formal. If a sentence is very long, or if there is more than one idea in a sentence, think about where you could break it up. This is particularly important if you are dyslexic.