Ins and Outs of Academic Writing

Many students see academic writing as something scary and challenging to do. However, what should be seen as such is the particular dialect of the English language created to convey ideas in a clear and honest manner. The common misconception among some people is that academic writing means any piece of work related to high-level research. In fact, all writings done by the students for the purpose of their education are academic writings. These writings can be short writings such as paragraphs and essays or long writings such as research papers, laboratory reports, and dissertations. They may also be writings done during examinations and tests. In essence, all writings done for educational purposes are academic writings. These writings must comply with some requirements. It is a highly regulated way of expression used at different levels of education.
One of the most noticeable distinctions between informal writing and academic writing lies in the degree of formality of the texts. The latter does not tolerate anything but an extremely formal tone that is absolutely contrary to casual communication where people tend to employ shortened forms. Contractions are one of the most frequent mistakes made by students because formal papers cannot contain them at all. Therefore, instead of writing 'don't', 'can't' or 'it's', the authors should write 'do not', 'cannot' and 'it is'. Besides, academic writing is characterised by objectivity and, thus, should avoid employing the pronoun "you". Although the pronoun "I" can be used in some disciplines, it would be better to employ the third-person perspective because precision is important for academic writers and slang expressions should be avoided. Hence, instead of saying that a scientist "looked into" a certain issue, he or she should say that the problem was investigated or examined.
There are also particular conventions associated with the use of numbers in write-ups which most students tend to ignore. According to different writing styles, there are different rules, but generally, numbers between one and nine are always written in words. On the other hand, when it comes to numbers ten and above, numerals are preferred. There is also a strict guideline on how numbers are to be used in the opening of a sentence; it is not appropriate to begin a sentence using a number. If a number is essential to appearing at the very start of a sentence, it should be spelt out fully, irrespective of how big it is. Writing "Three hundred participants joined the research project" is correct, whereas "300 participants took part in the research" is regarded as an error in academic writing.
The structure is an additional feature which defines good academic papers. Unlike other texts, a paragraph does not contain unrelated sentences; on the contrary, it represents a coherent unit of thinking. The correct structure of such paragraphs starts with a topic sentence, in which one formulates a claim; continues with evidence which proves the claim; and ends with a transitional sentence, connecting the paragraph with the following part. To ensure a logical flow of thoughts, writers should use transition words: furthermore, moreover, conversely, etc.
However, the most important element related to academic writing concerns ethical issues such as citations and referencing. From an academic perspective, each person who develops some idea, uses some data, or even writes in a specific way owns the rights for that creation. For example, when a student cites someone else, he/she should give credit for the idea used. It means the presence of in-text citations in the body of the text and a complete reference list at the end of the work.
Apart from these technical aspects, there are other aspects which can help to determine good writing. First of all, the active voice is preferred to the passive one, since it is more straightforward and easier to understand. It is better to say "the experiment was done by researchers" than simply "an experiment was done". One more aspect of good writing is brevity – being laconic means not saying nothing but being able to express yourself briefly and succinctly. More words do not mean greater intellectual abilities. Everything that you state in your essay should be supported either by facts or some kind of logical proof. Emotive words, like "terrible", should be substituted for neutral ones, like "ineffective".
There are also certain things that writers need to avoid, including the use of terms like "et cetera" or "and so on". This is because they can be taken to indicate unfinished thoughts. In case of academic writing, the use of filler contents or words such as "It is important to note that", should also be avoided. Students should remember that excessive quoting is not good either, since a good paper must feature the students' ideas mostly.
In the end, it all comes down to understanding. Many times, people try to use a thesaurus in order to find the most complex words to make themselves look more scholarly than anyone else; however, it is the ones who have the ability to simplify the complex that will succeed in becoming great academic writers. When you fail to make yourself understood, then you fail in your writing. It is by using these formal structures and adhering to the rules of citation that one becomes able to take their writing assignments to the next level and become professionals in their areas of interest.
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The writer is Assistant Professor of English at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka