Academlc wrlLlng convenLlons kelLh 8rlghLy ?ork SL !ohn unlverslLy !

anuary 2011
1hls plece conLalns hyperllnks for more deLalled dlscusslon
Academlc wrlLlng Lyplcally does noL conLaln elemenLs such as
1 personal language
2 [udgmenLal words
3 emoLlve language
and as a resulL lL ls characLerlsed as lmpersonal and ob[ecLlve Powever academlc wrlLlng sLlll
requlres you Lo develop an argumenL and express your oplnlon abouL lssues lor example by asklng
you quesLlons such as
WhaL do you Lhlnk?
LvaluaLe
uo you agree?
Argue ln favour of or agalnsL

lecLurers and LuLors are seeklng your oplnlon whaL Lhlnk abouL a parLlcular lssue evenL or
Lheory ln addlLlon academlc arLlcles or books usually conLaln oplnlons ln Lhe form of

lnLerpreLaLlons of resulLs
Lheorles
evaluaLlons
concluslons
hypoLheses
So lL ls a convenLlon of academlc wrlLlng Lo express argumenLs and oplnlons yeL Lhls convenLlon also
requlres LhaL Lhese argumenLs and oplnlons lncorporaLe Lhe ob[ecLlve and lmpersonal sLyle LhaL ls a
slgnlflcanL feaLure of academlc wrlLlng ln academlc wrlLlng argumenLs should lmply lmparLlal and
sound [udgemenL Lhrough Lhe use of raLlonal lmpersonal and unemoLlonal language
AnoLher convenLlon of academlc wrlLlng ls Lhe use of evldence Lo supporL Lhe argumenLs belng
presenLed argumenLs cannoL be presenLed wlLhouL supporLlng evldence or Lhey may sound as lf
Lhey are [usL Lhe wrlLers oplnlon 1hls evldence cannoL be anecdoLal evldence buL musL be already
publlshed or known lnformaLlon presenLed by auLhorlLles ln Lhe fleld lL musL be lnLegraLed experLly
lnLo Lhe sLrucLure of your overall argumenL (see Integrat|ng ev|dence |nto your own wr|t|ng be|ow)
paragraphs and lnLo your senLences CerLaln convenLlons ln academlc wrlLlng dlcLaLe how Lhls
supporLlng evldence ls clLed or referenced 1hese convenLlons ensure LhaL readers of your work are
clearly able Lo flnd and evaluaLe Lhe sources of your evldence
1he expresslon of oplnlon and argumenL ls an essenLlal parL of academlc wrlLlng

Integrat|ng ev|dence |nto your own wr|t|ng
When lnLegraLlng Lhe evldence youve gaLhered lnLo your essay you musL flrsL look aL your essay
plan Lo declde where evldence needs Lo be placed ln relaLlon Lo Lhe polnLs you're maklng 1hen you
need Lo look aL Lhe parLlcular paragraph ln whlch a plece of evldence belongs Lo declde how lL can
be lnLegraLed rememberlng LhaL lLs role wlll be Lo supporL or expand on a polnL youve already
made ln your own words wlLhln LhaL paragraph ln Lhe paragraph below youll noLlce LhaL evldence
has been paraphrased or dlrecLly quoLed and placed ln a poslLlon LhaL allows lL Lo exLend Lhe polnL
Lhe wrlLer ls maklng ln Lhe Loplc senLence
Cne phenomenon LhaL can lmpacL greaLly
on Lhe effecLlveness of groups ls LhaL as
group slzes lncrease Lhere ls a Lendency for
Lhe efforL puL ln by Lhe group Lo be less
Lhan Lhe average efforL puL ln by lndlvlduals
engaged on Lhe same Lask separaLely
(Cabrenya LaLane Wang 1981 Albanese
van lleeL 1983) 1he phenomenon has
been descrlbed uslng varlous Lerms WrlLers
lnfluenced by lndusLrlal economlcs descrlbe
lL as Lhe freerlder problem where Lhe
collecLlve naLure of Lhe conLracL obscures
Lhe facL of one member falllng Lo honour
Lhelr parL of Lhe conLracL (Albanese van
lleeL 1983 p230) WrlLers who are
organlsaLlonal psychologlsLs Lend Lo label
Lhe phenomenon as soclal loaflng and
Lyplcally deflne lL as one where everyone
puLs ln a llLLle less (Cabrenya LaLane
Wang 1981 p120) WhaLever Lhe
Lermlnology used Lo descrlbe Lhls
phenomenon lL ls one LhaL ls problemaLlc
for groups
Loplc senLence

(noLe Lhe use of can" so
LhaL Lhe auLhor ls uslng
hedglng language





expanslon



lnLegraLlon of paraphrased
maLerlal



lnLegraLlon of paraphrased
and quoLed maLerlal



summarlslng LranslLlon Lo
nexL paragraph

1here are no rules abouL how many lndlrecL and dlrecL quoLaLlons you should use ln your essay buL
lL ls generally agreed LhaL Lhe use of lndlrecL quoLaLlon (summarles and paraphrases) lndlcaLes a
hlgher level of undersLandlng 1ry Lo paraphrase and summarlse where posslble and only use dlrecL
quoLaLlons when you cannoL puL Lhe ldeas lnLo your own words where Lhe quoLaLlon has clever
wordlng or where Lhey are Lhe exacL words of some ausplclous auLhorlLy
9ropose an argumenL
The posItIon adopted In the argument (It Is argued . . .) - what you thInk overall
ProposItIons (8ecause . . .) - reasons that support your posItIon
Arguments (As . . .) - supportIng arguments that back up each of your proposItIons
EvIdence (Supported by . . .) - supportIng evIdence to back up your arguments
(N.8. some people also refer to "arguments" as "mInor proposItIons" - In eIther case, the Idea Is that
thIs tIer Is desIgned to back up your prIor "proposItIons".)
When put Into use, you get somethIng lIke thIs:
n academIc terms a sImple statement such as "|anchester UnIted are the best team" wIll need refInIng.
0oes the wrIter mean they are the best team In the world: Dr perhaps the best In Europe: Dr perhaps It
could mean they are the best team In theIr league thIs week: What If they lost theIr last two games,
what If they are not currently top of the PremIershIp: 0oes It mean they are more successful at wInnIng
leagues, or perhaps cups, than any other team. 0oes It mean they are the most entertaInIng to watch,
the best value for money, the most profItable etc:

f you stIck to UK comparIsons and say |anchester UnIted have been the best (most successful) team In
EnglIsh football hIstory , you would be Incorrect, as LIverpool have won the European ChampIonshIp and
the hIghest football league In England as many tImes as |anchester UnIted. The PremIershIp was
prevIously called the FIrst 0IvIson and LIverpool won It 18 tImes.
So terms of an argument need to be made clear
State the posItIon "t Is argued that sInce the start of the EnglIsh PremIer League In 1992 |an U have
been the best team In the PremIershIp"
State the proposItIons (reasons) "8ecause In PremIershIp matches they're the most successful on the
pItch" and "because they are the most valuable team"
State supportIng argument "ThIs success Is shown by them wInnIng the PremIershIp tItle more tImes than
any other team"and by them havIng a greater market value than any other team In the UK.
State supportIng evIdence "AccordIng to SportIng ChronIcle (2010) |anchester UnIted have won the
PremIershIp tItle eleven tImes, compared to the next most successful teams, Arsenal and Chelsea, who
have each won the tItle three tImes and In a recent survey by 0eloItte (2010) they had a hIgher market
value than any other football team In the UK

ThIs argument can be made In just one sentence. lt s cryued thct snce the stcrt o] the Enylsh Premer
Lecyue (Premershp) n 12 Mcnchester 0nted hcs been the most success]ul tecm n the Premershp
n terms o] on the ptch per]ormcnce cnd mcrket vclue cs evdenced by them wnnny the Premershp
ttle eleven tmes compcred to the next most success]ul tecms, Arsencl cnd Chelsec, who hcve ecch
won the ttle three tmes. (Sportny Chroncle, 2010). Addtonclly they hcve been vclued by 0elotte
(2010) ct 1.8 bllon compcred to the next most vclucble tecm, Arsencl who hcd c vclue o] 1.1bn"
ThIs s now a clear, unambIguous argument supported by objectIve evIdence. As you can see It has
become a substantIally longer argument but It Is academIcally correct. The use of the phrase "It Is
argued that" at the start Is an example of the use of a hedgIng phrase.
ef|ne your terms
uo noL assume Lhe reader knows whaL you mean


lor example raLher Lhan wrlLe a sLaLemenL such as g|oba||sat|on |s a good opportun|ty for Uk
bus|nesses" you should deflne your Lerm and unless you are 100 sure LhaL whaL you are saylng ls a
facL you should use a beJqloq pbtose" such as moo obts bove clolmeJ" l coo be otqeJ
bo# lor more deLalls see Lhe secLlon below on hedglng

ln an academlc work Lo make Lhe above polnL good pracLlce would be Lo produce a senLence along
Lhe followlng llnes l bos beeo otqeJ bo qlbollsolo wblcb bos beeo JefloeJ b 5mlb (2008) os
wtlJwlJe mvemeo wotJ ecomlc floooclol toJe ooJ cmmolcolos loeqtolo ls o
mojt pptol ft moo uk fltms (uk1l 2010)


C WhaL ls wrong wlLh Lhe followlng senLence? 9oslLlve relnforcemenL ls Lhe besL way for
companles Lo use Soclal Medla"

A 1he key weaknesses ln Lhls senLence are LhaL lL ls very deflnlLe abouL a sub[ecL whlch Lhere ls no
absoluLely correcL answer (so a hedglng phrase needs Lo be used) and Lhere are Lwo Lerms whlch
need Lo be deflned poslLlve relnforcemenL" and soclal medla"
As an exerclse do some research and presenL Lhe above senLence as an academlcally supporLable
paragraph
Hedging
t is often believed that academic writing, particularly scientific writing, is factual, simply to
convey facts and information. However it is now recognised that an important feature of
academic writing is the concept of cautious language, often called "hedging" or "vague
language". n other words, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a
particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to
do this in different ways.
Language used in hedging:
. ntroductory verbs: e.g. seem, tend, look like, appear to be, think, believe, doubt, be sure,
indicate, suggest
2. Certain lexical
verbs
e.g. believe, assume, suggest
3. Certain modal
verbs:
e.g. will, must, would, may, might, could
4. Adverbs of
frequency
e.g. oIten, sometimes, usually
4. Modal adverbs e.g. certainly, deIinitely, clearly, probably, possibly, perhaps, conceivably,
5. Modal adjectives e.g. certain, deIinite, clear, probable, possible
6. Modal nouns e.g. assumption, possibility, probability
7. That clauses e.g. It could be the case that .
e.g. It might be suggested that .
e.g. There is every hope that .
8. To-clause +
adjective
e.g. It may be possible to obtain .
e.g. It is important to develop .
e.g. It is useIul to study .


eatures of academic writing
Introduction
Try this exercise.
Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme
with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or
repetitions. ts objective is to inform rather than entertain. As well as this it is in the
standard written form of the language.There are eight main features of academic
writing that are often discussed. Academic writing is to some extent: complex,
formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible. t uses language precisely and
accurately.
ompIexity
Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written language
has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. t
uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter
and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate
clauses and more passives.
Complexity
ormaIity
Academic writing is relatively formal. n general this means that in an essay you
should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
Formality
!recision
n academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.
Precision
Objectivity
Written language is in general objective rather than personal. t therefore has fewer
words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis
should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to
make, rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and
adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).
Objectivity
ExpIicitness
Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is the
responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various
parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of
different signalling words.
Explicitness
Accuracy
Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow
specific meanings. Linguistics distinguishes clearly between "phonetics" and
"phonemics"; general English does not.
Accuracy
Hedging
n any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your
stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different
subjects prefer to do this in different ways.
A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists as a
'hedge'.
Hedging
#esponsibiIity
n academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide
evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible for
demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.
Responsibility
kelLh 8rlghLy ?ork SL !ohn unlverslLy !anuary 2011
8eference
unl Learnlng (2000) avallable from hLLp//unllearnlnguoweduau/academlc/4alhLml (accessed 13
!anuary 2011)
uslng Lngllsh for academlc purposes (2010) avallable from hLLp//wwwuefapcom/lndexhLm
(accessed 13 !anuary 2011)