Short Article on Traits of Good Academic Writing
Authored by: Hemanth S R
Email: sr.hemanth@gmail.com
Article Outline
1. Importance of writing skills and Academic Writing
2. Improving clarity in presenting the contents.
3. Presenting in a structured and systematic way.
4. Importance of Cohesion and coherence
5. Plagiarism.
6. Article Revision and Refinement.
1. Importance of writing skills and Academic Writing
Writing is an important skill for sharing one’s ideas, thoughts and needs. It is not an inborn skill acquired from birth, but rather a skill that we can develop and improve through regular practice. Academic writing differs from simple writing in many aspects. It intends to target audiences with specific aims and objectives. Communication involving clarity with factual information is the fundamental goal of academic writing.
Academic writing is more formal, structured and systematic compared to simple writing. Academic writing is usually used in, but not limited to writing a thesis, Dissertations, Project reports at Undergraduate, Postgraduate levels and Journal papers.
2. Improving clarity in presenting the contents.
Presenting the contents in a reader-friendly way is a basic requirement in academic writing. For a clear presentation of the idea, good knowledge about the topic and grammar is very important. We can use or extend the knowledge only if it effectively reaches the intended audience who can use or build over this work. Presenting contents in a complex way may not help readers understand the contents and in turn, will not serve the purpose. Clear and organised structure, proper grammar and simple way of writing can help achieve clarity. Reader engagement is also possible with the same.
3. Presenting in a structured and systematic way.
Planning an initial outline can help create a structure with a narrative. The more structured and systematic the outline and flow, the better and clear the narrative. This, in turn, contributes to a clear understanding of the content. We can create and retain an interest in readers only if the flow of statements and ideas is logical. The logical ordering should be in a step by step connectivity leading to the core of current idea under discussion. We can divide the contents into different sections based on ideas. As part of this as the first step try to identify key ideas in the topic that needs to be presented. Each idea can become a chapter or section depending on the complexity and detailing to be presented.
The section should represent an idea or sub idea depending on the quantum and detailing. A section can be organised as paragraphs. They should not be too short where detailing may not be there or too lengthy where the readers may lose interest and track of what is being conveyed. Typically a paragraph with 8 to 10 lines can be effective. From the main idea which can become a section, derive sub-ideas and present it as subsections or paragraphs within the section. That is the sub-ideas can become paragraphs or subsections within the main section. The presentation point of view is in the third person because it should not be subjective concerning the opinion of the author, but objective and factual.
4. Importance of Cohesion and coherence
To present an idea or sub idea in a paragraph, start with a general overview or big picture of that idea. Then establish relevance and importance of that idea in the topic. Following the flow, further statements should narrow down to the specifics of the idea to be presented. As we narrow down, try to increase the details of the idea. Give examples and analogies to help the reader understand the idea with more clarity. At the end of the paragraph summarize the complete paragraph and also write a precursor to the next paragraph.
Cohesive writing is where statements within paragraphs have flow with logical connectivity between statements. Grammatical aspects of words and sentences should also be taken into consideration while conveying the idea. This can help readers comprehend the content with better clarity and understanding.
5. Plagiarism
Plagiarism is using the idea or contents of others without permission or acknowledgement. The author tries to present other ideas as his own. It can even include images /graphs. This is an unethical practice that is not acceptable in the academic community or by society. The consequence of plagiarising can be from a simple warning to more serious ones like loss of degree, job or criminal offence. Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional. Both scenarios should be avoided. Even when we are citing or acknowledging the sources which are being discussed or considered in our discussion we should ensure we do not produce a verbatim of the original text. We should write it with our voice, thoughts, and interpretations.
Both free and paid versions of plagiarism detection software are available which can help detect plagiarism through similarity index.
6. Revision and Refinement.
After the first draft of the document is completed, we can perform refinements in multiple iterations. We can take inputs of the supervisor, co-authors, colleagues, and friends. Collecting feedback related to the document from different individuals can help us identify mistakes that may not be visible.
*End of Article**
