Are you feeling the pressure to measure up to the standard academic writing style? You are not alone. All of us were novices at one point. Academic writing skills are learnt over time, and no one is born knowing how to write academic papers. Just like maths and chemistry, the more you learn and practice, the better you get at it. This post will teach you how to improve your academic writing skills. Keep reading to understand what makes the difference between a mediocre and an excellent academic paper, be it an essay, a book review, a research paper, or a dissertation.
What is Academic Writing?
Academic writing is a style of writing used in learning institutions, especially colleges, universities, and research institutes. It’s common in academic papers like essays, research papers, dissertations, reviews, and other study publications. A lot of students will panic at the mention or the thought of academic writing. That’s because it’s considered formal, precise, and the black tie of writing. If you grew up reading fiction, storybooks, comic books, and magazines, you might think writing is easy. Not until you encounter academic writing, a kind of writing with its own style, guidelines, dos and don’ts. You are supposed to be persuasive, but not too opinionated, clear, but don’t use everyday conversational language, and above all, credit all your sources.
Tough, right? The most disturbing part is that no lecturer or instructor will give you a handbook on academic writing secrets. For most institutions, they expect you to learn academic writing skills on your own. Luckily, there are endless resources to help you improve your academic writing, from video tutorials, blogs, workshops, and seminars etc. Furthermore, academic writing experts like Paperial offer custom academic writing assistance to help you write A-grade essays, term papers, dissertations, and more.
How to Improve Academic Writing Skills
Below are tips to improve your academic writing skills.
Make Reading a Habit
What do you do when you want to become a mechanic or a carpenter? You take an apprenticeship from a mechanic or a carpenter to learn the hands-on skills. Likewise, the best way to become a good writer is to read the work of successful writers. They also learnt from someone, and that’s the cycle of learning.
Should you limit yourself to academic materials? Not really. The main goal of reading is to learn the art of stringing words together to communicate ideas, knowledge, etc. Therefore, it doesn’t matter whether you are reading fiction, newspaper reviews, journal publications, or blog articles. The key thing here is to read extensively. Reading helps improve your academic writing skills in the following ways:
- It improves your vocabulary, making your work word-rich and interesting
- Introduces you to different styles of writing
- Reading improves your concentration
- It enhances various writing aspects like grammar, syntax, prose, sentence structure, and paragraph patterns.
Attend Academic Writing Masterclasses
There is no shortage of writing masterclasses, from academic writing workshops at your university, free online webinars, free online courses, and paid masterclasses from experts. These classes make all the difference when it comes to writing your academic papers. Learn the ropes of academic writing style, language mastery, planning and execution, and tips and tricks.
Conduct Research
Thanks to technological advancements and internet availability, doing your own research has never been easier. You can find academic writing guidance from various platforms, including educational websites, academic assistance services, and video platforms like YouTube. It doesn’t stop there. Today, thousands of students are getting reliable study and research assistance from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and AIPal. If you prefer the good old way of using analog reading materials, you’ll find academic writing books and other materials at school and public libraries.
Practice Writing
Did your math teacher emphasize practicing math problems to excel in math? It’s no different with academic writing. The more you write, the better you become at it. One mistake students make is to learn, read, and accumulate a ton of knowledge without putting it into practice. It doesn’t matter how many academic writing workshops you attend, how many video tutorials you watch, or how many tips and tricks you read. Without writing, you can’t become an expert writer. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect, so practice what you’ve learnt by writing sample academic papers.
Learn More About Academic Language
One of the major hurdles for students in academic writing is the choice of language. Academic writing demands a formal writing style using academic language. This is a special kind of language that differs from the conversational language used in social settings. Academic language is:
- Formal: Devoid of slang, contractions, and regional expressions.
- Objective: Neutral, factual, and devoid of emotion and opinions.
- Clear: Presents information in a way that’s easy to understand.
- Concise: Not wordy. Relays intended information with the fewest words possible and avoids redundancy.
- Analytical in nature: A Structured way of expressing information, like through interpretation, comparison, and drawing logical conclusions.
Master the Art of Citations
It’s no secret that plagiarism is one of the gravest mistakes in academic writing. Your work can be rejected, you can get bad grades, and you can even get suspended from the program. Citing your sources is extremely important in academia. But that’s only the beginning. Successful academic writing also relies on credible sources. Academic work is based on evidence and facts. You can’t cite an opinion piece in a newspaper or hearsay from random material. So, what are the acceptable credible sources? These are sources that are unbiased and backed up with evidence. They include:
- Academic books
- Academic journals
- Reputable websites- government, reputable, and authoritative sites, research institutions,
- Peer-reviewed publications
- Conference papers
- Academic databases
Bonus: More Academic Writing Hacks
Here are more specific academic writing hacks that will help you write excellent papers:
- Use familiar vocabulary: Just because it’s formal language doesn’t mean you use ambiguous and complicated words and phrases.
- Avoid Passive voice: Active voice is better because it’s clear, direct, and concise.
- Don’t be repetitive: Redundancy makes your paper boring to the reader.
- Find your unique voice: While it’s okay to draw inspiration from great authors, find your voice.
- Narrow your scope: The scope of your paper determines the length of the paper and how much research goes into it. Narrow it down to a manageable size that you can argue and back up with adequate evidence.
- Keep sentences short: Shorter sentences are readable and easy to digest.
Final Thoughts
Like any other skill, academic writing skills take time to learn and master. However, if you put enough effort into reading, habitual writing, and attending writing masterclasses, you’ll write excellent academic papers in no time. Learn the basics of academic language, what credible sources are, and how to cite these sources in your work. Trusted academic blogs, academic writing books, and online video resources are also reliable ways to sharpen your academic writing skills.
