difference between academic writing and essay writing

How Academic Writing Differs from Other Forms of Writing

#scribendiinc

Written by  Scribendi

Have you ever wondered how academic writing stacks up against different styles of writing? If you have, then you're in good company, as many curious minds have pondered that same distinction. Let's get to it!

Formal Language versus Informal Language

Academic writing should use formal language that minimizes the use of contractions and colloquialisms and avoids slang terminology whenever possible. Casual language should only be used for emphasis.

Further, academic writing generally does not employ first person pronouns like "I" or "we," but different styles of writing do offer varying degrees of flexibility when it comes to the use of language, with a diverse range of informal elements sanctioned among different styles of writing.  

Check out the image below to further explore the differences between textspeak, informal language, and formal language!

Structure and Form

Style guides like the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Chicago Manual of Style are quintessential resources for scholars engaging in academic writing, with different style guides used for different fields of academia. These style guides standardize how references should be presented and how a document should be formatted, considering things like the margins, headings, typeface, and a myriad of other elements; some guides even prescribe the kind of language to be used for various circumstances encountered most frequently within the field.

All forms of academic writing will employ a structure that should allow the information presented to flow logically from one section to the next, regardless of the segments or formatting details used according to different styles of writing. For example, a scientific research article will typically include sections for the abstract, introduction, methods, analysis, results, and conclusions, whereas a paper written for the humanities will use a drastically different framework that can vary between artistic disciplines.

Different styles of writing contain various essential structural elements. This means that some styles, such as creative writing, grant significantly more freedom to the author than other styles, such as the style used for writing engineering documents.

The tone used to communicate ideas will significantly affect how readers interpret those ideas. It's vital that different styles of writing adopt different tones appropriate for the respective target audiences.

It's especially crucial within academic writing to eliminate all personal biases, both explicit and implicit. Academic writing must display objectivity. It's often best that academic writing avoids rhetorical tactics, like sweeping generalizations and emotional arguments, as this will ensure the highest degree of objectivity expected from academic writing.

At its core, academic writing should be clear, succinct, and objective; the exact criteria for these qualities differ among different styles of writing, but without these elements, the credibility of academic writing is often shaky.

The tone, language, and formality of academic writing will all depend on the target audience . As such, the target audience is a crucial consideration for effective academic writing.

In an academic setting, your audience could comprise researchers, professors, and/or experts in the field, but a casual piece might target your family and friends. The way we speak to figures of authority is very different from how we speak to siblings or friends, and communicating with these different groups when writing is no different; the word choices used in academic writing should suit the audience just as much as a person's vocabulary and gestures might shift for face-to-face communication according to these different groups.

For example, when the public is the intended audience for a piece of academic writing, it's probably a good idea to use simple language to explain any tricky terms used in the document. You might even consider substituting the academic jargon for another phrase more easily understood by the masses. This is true for all different styles of writing. The audience needs to understand what has been written!

If you're uncertain whether a particular term might be appropriate for your audience, try consulting a friend who is unfamiliar with the topic. This should clearly indicate how easy it might be for the average person to understand the concept.

The following piece of advice applies to all different styles of writing: leave time to edit! Regardless of the document, your work should be entirely free from errors. Proofreading for things like grammatical mistakes and punctuation errors and editing for elements such as the word choices and sentence structures will ensure that the writing is cohesive and clear. Further revision will ensure that unsightly grammatical errors and embarrassing typos never appear before the unforgiving public eye.

Have a peek at the image below to review the key aspects of academic writing (you can even download the image for reference). Once these elements have been nailed, you will have officially become a master of academic writing.

Image source: AboutImages/elements.envato.com

Make Sure Your Academic Writing Follows Conventions

Hire an expert academic editor , or get a free sample, about the author.

Scribendi’s in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi’s in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

Have You Read?

"The Complete Beginner's Guide to Academic Writing"

Related Posts

Five Habits to Avoid in Your Academic Writing

How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation

The Ultimate Journal Article Submission Checklist

Upload your file(s) so we can calculate your word count, or enter your word count manually.

We will also recommend a service based on the file(s) you upload.

English is not my first language. I need English editing and proofreading so that I sound like a native speaker.

I need to have my journal article, dissertation, or term paper edited and proofread, or I need help with an admissions essay or proposal.

I have a novel, manuscript, play, or ebook. I need editing, copy editing, proofreading, a critique of my work, or a query package.

I need editing and proofreading for my white papers, reports, manuals, press releases, marketing materials, and other business documents.

I need to have my essay, project, assignment, or term paper edited and proofread.

I want to sound professional and to get hired. I have a resume, letter, email, or personal document that I need to have edited and proofread.

 Prices include your personal % discount.

 Prices include % sales tax ( ).

What Is Academic Writing?

You learn a lot in college, and not all of it can be found in the course catalog. A lot of the skills you acquire you find yourself having to master on your own: managing your time, researching efficiently, and making ramen noodles in a coffee pot. 

Another one of the skills you need to master is academic writing . Academic writing isn’t like other types of writing; it’s formal , it’s objective, and for a lot of students just starting college or grad school, it can be daunting. 

But once you break down the fundamentals of academic writing and examine them piece by piece, you’ll see they’re nothing to be afraid of. There are rules you need to follow, but once you’ve got those rules down, you’re on your way onto the dean’s list. 

Give your papers extra polish Grammarly helps you improve your academic writing Write with Grammarly

Table of contents

Characteristics of academic writing, types of academic writing, academic writing structure, academic writing tips, score top marks on your writing every time.

Perhaps the most prominent characteristic of academic writing is the emphasis on adhering to a style guide . While nearly all content and media outlets use a specific style guide—which is either an already established guide or one of their own creation—correct adherence to a chosen style guide is nonnegotiable with academic writing. In most cases, you’ll lose credit if you don’t adhere to the style guide in your writing. 

Two of the main style guides for academic writing are the Modern Language Association (MLA) guide and the American Psychological Association (APA) guide. Others include the American Medical Association (AMA) style guide, the American Chemical Society (ACS) style guide, and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) . Each of these style guides maintains specific rules for how to format and punctuate your writing as well as how to cite the sources you use. 

Beyond the style guide, these are the key characteristics that define academic writing:

Academic writing should be formal, clear, and concise

Academic writing uses formal language. It’s also optimized for clarity and conciseness , which can initially seem contradictory to the use of formal language. 

Many writers confuse formal language with flowery language . Generally, flowery language uses elaborate words, lengthy sentences (sometimes to the point of being run-on), and metaphors so drawn-out that they obfuscate the point the writer is trying to make. 

Actual formal language is much different. Formal language uses the most accurate, non-colloquial verbiage available to communicate the author’s points, and this verbiage may include jargon. Sentences are only as complex as they need to be in order to express coherent thoughts and positions; you should use literary devices like metaphor sparingly. In instances where literary devices are appropriate, they’re used differently than in other types of writing. Overall, clarity and conciseness are your main goals. 

Academic writing takes an objective, detached stance from the subject being discussed. Because this type of tone is essential, the passive voice is sometimes necessary in academic writing, particularly in the sciences. 

Academic writing uses prescriptive grammar

When it comes to grammar, academic writing is prescriptive. By that, we mean there are specific grammar and style rules that your writing must adhere to in order to be correct. These rules come from two sources: the style guide for the piece you’re working on and generally established conventions for academic writing. Style guides provide granular requirements, such as instructions on whether to hyphenate certain compound words and when to spell out numbers versus use numerals. Broader academic writing conventions, like writing in the third person and maintaining an objective tone , apply to all academic writing. 

In contrast, other, more casual types of writing are not as strict about “proper grammar” versus “improper grammar.” In fact, in certain other types of writing, like blogging and ad copywriting, it’s often necessary to break established grammar rules in order to hook readers’ attention and communicate with them effectively. 

Using ellipses to build suspense, ending sentences with prepositions , and using exclamation points to make your sentences exciting are great strategies for catchy, conversational writing—but they have no place in academic writing.  

Formatting will depend on your style guide

Beyond adhering to specific grammar and style rules, your academic writing also needs to be formatted according to the style guide for your assignment. Formatting includes how you number your pages, what’s included in your header and footer, how the contents of your cover page are ordered, and how your citations and references are formatted. For example, if you’re writing a humanities paper, you’re most likely going to write it according to the MLA style guide. According to this style guide, the source page is titled “Works Cited” and each reference’s author is named by their last name followed by their first name. For a social sciences paper, you’d typically use the APA style guide, which instead says to title the sources page “References” and lists authors by their last names followed by their first initials.

Academic writing covers a variety of types of work. These include:

An essay is a relatively short piece of writing that, like a research paper, makes and supports a specific point. 

Theses and dissertations

A thesis and a dissertation are two types of capstone projects. Generally, the term thesis refers to the culminating project of a master’s program (and some bachelor’s programs) while the term dissertation is used for a project that culminates in a doctoral program. 

These projects are lengthy works that demonstrate the author’s candidacy for the degree they are seeking by posing an intellectual question, a persuasive argument , or a thought-provoking position. Both are created through the candidate’s research, under the guidance of their academic advisor. 

Research proposals

A research proposal is a document formally requesting sponsorship or funding to support the author’s academic research. A research proposal outlines how the author plans to conduct their research, why they want to conduct this specific research, and what they aim to accomplish through the research.

Research papers

A research paper is a comprehensive work that thoroughly demonstrates the author’s understanding of the subject they researched. Every research paper is formulated around a thesis statement—the statement in the opening paragraph that states the author’s position and summarizes their supporting arguments. 

Literature reviews

A literature review is a piece of academic writing that summarizes, describes, and evaluates a topic through analysis of other authors’ works. A literature review examines a topic through two or more works, and these works can be books, scholarly articles, presentations, dissertations, or other published materials. 

As much as academic writing uses formal language and conforms closely to style guides, it also follows a clear structure. This specific structure depends on the type of writing being produced, but generally follows this type of outline:

1 Introduction that clearly states the thesis and aims of the work

2 Position/finding/challenge supporting the thesis

a. Supporting content

b. Supporting content

3 Position/finding/challenge supporting the thesis

4 Position/finding/challenge supporting the thesis

5 Conclusion

The length of the work and the number of sections included depend on the specific assignment and the topic being covered. While an essay may only be five to seven paragraphs or so and span just a few pages, a dissertation generally clocks in around 150–300 pages. 

Another area where academic writing differs greatly from other types of writing is that in an academic paper, you always have to cite your sources. How to format your citations depends on the style guide you’re using.

Although the citation format for each style guide varies a bit, they all include the same key information about the sources you cite. This information includes the author’s name, the name of the work you’re citing, the work’s copyright date, and the work’s publisher. Take a look at how the most commonly used academic style guides advise on format:

Don’t overlook the importance of properly citing your sources—all of them. Each formatting style has specific guidelines for citing just about  any  kind of source, including  TV shows , PDFs , Wikipedia articles , and  YouTube videos . Although you probably won’t face plagiarism consequences for an incorrectly formatted citation when you clearly made an attempt to attribute the work properly, an incomplete or missing citation may be deemed plagiarism, as this article explains. Possible consequences for plagiarism include:

• A lowered grade
• Automatic failure of the assignment 
• Failure of the course
• Removal from the academic program
• Suspension or expulsion from your university

Always refer to the style guide

In academic writing, there’s no gray area concerning whether something is grammatically correct or not. It’s either correct or it isn’t. The style guide for your assignment covers all the rules regarding what is and isn’t correct, so if you’re ever not sure, refer to the style guide. And if you’re ever not sure which style guide to follow, ask your instructor. 

Actively avoid plagiarism

By this, we mean it isn’t enough to simply avoid stealing others’ words when you’re writing. We mean you should consciously choose to differentiate your writing from your sources as much as possible so you don’t inadvertently plagiarize another writer’s work—and so your work really shines as a unique piece. 

As we mentioned above, even unintentional plagiarism can mean failing your assignment and other consequences. Grammarly’s plagiarism checker can help you avoid unintentional plagiarism while making your writing more engaging. It’s easy: Just run a plagiarism check using the Grammarly Editor and your work will be immediately compared against billions of other pieces available online. If there are any pieces of text that appear to need citations, Grammarly will flag them and you can cite them accordingly.  

Do not use contractions

Academic writing never uses contractions. This is one of the biggest differences between formal and informal writing. 

Do not take it personally

When you’re writing an academic paper, always write it in the third person. The first person (I, me) and the second person (you) are not appropriate for academic writing because they undermine the author’s objectivity. 

Academic writing is black-tie writing

Think of an academic paper as a formal event. Your writing needs to show up “dressed appropriately.” This means: conforming to the style guide, using formal language, and absolutely avoiding slang and colloquial expressions. In contrast, think of an email to your professor as business casual and messages with your friends as casual. If the language you use with your friends is shorts and sandals and the language you use with your professor is khakis and a polo, the language in your academic writing needs to be a tuxedo. 

Writing an academic paper is a lot different from writing a blog post, an email, a piece of fiction, and even other kinds of writing your professor might assign, like a critical response to a reading or a presentation for class. A piece of academic writing, whether it’s an analytical essay, a research paper, a persuasive essay , or another kind of assignment in this vein, needs to adhere to very specific style and formatting standards. It also needs to have the appropriate tone and vocabulary for an academic work. 

Don’t submit your writing without running it through the Grammarly Editor first. In the Grammarly Editor, you can set specific goals for your writing so it strikes the perfect tone for your audience. Just set the domain to “Academic” and in addition to suggestions for grammar and punctuation, you’ll see suggestions for how to change your word choice, sentence structure, and other aspects of your writing to make it shine. 

Current students

• Staff intranet
• Find an event
• Academic writing

Types of academic writing

• Planning your writing
• Structuring written work
• Grammar, spelling and vocabulary
• Editing and proofreading
• Evidence, plagiarism and referencing
• Resources and support

The four main types of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical. Each of these types of writing has specific language features and purposes.

In many academic texts you will need to use more than one type. For example, in an empirical thesis:

• you will use critical writing in the literature review to show where there is a gap or opportunity in the existing research
• the methods section will be mostly descriptive to summarise the methods used to collect and analyse information
• the results section will be mostly descriptive and analytical as you report on the data you collected
• the discussion section is more analytical, as you relate your findings back to your research questions, and also persuasive, as you propose your interpretations of the findings.

Descriptive

The simplest type of academic writing is descriptive. Its purpose is to provide facts or information. An example would be a summary of an article or a report of the results of an experiment.

The kinds of instructions for a purely descriptive assignment include: 'identify', 'report', 'record', 'summarise' and 'define'.

It’s rare for a university-level text to be purely descriptive. Most academic writing is also analytical. Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, but also requires you to re-organise the facts and information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types or relationships.

Sometimes, these categories or relationships are already part of the discipline, while in other cases you will create them specifically for your text. If you’re comparing two theories, you might break your comparison into several parts, for example: how each theory deals with social context, how each theory deals with language learning, and how each theory can be used in practice.

The kinds of instructions for an analytical assignment include: 'analyse', 'compare', 'contrast', 'relate', and 'examine'.

To make your writing more analytical:

• spend plenty of time planning. Brainstorm the facts and ideas, and try different ways of grouping them, according to patterns, parts, similarities and differences. You could use colour-coding, flow charts, tree diagrams or tables.
• create a name for the relationships and categories you find. For example, advantages and disadvantages.
• build each section and paragraph around one of the analytical categories.
• make the structure of your paper clear to your reader, by using topic sentences and a clear introduction.

In most academic writing, you are required to go at least one step further than analytical writing, to persuasive writing. Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is, information plus re-organising the information), with the addition of your own point of view. Most essays are persuasive, and there is a persuasive element in at least the discussion and conclusion of a research article.

Points of view in academic writing can include an argument, recommendation, interpretation of findings or evaluation of the work of others. In persuasive writing, each claim you make needs to be supported by some evidence, for example a reference to research findings or published sources.

The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment include: 'argue', 'evaluate', 'discuss', and 'take a position'.

To help reach your own point of view on the facts or ideas:

• read some other researchers' points of view on the topic. Who do you feel is the most convincing?
• look for patterns in the data or references. Where is the evidence strongest?
• list several different interpretations. What are the real-life implications of each one? Which ones are likely to be most useful or beneficial? Which ones have some problems?
• discuss the facts and ideas with someone else. Do you agree with their point of view?

To develop your argument:

• list the different reasons for your point of view
• think about the different types and sources of evidence which you can use to support your point of view
• consider different ways that your point of view is similar to, and different from, the points of view of other researchers
• look for various ways to break your point of view into parts. For example, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability, scope of real-world application.

To present your argument, make sure:

• your text develops a coherent argument where all the individual claims work together to support your overall point of view
• your reasoning for each claim is clear to the reader
• your assumptions are valid
• you have evidence for every claim you make
• you use evidence that is convincing and directly relevant.

Critical writing is common for research, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate writing. It has all the features of persuasive writing, with the added feature of at least one other point of view. While persuasive writing requires you to have your own point of view on an issue or topic, critical writing requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.

For example, you may explain a researcher's interpretation or argument and then evaluate the merits of the argument, or give your own alternative interpretation.

Examples of critical writing assignments include a critique of a journal article, or a literature review that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of existing research. The kinds of instructions for critical writing include: 'critique', 'debate', 'disagree' and 'evaluate'.

You need to:

• accurately summarise all or part of the work. This could include identifying the main interpretations, assumptions or methodology.
• have an opinion about the work. Appropriate types of opinion could include pointing out some problems with it, proposing an alternative approach that would be better, and/or defending the work against the critiques of others.
• provide evidence for your point of view. Depending on the specific assignment and the discipline, different types of evidence may be appropriate, such as logical reasoning, reference to authoritative sources and/or research data.

Critical writing requires strong writing skills. You need to thoroughly understand the topic and the issues. You need to develop an essay structure and paragraph structure that allows you to analyse different interpretations and develop your own argument, supported by evidence.

This material was developed by the Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning), which offers workshops, face-to-face consultations and resources to support your learning. Find out more about how they can help you develop your communication, research and study skills .

See our Writing skills handouts .

Related links

• Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning)
• Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning) workshops
• Research skills for HDR students
• Reading and note taking
• Critical thinking
• Website feedback

Your feedback has been sent.

Sorry there was a problem sending your feedback. Please try again

You should only use this form to send feedback about the content on this webpage – we will not respond to other enquiries made through this form. If you have an enquiry or need help with something else such as your enrolment, course etc you can contact the Student Centre.

• Find an expert
• Media contacts

Student links

• How to log in to University systems
• Class timetables
• Our Rankings
• Faculties and schools
• Research centres
• Campus locations
• Find a staff member
• Careers at Sydney
• Emergencies and personal safety

• Accessibility

Skip to Content

Massey University

• Search OWLL
• Handouts (Printable)
• Pre-reading Service
• StudyUp Recordings
• StudyUp Postgraduate
• Academic writing
• Intro to academic writing

What is academic writing?

• Writing objectively
• Writing concisely
• 1st vs. 3rd person
• Inclusive language
• Te Reo Māori
• Assignment planning
• Assignment planning calculator
• Interpreting the assignment question
• Command words
• Organising points
• Researching
• Identifying academic sources
• Evaluating source quality
• Editing & proofreading
• Apostrophes
• Other punctuation
• Active voice
• American vs. British spelling
• Conditionals
• Prepositions
• Pronoun Reference
• Sentence fragments
• Sentence Structure
• Subject-verb agreement
• Formatting and layout
• Word limits and assignment length
• Commonly confused words
• How assignments are marked
• Marking guides
• Getting an A
• Levels of assessment
• Using feedback
• Professional emails
• Forum posts
• Forum netiquette guidelines
• Sharing personal information
• Writing about personal experiences
• Assignment types
• What is an essay?
• Essay planning and structure
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraphs
• Essay revision
• Essay writing resources
• What is a report?
• Report structure
• Analysing issues for a report
• Business report
• What is a business report?
• Business report structure
• Inductive vs. deductive reports
• Other kinds of business communication
• Business report format and layout
• What is a lab report?
• Lab report structure
• Science lab report writing resources
• Psychology lab report writing resources
• Lab report body paragraphs
• Literature review
• What is a literature review?
• Writing a literature review
• Literature review structure
• Literature review writing resources
• Research proposal
• Writing a research proposal
• Research proposal structure
• Other types
• Article critique
• Book review
• Annotated bibliography
• Reflective writing
• Oral presentation
• Thesis / dissertation
• Article / conference paper
• Shorter responses
• Computer skills
• Microsoft Word
• Basic formatting
• Images, tables, & figures
• Long documents
• Microsoft Excel
• Basic spreadsheets
• Navigating & printing spreadsheets
• Charts / graphs & formulas
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Basic skills
• Advanced skills
• Distance study
• Getting started
• How to study
• Online study techniques
• Distance support
• Reading & writing
• Reading strategies
• Writing strategies
• Grammar resources
• Listening & speaking
• Listening strategies
• Speaking strategies
• Maths & statistics
• Trigonometry
• Finance formulas
• Postgraduate study
• Intro to postgrad study
• Planning postgrad study
• Postgrad resources
• Postgrad assignment types

Referencing

• Intro to referencing
• What is referencing?
• Why reference?
• Common knowledge
• Referencing styles
• What type of source is this?
• Reference list vs. bibliography
• Referencing software
• Quoting & paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing & summarising
• Paraphrasing techniques
• APA Interactive
• In-text citation
• Reference list
• Online material
• Other material
• Headings in APA
• Tables and Figures
• Referencing elements
• 5th vs. 6th edition
• 6th vs. 7th edition
• Chicago style
• Chicago Interactive
• About notes system
• Notes referencing elements
• Quoting and paraphrasing
• Author-date system
• MLA Interactive
• Abbreviations
• List of works cited
• Captions for images
• 8th vs 9th edition
• Oxford style
• Other styles
• Harvard style
• Vancouver style
• Legal citations
• Visual material
• Sample assignments
• Sample essay 1
• Sample essay 2
• Sample annotated bibliography
• Sample book review
• Study skills
• Time management
• Intro to time management
• Procrastination & perfectionism
• Goals & motivation
• Time management for internal students
• Time management for distance students
• Memory skills
• Principles of good memory
• Memory strategies
• Note-taking
• Note-taking methods
• Note-taking in lectures
• Note-taking while reading
• Digital note-taking
• Reading styles
• In-depth reading
• Reading comprehension
• Reading academic material
• Reading a journal article
• Reading an academic book
• Critical thinking
• What is critical thinking?
• Constructing an argument
• Critical reading
• Logical fallacies
• Tests & exams
• Exam & test study
• Planning exam study
• Gathering & sorting information
• Reviewing past exams
• Phases of revision
• Last-minute study strategies
• Question types
• Short answer
• Multi-choice
• Problem / computational
• Case-study / scenario
• Open book exam
• Open web exam or test
• Take home test
• In the exam
• Online exam
• Physical exam

Writing is a skill that is required in many contexts throughout life. However, academic writing is quite different from personal writing because it follows its own set of rules and practices:

• Ideas are usually organised in a formal order or structure.
• Ideas are supported by references from academic literature.
• In contrast to personal writing, academic writing is different because it deals with the theories and causes of a given topic, as well as exploring alternative explanations for these theories or events.
• Academic writing follows a particular tone, which uses concise, formal, and objective language. Academic writing also adheres to traditional conventions of punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

Some kind of structure is required, such as an introduction, essay body paragraphs, and a conclusion. This simple structure is typical of an essay format , as well as other assignment writing tasks, which may not have a clearly articulated structure.

Typical university assignments follow a formal structure, which is often more formal than in personal writing.

• In an essay, the introductory paragraph tells the reader what the essay is about and what the following paragraphs (called body paragraphs) will discuss.
• The introduction may also summarise very succinctly, in a sentence or two, your position on the issue (this is called a thesis statement ). An introduction is usually 10-15% of the total word limit.
• Your essay body paragraphs are used to support your thesis statement. The first sentence of each paragraph (sometimes called a topic sentence) should tell the reader what the paragraph is about. The rest of the paragraph is used to explain or develop this idea.
• The final paragraph, the conclusion, summarises the points made in your essay body paragraphs. You should not introduce new information in the conclusion.
• Sometimes, you can use the concluding paragraph to broaden discussion to the implications or future advancements surrounding the issues addressed. Usually a conclusion is about 10% of the total word limit.
• Another type of structure common in university assignments is a report.
• A report is often organised around the identification of problems or difficulties and corresponding solutions.
• Unlike most essays, a report is divided according to clearly labelled sections, such as Introduction, Discussion, Conclusions, and Recommendations.
• Also, unlike an essay, reports allow bulleted points in the conclusions and recommendations sections.

A significant difference between academic writing and other kinds of writing is the use of citations and referencing of published authors.

• If you make claims, judgements or statements about something in academic writing, there is an expectation that you will support your opinion by linking it to what a published author has previously written about the issue.
• Citing the work of other authors is central to academic writing because it shows you have read the literature, understood the ideas, and have integrated these issues and varying perspectives into the assignment task.
• The importance placed on referring to other authors in your work can be reflected in the elaborate referencing conventions that have been created within different disciplines, such as APA (American Psychological Association) referencing, which is used in psychology, education, some social sciences, as well as for business.

Academic tone

Like all varieties of writing, academic writing has its own tone, which dictates the choice of words and phrasing.

Academic writing typically aims to be:

• objective (e.g. using inclusive language )
• formal (e.g. avoiding slang, exclamation marks, contractions)

The tone of academic writing can also vary significantly depending on the subject-area and the academic discipline you are writing for.

The readings, textbook, and study guide of your course show you what tone is expected in the paper, so study their style carefully.

The audience

It is important to remember who you are writing for. Being conscious of academic tone suggests that you are aware of your audience and respect the formality normally associated with academic writing.

When writing academically, you must target a more general audience than just your lecturer and/or marker. You should assume that your readers will be intelligent thinking people, but they may not be specifically informed of your topic. Do not presume that your reader knows all the terms and concepts associated with your work. This may mean you have to give concise definitions or explanations of key terms and events.

Punctuation and grammar

In academic writing you should always follow rules of punctuation and grammar . Punctuation and the conventions of grammar are universally known systems (within individual languages) that maintain clarity and avoid ambiguity in expression. It is important that the spelling and grammar check software on your computer are turned on and set to the correct language.

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success Last updated on 29 November, 2018

• Academic Q+A

Have a study or assignment writing question? Ask an expert at Academic Q+A

Live online workshops

• StudyUp (undergraduate)
• Campus workshops
• Albany (undergraduate)
• Albany (postgraduate)
• Albany (distance)
• Manawatu (undergraduate)
• Manawatu (postgraduate)

Upcoming events

• All upcoming events
• Academic writing and learning support
• 0800 MASSEY | (+64 6 350 5701)
• [email protected]
• Online form

CELC E-resources

Academic Writing

This page explains what to look out for in academic writing by using videos and examples  to illustrate each explanation.  There are five main sections below:

1.0 Academic Essay (Types of Essays) 2.0 Structure of an Essay ( Introduction – thesis; Body – topic sentence, supporting details, concluding sentence); Conclusion) 3.0 Academic Tone (Dos and Don’ts) 4.0 Difference between Formal and Informal Writing 5.0 Reporting verbs and citation style (Journalistic and Academic writing)

1.0 Academic Essay

What is an academic essay?  

An academic essay is usually based on an all-encompassing idea developed throughout the whole text with the aim of informing or persuading the reader using scholarly evidence.   

There are different essay types or genres such as  argumentative, descriptive, expository and narrative essays.

Scroll to top

2.0 Structure of an Essay

What is the s tructu re of an essay ?   (Video)

2.1 Introduction

The introduction answers the fundamental “ What’s in it for me ?” question that every audience asks when faced with the time-consuming task of reading a text from start to finish.

Answering this question as quickly as possible ensures that your audience stays with you.  It is therefore essential that you ease your readers into the subject of discussion with a broad overview to prepare your reader for the very specific discussion you will want to have in the body of your essay.

The next section will explain how this can be done.

2.1.1 How do I put an Introduction together?   (Video)

The thesis is usually introduced towards the end of the introduction.  This should be followed by a brief outline of the main points. Some introductions include a transition sentence that leads into the rest of the essay. An example of an introduction can be seen  here. 

2.1.2 How do I provide background information?  

Reading an essay that launches straight into its thesis, or central argument, can be a confusing experience for most readers.

Writers who provide background information in their introductions   do so with the aim of anticipating what information their readers want . (Video)

Here is a list of information that might be included as background information:  

• descriptions of a particular situation or problem  
• where (location) and when (time span) the subject/problem occurs  
• brief summaries of the history of the subject  
• statistics that indicate the significance of the problem  
• concrete examples that illustrate the significance of the problem  
• clear definitions that explain key ideas, concepts and terms that will appear in the thesis  

2.1.3 How do I construct a thesis?  

A thesis is usually made up of two main parts:  

• the subject of discussion 
• the central idea   

An extended thesis might include a third part:  

3. the overview of the main points of the essay  

Where there is a question prompt, a thesis will provide a direct answer to the question and this is followed by an overview of the main supporting points which will be elaborated on later in the body paragraphs. 

You can also find out more about how to construct a thesis statement by  responding to key words in a question prompt.

2.2 The Main Body    (Video)

The  main body of an essay expands on the thesis statement. It is made up of one or more supporting paragraphs.   

As you can see, each paragraph in the main body basically consists of these three elements:  

•       A topic sentence
•       Supporting details
•       A concluding sentence

Each paragraph should have only one main point. This is expressed in the topic sentence. The topic sentences in each paragraph of an essay support the thesis statement. In turn, the supporting points in each paragraph expand on the topic sentence.  

Now, let us look more closely at the different parts of a supporting paragraph.  

2.2.1 Topic Sentence  

The  topic sentence   summarizes the main idea of the paragraph so that you, the reader, know what to expect to find in the ensuing sentences. As such, the topic sentence is usually, but not always, found at the beginning of a paragraph. It is closely linked to the thesis statement and tells you more about it. Without a topic sentence, it would be hard to tell what the main idea of a paragraph is.

2.2.2 Supporting Paragraph

2.2.2.1 Structure of a Paragraph (Video)

What follows the topic sentence are the supporting details: explanation, examples, evidence from sources, and interpretation. Read a body paragraph written about student procrastination .

As you read, identify the following:

• The topic sentence
• Explanation
• Evidence from sources
• Interpretation  /Analysis

2.2.2.2 Giving Explanation  

There are different types of explanations:   exemplification, cause-effect, problem-solution and comparison-contrast.  

2.2.2.3 Writing Coherently  

In writing, it is important to present the relationship between ideas clearly and logically, so that your reader can better understand the message that you are trying to put across. There are several ways to do this:  

2.2.2.3.1 Using transitions or link words to join sentences.

• Making your writing coherent
• Using transition and linking works
• Using appropriate transitions
• Linking words – common errors (Video)

2.2.2.3.2 Linking new information with previously mentioned information

• Ways to write clearly  ( Video)
• Improving clarity – linking old to new  (Video)

2.2.2.3.3 Repeating nouns and pronouns

•  Pronouns – common mistakes (Video)

2.2.2.4  Combining ideas within sentences  

Exercise s:  Read two body paragraphs of an essay about the effects of video gaming  and identify the features that help to make the writing coherent:

• Linking words
• Linking new information with previously mentioned information
• Repeating nouns and pronouns
• Combining ideas with sentences

2.2.3 Concluding Sentence

Not all paragraphs have a concluding sentence, but when they do, the concluding sentences normally do one or more of the following:  

• Summarize the main point
• Link the current paragraph with the next paragraph
• Qualify the viewpoint given in the elaboration

Read two paragraphs which end with concluding sentences . Identify the concluding sentences and the type of information that is in there.

 2.3 Conclusion (Video) 

A  conclusion   is an important part of the essay to bring the key points of your body paragraphs into a unifying whole — the main argument.  

To conclude your essay, you should:  

• reinforce your thesis
• reiterate your key ideas or findings
• highlight, if any, significance, implications and future trends  

3.0 Academic Tone

Here are some Dos and Don’ts to consider when writing your essay.

4.0 Difference between Formal and Informal Writing

Academic writing requires a formal, structured style.  By contrast, other genres of writing may allow for a more casual tone and structure.

Personal communication between equals, such as text messages and emails, may call for the most informal and casual of styles, while academic writing demands a formal, judicious style.  Journalistic writing, blog posts and other seemingly formal kinds of writing fall somewhere in between. To sum up, your audience— Who are you writing for? —and the subject matter — What are you writing about? — determines how formal your writing should be.

4.1 Formal and Informal Language

Your diction, or choice of words, is particularly important in ensuring that your writing is formal. Colloquial language, such as slang and internet abbreviations, signal a casual tone that has no place in most academic papers. You should also avoid overused phrases (clichés) and exaggerated language (hyperbole).

5.0 Reporting verbs and citation style

Students typically associate “reporting” with journalism. After all, journalists are often called reporters . Reporting, however, goes beyond the domain of journalism. It is a particularly crucial and essential skill in academic writing.

Academic reporting and journalistic reporting are similar in several ways. For instance, they both adopt a formal style, largely devoid of colloquial words or expressions. Academics and journalists also tend to investigate and report on many similar issues – scientific, political, economic, and social, among many others. However, academics and journalists differ largely in the ways they report on these issues.

5.1 Comparing verb usage between journalistic and academic reporting

One major difference between academic reporting and journalistic reporting lies in how academics and journalists use verb tense and aspect . (For a detailed definition and explanation of verb tense and aspect, see Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 . in “Essential Grammar”)

Journalistic reporting is almost always situated in the present time. Reporters tend to write about present or relevant issues in a manner that conveys them as ongoing or developing. Writing about ongoing/developing issues requires the use of the present or present continuous verb tenses, especially in the headlines of news articles, as illustrated in Table 1 below:

Meanwhile, academics can only reliably publish their reports after months or years of research. Hence, most of their writing reflects work that is already completed or is still ongoing , but has gone through several phases of work or research. This kind of formal reporting requires a wider variety of tense and aspect: past simple , past perfect , present simple , and present perfect , among other. (See Sections 4.2.1 and 4.2.2 for a detailed explanation of these terms.)

Table 2 below provides several examples of verbs, written in different tenses, used in a variety of ways in academic writing.

5. 2 Different types of citation styles

5.2.1 Journalistic reporting: Source-focused citation style

Journalists and academics are quite similar in their use of verb tense when citing from sources. In journalistic writing, it is important to not only report relevant and timely information, but also to properly cite them, especially if they have been obtained from external sources.

When journalists deliver news, they typically use reporting verbs in the past tense. To illustrate these points, let us examine a sentence from a Straits Times article written by reporter Timothy Goh (2020):

Goh (2020) uses the reporting verb said to report an official statement from the Ministry of Health (MOH). Notice that Goh, as a journalist, does not claim this statement to be his; he correctly cites the source of the statement (i.e., MOH). By using the verb said , he accurately describes what MOH did: they gave a statement about the use of hospital beds previously set aside for Covid-19 patients.

Note that when Goh (2020) cites the source and uses the verb said , he uses in-text citation (i.e., The Ministry of Health) as the Subject of the sentence. This is an example of a source-focused citation.

Definition: A source-focused citation places the cited author, i.e., the in-text citation , as the Subject of the sentence/clause. This citation style requires the use of an appropriate reporting verb .

5.2.2 Academic reporting: Source-focused (Author-Date) citation style

Academics, like journalists, are also required to cite from sources to strengthen the credibility of their research and the validity of any claims or arguments they make. Without these sources, it becomes hard for any student of academic writing to present arguments in a credible and persuasive manner.

To emphasise the importance or relevance of a source text, academics use a source-focused citation style . The academic version of this style, however, differs from the journalistic version. Academic writers use the Author-Date format, which requires the source’s author name(s) and year of publication. To illustrate this, let us use a sample Author-Date citation written by Manderson and Levine (2020, p. 2):

Using a source-focused, Author-Date citation style, Manderson and Levine correctly cite their source of information, i.e., Martineau et al. (2017). Moreover, they use an appropriate reporting verb, i.e., describe to accurately portray what Martineau et al. talked about in their 2017 paper.

Citing academic and non-academic sources

The above excerpt from Manderson and Levine (2020) illustrates a conventional way of citing sources. This citation style uses the in-text citation as the Subject of the sentence (i.e., Martineau et al., 2017). The in-text citation is then followed by the reporting verb , i.e., describe . The final part of the citation is the Verb Complement of the sentence, which summarises or paraphrases the information borrowed from the academic source. The diagram below illustrates the sentence structure of the citation style:

For more information on adverbials and adverbial clauses, read Section 8.2.1 in Essential Grammar .

Citing non-academic sources

Generally, the above formulae also apply to non-academic sources like news reports. You need to place the name of your non-academic source, i.e., in-text citation , as the Subject of your sentence; use an appropriate reporting verb ; and attach the cited information after the verb.

Citing yourself

It is common in academic writing to cite yourself when you are trying to make an argument, or analyse/present your own findings. For example:

Notice in the above examples that the order of elements (adverbial clause, Subject, Verb, and Verb Complement), also follow the typical SVO word order in English.

For more examples of source-focused academic reporting, see Table 4 below.

5.2.3 Academic reporting: Content-focused citation style

Citing from sources can also be done by using a content-focused citation style . This style, as the name suggests, focuses on the information that is derived from a source text by placing the in-text citation at the end of a sentence or phrase.

To illustrate this, let us first review the citation style adopted by Manderson and Levine (2020) in Table 4 (Section 5.2.2):

The citation style adopted above is source-focused ; however, we can also write the same citation in a content-focused style :

In shifting the citation style’s focus from the author to the content, two things occur:

• the reporting verb calls disappears , and
• the in-text citation moves to the end of the sentential clause.

5.2.4 Choosing the right citation style

As the name suggests, source-focused citation styles emphasise the importance or relevance of your sources to your essay. Use this citation style if you need to highlight relevant publications or scholars that have made significant contributions to a particular area of research. This type of citation style is also good for comparing scholars who have similar or differing views on a particular scholarly issue.

If your intention is to highlight ideas, concepts, or arguments, a content-focused citation is preferred. This citation style is generally good for summarising multiple ideas/concepts in the same paragraph.

5.3 Three functions of academic reporting

As a university student, you should bear in mind the three functions of academic reporting :

Reviewing relevant academic literature

• Academic research is always historical; if you are an undergraduate writing on a certain research topic, it is almost guaranteed that you will be able to trace your topic back to relevant research works already found in the literature. If you are writing an academic essay, you need to include relevant works and report/comment on them.

Critically evaluating the literature:

• Academic writing is a form of engaging in a debate or discussion with your audience. Many researchers publish their works for the purpose of corroborating or disproving findings, ideas, or arguments/claims of other researchers. Your professors and instructors will always be interested to see how you would report and evaluate these things.

Reporting and evaluating your own research, ideas, and findings:

• For laboratory reports and longer essay projects like theses and dissertations, your professors and instructors may require you to conduct your own research. This means that you will need to report your methods, data analysis and findings and critically evaluate them based on the current academic literature.

NOTE: Aside from the three functions of academic writing, you should note that different disciplines have their own preferences and citation styles. Ultimately, you should check with your professors, tutors, and faculty to find out which citation styles are conventionally used within your discipline.

As mentioned in Section 5.2.2 , source-focused citation styles require the use of appropriate reporting verbs. 5. 4 Source-focused citation style: Using the appropriate reporting verb

5.4.1 Sense (Meaning)

Choosing the right reporting verb requires you to understand the general sense (meaning) of verbs. As discussed in Section 4.1 in “Essential Grammar” , verbs can be dynamic (denoting an action) or stative (denoting a state or being).

If you are citing a scholar in your report or essay, you can decide which reporting verb to use by identifying whether the scholar is performing a dynamic action (e.g., experiment , survey, conduct, test ) or is expressing a state or being (e.g., think , believe , surmise , consider , become , seem, appear ).

Table 5 below provides several examples of reporting verbs you can use for source-focused citations. They have been arranged based on their similar senses .

5.4.2 Stance As a university student you might, at times, find it challenging to use reporting verbs appropriately in a written assignment. To address this issue, you must identify and understand the “stance” – that is, the position that an author takes in relation to an idea, concept, argument, or claim. Figuring out a person’s stance will help you, as a writer, to accurately report or evaluate their ideas, concepts, arguments, or claims in your own writing. You can identify someone’s position on a certain issue based on the following categories: weaker, neutral, and stronger. The three sets of reporting verbs – agree, say and study- are the most commonly used in academic writing. However, their synonyms may more accurately reflect your opinion of the authors that you wish to cite in your writing:

Looking at the above examples, the reporting verbs concede , agree and understand are related in the sense that they indicate some degree of agreement.  The choice of reporting verb expresses your view of the source material.

In Example 1, the use of the weaker reporting verbs recognise and feel indicate the writer’s doubts regarding the credibility of the information presented by the source (the WHO officials).

In Example 3, the stronger verbs concede , maintain and assert are used. The WHO’s ability to concede —admit an error—and their more definite assertion of the new research suggests that the writer has a more positive view of the organisation.

Examples 4, 5, and 6 demonstrate how changing the reporting verb in a sentence can reflect a writer’s attitudes towards the sources that are cited.  In Example 4, contemplates suggests that the writer does not believe that the anthropologist’s work is rigorous. By contrast, the verb interrogates indicates a degree of admiration for the anthropologist’s scholarship.

Journalists and academics who are sensitive to nuances in people’s actions or statements are more likely to accurately reflect their stances in writing. As a university student, it is your responsibility to adopt the same level of sensitivity to the things you read and write about. Developing a strong awareness of the varying beliefs that people hold, as well as the positions they take on certain issues, will help your writing become more accurate, credible, and reliable.

5.5 Variation in the use of verb tenses in an academic paper

A typical university-level academic paper has three major parts: introduction, middle, and conclusion . These different parts fulfil various functions; hence, we would naturally assume that there are variations in the way we write them.

We can see this variation in the use of verb tenses.

5.5.1 Introduction section

An essay introduction typically contains the following: (i) general statements to interest a reader in the topic, (ii) definition and explanation of terms, (iii) contextual information, and (iv) a thesis statement.

Parts (i) to (iii) tend to be expository in nature, so academic writers are generally free to use a variety of tenses and grammatical aspects in this section.

For (iv), however, the main verb of the thesis statement is usually written in the present tense, although in some cases, academic writers prefer to write their thesis statements in the future tense. The two sample sentences below reflect this variation:

Both forms are acceptable, although academic writing instructors generally prefer thesis statements to be written in the present tense.

5.5.2 Middle sections

The middle section contains body paragraphs that are designed to develop clear and cohesive lines of argument in support of the essay’s thesis. This is usually done by explaining the arguments in greater detail, providing several pieces of evidences, as well as an array of relevant examples that can help strengthen the validity of the arguments and improve the overall quality of the thesis.

The bulk of the middle section comprises ideas, concepts, and/or positions that are composed and derived from either primary (empirical) or secondary sources. This means that most of the academic reporting takes place in the middle section. We therefore expect verb tenses to be used logically and consistently throughout this section. Some examples of consistent (and inconsistent) use of verb tense in academic reporting can be found in Section 5.1, Table 2 and Section 1.2.2, Table 4 .

The following subsections deal with the different parts of the middle section of a typical academic essay or research paper.

5.5.2.1 Literature review

Literature reviews are mostly expositions of relevant works/publications. For short essays, the literature review is typically part of the introduction section. For longer essays like theses and dissertations, there is almost always one entire section dedicated to it.

Citation styles like the APA recommend that the literature review section be written in the present simple or past simple tense .

Referring to the comments on Pulido et al.’s (2020, pp. 378-379) excerpt in Table 4, Section 5.2.2 , the choice of tense and aspect must be consistent throughout this part of your paper. What does “consistency” mean in this case? Let us take a look at the two sample paragraphs below.

Based on the above examples, the reporting verbs in Paragraphs A and B are consistent: suggest and does not corroborate are both in the present simple tense, and so are the verbs argues and fears . In these paragraphs, the reporting verbs exhibit parallel structure , i.e., they are grammatically aligned in terms of their tense and aspect marking.

Paragraphs C and D do not exhibit parallel structure. In Paragraph C, the reporting verb suggests is in the present simple tense, but is not corroborating is in the present continuous tense. Similarly, in Paragraph D, argues is in the present simple tense, but feared is in the past tense.

5.5.2.2 Methodology

For scientific or working research papers, the methodology is an important section. It is written in a mostly expository style, because the aim of the section is to explain how the study is carried out. In terms of verb tense usage, the methodology is written typically in the past simple or past perfect tense , since the process of designing the experiment, and collecting and analysing data would have already taken place in the time of writing.

5.5.2.3 Data analysis, findings, and evaluation

These sections present and evaluate the results of one’s research; hence, this subsection should ideally be written in either the present or past tense. For example:

Note that data analysis and presentation of findings tend to be written in the past tense, and evaluative statements in the present tense.

5.5.3 Conclusion

The final section, the conclusion, is similar to the introduction section in that a variety of verb tenses can be used by academic writers. This largely depends on their writing style. What is more crucial here is that academic writers should actively employ verbs that:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Writing Center

• Academic Essays
• Approaching Writing
• Sentence-level Writing
• Write for Student-Run Media
• Writing in the Core
• Access Smartthinking
• TutorTrac Appointments
• SMART Space

“What Is an Academic Essay?”

Overview (a.k.a. TLDR)

• Different professors define the academic essay differently.
• Thesis (main point)
• Supporting evidence (properly cited)
• Counterarguments
• Your academic essay is knowledge that you create for the learning community of which you’re a member (a.k.a. the academy).

As a student in Core classes, especially in COR 102, you can expect that at least some of the major work in the course will entail writing academic essays. That term, academic essay , might sound as if it’s referring to a specific writing genre. That’s because it is. An academic essay is not a short story, an electronic game design document, a lesson plan, or a scientific lab report. It’s something else. What exactly is it, though? That depends, to some extent, on how the professor who has asked you to write an academic essay has chosen to define it. As Kathy Duffin posits in an essay written for the Writing Center at Harvard University, while an academic essay may “vary in expression from discipline to discipline,” it “should show us a mind developing a thesis, supporting that thesis with evidence, deftly anticipating objections or counterarguments, and maintaining the momentum of discovery.”

Even though Duffin’s essay is more than 20 years old, I still find her description interesting for a few reasons, one of which being the way that she has sandwiched, so to speak, some established content requirements of academic essays in between two broad intellectual functions of the academic essay. Here’s what I see:

When Duffin writes that an academic essay “should show us a mind,” she is identifying an important quality in many essay forms, not just academic essays: a sense of a mind at work. This is an important consideration, as it frames an academic essay as an attempt to understand something and to share that understanding. Essay is, in fact, also a verb; to essay is to try or attempt.

The established content requirements are as follows:

• a thesis (which Duffin describes also as a “purpose” and “motive”)
• evidence in support of the thesis, and
• an anticipation of objections or counterarguments

Duffin caps this all off with something about “maintaining the momentum of discovery.” Honestly, I’m not positive that I know what this means, but my guess is that it means an academic essay will construct and advance a new way of knowing the essay topic, a way that makes this process seem worth the writer’s and the reader’s time.

Again, your professor may or may not define academic essays as Duffin does. The only thing I would add to the above is a reminder that the academic essays you write in COR 102 and other courses represent knowledge that you’re creating within and for the academy —another word for Champlain College, an academic institution. You’re creating knowledge for a community of learners, a community of which you, your professor, and your peers are members. Keeping this conceptualization of your academic essay in mind may help you appreciate such other common elements of academic essays as voice , citations , and essay format.

Duffin, Kathy. “Overview of the Academic Essay.” Harvard College Writing Center, Harvard U., 1998, https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/overview-academic-essay Accessed 29 July 2020.

Quick tip about citing sources in MLA style

What’s a thesis, sample mla essays.

• Student Life
• Career Success
• Champlain College Online
• About Champlain College
• Centers of Experience
• Media Inquiries
• Contact Champlain
• Maps & Directions
• Consumer Information

Academic Versus Scholarly Writing

Welcome to our first blog post on the intriguing realm of academic writing. Before we delve into the complexities, let's start by clarifying some commonly misunderstood terms. The words "academic" and "scholarly" are often used interchangeably when discussing writing, but they do have distinct meanings. Let's explore these differences.

Academic Writing vs. Scholarly Writing: A Clear Distinction

Academic writing is the staple of student life. It encompasses the essays, theses, and course papers you produce to fulfill university or college requirements. The objective here is to communicate information about a specific subject within your discipline, as accurately and objectively as possible.

Conversely, scholarly writing is the domain of academics and researchers. It's the medium through which they communicate with other scholars, advance knowledge, and contribute to their field. This includes journal articles, technical reports, textbooks, and monographs.

So, if you're a graduate student, you're likely navigating both worlds. You might be writing an academic paper for your coursework one day, and drafting a scholarly manuscript for a peer-reviewed journal the next. It's a balancing act that requires versatility!

When I named Academic Insight Lab, I chose "academic" for simplicity. But rest assured, we're equally committed to supporting those engaged in scholarly writing.

Common Ground: Features of Academic and Scholarly Writing

Despite their differences, academic and scholarly writing share several key characteristics:

- Formal language (no room for slang or colloquialisms)

- Serious tone (maintaining professionalism and respect for the subject matter)

- Precise vocabulary (choosing the most accurate words to convey your ideas)

- Complex sentence structure (to adequately express complex ideas)

- Avoidance of contractions (opting for "it is" over "it's", for example)

- Adherence to a discipline-specific style guide (APA, AMA, Chicago, Harvard, etc.)

- Use of primary and secondary sources to support claims (evidence is crucial in academia)

For those interested in delving deeper into this topic, I recommend Dr. Sandra Shannon’s text, A Guide to Academic and Scholarly Writing. It's an excellent resource filled with valuable insights.

And there you have it – a brief overview of academic and scholarly writing. Now, armed with this knowledge, you're ready to tackle your next writing project.

Happy writing!

How to Write a Clear Research Problem Statement

Home » Education » Difference Between Academic Writing and General Writing

Difference Between Academic Writing and General Writing

Main difference – academic writing vs general writing.

Writing is an action that we all engage in our day to day lives. There are different styles of writing such as literary writing, technical writing , creative writing , academic writing, etc. Academic writing is the style of writing we use in academic disciplines, which requires a special set of skills. The main difference between academic writing and general writing is that academic writing is very formal, objective and concise in comparison to other styles of writing.

This article looks at,

1. What is Academic Writing? – Features, Choice of Language, and Use 

2. What is General Writing? – Features, Choice of Language, and Use 

3. What is the difference between Academic Writing and General Writing?

What is Academic Writing

Academic writing is the style of writing we use in the field of academics. Research projects, term papers, conference papers, essays, abstracts, reports, etc. in various disciplines are written in this style. The main difference between academic writing and other styles of writings is that it is more formal and structured. Academic writing also has its own set of rules and structures. The target audience or the readers of academic writing is the scholars of the same discipline.

Academic writing is generally objective, concise and impersonal. It is also more complex than general writing and may consist of technical jargon. Precision is also another very important factor in academic writing. Punctuation and grammar should be strictly followed. Contractions (don’t, can’t, etc.), slang or informal words, clichés, unnecessary filler words such as really, very, etc. should also be avoided in academic writing.

Referencing and citations is another major difference in academic writing. In academic writing, the writer is expected to support his argument by citing evidence by other sources. However, this evidence from other sources always has to be properly attributed according to an accepted style guide such as APA, MLA , Chicago and Harvard referencing .

What is General Writing

Writing for non-academic and no-technical purposes can be described as general writing. This is the style of writing we use in our day to day life. Diary and journal entries, letters, emails, newspaper articles, advertisements, posters, etc. are all written in a general writing style. Although general writing also requires correct spelling and grammar, it is not as strict as academic writing. In addition, there are no restrictions on the use of slang, contractions, clichés and other words. General writing can be informal, formal or semi-formal, but it’d be simpler and easier to understand than academic writing. There is also no need to use strict referencing and citation in general writing.

Academic Writing is used in research projects, conference papers, essays, abstracts, reports, etc.

General Writing is used in letters, emails, newspaper articles, diary and journal entries, etc.

Academic Writing uses formal, objective, concise language.

General Writing uses informal, semi-formal language.

Academic Writing does not use slang.

General Writing can use slang.

Contractions

Academic Writing does not use contractions.

General Writing can use contractions.

Referencing and citations

Academic Writing always uses referencing and citations.

General Writing does not usually use referencing and citations.

Image Courtesy: Pixbay 

About the Author: Hasa

Hasanthi is a seasoned content writer and editor with over 8 years of experience. Armed with a BA degree in English and a knack for digital marketing, she explores her passions for literature, history, culture, and food through her engaging and informative writing.

​You May Also Like These

APPLY NOW    REQUEST INFO

Apply Today

Ready to apply to Penn LPS Online? Apply Now

Learn more about Penn LPS Online

Request More Information

The difference between academic and professional writing: a helpful guide

Whether you’re a current or prospective student at Penn LPS Online, you’ve likely written your fair share of academic papers and business emails. But you’re not alone if you still have questions about the differences and similarities between academic and professional writing. This overview contains a summary of everything you need to know about the intricacies of these critical forms of writing.

What is the difference between academic and professional writing?

One of the key differences between academic writing and business writing is the goal of each endeavor. Because the readers are often students, professors, or scholars in academic writing, the goal is to present and analyze information on a specific subject and increase understanding. With professional writing, the goal is generally to communicate information or influence the opinions of managers, coworkers, clients, or job prospects. While academic writing is strictly formal, it’s common to use the first-person point of view in many standard business communications. Lastly, academic writing requires adherence to strict formatting and source requirements, but there is generally more flexibility in this area when it comes to professional documents.

Read on to dive deeper into the ins and outs of academic and professional writing.

Academic writing

The hallmarks of academic writing include the use of the third-person point of view, a logical flow, an emphasis on facts and ideas, and an authoritative, formal tone. This writing style is objective, avoids casual language and slang, offers insightful analysis, and includes citations for research backed by reliable sources such as scientific studies or journal articles. While students and professors routinely use academic writing, scientists also use it to describe their research findings, as do literary critics. There are four distinct types of this formal writing style: descriptive, analytical, persuasive, and critical.

Descriptive writing

Descriptive writing is one of the most simple and ubiquitous types of scholarly writing. You can see examples of this writing style in essays, research papers, or lab reports for several fields of study. The primary goal of descriptive writing is to use precise language to summarize and describe information, such as the result of an experiment or a section of prose.

Analytical writing

An example of analytical writing is an academic paper that compares two or more complex ideas or theories. Although a part of analytical writing is descriptive, it requires going a step further to reorganize and deconstruct facts into categories, groups, types, or relationships that provide context. As such, to author a successful analytical essay, you need to start with a strong outline.

Persuasive writing

Persuasive writing takes analytical writing to the next level. Not only must you structure a coherent, fact-based argument, but you must also include your own point of view. This could be a recommendation, interpretation of findings, or an evaluation of someone else’s work, but the claims you make need to be credible and backed by evidence.

Critical writing

This formal style is commonly used in research, advanced undergraduate, or postgraduate writing. It includes the tenets of persuasive writing with the supplement of at least one other point of view (in addition to your own) on a topic or issue. For example, if you’re writing a thesis, you may explain a researcher’s analysis from a journal article, critique the merits of their argument, and provide your own alternative explanation.

Professional writing

Professional writing refers to any written communication that takes place in an organizational context. A primary objective of professional or business writing is to effectively educate, instruct, or persuade an audience via emails, newsletters, memos, press releases, project proposals, business plans, executive summaries, letters, and resumés. As is the case with all writing styles, proper grammar usage—including syntax, spelling, and parts of speech—is essential in professional writing, as are the three points below.

Clarity and concision

One of the main requirements for successful professional writing is to use clear, precise language so that your message is easily understood. It’s also important to avoid clichés and hyperbole and stick to simple, concise statements that efficiently share concrete information. Not only will this save you time, but it will also benefit the reader’s comprehension and enjoyment.

Active and purposeful

Whether you’re creating a quick email or preparing an in-depth report, every piece of business writing should start with a well-defined objective or purpose. To keep your communication to the point, you should use an active voice, choose strong action verbs, and avoid qualifiers or passive phrases such as “I think.”

Personal tone

Although professional writing should have a courteous tone, the level of formality does not need to be equal to that used in an academic setting. Documents such as business plans should have a formal structure, but with emails or online chats with colleagues, a friendly, polite tone and positive phrasing can go a long way.

The overlap between academic and professional writing

Although there are distinct differences, there are also many similarities between academic and professional writing. Both writing styles require that you use proper grammar and punctuation, clear and precise language, and a serious tone, along with well-developed ideas with clear objectives. Whether you’re writing for business or academic purposes, it’s also important to avoid exaggeration, emotionally charged expressions, and jargon, as they dilute the effectiveness of your communication. In everything from research papers and essays to memos and fundraising letters, it’s essential to ensure that the information you convey is both accurate and relevant. And you should always have a clearly defined goal for academic or business writing, such as to describe, inform, analyze, or persuade.

If you’re somewhat of a writing novice and looking to improve your skills, then consider PROW 1030: Introduction to Academic Reading, Writing, and Research and PROW 1000: Fundamentals of Professional Writing at Penn LPS Online. The former is designed to expand your abilities and build your confidence as you learn how to plan and execute a well-structured argument, write with logical coherence, and polish your work to ensure readability. The latter provides an introduction to critically analyzing any writing situation and creating purposeful messaging to address it. With targeted exercises to improve grammar, mechanics, and precision, you’ll work to enhance the quality and effectiveness of your writing practice.

If you want to expand and refine your existing repertoire, look to PROW 3030: Advanced Academic Writing and PROW 3010: The Power of Storytelling . The former focuses on improving your ability to translate readings, research, and findings into meaningful academic content. This includes employing time management and reading strategies and enhancing your understanding of the nuances of academic genres and writing styles. The latter explores storytelling as a means of conveying complex and memorable information. Learn how to use narrative studies as a research tool for gathering data and a rhetorical strategy for generating emotional appeal, action, and brand identity.

Explore the professional writing certificate at Penn LPS Online

The 4-course Certificate in Professional Writing at Penn LPS Online offers practical applications that provide an accelerated understanding of the art of effective business communication—and tips to help you become a master of grammar, concision, and clarity. As mentioned above, whether you’re looking to learn the fundamentals or you’re already a seasoned writer, these Ivy League writing courses will help you take your skills to the next level. Discover innovative findings in the field, receive extensive coaching and feedback, and learn how to incorporate your personal or corporate brand story into every piece of communication.

The Certificate in Professional Writing prepares you to:

• Analyze different audiences, scenarios, and contexts to better shape your messaging
• Develop effective rhetorical strategies and skills to persuade personal, professional, and social audiences
• Learn how use complex multimedia texts that incorporate language, image, and sound to produce a coherent, engaging message
• Grow your empathic and analytical skills to integrate and build upon other viewpoints
• Explore how to engage the senses to successfully convey information through social media
• Understand how to use effective visualization to make complex material more accessible 

Ready to get started? If you have yet to do so, apply to Penn LPS Online today and enroll in the Certificate in Professional Writing . Or  view our course guide to see what’s available in any upcoming term.

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Comparing and contrasting in an essay | Tips & examples

Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay | Tips & Examples

Published on August 6, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

Comparing and contrasting is an important skill in academic writing . It involves taking two or more subjects and analyzing the differences and similarities between them.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

When should i compare and contrast, making effective comparisons, comparing and contrasting as a brainstorming tool, structuring your comparisons, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about comparing and contrasting.

Many assignments will invite you to make comparisons quite explicitly, as in these prompts.

• Compare the treatment of the theme of beauty in the poetry of William Wordsworth and John Keats.
• Compare and contrast in-class and distance learning. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?

Some other prompts may not directly ask you to compare and contrast, but present you with a topic where comparing and contrasting could be a good approach.

One way to approach this essay might be to contrast the situation before the Great Depression with the situation during it, to highlight how large a difference it made.

Comparing and contrasting is also used in all kinds of academic contexts where it’s not explicitly prompted. For example, a literature review involves comparing and contrasting different studies on your topic, and an argumentative essay may involve weighing up the pros and cons of different arguments.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

As the name suggests, comparing and contrasting is about identifying both similarities and differences. You might focus on contrasting quite different subjects or comparing subjects with a lot in common—but there must be some grounds for comparison in the first place.

For example, you might contrast French society before and after the French Revolution; you’d likely find many differences, but there would be a valid basis for comparison. However, if you contrasted pre-revolutionary France with Han-dynasty China, your reader might wonder why you chose to compare these two societies.

This is why it’s important to clarify the point of your comparisons by writing a focused thesis statement . Every element of an essay should serve your central argument in some way. Consider what you’re trying to accomplish with any comparisons you make, and be sure to make this clear to the reader.

Comparing and contrasting can be a useful tool to help organize your thoughts before you begin writing any type of academic text. You might use it to compare different theories and approaches you’ve encountered in your preliminary research, for example.

Let’s say your research involves the competing psychological approaches of behaviorism and cognitive psychology. You might make a table to summarize the key differences between them.

Or say you’re writing about the major global conflicts of the twentieth century. You might visualize the key similarities and differences in a Venn diagram.

These visualizations wouldn’t make it into your actual writing, so they don’t have to be very formal in terms of phrasing or presentation. The point of comparing and contrasting at this stage is to help you organize and shape your ideas to aid you in structuring your arguments.

When comparing and contrasting in an essay, there are two main ways to structure your comparisons: the alternating method and the block method.

The alternating method

In the alternating method, you structure your text according to what aspect you’re comparing. You cover both your subjects side by side in terms of a specific point of comparison. Your text is structured like this:

Mouse over the example paragraph below to see how this approach works.

One challenge teachers face is identifying and assisting students who are struggling without disrupting the rest of the class. In a traditional classroom environment, the teacher can easily identify when a student is struggling based on their demeanor in class or simply by regularly checking on students during exercises. They can then offer assistance quietly during the exercise or discuss it further after class. Meanwhile, in a Zoom-based class, the lack of physical presence makes it more difficult to pay attention to individual students’ responses and notice frustrations, and there is less flexibility to speak with students privately to offer assistance. In this case, therefore, the traditional classroom environment holds the advantage, although it appears likely that aiding students in a virtual classroom environment will become easier as the technology, and teachers’ familiarity with it, improves.

The block method

In the block method, you cover each of the overall subjects you’re comparing in a block. You say everything you have to say about your first subject, then discuss your second subject, making comparisons and contrasts back to the things you’ve already said about the first. Your text is structured like this:

• Point of comparison A
• Point of comparison B

The most commonly cited advantage of distance learning is the flexibility and accessibility it offers. Rather than being required to travel to a specific location every week (and to live near enough to feasibly do so), students can participate from anywhere with an internet connection. This allows not only for a wider geographical spread of students but for the possibility of studying while travelling. However, distance learning presents its own accessibility challenges; not all students have a stable internet connection and a computer or other device with which to participate in online classes, and less technologically literate students and teachers may struggle with the technical aspects of class participation. Furthermore, discomfort and distractions can hinder an individual student’s ability to engage with the class from home, creating divergent learning experiences for different students. Distance learning, then, seems to improve accessibility in some ways while representing a step backwards in others.

Note that these two methods can be combined; these two example paragraphs could both be part of the same essay, but it’s wise to use an essay outline to plan out which approach you’re taking in each paragraph.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

• Ad hominem fallacy
• Post hoc fallacy
• Appeal to authority fallacy
• False cause fallacy
• Sunk cost fallacy

College essays

• Choosing Essay Topic
• Write a College Essay
• Write a Diversity Essay
• College Essay Format & Structure
• Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Some essay prompts include the keywords “compare” and/or “contrast.” In these cases, an essay structured around comparing and contrasting is the appropriate response.

Comparing and contrasting is also a useful approach in all kinds of academic writing : You might compare different studies in a literature review , weigh up different arguments in an argumentative essay , or consider different theoretical approaches in a theoretical framework .

Your subjects might be very different or quite similar, but it’s important that there be meaningful grounds for comparison . You can probably describe many differences between a cat and a bicycle, but there isn’t really any connection between them to justify the comparison.

You’ll have to write a thesis statement explaining the central point you want to make in your essay , so be sure to know in advance what connects your subjects and makes them worth comparing.

Comparisons in essays are generally structured in one of two ways:

• The alternating method, where you compare your subjects side by side according to one specific aspect at a time.
• The block method, where you cover each subject separately in its entirety.

It’s also possible to combine both methods, for example by writing a full paragraph on each of your topics and then a final paragraph contrasting the two according to a specific metric.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, July 23). Comparing and Contrasting in an Essay | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved April 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-essay/compare-and-contrast/

Is this article helpful?

Jack Caulfield

Other students also liked, how to write an expository essay, how to write an argumentative essay | examples & tips, academic paragraph structure | step-by-step guide & examples, what is your plagiarism score.

Academic Writing: Critical Thinking & Writing

• Academic Writing
• Planning your writing
• Structuring your assignment
• Critical Thinking & Writing
• Building an argument
• Reflective Writing
• Summarising, paraphrasing and quoting

Critical Thinking

One of the most important features of studying at university is the expectation that you will engage in thinking critically about your subject area. 

Critical thinking involves asking meaningful questions concerning the information, ideas, beliefs, and arguments that you will encounter. It requires you to approach your studies with a curious, open mind, discard preconceptions, and interrogate received knowledge and established practices.

Critical thinking is key to successfully expressing your individuality as an independent learner and thinker in an academic context. It is also a valuable life skill. 

Critical thinking enables you to:

• Evaluate information, its validity and significance in a particular context.
• Analyse and interpret evidence and data in response to a line of enquiry.
• Weigh-up alternative explanations and arguments.
• Develop your own evidence-based and well-reasoned arguments.
• Develop well-informed viewpoints.
• Formulate your own independent, justifiable ideas.
• Actively engage with the wider scholarship of your academic community.

Writing Critically

Being able to demonstrate and communicate critical thinking in your written assignments through critical writing is key to achieving academic success. 

Critical writing can be distinguished from descriptive writing which is concerned with conveying information rather than interrogating information. Understanding the difference between these two styles of academic writing and when to use them is important.

The balance between descriptive writing and critical writing will vary depending on the nature of the assignment and the level of your studies. Some level of descriptive writing is generally necessary to support critical writing. More sophisticated criticality is generally required at higher levels of study with less descriptive content. You will continue to develop your critical writing skills as you progress through your course.

Descriptive Writing and Critical Writing

• Descriptive Writing
• Critical Writing
• Examples of Critical Writing

Descriptive writing demonstrates the knowledge you have of a subject, and your knowledge of what other people say about that subject.  Descriptive writing often responds to questions framed as ‘what’ , ‘where’ , ‘who’ and ‘when’ .

Descriptive writing might include the following:

• Description of what something is or what it is about (an account, facts, observable features, details): a topic, problem, situation, or context of the subject under discussion.
• Description of where it takes place (setting and context), who is involved and when it occurs. 
• Re-statement or summary of what others say about the topic.
• Background facts and information for a discussion.

Description usually comes before critical content so that the reader can understand the topic you are critically engaging with.

Critical writing requires you to apply interpretation, analysis, and evaluation to the descriptions you have provided. Critical writing often responds to questions framed as ‘how’ or ‘why’ . Often, critical writing will require you to build an argument which is supported by evidence. 

Some indicators of critical writing are:

• Investigation of positive and negative perspectives on ideas
• Supporting ideas and arguments with evidence, which might include authoritative sources, data, statistics, research, theories, and quotations
• Balanced, unbiased appraisal of arguments and counterarguments/alternative viewpoints
• Honest recognition of the limitations of an argument and supporting evidence
• Plausible, rational, convincing, and well-reasoned conclusions 

Critical writing might include the following:

• Applying an idea or theory to different situations or relate theory to practice. Does the idea work/not work in practice? Is there a factor that makes it work/not work? For example: 'Smith's (2008) theory on teamwork is effective in the workplace because it allows a diverse group of people with different skills to work effectively'.
• Justifying why a process or policy exists. For example: 'It was necessary for the nurse to check the patient's handover notes because...'
• Proposing an alternative approach to view and act on situations. For example: 'By adopting a Freirian approach, we could view the student as a collaborator in our teaching and learning'. Or: 'If we had followed the NMC guidelines we could have made the patient feel calm and relaxed during the consultation'.
• Discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of an idea/theory/policy. Why does this idea/theory/policy work? Or why does this idea not work? For example: 'Although Smith's (2008) theory on teamwork is useful for large teams, there are challenges in applying this theory to teams who work remotely'. 
• Discussion of how the idea links to other ideas in the field (synthesis). For example: 'the user experience of parks can be greatly enhanced by examining Donnelly's (2009) customer service model used in retail’.
• Discussion of how the idea compares and contrasts with other ideas/theories. For example: ‘The approach advocated by the NMC differs in comparison because of factor A and factor C’.
• Discussion of the ‘’up-to-datedness” and relevance of an idea/theory/policy (its currency). For example: 'although this approach was successful in supporting the local community, Smith's model does not accommodate the needs of a modern global economy'. 
• Evaluating an idea/theory/policy by providing evidence-informed judgment. For example: 'Therefore, May's delivery model should be discontinued as it has created significant issues for both customers and staff (Ransom, 2018)'.
• Creating new perspectives or arguments based on knowledge. For example: 'to create strong and efficient buildings, we will look to the designs provided by nature. The designs of the Sydney Opera House are based on the segments of an orange (Cook, 2019)'. 

Further Reading

• << Previous: Structuring your assignment
• Next: Building an argument >>
• Last Updated: Apr 12, 2024 3:27 PM
• URL: https://libguides.uos.ac.uk/academic-writing

➔ About the Library

➔ Meet the Team

➔ Customer Service Charter

➔ Library Policies & Regulations

➔ Privacy & Data Protection

Essential Links

➔ A-Z of eResources

➔ Frequently Asked Questions

➔Discover the Library

➔Referencing Help

➔ Print & Copy Services

➔ Service Updates

Library & Learning Services, University of Suffolk, Library Building, Long Street, Ipswich, IP4 1QJ

✉ Email Us: [email protected]

✆ Call Us: +44 (0)1473 3 38700

Reports and essays: key differences

Know what to expect

Explore the main differences between reports and essays and how to write for your assignments

You'll complete assignments with different requirements throughout your degree, so it's important to understand what you need to do for each of them. Here we explore the key differences between reports and essays. 

This page describes general features of academic reports and essays. Depending on your subject you may use all of these features, a selection of them, or you may have additional requirements. 

There is no single right way to write a report or essay, but they are different assignments. At a glance: 

• Reports depend heavily on your subject and the type of report.
• Essays usually have specific content and a planned structure with a focus on sense and flow. You subject might need different types of information in your introduction –  some disciplines include a short background and context here, while others begin their discussion, discuss their resources or briefly signpost the topic.

Differences between reports and essays

This table compares reports and essays and provides an outline of the standard structure for each. Your assignment will also depend on your discipline, the purpose of your work, and your audience – so you should check what you need to do in your course and module handbooks, instructions from your lecturer, and your subject conventions.

Table adapted from Cottrell, 2003, p. 209.

The structure of reports

Most reports use an IMRaD structure: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion.

Below are some common sections that also appear in reports. Some sections include alternative headings.

1. Table of contents

Your contents shows the number of each report section, its title, page number and any sub-sections. Sub-section numbers and details start under the section title, not the margin or the number.

2. Abstract or Executive summary

This brief summary of the report is usually the last thing you write.

3. Introduction

Your introduction describes the purpose of the report, explains why it necessary or useful, and sets out its precise aims and objectives.

4. Literature review

This describes current research and thinking about the problem or research question, and is often incorporated into the introduction.

5. Methods or Methodology

This describes and justifies the methods or processes used to collect your data.

6. Results or Findings

This section presents the results (or processed data) from the research and may consist of mainly tables, charts and or diagrams.

7. Discussion, or Analysis, or Interpretation

This section analyses the results and evaluates the research carried out.

8. Conclusion

The conclusion summarises the report and usually revisits the aims and objectives.

9. Recommendations

In this section the writer uses the results and conclusions from the report to make practical suggestions about a problem or issue. This may not be required.

10. Appendices

You can include raw data or materials that your report refers to in the appendix, if you need to. The data is often presented as charts, diagrams and tables. Each item should be numbered : for example, write Table 1 and its title; Table 2 and its title, and so on as needed.

Structure of essays

Introduction.

Your essay introduction contextualises and gives background information about the topic or questions being discussed, and sets out what the essay is going to cover.

Your essay body is divided into paragraphs. These paragraphs help make a continuous, flowing text.

The conclusion summarises the main points made in the essay. Avoid introducing new information in your conclusion.

Bibliography or Reference list

This is a list of the resources you've used in your essay. This is usually presented alphabetically by authors’ surname.

Reference for the Table of Distinctions above: 

Cottrell, S. (2003).  The Study Skills Handbook  (2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave.

Download our report and essay differences revision sheet

Download this page as a PDF for your report and essay revision notes.

Key features of academic reports

Basic essay structure

Writing clear sentences

Find an undergraduate or postgraduate degree course that suits you at Portsmouth.

Guidance and support

Find out about the guidance and support you'll get if you need a helping hand with academic life – or life in general – when you study with us at Portsmouth.

Soft Skills

11 minute read

Business Writing vs. Academic Writing: What’s the Difference?

Kat Boogaard

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Email

Regardless of particular style or format, written information has the same goal: to present information to an audience in a clear way. 

So, that must mean good writing is good writing, right?

Not exactly. When you compare business writing to academic writing, for example, there are actually some significant differences that you should be aware of.

Familiarizing yourself with what separates these two distinct writing styles will help you write in a way that’s the most effective for your intended purpose and audience. 

Think about it this way: You wouldn’t give a technical manual to a child and call it a children’s book. The same holds true for business and academic writing—there are key differences in style and structure.

So, what exactly makes business writing different from academic writing? Well, roll up your sleeves, because we’re diving into some of those key differentiators below. 

What is business writing?

There’s a lot of writing that happens in the business world. But, if you think this means you need to be a skilled author capable of stringing together eloquent prose and flowery language, think again.

As this fact sheet from the University of Oregon explains, business writing is transactional. It describes what actions need to be taken to solve problems, achieve company goals, and so on.

From reports to emails to press releases, business writing comes in many shapes and sizes. The recipients of business writing also run the gamut—from board members to colleagues to customers to shareholders.

Because of that, there are tons of smaller details that separate business writing from academic writing. But, the overarching one you should remember is the purpose: Business writing is intended to direct action. 

Want to learn even more about business writing? Check out our business writing course !

What is academic writing?

So, what about academic writing? Take a minute to think about the various writing projects—like research papers and book reports—that you needed to complete during your schooling. You’ll quickly realize that the intention of academic writing is far different from business writing.

Rather than educating and informing others, the goal of academic writing is for students to educate themselves. They write to learn as well as to showcase what they’ve learned—and often earn a grade for doing so.

Some academic writing is then utilized to inform others (like a thesis, research paper, or dissertation). However, the original purpose of that writing work was to have the author learn something through the writing process.

In most cases, students write these academic pieces for one particular audience member: their professor or instructor.  

Business writing vs. academic writing: how they differ

Obviously, the purposes behind business writing and academic writing are quite different. But what about those other details that we mentioned earlier? 

Let’s dig into the numerous other differences that come up when you compare business writing to academic writing. 

1. Tone and style

While both styles of writing can be somewhat formal from time to time, academic writing is typically much more so and is written from a third person perspective . Students often receive a grade on their academic writing, so you can bet there isn’t slang or jargon of any type. 

However, because business writing is more oriented toward action, it leans less on long sentences and a complex vocabulary and instead focuses on short and clear sentences (and frequently, bullet points)—making it seem far less rigid and formal than academic writing. 

With business writing, the audience needs to be able to extrapolate the meaning of the text and the resulting action steps without needing to wade through complicated sentences and lengthy paragraphs. 

Tone and style of academic writing:

Formal, with longer sentences and well-developed paragraphs. Here’s an example:

According to recent research, audiences are far more responsive to advertising messages that portray models and actors within their own demographic. With this reasoning, one can assume that organizations should employ a diverse range of actors and models to appear in their advertising campaigns to ensure that these commercial messages resonate with a large percentage of viewers.  

Tone and style of business writing: 

Emphasis on keeping things short, clear, and as actionable as possible. Here’s an example:

Research shows that audiences connect more with advertising messages that showcase people in their own demographic. We should explore talent firms with diverse pools of models and actors.

2. Document structure

Reflect on most of the writing you did during your education, and this common essay format will probably pop into your head: introduction, body, conclusion. That was the tried and true formula you leaned on to complete most of your academic writing.

However, business writing has far more flexibility—mostly because there are so many different types and styles of business writing.

This means that writing in a business setting offers far more wiggle room to structure the writing to the appropriate purpose and audience. It doesn’t always stick to a specific approach the way most academic writing does. 

Structure of academic writing:

Introduction, body of the written work, and a conclusion. 

Structure of Business Writing: 

Varies greatly depending on what you’re writing. An email will be structured much differently than a performance review, for example. 

3. Audience

We touched on this briefly already, but the intended audience is another major component that separates business and academic writing.

With academic writing, students write for one crucial audience member: their instructor, who will be dishing out a grade on that written assignment. Occasionally other people will review that written work, but it’s almost always someone else who works within academia.

Business writing, in contrast, can be read and reviewed by a huge array of people—from colleagues to customers to board members to shareholders to competitors to regulatory agencies. 

The list goes on and on. This is partly because the aim is to keep business writing simple and straightforward. When you aren’t sure whose eyeballs will eventually land on it, it’s best to make things explicitly clear, so that all parties can comprehend it. 

Audience of academic writing:

Audience of business writing:

Almost anybody! 

4. Document design

This is another area where academic writing is far more rigid than business writing—mostly because the design of these written works is often dictated by the instructor. You remember the good ol’ days of 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and appropriately-sized margins, right?

Again, with business writing, authors have far more flexibility to design their work in a way that’s most suitable to their purpose and intended audience.

Perhaps that’s a highly-visual business report with lots of graphs and charts to illustrate a point. Or, maybe it’s a one-page document with headings, subheadings, and bullet points to allow for easy skimming and scanning.

The design of business writing comes in many shapes and sizes, while academic writing typically falls into a standardized mold.

Design of academic writing:

Highly standardized with requirements for text style, font size, spacing, and margins.

Design of business writing: 

Flexible, depending on the purpose of the document and the audience. 

5. Writing process

If you’d ask me what my writing process looked like for any academic papers, I’d tell you this: It was many late nights spent bleary-eyed alone in front of my computer, with a mug of lukewarm coffee by my side.

Sound familiar? Much of the academic writing process takes place totally alone. The assignment is dished out by the professor, and the student is tasked with cranking out that document by the deadline in order to earn an individual grade.

Things don’t work that way in the business world, where writing is a far more collaborative process. When working on business writing, you’ll likely lean on the insights and expertise of numerous different people both inside and outside your organization to pull together something that makes sense.

Additionally, the process of writing an academic paper typically involved plenty of solo research. But, in a business environment, you usually tackle writing with far more existing context and background information received through meetings, previous projects, and other efforts. Most of the time, you aren’t approaching that subject totally cold. 

Process for academic writing:

Research and writing is done mostly solo.

Process for Business Writing:

A collaborative effort, with plenty of groundwork already laid for the author. 

6. Citations and sources

Sigh, citations. I remember cringing every time I needed to put together that detailed resources page for my academic papers. You remember the ones, right? They included everything from the authors' names, to the published date, to the volume number. The thought alone still sends a chill down my spine. 

With academic writing, students are required to cite their sources using a highly standardized format—often MLA or APA style . 

However, the rules for citing sources are far more lax with business writing and can often vary greatly depending on your company’s norms and regulations for quoting various sources. 

Citations and sources for academic writing:

Highly standardized and regulated. 

Citations and Sources for Business Writing:

Can vary based on the rules set by the individual company. 

7. Legal considerations

While students who produce academic writing absolutely need to avoid plagiarism of any kind, it’s not often that their written work will be used in any sort of court cases, legal proceedings, or anything of the sort.

But, in a business setting? People should be aware that the written work they produce is likely now the property of their employer and thus could be used as evidence in this manner if the need arises—whether it’s something like a wrongful termination lawsuit or even an audit. 

For that reason, ensuring accuracy is crucial whenever you’re writing, but particularly when you’re producing a document for your organization. 

Legal considerations for academic writing:

Avoiding plagiarism is the top legal concern. 

Legal Considerations for business writing:

Operate with the assumption that whatever you write could come back in a variety of legal matters. I won’t say it’s common, but it’s always better to play it safe! 

Over to you

As we’ve highlighted here, there are plenty of differences between academic writing and business writing. In fact, this isn’t even all of them—we’ve barely scratched the surface. 

You can dig into even more elements that separate these two styles with this fact sheet from the University of Oregon . It does a great job of breaking things down in an easily digestible way, and we used it as a resource for many of the differences we outlined here.

If you’re eager to learn even more about business writing in particular and how you can level up your own game at work? Make sure to check out our business writing course to dive into the nitty-gritty of how to be a top-notch writer in a business setting. 

Gain the soft skills you need to succeed

Start learning for free with GoSkills courses

Loved this? Subscribe, and join 442,613 others.

Get our latest content before everyone else. Unsubscribe whenever.

Kat is a writer specializing in career, self-development, and productivity topics. When she escapes her computer, she enjoys reading, hiking, golfing, and dishing out tips for prospective freelancers on her website.

Recommended

How to Hire the Right Candidate for the Right Job

When using the right strategies, hiring the right job candidate can be seamless and effective.

7 Essential Skills To Help Startups Meet New Challenges

Startups and SMEs face specific challenges that threaten their survival. Make sure your business' growth doesn't lead to its downfall with these 7 tips.

The Future of Sales Careers: How Training, Methods, and Software are Changing

The nature of sales has evolved due to automation, specialization, and changing consumer expectations. This guide explores how such changes are reshaping sales careers.

© 2024 GoSkills Ltd. Skills for career advancement

• Food + Drink
• Archaeology Monday
• Entertaining
• Luxury Listing
• Buy an Issue
• Where to find
• Free Digital Edition
• Advertise With Us
• Anúnciate con nosotros

Five Lots Join Together for One Giant Slice of Paradise

Is this the most luxurious mansion in mérida, should i restore or build new the age-old question, annual progreso home tour allows a look at beach life in…, blogging vs. academic essay writing — what’s the difference.

Modern-day writing is significantly improved, especially with the introduction of diversification that aims to deliver quality writing to a wider range of audiences. Thus, blog writing is gaining popularity, especially as social media takes over life. 

On the other hand, there is essay writing, aimed at delivering academic content and discussing events or personal experiences, but for the professors and scholars to go through. 

Even though both sections write similar things, there are certain that separates the two section. Hence, in today’s discussion, I will point out the difference between the two sections to help students in which way to write. 

Let’s compare them in the next section – 

Difference Between Essay Writing And Blogging  

Even today, the writing mediums are continuously blurring, especially with the addition of several tools and shifts in the writing process and pattern. Yet, some differences separate Academic and non-academic writing. 

Therefore, here are a few differences between blogging and essay writing: 

What Is It (Blogging And Essay Writing)

Before we get into all the details about blogging and essay writing, it is important to know what they are all about and their relevance to us. Hence, essay writing embodies a block of long texts meant to convert information on a particular subject.

They are generally a gateway to enter the academic world and create one’s own persona among other academics. Further, you must be accurate and precise and add information orderly. 

Conversely, blogging is the portal to enter the internet, make your presence online and take your writing to the general masses to entertain themselves. They are generally written in an informal tone, addressing the current trends occurring in the world. 

Further, in their writing, you will see the incorporation of humor, sarcasm and pictures to enhance the visibility of the long texts and make them more readable for audiences to explore and enjoy.  

And if you want to know how to write blogging and essay writing, then you can visit the  website of Fresh Essays, where you will find all the relevant information on the topic. 

Purpose 

One of the key things that separates academic writing and blogging is their purpose of creation and existence in the human world.

Essay writing is created to check the writing ability of students, where they have to explain a detail in-depth to showcase its importance. Further, it is aimed at academic purposes, where you need to write, get grades on the subject and progress in the educational field.  

Further, it is structured, allowing readers (professors, scholars and teachers) to go through the writing and read the relevant information. 

On the other hand, there is blogging, whose purpose is to entertain readers with information and facts. There are no specific rules or guidance for structuring a blog post. Further, you can talk about anything in a blog, write informally and even use one or second person to showcase a personal touch in the center. 

It is mostly found on the internet, and it is open to all. You can read the post and then comment on it. 

Audience 

Another thing that separates the two segments is the audience for whom they cater the writing. For essay writing, the professors and teachers look to analyze the topic, which is confirmed by the presence of a thesis statement. 

The thesis statement directs the readers throughout the essay. Further, the facts included in the report are thoroughly checked to make the paper professional and per the university regulations and guidelines. 

It is different for a blog, as most readers go through the writing just for entertainment. Generally, it is written for general people who casually enter the text and read about new information and facts on the relevant topic. 

In a blog, there is no pressure for fact-checking. Therefore, you can add any information you like, but it will only be considered reliable due to its consistency.   

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism is a sin, defined as copying someone’s content without actually giving them the credit. Hence, in the academic world, it is a big thing as students are expected to write original content, and if they do take information from someone, they must give them the due credit.

Further, punishment and impeachment are the common outcome. Once someone gets caught with plagiarism, they must face one consequence. 

On the other hand, in blogging, adding any information you like is fine without obtaining the approval of someone or citations in the text. This is because authenticity is the least concern while writing about a subject. 

Hence, blogging is a casual form of writing that aims to entertain audiences.

Style Of Writing 

Writing style and tone are essential when you consider writing on a subject. So, when it comes to essay writing, you have to formally address the issue from the perspective of a third person rather than adding a personal touch. 

Further, it would help if you used critical thinking while discussing an event or cause. Following that, in most cases, you have to maintain a neutral point, and even if you take a moment, you should back it up with facts and statistics. 

Lastly, it is restricted to students and research scholars to write an essay on any following matter. Thus, it is only possible for someone enrolled in schools, colleges and universities to write an essay.    

On the other hand, blogging is written in a very informal way of presenting the information. Here, the tone and written style hardly matter. You can use the first person and your understanding to discuss the event. 

Further, you don’t have to add relevant information from authentic sources, thus giving an advantage to everyone who thinks of penning down their thoughts and feelings. 

There Is a World Of Differences  

In the end, there is a huge difference between blogging and essay writing. Even though both have too long texts on different topics, the difference lies in —

• Making an online presence vs making an academic presence 
• Informal vs formal tone of writing 
• The general audience can read vs only educated people can read.  

Follow us on Instagram @yucatan.magazine

Academic Research: Differences between MLA and APA Formats

This essay about the distinctions between MLA and APA formats offers a clear guide on when and why to use each in academic writing. It explains that MLA format is preferred in humanities and liberal arts for its focus on authorship and streamlined in-text citations, whereas APA format is favored in the social sciences, emphasizing recent research through citations that include the publication year. Structural differences in title pages, headings, and reference details are highlighted to show how each format caters to the specific needs of its discipline. The essay underscores the importance of choosing the correct format based on the academic field, assignment requirements, or publication standards, illustrating how these formats facilitate clear, organized scholarly communication within their respective areas of study.

How it works

In the world of academic writing, adhering to a specific formatting style is not just about preference but a necessity for clarity, consistency, and scholarly integrity. Among the most widely used styles are the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) formats. Each serves its unique purpose and is tailored to the requirements of different fields of study. This comparison seeks to demystify the primary distinctions between MLA and APA formats, guiding students and researchers in choosing the appropriate style for their work.

At the heart of the MLA format is the liberal arts and humanities discipline. It emphasizes authorship because these fields prioritize individual ideas and interpretations. The MLA format uses parenthetical in-text citations with the author’s last name and the page number from which the information was taken, alongside a Works Cited page at the end of the document. This approach facilitates a direct, seamless integration of sources, allowing readers to engage with the text without interruption.

Conversely, the APA format is predominantly used in the social sciences. It focuses on the date of publication, reflecting the importance of recent research in these fields. APA citations include the author’s last name and the year of publication within the text and a reference list at the document’s end. This method underscores the timeliness of the information, which is crucial in disciplines where knowledge constantly evolves.

The structural differences between the two formats extend to the title page, headings, and layout. MLA does not require a title page for most student papers, whereas APA typically requires a title page that includes the paper’s title, the author’s name, and the institutional affiliation. APA also has specific guidelines for headings that help organize the paper into sections and sub-sections, making it easier to navigate through complex studies. MLA’s approach is more straightforward, with fewer requirements for section division, reflecting the often more narrative nature of humanities writing.

Another notable difference lies in the presentation of the reference list. MLA’s Works Cited page is concerned primarily with ensuring readers can find the sources. In contrast, APA’s References page offers more detailed publication information, including the city of publication and the publisher for books, and even the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for journal articles. This comprehensive approach in APA is designed to facilitate the replication of research, a core aspect of the scientific method.

Choosing between MLA and APA formats ultimately depends on the disciplinary context and the specific requirements of the assignment or publication. Educators and journals usually specify the preferred format, but understanding the rationale behind each style can enhance the writer’s ability to engage with the academic community more effectively.

In conclusion, while MLA and APA formats share the common goal of promoting clear and organized scholarly communication, their differences are tailored to the needs of their respective disciplines. MLA’s streamlined, author-focused approach supports the interpretive nature of the humanities, whereas APA’s detailed, date-focused style is designed to highlight the evolution of knowledge in the social sciences. Recognizing these distinctions not only aids in proper citation but also in appreciating the diverse ways in which knowledge is constructed and shared across the academic landscape. As students and researchers navigate the complex world of academic writing, an understanding of these formats becomes a critical tool in their scholarly arsenal, enabling them to contribute their voices to the ongoing dialogue within their fields.

Cite this page

Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats. (2024, Mar 25). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/

"Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats." PapersOwl.com , 25 Mar 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/ [Accessed: 13 Apr. 2024]

"Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats." PapersOwl.com, Mar 25, 2024. Accessed April 13, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/

"Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats," PapersOwl.com , 25-Mar-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/. [Accessed: 13-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Academic Research: Differences Between MLA and APA Formats . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/academic-research-differences-between-mla-and-apa-formats/ [Accessed: 13-Apr-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

• Software Engineering Tutorial
• Software Development Life Cycle
• Waterfall Model
• Software Requirements
• Software Measurement and Metrics
• Software Design Process
• System configuration management
• Software Maintenance
• Software Development Tutorial
• Software Testing Tutorial
• Product Management Tutorial
• Project Management Tutorial
• Agile Methodology
• Selenium Basics
• Difference between CISCO Jabber and Slack
• Difference between DevOps and SysOps
• Difference between Webinar and Video Conference
• Difference between Software Engineering and Computer Engineering
• Difference between Open Source Software and Closed Source Software
• Difference between Project Management and Change Management
• Difference between Desktop publishing (DTP) and Word Processor Software
• Difference between Monkey Testing and Gorilla Testing
• Difference between Descriptive Research and Experimental Research
• Basecamp vs Trello
• Difference Between MSMQ vs RabbitMQ
• Difference between Project Management and Contract Management
• Difference between Project Management and Supply Chain Management
• Difference between Operation Management and Supply Chain Management
• Difference between Logistics Management and Supply Chain Management
• Difference between System Engineer and Software Engineer
• Difference between V-model and Incremental model
• Difference between EMS and NMS
• Difference between Webinar and Web conference

Difference between Technical Writing and Academic Writing

1. Technical Writing : Technical writing refers to a piece of writing which focuses on providing detailed and lucid information about the product or service. It contains factual and straight forward content. It is entirely goal-oriented and it talks about different ways by which the desired goal can be achieved. Mainly Technical writings are something new or existing concept based on the same technical domain. Here the writer avoids to explain a specific subject matter by providing his/her own point of view. 

Example includes suppose a writer writing a article based on the topic comes under computer science domain on GeeksforGeeks. 

2. Academic Writing : Academic writing refers to a piece of writing which focuses on proving a theory or viewpoint in one way or the other and emphasizes upon one specific subject. Through academic writing the writer intends to prove a theory or viewpoint in one way or the other. Mainly academic writings are based on academic findings and academic research. The writer can explain a specific subject matter by providing his/her own point of view. 

Example includes suppose a professor writing on a concept related to Chemistry and that published on college’s monthly magazine. 

Difference between Technical Writing and Academic Writing :

Please Login to comment...

Similar reads.

• Difference Between
• Software Engineering
• Google Releases ‘Prompting Guide’ With Tips For Gemini In Workspace
• Google Cloud Next 24 | Gmail Voice Input, Gemini for Google Chat, Meet ‘Translate for me,’ & More
• 10 Best Viber Alternatives for Better Communication
• 12 Best Database Management Software in 2024
• 30 OOPs Interview Questions and Answers (2024)

Improve your Coding Skills with Practice

What kind of Experience do you want to share?

• Our Process

Academic Writing Vs. Creative Writing: Understanding The Differences

Published by Oliver Smith at September 11th, 2023 , Revised On January 30, 2024

Writing is a vast and varied field, with numerous genres and sub-genres, each demanding a unique approach and mindset. Among the multitude of writing types, academic and creative writing stand out as polar opposites. These two forms of writing serve distinct purposes and possess characteristic styles and tones. This blog will discuss the differences between academic and creative writing. 

What is Academic Writing

Academic writing is a formal style of writing. It is commonly used in universities and scholarly publications. Its characters mainly include evidence-based arguments, logical reasoning, and conciseness.

While some might see it as stuffy or rigid, it is crucial in academia for maintaining clarity and credibility. Let’s break down the features and purposes of academic writing:

Features of Academic Writing

The features of good academic writing include:

Evidence-Based

Academic writing relies on evidence, such as data, facts, logical reasoning, and expert testimonies. Unsupported claims are not acceptable.

Formal Tone

Casual or colloquial language is avoided. Instead, a serious and respectful tone is maintained.

Clear and Precise 

It prioritises clarity and avoids ambiguity. Words and phrases are used in their exact meaning.

There is a clear organisation to the content, whether it is the standard introduction, body, and conclusion of an essay or the abstract, introduction, or other parts of a research paper.

Impersonal Tone

Personal beliefs, feelings, or opinions are typically kept out unless they are relevant to the discussion.

Any information, ideas, or data not original to the author must be cited. This gives credit to original authors and provides a trail for readers to verify information.

Purpose of Academic Writing

Academic writing mainly serves the following purposes. 

Much of academic writing aims to inform the reader about a specific topic. This could be a review of existing literature, explaining a concept, or presenting new research findings.

In some cases, academic writing persuades the reader of a certain viewpoint. This is seen in argumentative essays and papers where the author presents and supports a thesis statement with evidence.

Academic writing can serve as a record of research findings, observations, or experiments. This is crucial for future researchers who might build upon that work.

Reflective essays or reports allow the writer to discuss their experiences, learning, or observations in a structured way.

Audience of Academic Writing

The primary audience of academic writing is the scholarly community, including professors, students, researchers, and experts in the field. 

However, given the increasing accessibility of academic works, the public, policymakers, and other professionals are also counted in the category. 

Types of Academic Writing

Here are the main types of academic writing. 

Essays are short pieces of academic writing that convey the author’s perspective on a particular topic. The different types of essays include argumentative, descriptive, expository, and narrative.

Essays are meant to concisely explore and communicate ideas, arguments, or information. They often require critical thinking, analysis, and the ability to present a coherent argument.

Research Papers

Research papers are in-depth documents that present original research findings on a specific topic. They are often more extensive than essays and follow a structured format.

These papers also contribute new knowledge to a particular field, which helps demonstrate the author’s ability to conduct research, analyse data, and draw meaningful conclusions.

Theses and Dissertations

Theses and dissertations are comprehensive research projects. They are generally required to get a master’s or doctoral degree. They represent the completion of a student’s academic work.

Additionally, theses and dissertations involve in-depth research, critical analysis, and the presentation of original contributions to a specific academic discipline.

Reports are documents commonly used in scientific and technical fields to convey information about experiments, investigations, or research studies. They have a structured format, including methods, results, and conclusions.

Moreover, reports aim to provide detailed and objective information about experiments, allowing others to replicate the study or understand the findings accurately.

Reviews critically assess other works, such as books, articles, or literature. They summarise the main points of the work and provide an evaluation based on specific criteria.

Reviews help readers understand the content and quality of the work being reviewed. They assist in decision-making processes and contribute to scholarly discourse.

Case Studies

Case studies involve detailed analyses of specific cases, events, or situations. They often include real-life examples and explore the factors contributing to a particular outcome.

Furthermore, case studies are used to gain insights into complex phenomena, investigate cause-and-effect relationships, and provide context-rich information for research or educational purposes.

Abstracts are concise summaries of larger academic papers, typically appearing at the beginning of the document. They briefly overview the paper’s main objectives, methods, findings, and conclusions.

Abstracts serve as a quick reference for readers, allowing them to determine whether the full paper is relevant to their interests. They provide a snapshot of the paper’s content without requiring the reader to review it.

Academic Writing Process

• What is academic writing
• Difference between a heading and a title
• Taboo words from around the world
• When and how to use transition words
• List of transition words and phrases
• Verb tenses – rules & examples

What is Creative Writing

Creative writing is an art form that allows for self-expression and imagination. It breaks away from the more strict constraints of other forms of writing. It encompasses various written works and genres, each characterised by imaginative narratives, characters, and poetic use of language. 

Conclusively, creative writing seeks to tell a story, evoke emotions, or paint a vivid picture in the reader’s mind.

Features of Creative Writing

An impeccable piece of creative writing has the following features. 

Imaginative and Original

Central to creative writing is the use of imagination. It allows writers to invent characters, worlds, scenarios, and more.

It is a means of expressing personal feelings, emotions, and ideas.

Character Development

Characters in creative writing often undergo growth or transformation, revealing depths of human nature.

Poetic Use of Language

Words are chosen for their literal meaning, sound, rhythm, and emotional resonance.

Narrative Structure

Even though creative writing doesn’t always follow a strict structure, many pieces have a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Evokes Emotion

One of its goals is to make readers feel something—whether it is joy, sorrow, excitement, or fear.

Purpose of Creative Writing

Creative writing is usually done for

Entertainment

Many creative works aim to entertain, taking readers on journeys to far-off places or introducing them to intriguing characters.

Writers often use creative writing as a platform to express personal feelings, beliefs, or experiences.

It can be a medium to reflect on societal issues, human behaviour, or the world at large.

Some creative works, like allegories or satires, can be persuasive, conveying opinions on political or societal issues.

Audience of Creative Writing

While some creative works might target a specific audience, many are meant for anyone who appreciates storytelling, language artistry, or poetic expressions. From children to adults, the audience for creative writing is diverse.

Types of Creative Writing

The types of creative writing include

Fiction is fabricated and based on the author’s imagination. It is not factual, but it may be based on true events or situations.

• Novels: Extended works of fiction that can range from about 50,000 words to several hundred thousand words.
• Short Stories: Brief works of fiction, typically between 1,000 and 20,000 words.
• Novellas: Longer than short stories but shorter than novels, often between 20,000 and 50,000 words.

Poetry uses meter, rhyme, and metaphor to express feelings, ideas, or tell stories. Its form and structure can vary widely.

Drama involves writing that is intended to be performed by actors on a stage, in a film, or on television.

Creative Non-Fiction

This genre uses narrative techniques commonly found in fiction to relay true, factual events or experiences.

• Memoirs: A personal account of someone’s life or experiences.
• Biographies: A detailed account of someone else’s life.
• Personal Essays: Short, introspective pieces that reflect on life experiences.

Flash Fiction

These are very short stories, often characterised by brevity and succinctness. They still have a full narrative but in a much condensed form.

Screenwriting

This involves writing scripts specifically for visual mediums, like movies or TV shows. The script will often include scene directions, character actions, and dialogue.

Songwriting

The art of writing lyrics for music often encompasses a range of emotions, themes, and narratives.

Looking for experts? We are here to help! Topic Suggestions Confidentiality 100% Plagiarism Free Qualified Writers Low Prices Proofreading Order Now Dissertation Services

The Difference Between Academic Writing and Creative Writing

Academic writing and creative writing are two very different types of writing that serve distinct purposes and adopt unique characteristics. Let’s look at the primary differences between them:

Academic Writing: The primary purpose is to inform, explain, argue, or analyse. It is mainly used to present research findings, argues a point, or elaborate on a theory or idea. Examples include essays, research papers, and journals.

Creative Writing: The primary purpose is to entertain, evoke emotions, and express the author’s imaginative ideas. It may also inform or persuade, but stylistically and narratively. Examples include poetry, fiction (novels, short stories), plays, and scripts.

Style and Tone

Academic Writing: Typically adopts a formal tone and uses precise, unambiguous language. Jargon or technical terms relevant to the field may be used.

Creative Writing: Can vary in tone, from casual and conversational to highly formal. Figurative language, rhetorical devices, and a focus on narrative or poetic techniques often mark it.

Academic Writing: Follows a structured format that depends on the type of academic work. For instance, research papers might follow the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion).

Creative Writing: More flexible in structure. While there might be conventional structures for certain genres (like the three-act structure in plays), creative writing often allows for more deviation and experimentation.

Evidence and Research

Academic Writing: Relies heavily on evidence, citations, and references. Proper sourcing and avoiding plagiarism are crucial.

Creative Writing: While it may be based on research (e.g., historical fiction), it does not always require citations or references, and it often relies on the author’s imagination.

Point of View

Academic Writing: Typically uses a third-person perspective, and first-person might be avoided depending on the discipline or assignment.

Creative Writing: Can employ first, second, or third-person perspectives. The choice depends on the nature of the story and the writer’s intention.

Objective vs. Subjective

Academic Writing: Strives for objectivity. Even when presenting an argument, the emphasis is on presenting evidence and logical reasoning.

Creative Writing: It is often more subjective, focusing on emotional truths, individual perspectives, and personal experiences.

Constraints

Academic Writing: Generally needs to adhere to specific guidelines formatting rules, and be clear and concise.

Creative Writing: Offers more freedom, allowing writers to play with language, structure, and content.

Academic Writing: Typically written for scholars, researchers, students, or professionals in the field.

Creative Writing: Aimed at a general audience, although some works might cater to niche readerships.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is creative writing part of academic writing.

Creative writing and academic writing serve different purposes. While academic writing prioritises evidence-based arguments, clarity, and objectivity, creative writing emphasises storytelling, character, and emotion. However, you can use elements of creative writing to enhance academic pieces and make them more engaging.

What is the difference between academic writing and creative writing?

Academic writing presents researched information and is mostly clear, properly structured, and objective. Creative writing emphasises storytelling, imagination, and emotional resonance. While academic writing seeks to inform or argue based on evidence, creative writing aims to entertain, provoke thought, or express personal insights. Both have unique styles, purposes, and conventions.

What are the characteristics of creative writing?

Creative writing emphasises imagination, originality, and expression. It prioritises storytelling, character development, emotional resonance, and vivid imagery. Unlike formal styles, creative writing allows for flexibility in structure and language, encouraging the exploration of diverse narratives and voices.

What is an example of academic writing?

“Recent research on climate change highlights its adverse effects on global sea levels. Using satellite data from 1990-2020, Smith et al. (2022) found a 3.2mm annual rise in sea levels. This upward trend, linked to melting polar ice caps, underscores the urgent need for sustainable environmental policies worldwide.”

You May Also Like

A heading is a short phrase or sentence that introduces a section of the text, indicating its topic or purpose. It helps readers navigate the content by clearly indicating what to expect in that section.

Academic writing is a critical skill that students need to master to excel in their educational journey. Whether it’s writing essays, research papers, or reports, academic writing requires a specific approach and adherence to certain conventions.

Understanding the usage of verbs in the past tense is essential for effective communication in the English language.

Ready to Place an Order?

USEFUL LINKS

LEARNING RESOURCES

COMPANY DETAILS

• How It Works

• Key Differences

Know the Differences & Comparisons

Difference Between Essay and Report

On the other hand, an essay can be understood as a piece of writing, on a specific topic or subject, which expresses the author’s own ideas and knowledge about the subject.

The basic difference between essay and report is that while an essay is argumentative and idea-based, reports are informative and fact-based. Now, let us move further to understand some more points of differences.

Content: Essay Vs Report

Comparison chart, definition of essay.

An essay can be understood as a comprehensive literary composition, written in a narrative style and presents a particular topic, supports an argument and highlights the writer’s view or ideology. An essay is used to check a person’s outlook and understanding on specific matters and also his/her ability to describe and argue in a way which convinces the reader or informs him/her about a specific topic.

One can make use of learned materials, along with his/her own research, to write an essay effectively. It includes both narrative and subjective thoughts. Further, an essay supports a single idea at a time, for which several components need to be covered in it so as to appear logical and chronological.

It can be a learned argument, observation of day to day life, literary criticism, political manifestos, recollections, and reflections of the writer. It starts with a question and attempts to answer or give suggestions to the problem, on the basis of the existing theories or the writer’s personal opinion and assessment.

While writing an essay, it must be kept in mind that the approach used by the writer should be positive, even if the topic of argument is negative.

Definition of Report

The report implies a well structured factual document which is created and presented after conducting an independent enquiry, research or investigation on a specific subject. It serves as a basis for problem-solving and decision making.

Reports are prepared for a definite purpose and contain relevant information in a proper format, for a particular audience. It is used to identify, observe and analyse the issues, events, findings, that occurred practically, i.e. in real life.

A report is designed with the aim of informing the reader about the event, situation or issue, in a very simple and objective manner, while enabling them to get the desired information quickly and easily. It provides recommendations for future actions. Information collected from research, or from carrying out a project work is presented in a clear and concise manner, under a set of headings and subheadings, that helps the reader to get the desired information quickly and easily.

Characteristics of an Ideal Report

• It must be clear and concise.
• It is written in easy language which the readers can understand easily.
• It has to be appropriate and accurate.
• It should be well drafted and organised, with specific sections, headings and sub-headings.

A report summary can be provided orally, however detailed reports are usually in the form of written documents. It contains – Title Page, Acknowledgement, Authorization Letter, Table of Contents, Executive Summary, Introduction, Discussion, Results, Conclusion, Recommendations and References.

Moreover, Cover letter, Copyright notice, Bibliography, Glossary and Appendices may also form part of a report.

Key Differences Between Essay and Report

The difference Between report and essay is discussed here in detail:

• An essay is a brief literary composition, which is used to describe, present, argue, and analyse the idea or topic. Conversely, a report is a formal and concise document consisting of findings from the practical research. It aims at investigating and exploring the problem under study.
• An essay is written on the basis of subjective analysis of theories and past research, by other people and own ideas, on the concerned subject. As against, a report is objective and factual, which is based on past research, as well as present data and findings.
• An essay talks about general facts and events along with the writer’s personal ideas and views, on the topic in a non-fictional manner. On the contrary, a report contains information which the reader can use to identify the facts or support in decision making or solving issues if any.
• When it comes to sections, a report usually contains different sections, with catchy headings which may attract the attention of the audience. As against, an essay does not have any section, its flow is continuous. However, it is divided into cohesive paragraphs.
• A report uses tables, charts, graphs, diagrams, statistics and many more for a clear and better presentation of the information. But, in the case of essays, they are not used.
• The conclusion in an essay is based on the writer’s personal opinion and views on the topic itself which must be optimistic, and it does not provide any recommendations for future actions. On the other hand, a report gives an independent conclusion, but it may contain the opinion of the experts or previous researchers and recommendations are included, about how the research can be improved and extended.

In a nutshell, Essays are descriptive, subjective and evaluative, whereas, a report is descriptive, objective and analytical. Essays are mainly used in an academic context, whereas reports are preferred in the field of research.

The report is used to present the researched information in a written format, to the audience. Conversely, essays are used to identify what the writer knows about the topic and how well the writer understand the question.

You Might Also Like:

Anna H. Smith says

November 26, 2020 at 3:22 pm

Thank you for explaining this so eloquently. Excellent post, I will keep this handy and refer to it often from now on, the information is so clear and so insightful, thanks for giving a clear difference. It’s a very educative article.!

Presley Dube says

November 20, 2021 at 3:43 pm

very useful to me thank you.

Leonard says

August 8, 2022 at 2:52 pm

Thanks for sharing such nice information about this topic.

Ignatius Phiri says

March 20, 2023 at 10:39 pm

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.