There are rules and conventions when it comes to writing academically. Here are some of the most important:

General writing style

Write in a formal style

Academic writing needs to be in a formal style - not written as we speak. This means avoiding contractions (isn't, didn't could've etc); cliché's (in the nick of time, this day and age etc) and colloquialisms (kids, loads of, cool etc). Think of the sort that would be used in academic books or journals, rather than magazines. For example, use 'quotation' rather than 'quote', 'many' rather than 'lots of' or in Nursing Studies, use 'teenage mothers' rather than 'teen mums'. There is more about this in our Grammar Resource.

Avoid lazy words such as 'nice', 'get' or 'stuff' which are usually acceptable in informal speech but not sufficiently formal or precise for academic writing. For example, 'obtain', 'acquire' or 'become' may be more appropriate than 'get'.

If you are unsure about the choice of words, it may help you to use a built-in thesaurus when using a word processor for your writing. In MS Word, right click on a word and choose Synonyms - you will be given a list of words with similar meanings and you can also click on the Thesaurus option for more choices. You may then want to check for the precise meaning and usage of a certain word in a dictionary. Over time, you will build up your own academic vocabulary.

Use the words that are appropriate for your area of study. Most disciplines have words which have precise meanings. For example, in Law, you might need to use ‘statutory instrument’ instead of ‘rule’. Being precise in your choice of words helps to add clarity to your work.

Use academic caution

Academic writing needs to be cautious rather than definite. Instead of writing ’this proves that the approach was completely wrong’, you should write something like ‘this could suggest that the approach was inappropriate’.

Words indicating caution include: ‘tends’, ‘suggests’, ‘could’, ‘may’, ‘might’, ‘possibly’, ‘probably’, etc. These can make statements less forceful. One possible way of avoiding making generalisations is to ask yourself, ‘Is this always the case?’ For example, in the statement ‘Vulnerable adults live in poor housing’ this may not always be true. It may often be true but it would be better to be cautious and say ‘Vulnerable adults may live in poor housing’.

Sweeping statements and generalisations should also be avoided. Rather than writing ‘Teenagers do not respect their parents’, a phrase like ‘Many teenagers have been shown to lack respect for their parents’

The use of what is called ‘litotes’ can be helpful when wanting to be cautious. This is where you use a negative with a negative adjective. For example, ‘It is not unlikely that further research will prove that...’

Be clear and logical

Think about your readers. Your work will be read by your tutor(s) or supervisor. Does it express your ideas with clarity? Remember that tutors will have many assignments to read; make their work easier by writing as clearly as possible. It will benefit you and them.

Clarity in academic writing requires a logical structure. There is no point in carrying out appropriate research and having a good grasp of a topic if you then write your findings in an unstructured way. It would be very much like writing instructions for someone to go from A to B but giving them in the wrong order, muddling up the junctions and landmarks. The person reading them and trying to follow them would end up confused.

Long sentences can be confusing for the reader. In addition, there is a greater chance that grammatical mistakes will creep into them. Do not fall into the mistaken belief of thinking that academic writing must consist of long, complex sentences. It is often better to use short sentences. Do not be afraid to use them as they add clarity.

You write essays to show your understanding of a subject. However, use your common sense when giving explanations of concepts etc. It might be necessary at first year undergraduate level to prove to your reader that you do have a sound understanding of certain basic ideas relating to your subject. On the other hand, at postgraduate level it would be taken for granted that these were understood.

Back up all your points with evidence

Every point you make in academic writing needs to be backed up by evidence from reliable sources. This can be in the form of other reading you have undertaken (articles, books, reports etc) or your personal experience (generally from placements you have been on as part of your course). You are allowed your own ideas - but you must show how you have developed them. What makes you think about something the way you do? All your sources must be cited in your writing and listed at the end of your document. See our referencing pages for help on how to cite within the body of the document and format your final reference list.

Give a balanced viewpoint

When you can, it is important to include examples of ideas that disagree with what you are saying, as well as ones that support it. This will give your work ‘balance’ and show that you have read widely and thought about the subject from different angles. See our dealing with alternative viewpoints page for advice.

Be objective and impersonal

Avoid words that are overly emotive like dreadful, horrendous, stunning, adorable. Keep it objective and impersonal.

Wrong:

The conditions were really horrendous. It is no wonder that so many of the poor children suffered such dreadful diseases.

Right:

The conditions were poor and were likely to have contributed to the high levels of childhood infectious diseases that were observed.

Admit to limitations

Expressions such as ‘For the purpose of this essay, the following limited definition will be used: ...’ or ‘The length of this essay means that only a limited number of examples can be discussed...’ can be very useful to show you are aware of limitations in your writing.

Language to avoid

First and second person (I, We, You)

There is generally a rule in academic writing that the first person (‘I’, ‘we’, ‘my’ etc.) should not be used. This makes your writing sound more objective and impersonal. An exception is reflective writing which requires the use of the first person when analysing personal experiences. Similarly, ‘you’ should be avoided.

Avoid ‘you’ and ‘I’ by starting with an impersonal ‘it’ e.g. ‘It can be considered/ argued / claimed that...’
Avoid ‘you’ or ‘I’ by using passive sentences such as ‘The solution was added to the test tube’ instead of ‘I added the solution to the test tube’. (The meaning is the same but there is no mention of who did the adding.)

If your departmental guidelines contradict this ruling, ignore the above and do what your department requires. For example, social and health sciences are generally happy for you to use the first person in moderation.

'They/their' as a gender-neutral third person singular pronouns

Try to avoid using they or their when you want a third person singular pronoun (i.e. her/his) that is gender neutral. i.e. A social worker accepts their responsibility. It is best to pluralise to avoid this if you can: Social workers accept their responsibility. This also avoids the need for clunky 'his/her' statements. For example, instead of writing ‘A student should always check his/ her English carefully’ it is simpler to say ‘Students should always check their work carefully’.

However, if you really need to show you are being specific to an unnamed individual you may have to resort to he/she (or even (s)he) or him/her as the English language does not really have a gender-neutral third person singular pronoun. The best it can offer is one which isn’t always appropriate. You may just need to restructure the sentence to avoid it.

Adjectives and adverbs (use sparingly)

Adjectives describe nouns (the big whale) whereas adverbs describe verbs or other adverbs/adjectives (the whale swam quickly or the whale swam extremely quickly). Although they are sometimes useful to indicate the extent of something, they should be used sparingly in your writing.