Academic Writing

The difference between academic writing and informal writing lies mainly in their purpose, tone, structure, and audience.

For instance, the purpose of academic writing is to inform, argue, or contribute to scholarly discussion using detailed evidence and critical analysis, whereas informal writing aims to entertain, express personal thoughts, or communicate casually.

Academic writing is aimed at a knowledgeable audience of scholars, researchers, educators, or students, whilst informal writing is normally aimed at friends, family, or a general ‘lay’ audience without the assumption of specialist knowledge.

The differences in style are evident in the tone and language used in academic writing: it is formal, objective, and precise, avoids contractions (such as “can’t”, “won’t”), slang, and generally avoids the use of personal pronouns (e.g., “I think”, “I would argue”).

The one area of academic writing where personal pronouns are sometimes used is in reflective writing, where reflection on a particular experience or activity often lends itself to describing something you did or experienced.

There are structural differences too; academic writing is organized with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion and includes citations and references, whereas informal writing adopts a looser structure and may follow a narrative or free-flowing style.

The importance of tone and structure in academic writing serves to highlight that it is an important communication skill through which you convey your understanding of your subject, as well as your ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear, logical form. In turn this makes the ability to write well in an academic style, an important transferable skill.

A lot of different elements go into a piece of good academic writing, and detail is usually key. A useful rule of thumb is that you are already dealing with complex ideas, so do not over complicate the way you discuss them by dressing them up in jargon. 

Often you will be seeking to persuade your audience that your argument or thesis is a valid perspective, so it helps to be clear and concise in your writing and to uses words economically avoiding unnecessary detail. 

Structure and clarity are important, it is difficult to convince an audience that your ideas are valid if you express them lacks clarity. Organise your ideas so that they are presented in a logical sequence to structure the work. Avoid repetition of ideas or information and present facts and ideas accurately. in use of language and content. 

Language

In academic writing be aware of your audience and be accurate in your use of language. Where you use specific terminology or technical language, ensure your use of such terms demonstrates your understanding of them, these should add clarity and accuracy to the writing.

 Avoid contractions such as didn’t, it’s, they’re, etc. These are considered to compromise the author’s authority by being too familiar and unprofessional. Instead you should use did not, it is, they are, etc.  

Often, your audience will be an international one, so avoid colloquialisms, like “to cut a long story short”. These aren’t appropriate for academic writing and can use more words than necessary. Another way of preserving your word count is to avoid using unnecessary words that over-qualify and over-emphasise. For example, "this was stunningly obvious" and "very clear".