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Academic writing

A guide to academic writing

1. Clear and limited focus

It is important that academic writing has a clear and limited focus. Having a clear focus means that the topic of your writing, whether it be within a specific paragraph or within the assignment overall, should always be clearly communicated and obvious to the reader. Having a limited focus means that you should write only within the scope of the requirements for the task or assignment question - stay on target and avoid 'going off on a tangent'.

To help you maintain a clear and limited focus, it is important to analyse your task before you start writing your assessment. This will help you identify the directive, content, and limiting words within the assignment question, which will then help you keep your focus as you begin writing in response to these. Table 1 provides a quick summary of these words, but please refer to the Analysing assignment questions and Research skills tutorial library guides (links below) for more detailed guidance on this.

Table 1. Description and examples of directive, content, and limiting words in assignment questions.
Type of word  What does this tell me? Examples
Directive Instruct you on what you need to do in your assignment. Helps you structure and break down tasks. Explain, compare, discuss, analyse, evaluate
Content Indicate what to write about in your assessment. Helps you focus on the subject and research, highlighting relationships between concepts. Theories, disciplines, events, topics
Limiting Defines what is or is not relevant to include in your research. Helps you set the boundaries or scope of your topics/ Only, excluding, focusing on, limited to

Activity: check your knowledge on academic writing focus!

Consider the below question adapted from Turner et al. (2011):  

Explain why reading is generally considered important at university. Assess to what extent students are required to read critically during their course work.  

Answer the following questions:

  1. Identify which words or phrases in this question are directive, content, and limiting.
  2. Based on these words or phrases, what can you deduce about what should be included in a response to this question?

Once you have some answers to these questions, navigate to the tab titled 'Activity answer' to check your work!

Directive words: 

  • "Explain" – Clarify why reading is important at university using facts and evidence.
  • "Justify" – Provide reasons or examples to support why reading is considered important.
  • "Assess to what extent" – Evaluate how much students need to read critically in coursework, using evidence and reasoning.

Content words:

  • "Reading at university" – Focus on its importance in the academic setting.
  • "Critical reading" – Examine the necessity of analytical reading in coursework.

Limiting words:

  • "Generally considered" – Focus on common views, not exceptions.
  • "During their coursework" – Limit the scope to academic studies. 

2. Logical structure

All academic writing - including each of your assignments - has a structure. Sometimes, the structure will already be set and specified in your course materials, such as scientific reports and case studies, whilst others will require you to create your own structure.

When deciding on a structure, have a look at the following as a guide:

  1. Your task instructions: This should be the first place you look for guidance on your structure. Is there a specific structure you need to use? Are certain headings or subheadings required?
  2. The type of assignment: Is your assignment an essay, report, case study, or something else? Have a look at the Academic Skills library guide (link below) for guidance on specific assignment types.
  3. The assignment question: How many topics are listed? Does it ask for similarities and differences, or direct you to compare and contrast?
  4. The subject or content: Does this indicate a structure based on chronology or process?
  5. Your own interpretation of the subject: What do you think? Do you want to try a problem/solution structure, use subheadings or divide into sub-topics, or something else?
  6. Other texts in your discipline: What is the typical structure followed by relevant journal articles in your area? Is this something you could apply to your assignment?
Remember to always check your task instructions for specific structure requirements.

 

How to plan your structure

Whether you are trying to structure a single paragraph, a section of a report, or an entire essay, it may be best to start by brainstorming a few ideas in an outline form before you start writing. An outline should provide the basic plan for your written work and is a great way to help you keep focused to begin writing with a clear structure in mind (The University of Sydney, 2024). Some strategies for making a good outline include:

  • Organise your notes: Have a look through your reading notes for themes, patterns, similarities, and differences. Can you group these under headings? You may like to use highlighters or symbols to physically group these together.
  • Go visual: Draw a mind-map or flow chart to show how your ideas are connected and/or which headings your evidence and references fit under.
  • Stick with the essentials: If you are finding that you have ideas, evidence, or references that do not connect into your mind-map or sit under any of your headings, ask yourself if you really need them. If they are not relevant for your assignment topic or research question, discard them.
  • Consider a table: When looking through your research notes or readings, you may like to organise your information into tables to show how each theory, idea, or reading relates to each of your headings. This is called a 'synthesis grid' and is particularly useful for large pieces of work with lots of information, such as a thesis or dissertation.

Tips to make your structure clear

Once you have your outline, you are ready to start writing! Remember to check your outline throughout this writing process to ensure you are following your plan. The following tips may also be helpful to keep in mind as you write:

  • Use headings and subheadings to clearly mark the sections (if acceptable as per your task instructions or discipline).
  • Show connections and relationships between ideas by using conjunctions and linking words, such as: however, in contrast, although, similarly, consequently, therefore.
  • Ensure each paragraph consists of a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence.
    • The topic sentence should connect to the main idea and/or the introduction, heading, or subheading.
    • The supporting sentences should link to the central point and use transition words and phrases to create flow.
    • The concluding sentence should connect back to the topic sentence and lead on to the next paragraph.

Have a look at the Paragraph writing library guide below for more assistance on paragraph structure, and check out the Academic skills guide for more specific help with different assignment types:

Activity: check your knowledge on academic writing structure!

Navigate through the tabs above to compare the three sample paragraphs from an essay. Decide what role each paragraph plays in the structure of the essay by identifying:

  1. Which paragraph is most suited to the introduction?
  2. Which paragraph would you find in the body?
  3. Which paragraph reads like a conclusion?

Once you have identified the structure, navigate to the 'Activity answer' tab to check if you were correct!

Developing awareness of cultural diversity and greater understanding around the values and beliefs held by people from other societies and cultures were found to enhance optimal care in the health field. Literature reports that work towards improved cross-cultural communication skills and improving higher education training better prepare health professionals for challenges encountered in daily interactions with clients. It was also noted that health professionals cannot become experts on all multicultural issues. Although, it is clear that devoting time to enhance practitioner knowledge of one ethnic group or community was found to build awareness and sensitivity to other groups. Such practices are demonstrated as methods to ensure and maintain standards of care and satisfaction for both client and caregiver.

Australia’s health professionals may encounter challenges when working in a multicultural society, especially if education and training have not prepared those professionals to operate effectively in different contexts. Health practitioners need to develop awareness around the specific needs, beliefs and experiences different cultures may have regarding illness and health; this is essential for optimal care to be provided for a diverse range of individuals and clients. Communication, education and training are of paramount importance to meeting patient health needs. Providing resources and health education sensitive to cultural issues can enable more efficient utilisation of carer expertise in the health field. Such factors are vital in supporting health professional interaction with diverse cultural groups.

Cultural differences are also significant in the field of health prevention. Gifford (2017, p. 13) asserts that ‘the slow development of a disease in healthy individuals is not necessarily a culturally shared concept’. This study demonstrated examples of patient acceptance of ill health as being viewed as a matter of destiny; a belief found typical of Italian and Macedonian cultures. Additionally, James et al. (2016) found that the women of Latin cultural groups carried an attitude of not wanting to know if they had cancer because they believed such knowledge would shorten their lives. It was also believed that attending a screening program might actually cause cancer (James et al. 2016). Therefore, it seems clients with diverse cultural beliefs regarding disease development, while accepting treatment for immediate and acute conditions, may not necessarily understand the need for disease prevention.

Paragraph Where does it belong? How can I tell?
Paragraph 1 Conclusion
  • Use of past tense vocabulary indicating summary: "...were found to enhance...", "it was also noted...".
  • No evidence, literature, or studies discussed.
Paragraph 2 Introduction
  • Follows introduction structure of background, arguments, hypothesis.
  • No evidence, literature, or studies discussed.
  • Final sentence indicates the necessity for writing the essay.
Paragraph 3 Body
  • Use of linking word 'also' in first sentence; indicates it is a topic sentence and suggests previous paragraph also discussed cultural differences.
  • Discussion of evidence and use of citations to support.

3. Evidence-based arguments

Good writing requires you to move beyond a description or summary of other people's ideas and instead explain, analyse and evaluate how these ideas relate to your task. To do this, aim to provide an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into the task discussion by summarising, paraphrasing, and synthesising ideas. We will focus on this final synthesising step here, but please check out the Writing with evidence library guide (link below) for more detailed guidance on integrating evidence in academic writing.

To show that you are synthesising information and therefore thinking critically, consider using some of the key words and phrases given in Table 2 below to group sources or information together (The University of Manchester, 2023):

Table 2. Example sentence starters to demonstrate synthesis in academic writing (The University of Manchester, 2023).
Introductory phrases Referring to other studies Identifying contention in the literature
  • The purpose of this report is to...
  • This concept has been defined as...
  • The key reasons identified include...
  • A variety of factors have been noted as contributing to...
  • A growing volume of research suggests...
  • Evidence has also shown that...
  • Numerous studies have been conducted which...
  • A review of the literature indicates agreement in...
  • There is disagreement between...
  • Author A reported varied results to Author B...
  • There is much debate regarding...
  • This has been a topic of contention for a number of years...

Check out the Academic Phrasebank from The University of Manchester for more sentence starters and examples of different writing styles for different purposes:

Activity: check your knowledge on evidence-based arguments!

Navigate through the tabs above to compare two paragraphs, Version A and Version B. In terms of evidence-based arguments, which version is a good example, and which is a poor example?

Once you have identified the best version of this work, navigate to the 'Activity answer' tab to check if you were correct!

Many, if not all, of the authors identified compassion as a key core value for health professionals in the end stages of life. Author et al. (2016) found family members and carers were better able to move through challenging emotional situations. Also, Jones' (2019) study stated connectedness and comprehension are improved with cultural consideration. Compassionate care provided by the health professional should be inclusive of different cultural needs, as stated by Author et al. (2018).

There is considerable consensus on the importance of ensuring the cultural needs of patients and carers are met during end-of-life care (Author 2018; Author et al. 2020; Author & Author 2015). Studies by both Author et al. (2016) and Author (2018) found that family members and carers are better able to move through challenging emotional situations when compassionate care provided by health professionals is inclusive of cultural needs. Additionally, Jones (2019) has recently shown how a sense-of-connectedness and understanding are improved when cultural considerations are taken into account by health professionals. 

Version A is the poor example and Version B is the good example.

Comment on Version A: This sample text is not well synthesised as it is just describing one source after the other. Avoid a "he said, she said" style. It is better to rework each paraphrase to group ideas and authors together into the same sentences.

Comment on Version B: This sample text provides better synthesis of ideas to support the topic of 'cultural needs'. The text evolves from a summary of common information in several studies, as supported by a list of sources at the end of the sentence, to include detail from more specific sources that are grouped, where possible (e.g. 'both').

4. Carefully chosen words

Vocabulary in academic writing will be technical where relevant and formal elsewhere. You may have noticed this when reading your course readings or researching sources for assignments! Writing technically requires a bit of background research and time spent learning the language of your discipline, whilst writing formally is one of the four main features of academic style. We will go through all of these in more detail below.

Technical terms: Learning the language of your discipline 

Each area of study has its own specialised vocabulary. You will begin learning this specialised language when you begin your degree and should aim to be fluent by the time you finish. Below are some tips to help you learn this vocabulary and implement it into your writing:

  • Keep a notebook or set up an online document where you can list and define key terms. 
  • Make comments about these terms or create visual images/diagrams to help you retain them.
  • Practise creating sentences using these disciplinary terms.  
  • Practise these terms when speaking to others in your class/course.  

Writing with academic style

When writing academically, it is important to write in an objective, precise, formal, and tentative manner. These features all constitute 'academic style', and although the specifics of these features may differ according to the discipline, they can be applied to all assignment types as per Table 3 below.

Table 3. Features of academic style with good and poor examples.
  Features Good example (source) Poor example
Objectivity
  • Focuses on and is supported by evidence and reasoning rather than personal opinions or emotive language
  • Personal pronouns like 'I', 'you', and 'we' are often avoided.

A recent survey on the sporting preferences of Australian university students revealed...

 

A recent survey on the sporting preferences of Australian university students gave unbelievable results.

Precision
  • Provide sufficient level of detail for the purpose of your work
  • Avoid ambiguity - always be specific
Of the survey respondents, 70% reported to have stopped playing sport during their teenage years. 

Of the people who completed the survey, most of them said they stopped playing sport as a teenager.

Formality
  • Replace conversational informal words with more formal vocabulary
  • Provide the reader all the information they need to understand the meaning, rather than relying on their initiative
  • Avoid rhetorical questions, contractions, slang, jargon, and colloquial language
Author A and Author B agree there is a link between physical activity and wellbeing, with emphasis on the benefits of playing a team sport beyond teenage years. This isn't very good news for students' wellbeing, so what should we do to promote sport in higher education?
Tentativeness
  • Express caution by avoiding generalisations and strong or unqualified statements
  • Use words like 'may', 'likely', and 'unlikely', rather than 'will' or 'will not'
Implementing programs to promote team sport engagement whilst studying at university may therefore help student wellbeing. Programs must be implemented to promote team sport at university, otherwise everyone's wellbeing will be impacted.

Vocabulary tips: verbs

  • Verbs play important roles in academic writing, particularly when citing sources or referring to other work. These are called reporting verbs and can reveal a lot about the source. For example:
    • Neutral verbs show discussion of a source, for example: comments, explores, discusses, reasons, suggests, reflects.
    • Stronger verbs show disagreement or questioning, for example: contradicts, debates, accuses, blames, and scrutinises.
  • Aim to be concise rather than verbose (wordy), so choose one-word verbs over phrasal verbs wherever possible. For example, 'proximity' rather than 'close proximity', or 'presently' rather than 'at the present time'.
  • It can be helpful to develop and draw on a list of reporting verbs to more accurately demonstrate your evaluation of different works. Check out this list (link below) from The University of Adelaide (2014) for some ideas.

Activity: check your knowledge on academic language!

Consider the below excerpt from Lans et al. (2011):

A growing volume of research acknowledges that entrepreneurial core processes are enabled by specific​ competencies that can be developed (Baron & Ensley, 2006; DeTienne & Chandler, 2004; Ucbasaran et al., 2008). Entrepreneurial competence is not only a matter of predisposition, but also dependent on learning and experience. This notion is important for those involved in stimulating nascent entrepreneurship as well as those engaged in sector development and fostering entrepreneurship education and learning. Much competence research has been conducted since the 1980s (Bartram, 2005; Boyatzis, 1982), but this research tradition aims at the development of managers or employees in large firms. Limited attention has been given to the development of entrepreneurial competence in existing small firms (Rae, 2007; Sadler-Smith et al., 2003). 

Answer the following questions:

  1. How does this paragraph demonstrate the four features of academic style - objectivity, precision, formality, and tentativeness?
  2. Which words are technical (discipline-specific), and which are formal (academic style)?

Once you have some answers to these questions, navigate to the tab titled 'Activity answer' to check your work!

Question 1.

  • Objectivity is demonstrated by lack of personal pronouns and synthesis of evidence (such as in the first sentence) to support ideas.
  • Precision is demonstrated through use of specific words and phrases, such as specifying a timeframe for the research in the sentence "Much competence research has been conducted since the 1980s...".
  • Formality is demonstrated through both technical and formal terms with no rhetorical questions, colloquial language, or contractions.
  • Tentativeness is demonstrated through word choices such as "Limited attention..." rather than the stronger "No attention...", and "Much competence research has been conducted since the 1980s..." rather than "All competence research has been conducted...".

 

Question 2.

The text uses a combination of technical and formal terms. Technical words are shown in red writing below, including words such as "entrepreneurial core processes" and "firms", whilst formal terms are shown in blue font below, including words such as "predisposition" and "development".

A growing volume of research acknowledges that entrepreneurial core processes are enabled by specificcompetencies that can be developed (Baron & Ensley, 2006; DeTienne & Chandler, 2004; Ucbasaran et al., 2008). Entrepreneurial competence is not only a matter of predisposition, but also dependent on learning and experience. This notion is important for those involved in stimulating nascent entrepreneurship as well as those engaged in sector development and fostering entrepreneurship education and learning. Much competence research has been conducted since the 1980s (Bartram, 2005; Boyatzis, 1982), but this research tradition aims at the development of managers or employees in existing large firms. Limited attention has been given to the development of entrepreneurial competence in existing small firms (Rae, 2007; Sadler-Smith et al., 2003). 

Recap: Main tips for academic writing

  1. Keep a clear and limited focus throughout your writing - avoid getting sidetracked, and make sure your writing is clear to the reader at all times.
  2. Plan your structure in detail - check your assignment instructions, assignment type, and the typical structure used in your discipline for guidance.
  3. Ensure your arguments are evidence-based rather than emotive or reliant on personal opinions - synthesise ideas and information from other sources to show your critical thinking skills.
  4. Choose your words carefully - learn the language of your discipline so you can effectively use technical terms, and pair this with the key features of academic style: objectivity, precision, formality, and tentativeness

Recap activity: check your knowledge on academic writing!

Consider the below paragraph:

People use too much water all over the world, but the real problem is groundwater. Groundwater is underground water which is stored in aquifers and they are usually deep down under the surface. About a third of the people in the world use water from aquifers, but they take thousands of years to develop. Because there is a lot of water in aquifers, humans have been using it without thinking about the future. Payal Sampat says that around the world, we use 200 billion cubic metres more water than we can replace, which means we’re steadily using up our water and we’ll run out. 

Answer the following questions:

  1. Which principles of academic writing (focus, structure, evidence, vocabulary) need addressing?
  2. For each of the principles identified in Question 1, what would you change to improve this paragraph?
  3. Why would you make these changes?

Once you have some answers to these questions, navigate to the tab titled 'Activity Answer' to check your work!

Question 1:

  • Imprecise language, such as "about a third of the people in the world..."
  • Lack of evidence to support claims overall, and incorrect use of referencing in the sentence "Payal Sampat says that..."
  • Use of contractions, such as "we'll", and starting sentences with conjuctions, such as "because"

 

Question 2:

An alternative or improved version of the paragraph may therefore look something like this:

Overuse of water resources is a major global problem. The crisis is particularly acute in relation to groundwater reserves which lie deep below the surface in aquifers. One third of the global population depends on these aquifers, which have taken thousands of years to develop (Brown 2001). As the aquifers hold large volumes of water, they have been used without thought of the future. Sampat (2015) states that worldwide, water consumption is about 200 billion cubic metres more than can be replaced. In other words, global water capital is steadily decreasing. ​

 

Question 3:

In the above version from Question 2, ideas are named rather than people, making it more impersonal and more objective. References are used correctly and indicate these arguments are evidence-based rather than reliant on personal opinions. Language is more technical and adheres to academic style conventions.

Final step to consider

Once you have completed your first draft of your academic writing, it is time to edit! For advice on how to edit your work, check out the library guide below:

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