Features of academic writing
Alicia Cresswell
Writing Development Centre
Good academic writing is:
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explicit
clear
concise
formal in language and style
precise in expression and choice of words
Explicitness and flow
 Good writers anticipate their readers’
needs/questions
 To achieve this:
 Present general information first (General 
Specific text structure)
 Present known information first (Given  New
information structure)
 Use signposts to guide the reader through
sections of the work and to link sentences and
paragraphs
Explicitness and flow: GeneralSpecific
structure
Low density-lipoprotein subclasses in children under 10
years of age
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) particles are heterogeneous, with
many subgroups identifiable on the basis of density, size and
chemical composition. Distinct subclasses of LDL have been
delineated by density as determined by ultracentrifugation, and by
size based on non-denaturing polyacrylamide gradient gel
electrophoresis. At least two systems of classification are in use: (i)
a numerical one based on density, ranging from 1 (large) to 7 (very
small); and (ii) a dichotomous system based on mobility on
electrophoresis, which divides LDL into two classes, small dense
(pattern B), and large buoyant (pattern A). Gel electrophoresis
allows subclass determination on small amounts of blood, and is
more widely used than ultracentrifugation.
Explicitness and flow: Signposting
Can you make this text more explicit and improve flow?
Lasers have found widespread application in medicine. Lasers
play an important role in the treatment of eye disease and the
prevention of blindness. The eye is ideally suited for laser surgery.
Most of the eye tissue is transparent. The frequency and focus of
the laser beam can be adjusted according to the absorption of the
tissue. The beam “cuts” inside the eye with minimal damage to the
surrounding tissue – even the tissue between the laser and the
incision. Lasers are effective in treating some causes of blindness.
Other treatments are not. The interaction between laser light and
eye tissue is not fully understood.
Swales and Feak (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students 2nd edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press
Clarity
 Avoid excessively long sentences
 Ensure clear pronoun reference
 Avoid using too many words for one concept
 Make sure each verb agrees with its subject in
number
Clarity: Avoiding long sentences
How would you reduce the length of this sentence?
HT was once the most commonly used drug among US women,
with prescriptions peaking at 92 million/year in late 1999 or early
2000, after which growth in prescription rates flattened,
presumably due to the release of null results from the Heart and
Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS) in 1998,
discouraging preliminary reports from the WHI, and restrictive
guidelines for HT use disseminated by the American Heart
Association [12, 27-29].
Hausauer, A.K. et al. (2007) Recent breast cancer trends among Asian/Pacific
Islander, Hispanic and African-American women in the US: changes by tumor
subtype. Breast Cancer Research 9: R90 (as it appeared upon acceptance, i.e.
prior to copyediting for publication).
Clarity: Ensuring clear pronoun reference
How can you make these sentences clearer?
Two general practitioners examined the patients. Then,
they completed a questionnaire.
According to a recent survey, 26% of all American
adults, down from 38% 30 years ago, now smoke. This
can be partly attributed to the mounting evidence
linking smoking and fatal diseases such as cancer.
Clarity: Word choice
 Avoid using too many terms for one concept (e.g.
neonates/newborns/infants/babies/patients/subjects)
 Stick to 1 or 2 terms and use pronominal reference
Clarity: Ensuring that each verb agrees
with its subject
Choose the correct verb in each sentence:
Each of the participants was/were given a questionnaire.
Two-thirds of the patients is/are expected to respond well to the
new treatment.
Neither of these methods appears/appear to be effective.
None of the results is/are conclusive.
Conciseness
“If I had had more time, I would have written a
shorter letter”
 When revising your work, check for repetition
 Avoid wordiness
 Use reduced relative clauses where possible
Conciseness: Avoiding wordiness
Can you make this extract more concise?
It has been claimed (Jeeves, 2005) that this
drug has a number of potentially serious side
effects which have been known to researchers
since the initial trials, but nothing has been
done to restrict its use or at least monitor the
severity of the said side effects.
Conciseness: Reduced relative clauses
Make these sentences more concise by reducing the relative clause
in each:
In dentistry, enamel is a hard, white inorganic material that is on
the crown of the tooth.
A collagen is a white, inelastic protein that is formed and
maintained by fibroblasts.
An antigen is a substance which causes the formation of
antibodies, the body’s natural response to foreign substances.
Formal language and style
 You should avoid using:
 Colloquial words and phrases
 Contracted forms of auxiliary verbs
 Negative verb forms
 But you should keep your text clear and
concise, so:
 Keep the passive voice to a minimum
 Avoid excessively long sentences
 Avoid wordiness
Formal academic writing: Choice of words
and phrases
Think of a suitable alternative for these colloquial words
and phrases:
Scientists are looking into innovative ways to combat
AIDS.
The purpose of this paper is to figure out the causes of
the growing increase in type 2 diabetes.
Rice and aquatic products make up a major part of the
diet of the people in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
Formal academic writing: Auxiliary verbs
The contracted form is not used:
can’t
isn’t
shouldn’t
won’t
cannot
is not
should not
will not
Formal academic writing: Use of ‘not’
Where possible, rephrase a sentence to avoid using
‘not’. How would you paraphrase the following
sentences:
The plan did not work.
A cure was not possible.
Formal academic writing: Avoiding vague
language
Replace the following with a more precise word or
phrase:
We got encouraging results.
The problem is getting bigger and bigger.
There has been a lot of interest in this new technique.
He is the recipient of lots of awards.
Online resources
 Writing Development Centre Online Resources
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/
 Academic Phrasebank
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
One-to-one support
Book online at
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/support/