Academic Writing: What Makes Good Academic Writing
What is Academic Writing?
Academic writing is about comprehensibility, clarity and conciseness in expression and presentation. Important prerequisites for good scientific texts are linguistic precision and clear presentation of facts.
Graduates have already gained a certain amount of experience and practice in writing academic papers. For students, however, it is important to have a set of rules that show them how a work can be successful in terms of form, structure and expression.
Many students ignore the significance of their texts because they associate the scientific writing style with a certain severity or the list of technical terms and foreign words. But the opposite is required here: the more understandable, the better .
In short: It’s about readability . All other rules for good academic writing style follow from this first rule.
Graduates have already gained a certain amount of experience and practice in writing academic papers. For students, however, it is important to have a set of rules that show them how a work can be successful in terms of form, structure and expression.
Many students ignore the significance of their texts because they associate the scientific writing style with a certain severity or the list of technical terms and foreign words. But the opposite is required here: the more understandable, the better .
In short: It’s about readability . All other rules for good academic writing style follow from this first rule.
7 tips for good scientific writing style
- Simple, non-convoluted sentences
- Enough paragraphs
- Variety in the length of the sentences
- Use punctuation to show connections
- Know specialist terminology and use it as sensibly and moderately as possible
- Avoid nouns if possible
- Quote correctly
Tenses In Academic Work: Present Or Past Tense?
The present tense is generally used in scientific papers . The same tense should also be adhered to throughout the entire text. A change to the past tense only makes sense in exceptional cases .
For example, the author can describe events from the past in the past tense to mark the temporal demarcation from today. However, there is a danger here of drifting into narrative. This is how the standard work “Working Techniques in Literature” by Burkhard Moenninghoff and Eckhardt Meyer-Krentler (19th edition 2022) describes it.
Can the first person form be used?
It is important that the author withholds his or her own identity from a scientific work. But that doesn’t mean that the “I” has to be completely abandoned . Writing from the first person perspective can sometimes be the better alternative – this also improves readability.
Active or passive?
The academic writing style depends, among other things, on the subject area and, like everyday language, academic language is also changing. While the passive voice used to be the more common verb gender, today scientific papers are more likely to be written in the active voice . However, there is no strict requirement. Rather, the author must try to find “the right dose in the right places,” as Günter Krampen, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Trier, advises.
Can the first person form be used?
It is important that the author withholds his or her own identity from a scientific work. But that doesn’t mean that the “I” has to be completely abandoned . Writing from the first person perspective can sometimes be the better alternative – this also improves readability.
Active or passive?
The academic writing style depends, among other things, on the subject area and, like everyday language, academic language is also changing. While the passive voice used to be the more common verb gender, today scientific papers are more likely to be written in the active voice . However, there is no strict requirement. Rather, the author must try to find “the right dose in the right places,” as Günter Krampen, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of Trier, advises.
Sentence Structure In Scientific Texts: Conjunctions And Filler Words
In order to ensure the readability of a scientific text, clear sentence structure is essential. The fewer subordinate clauses a sentence contains, the easier it is to read. So whenever a sentence seems too long and complex, scientists should ask themselves: Can I “de-nest” this sentence? These nested sentences arise when complex ideas are put into linguistic form. Although the complexity of the content cannot be changed, the linguistic representation can.
Disadvantageous: It is difficult to give a binding recommendation for an academic writing style because it varies from subject to subject, which means that there is no universal academic writing style that all students should master.
Better: It is difficult to make a binding recommendation for an academic writing style. The reason: It varies from discipline to discipline. This means that there is no universal academic writing style. Nevertheless: All students should master the academic writing style. It’s the variety that counts
This does not mean that there cannot be long sentences in scientific texts. On the contrary: the alternation between long and short sentences improves the quality of the text. However, sentences should not be long because they consist of unnecessary words. Therefore always check:
Dual form: Teachers (only binary gendered)
Binnen-I: Teachers
Gender asterisk: Teachers
Underline: Teachers
Disadvantageous: It is difficult to give a binding recommendation for an academic writing style because it varies from subject to subject, which means that there is no universal academic writing style that all students should master.
Better: It is difficult to make a binding recommendation for an academic writing style. The reason: It varies from discipline to discipline. This means that there is no universal academic writing style. Nevertheless: All students should master the academic writing style. It’s the variety that counts
This does not mean that there cannot be long sentences in scientific texts. On the contrary: the alternation between long and short sentences improves the quality of the text. However, sentences should not be long because they consist of unnecessary words. Therefore always check:
Are All Conjunctions Used Correctly?
Connections between sentences can often be made using punctuation marks instead of a conjunction . For example, a colon can replace a “that” – and a long sentence becomes two short sentences.Gender In Scientific Work?
Gendering can occur in academic work . However, this is usually not mandatory. The guidelines and recommendations for gender vary from university to university and from chair to chair. If the author of the work decides to use gender, they should choose a variant and continue it uniformly.Opportunities To Gender In Academic Work
Dual form: Teachers (only binary gendered)
Binnen-I: Teachers
Gender asterisk: Teachers
Underline: Teachers
Conclusion
To sum it up, academic writing is all about making your ideas clear and understandable. It’s like a bridge that helps you share your thoughts and knowledge with others. The most important thing is to keep your writing simple and easy to follow. This simplicity is the foundation for all the other rules, like how you structure your sentences or choose your words.
Remember, academic writing can change over time, just like language does. So, be open to adjusting your writing to fit the times.
In the end, academic writing should be inviting, not confusing. The ability to explain complex ideas in a simple way is a sign of a good academic writer. So, by focusing on this idea and mastering the related techniques, you’ll be better equipped to share your knowledge, connect with various audiences, and be part of important academic conversations.
Remember, academic writing can change over time, just like language does. So, be open to adjusting your writing to fit the times.
In the end, academic writing should be inviting, not confusing. The ability to explain complex ideas in a simple way is a sign of a good academic writer. So, by focusing on this idea and mastering the related techniques, you’ll be better equipped to share your knowledge, connect with various audiences, and be part of important academic conversations.
