How to Improve Your Academic Writing

After spending months or years on a study, the findings can’t just be forgotten. They have to be written down, shared, and read by the public. In order for your results to have a far reach, though, they need to be communicated effectively. This means that your academic writing about the research needs to be clear, concise, and easily understood. It has to appeal to both scientists and the average person. But how do you achieve this balance?

Firstly, writing is a skill developed through habit. Writing frequently ensures progress. Second, knowing the mechanics of what you’re trying to write, such as a research article, helps you with the language and structure of your piece. Lastly, editing your writing familiarizes you with your writing ticks, both negative and positive. It also forces you to think critically about every word you’ve chosen and if, from the perspective of an outsider, everything makes sense. Through writing, rewriting, and editing, you hone your academic writing craft.

What is academic writing?

Academic writing covers a broad range of publications. There are long-form works, such as books, monographs, and theses. Then there are short-form pieces, such as research articles, case reports, and reviews. Academic writing can also include data, where there isn’t any contextualizing or interpreting the information, it’s just presented. It can also include a collection of abstracts, conference reports, and other small-scale write-ups. Essentially, just because you’ve conducted a study or gathered information doesn’t mean it has to be written about in one particular format.

While this is a good thing, as it keeps your options open, it can also make it tricky to navigate for early-career researchers. How do you know which kind of paper will represent your findings the best? And when you decide on a type of publication, how do you know what framework to follow?

Determining your research’s publication type

The first question to ask yourself is what are you trying to convey with your findings? Are you simply trying to describe your data in great detail? A summary or report would help you accomplish this. Is your intention to analyze, criticize, and compare the results? If so, a research article or monograph, depending on the length of your analysis, is your best bet. Once you know how you want your data to be presented, you can research the typical format of your chosen publication type.

While you don’t have to follow a formula, it’s always best practice to use a structure that is very similar to that of other manuscripts. This is because, when it comes time to submit your academic writing to publishers, they’ll have stylistic requirements that are expected to be followed. You can either reformat your work to suit that of your chosen journal/publisher, or you can decide on your intended publisher before you begin writing. This way, you can tailor your work to their specifications as you go rather than making adjustments at the end or searching for publishers that will accept your work as is.

How to write a research article

Research articles are one of the most common forms of academic writing. Learning how to write one will benefit you in the long run. It’s especially helpful to understand their structure, as other forms of academic writing use similar frameworks. Typically, articles follow the IMRaD structure. This stands for introduction, methods, results, and discussion. Your paper should also include an abstract, which is a summary of the study and its main findings. Additionally, your article will always end with a conclusion. This section shouldn’t introduce any new information or perspectives. It should, however, suggest opportunities for further study. Following this structure ensures that your research is presented clearly and logically. The flow is effective, guiding the reader through the entire process. It also helps you remember what to include, so you don’t accidentally write an article with missing details.

Anatomy of a paper

When writing the introduction, your language should be engaging and persuasive. This is an opportunity to hook the reader. Tell them why this study is important and unique. Use short sentences that appeal to both academics and members of the public. Don’t go into too much unnecessary detail about the process and findings, as this will be covered later in the article. Excess information also has the potential to turn away readers who aren’t invested enough in the topic to care about the little things.

The methods section outlines the conditions and tools of the study. It can include scientific terminology, since naming objects and species directly is important. It can also be more notelike, including brief descriptions and sentences and employing lists. The results, while using full sentences, can similarly use concise language to relay the data. It’s important that the writing in these sections are straight to the point, which means no unnecessary descriptors or complex sentence constructions. The results section usually deals with hard data, so explaining the numbers and figures without frills is the goal here.

In contrast, the discussion portion can include persuasive language. This depends on the aims of your paper, of course. Much like the introduction, you’ll want to present your arguments clearly. However, since you’ll also be analyzing the data, using larger sentences that combine complex and simple language or join thoughts with punctuation will help you explain difficult ideas. Not everything can be summarized in a few words.

Tips for practicing your writing

Talking about and visualizing the process of writing is one thing. To actually do it is another. Not all disciplines prioritize academic writing, such as the harder sciences. This means that for some, especially early-career researchers, writing is not a daily practice. The report or paper created from your study could also be your first. So, what are a few tricks you can use to improve your writing?

• Writing is a skill you develop overtime. This means that one of the most important ways to practice is to simply do it regularly. But not everyone has time to make a daily habit out of writing. Whether you’re writing every couple days or weeks, the most important thing is to not let months or years pass between attempts. Brainstorming your next study counts as writing practice. Jotting down loose thoughts about your research for a few minutes a day counts, too. Writing frequently isn’t about volume or specificity, just about typing something out.
• Learn more about grammar and punctuation conventions. Even if you’re a native English speaker, bad habits can form over time and impact your writing quality. Find online worksheets to complete that test your knowledge. Perhaps invest in courses if grammar rules are difficult for you. The more you know about the mechanics of language, the easier it will be to spot errors and make corrections in your writing.
• Create a dedicated space for writing. Don’t forget to carve out time for it, too. Sometimes, a curated environment is all you need to get yourself in a groove. And when your previous set up stops working for you, a change of scenery can get the gears turning again. Find a quiet coffee shop to work in or a library. Maybe you find you’re more energetic in the mornings rather than afternoons. Make the experience of writing pleasurable to you.

Self-editing your academic writing

An effective way to improve your academic writing is to edit it. Of course, hiring an editor can be beneficial to the quality of your work. A professional edit is also a great learning opportunity, where their changes can help you identify areas for further practice and teach you grammar rules. However, self-editing your work is not only cost effective, but it forces you to think critically about your writing. Do my sentences need to be that long? Am I structuring my paragraphs logically? Was that the best word choice, or did it hurt my intended meaning?

Going through your academic writing and thinking deeply about how others will perceive it will force you to put all you learned into practice. It will also force you to read your manuscript in full multiple times, lessening your chances of leaving behind errors.

Putting everything into practice

Academic writing is a process. Starting with the big ticket items, such as your study, compiling the data, and organizing your thoughts around it, and moving to the smaller pieces, such as sentence structure and punctuation, is best practice. Know what you’re writing and who you’re writing for. Find the format for your academic publication of choice and copy it. Fill out the necessary parts of the framework, then reread the piece as a whole. From there, start critiquing your clarity. Fix you language mistakes. Do a few checks of your piece before submitting it anywhere.

As a bonus, have other people read your work and provide feedback. You never truly know how an audience will interpret your words until they’ve read them. Use other people’s questions and concerns as a learning opportunity, and make changes until there’s no ambiguity in your work.

While creating a truly perfect piece of writing is impossible, there’s always room for improvement. With practice, repetition, feedback, and patience, you’ll continue to hone your craft, learn from your mistakes, and advance your academic writing.