An introduction is the first paragraph in an essay. To write an introduction, you must: Only begin writing after you have completed your research. Answer the essay question with your thesis statement. Preview the topics you will discuss in the essay. Provide any brief relevant background information to the subject (optional). What…

Academic writing demands a formal tone characterised by careful language choices to convey ideas to readers as precisely and unambiguously as possible. Colloquial language, defined as language that is ‘normally restricted to informal (esp[ecially] spoken) English’ (Burchfield, 2004), does not satisfy this need for exactness of expression. Instead, as Pam…

Writing and publishing journal articles is essential if you wish to pursue an academic career. Today, academic careers are publication-dependent; developing a high-quality publication record is a vital part of developing your academic credentials, your visibility among your discipline peers and your viability as a researcher. This article will pinpoint the features…

Essay Writing Part 3: How to Finalise Your Essay Plan It is important that, before you start writing your essay, you have a clear idea of what position you will be taking in your essay, what topics you want to cover, what information you need to include, and in what…

Introduction Often students fail to make the proper connection between their research stage and writing their first draft. They may not have completed a research stage correctly, so when they sit down to write their essay, they may feel as if they are starting from scratch. Or they may not…

You may have read in ‘Understanding Verb Forms—Part One’ that verbs can come in various forms including present and past tense. By choosing these verb forms appropriately and consistently in your academic writing, your thoughts will come across clearly and logically to the reader. When should I use past tense?…

Vertical lists, sometimes referred to as ‘dot points’, have an important role in writing. The Style Manual (2002, p. 141) describes their role as a ‘visual signpost’ to help ‘readers absorb information, particularly when they are scanning material’. The material itemised in a list should have some importance to justify the emphasis.…

Our previous article, ‘Using Lists—Vertical Lists’, outlined how to create emphasis in your writing through effective construction of lists. What happens if you have a list, but don’t want that much emphasis or visual signposting? What if you don’t have the physical space to present dot points? Horizontal lists, lists…

Increasing Numbers of Students are Using Ghostwriters In early 2016, I wrote an article on ghostwriting—more specifically, on the quality of the output of the ghostwriting industry. This article was the first study into the actual quality of ghostwritten papers, as opposed to the relatively common, and quite honestly redundant,…

Academic writing, like any skill, can be improved with practise and discipline. Mastery of content is only half the battle where academic writing is concerned. The ability to showcase your knowledge in written form is essential. Here are our tips for improving your academic writing. Subscribe to an Online Dictionary…