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How to Write in Academic Style: Home

Learn how to write in academic style.

What is Academic Writing?

Academic writing is simply writing done for an academic purpose, such as writing a research paper for your professor.  The language of an academic paper needs to be formal and precise.  An academic paper focuses on the facts, not your opinion. 

5 benchmarks of academic writing:

  1. Thesis – the sentence that concisely outlines the intent of your paper.
  2. Formal Language – avoid contractions and use strong, descriptive language.
  3. Spelling and Grammar – use proper sentence structure and correct spelling. 
  4. Third Person – avoid using the words I, you, and we.
  5. Citations – include properly formatted citations for all ideas, words, and works that are not your own.

The Five Paragraphs Essay – or the five ideas essay – is one example of an academic writing structure.  

5 parts of the five paragraphs essay:

  1. Introductory Paragraph – brief and concise, summarizing your paper and including the thesis.
  2. Body Paragraph One – present the first main idea that backs up your thesis. Includes a transition, topic sentence, and support for the main idea, and concludes with a prelude to the next main idea.
  3. Body Paragraph Two – present the second main idea that backs up your thesis. Includes a transition, topic sentence, and support for the main idea, and concludes with a prelude to the next main idea.
  4. Body Paragraph Three – present the third main idea that backs your thesis. Includes a transition, topic sentence, and support for the main idea, and concludes with a prelude to the conclusion.
  5. Conclusion – restates the thesis and the three main ideas of the paper. Draws the paper to a close.

When in doubt, cite!  You must give credit to others for their original ideas, words, and works.  Citing using properly formatted in-text citations or footnotes and a properly formatted reference list or bibliography allows us to give credit to others for their work.

4 things to remember about incorporating resources:

  1. Know your source – is the source a Primary or Secondary source?  Is your source peer-reviewed?  Is your source considered credible?
  2. Paragraph Structure – the topic sentence provides an overview of the upcoming paragraph, the next few sentences are a combination of your own words and information from your sources that support your thesis, and the concluding sentence is your own words and summarizes the paragraph.
  3. Quotations – Quoting a source word for word.  Always include quotation marks and an in-text citation or footnote to identify the quote.  Always include an explanation of why the quote is important.  Quotes should be used sparingly!
  4. Paraphrase – presenting someone else’s ideas in your own words.  This does not need quotation marks, but paraphrases do require an in-text citation or a footnote to identify the source.