English for Academic Studies
Writing in everyday English is mostly social and can be casual and full of personal ideas and opinions. It often requires no evidence.
In academic writing the tone should be formal, the information factual, and personal language should be avoided if possible.
Academic writing requires evidence. You will need to use formal essay structures and reference your sources of information. Always remember to use formal language when working on essays and reports.
Academic writing requires clarity, precision, and formality. By avoiding some language features, your work will maintain a professional and scholarly tone.
Language features to avoid in academic writing:
Instead of contractions (e.g., “don’t,” or “won’t”), use the full forms (e.g., “do not”, “will not”).
Avoid casual or slang words. For instance, replace “cool” with “noteworthy”.
Do not include phrases like “kind of”, “stuff”, "sort of", "you know" and "I mean".
Phrasal verbs (e.g., “set up,” “take off”) should be minimised in academic writing and replaced with "establish", "remove".
Limit the use of first-person pronouns (“I”, “we”) unless explicitly required.
Avoid emotionally charged phrases (e.g., instead of “shocking results,” use “unexpected findings”.
Avoid words like “amazing” or “incredible”.
Phrases like “tip of the iceberg” or “think outside the box” can weaken your writing.