What is Academic Writing? 7 Features of Academic Writing

Academic writing communicates ideas, information, and research to the academic community. It's divided into student academic writing (for assessment) and expert academic writing (for publication). While their purposes and audiences differ, the standards and requirements remain the same, much like learning to drive.

Academic writing should have a clear structure (e.g., reports, essays) to ensure coherence, cohesion, and a clear focus. This requires careful planning, similar to designing a house, before starting to write.

Opinions and arguments must be supported by evidence such as facts, reasons, examples, statistics, and citations. Proper in-text citations and referencing are crucial academic skills, as demonstrated with an example about dengue fever.

Academic writing requires analysis and evaluation, not just description. Writers must make judgments about information and understand the topic in depth, often revealing limitations of previous research.

Clear and precise language, including technical vocabulary, is essential for readability. Technical terms may need definition for student writing, but for expert audiences, they convey precise meanings.

Academic writing should consider all sides of an issue, avoiding bias. Writers indicate the strength of their claims using hedging (e.g., 'suggests', 'could') or boosting language (e.g., 'clearly', 'indicates') to maintain balance.

Emphasis should be on arguments and information, not the writer. This often involves using passive voice ('the water was heated') and impersonal structures ('it can be seen that') to maintain objectivity.

Academic writing uses more complex sentences, avoids contractions and colloquialisms. It frequently incorporates academic vocabulary and collocations (like those found in the Academic Word List) to maintain a formal tone.

In summary, academic writing is defined by seven key features: it must be structured, evidenced, critical, precise, balanced, objective, and formal. More information and resources are available on eapfoundation.com.