Characteristics and Skills Required in Academic Writing

Introduction

Academic writing is the style of writing that is mainly utilised for conducting research projects, term papers, conference papers essays, abstracts, reports and thesis papers. The formal wiring and effective structure are the main features of such academic writing, where the writers develop suitable structure to represent the information in a systematic way (Mauranen, Pérez-Llantada and Swales, 2020). The aim of the paper is to analyse the features of academic writing as well as identifying the differences between the academic and other writing forms. Through critical discussion, it is possible to evaluate the skill set that is required for the academic writers to develop a good piece of academic paper by maintaining its quality standard. Academic writing also has its own set of rules and structures along with appropriate objective, concise and impersonal. The researchers and scholar try to develop good academic papers to make the information and analysis understandable for the readers.

Academic writing, differences with other firms of writing and the skills required

Academic writing practice is hereby a systematic way, where the writers try to develop a good piece of writing by inclusion of all the valid information and data. Precision is hereby important factor in academic writing as well as the punctuation and grammar should be followed strictly in order to submit an error free paper (Mauranen, Pérez-Llantada and Swales, 2020). Referencing and citation are very important aspects of academic writing, which is one of the main differences with other forms of writing. Academic writing is utilised in the research, projects and conferences, were the general writing is required for letters, emails, newspapers, articles, and dairy and journal entries. These are different from the academic papers where in academics; the writers must choose formal language for developing a good piece of writing (Cottrell, 2019). The objectives, good language and concise manner are effective in academic writing, where in general writing, mainly informal and semi-formal language is utilised. In the academic writing practice, there are no such contractions and referencing and citations are mandatory to be utilised in the whole paper for maintaining its authenticity and validity. Third person is mainly used in addressing in academic papers, where in the other forms of writing, generally first and second person are used, such as I and you. Personal opinion is allowed in other forms of language, but in the academic writing, there is no such personal opinion, rather evidence based personal opinion can be allowed. The writer in the academic writing papers should focus on presenting the evidence based information and data ain the appropriate and after that, evidence based personal opinion can be represented in the analysis sections of the study.

There are also other differences in presenting academic paper in a systematic way. For example, the major purpose of academic writing is to represent the research and conduct in depth analysis to complete thesis papers for instructing, informing and educating others, whereas, the informal or other firms of writing are used for meeting particular interest of the audiences (Graham, 2018). The users of information in the academic writing papers are mainly the readers and the researchers in near future, where the writers maintain academic standard and the quality of the paper successfully. Conventional structure is there to develop a good piece of paper, where the writers try to follow the structure of the assessment and represent the gathered data and information successfully (Mauranen, Pérez-Llantada and Swales, 2020). The objectives and aims of the papers are clear state in the academic papers, which is generally absent in the personal and other forms of writing. Perfect spelling and grammar must be required in order to develop academic papers, but sometime, the writers of other forms of writing do not follow grammar and punctuation in order to express their feelings. It is important for the researchers and writers to construct the sentence by using grammar and punctuation, so that the readers can understand the concepts easily (Lin, Liu and Wang, 2017). The paper must be error free in terms of punctuation, grammar and spelling. Hence, proofreading the paper is necessary before final submission. On the other hand, the writers should submit plagiarism free paper, which is another important factor that differs the academic papers from the other forms of paper, where the researchers maintains authentic of the information and avoid copying the data and information to avoid plagiarism issue.

It is important to follow appropriate structure of developing the academic paper, where the writers can represent the gathered data and information. Firstly, the researchers develop the background of the study in introducing the research topic. In the thesis paper, the researchers try to develop aim and objectives of the paper as well as develop research questions for analysing the study topic critically. After picking a good title of the research and developing research background, the researchers try to represent the significance of the study as well as develop hypothesis for testing the research topic (Triki, 2019). Literature review is important to be developed after that, where the writers try to gather vast range of secondary information sources including books, journal, articles, business reports and newspaper. These sources are effective for the writers to develop strong base of the research by including the existing theories, concepts and information. The future researchers can understand the study by reviewing the literature review and improve own understanding for further research. Planning and structure must be followed well, where the researchers choose different methodology for conducting research and developing a good piece of academic paper (Arneback, Englund and Solbrekke, 2017). In the methodological explanation, the researchers aim at selecting the data collection method and data analysis tactics in order to collect authentic information and valid data for further critical analysis. In this regard, the writers try to develop Gantt chart and ethical considerations for completing the study timely by maintaining the academic ethical standard. These are totally different from other form of writing, where the writers follow informal language in representing own opinion. But, the academic writing principles are totally different where evidence information is mandatory to develop a good piece of work.

Apart from the above structure of the academic papers, critical analysis and evaluation is the major part of the academic papers, where the scholars, researcher and writers try to represent the gathered finings in a systematic way to analyse the data critically. For critical analysis, the researchers select qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods. Thematic analysis and case study analysis are mainly the types of qualitative data analysis, where the writers evaluate the secondary information and interview transcript (Changwong, Sukkamart and Sisan, 2018). On the other hand, the quantitative data analysis practice is being selected by the writers, which is considered as a complex data analysis process through MS excel, charts, graphs, and SPSS statistical tools for testing the research hypothesis (Arneback, Englund and Solbrekke, 2017). The researchers further conclude the whole study for meeting the research objectives and recommending some suitable suggestions. This is the whole process of developing academic papers, where the writers must know the systematic way to conduct in depth critical analysis for meeting research aim and objectives. The structure and the ways of developing academic research are totally different from the other firms of writing. In this regard, the researchers must follow the rules of referencing and citations, to represent the secondary studies and cite the authors name to represent the secondary information, theories and concepts related to the research topic (Cottrell, 2017). It is also essential for maintaining authenticity of the study and avoids the issue of plagiarism. The researchers are also concerned about sentence construction, punctuation and grammar. Through this systematic process, the writers can protect participant’s information, secure the gathered data and information and utilise the information only for the study. Ethical considerations and academic standard are hereby necessary to be followed in order to develop an academic paper successfully.

The writers must have appropriate skills in order to develop the academic papers. The writers must have good command over the English language and formal tone so that they can represent the information in a systematic way. Formal language and using third person are also essential in academic writing. The researchers must know English language, grammar and punctuation to construct the sentence successfully (Changwong, Sukkamart and Sisan, 2018). The word of choice must be appropriate for representing the information, where the researchers also need to have good knowledge on the subject matter of interest. In order to develop a good academic paper, the researchers, scholar and writer must have good knowledge about specific research field o that they can utilise own understanding, theories and concepts in developing the research paper. Close adherence to the appropriate format and structure, Clear focus on the issue or topic rather than the author's opinion and Good research praxis are also other required skill to develop good paper. In order to develop a successful academic paper, the researchers must have the good writing practice along with communication and cooperation skill (Succi and Canovi, 2020). This further helps the researchers to interact with peers and colleagues in order to gather vast range of information and data to conduct the study efficiently. The cooperative learning and delegation is hereby helpful. On the other hand, time management is another skill that must be acquired by the writers, in order to develop Gantt chart and follow each activity to complete the paper within allocated time. Paraphrasing, summarising and quoting as well as editing and proof-reading skill are also important to present the academic paper successfully with suitable referencing and citation. Hence, the writers must have knowledge in referencing and citing the authors name against each data and information in the paper.

The research skill is required for conducting in depth research, by gathering vas rang of primary and secondary information and data. The writers should have the critical analysis and problem solving skill set to represent an effective academic paper (Changwong, Sukkamart and Sisan, 2018). The critical analysis skill is mandatory to critically evaluate the gathered data and information with appropriate evidence. The researchers also need to acquire problem solving skill to analyse the existing issues and analyse the research topic for better solution, hence, decisions making skill is also mandatory for conducting in depth critical analysis and meet the study aim and objectives (Tanujaya, Mumu and Margono, 2017). Note taking skill and planning for developing the information based study are also good practice, where the writers are able to gather authentic sources of information for effective writing. Organised study along with time management practice further help the writers to develop suitable structure of the paper and ensure good representation. Hence, these are the major skill sets required for the writers in order to develop a good piece of academic work.

Conclusion

Through the above mentioned discussion, it has been explored that, the academic writing practice is different from other forms of writing, where the researchers must follow suitable structure and ethical considerations in order to meet he academic standard. On order to resent a good academic papers, the major skills required by the writers are such as good command over English language, note taking skill, Paraphrasing, summarising and quoting as well as Editing and proof-reading your work. The time management and critical analysis skills are also mandatory to develop appropriate academic papers, and thus it is a complex task as compared to informal writing. The researchers also need to know the referencing and citation practice along with this, the decision making and problem skill must be improved for analysing the collected data to draw final conclusion of the study. Hence, the writers must represent good academic paper by ensuring good grammar and punctuation, sentence construction, easy representation of the data and information, structure of the study and maintaining authenticity of the study by using citation. Communication and cooperation skill and self-motivated earning skill are also effective to interact with others and improve own understanding for writing a good piece of paper by maintaining the academic standard. Hence, the academic paper is different from other forms of writing which needs to have academic ethics, good structure, justification and analysis.

Continue your journey with our comprehensive guide to Changes in Teaching and Learning.

Reference List

• Arneback, E., Englund, T. and Solbrekke, T.D., 2017. Student teachers’ experiences of academic writing in teacher education–on moving between different disciplines. Education Inquiry, 8(4), pp.268-283.
• Changwong, K., Sukkamart, A. and Sisan, B., 2018. Critical thinking skill development: Analysis of a new learning management model for Thai high schools. Journal of International Studies, 11(2).
• Cottrell, S., 2017. Palgrave Study Skills. Critical Thinking Skills. Developing Effective Analysis and Argument. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Cottrell, S., 2019. The study skills handbook. London: Macmillan International Higher Education.
• Graham, S., 2018. A revised writer (s)-within-community model of writing. Educational Psychologist, 53(4), pp.258-279.
• Lin, C.C., Liu, G.Z. and Wang, T.I., 2017. Development and usability test of an e-learning tool for engineering graduates to develop academic writing in English: A case study. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 20(4), pp.148-161.
• Mauranen, A., Pérez-Llantada, C. and Swales, J.M., 2020. Academic Englishes: A standardised knowledge?. In The Routledge handbook of world Englishes (pp. 659-676). London: Routledge.
• Succi, C. and Canovi, M., 2020. Soft skills to enhance graduate employability: comparing students and employers’ perceptions. Studies in Higher Education, 45(9), pp.1834-1847.
• Tanujaya, B., Mumu, J. and Margono, G., 2017. The Relationship between Higher Order Thinking Skills and Academic Performance of Student in Mathematics Instruction. International Education Studies, 10(11), pp.78-85.
• Triki, N., 2019. Revisiting the metadiscursive aspect of definitions in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 37, pp.104-116.