lecture 1 what is academic writing.docVIP

Lecture 1 What is Academic Writing What is academic writing? In brief, academic writing is a “structured research” written by “scholars” for other scholars (with all university writers being “scholars” in this context). Academic writing addresses topic-based “research questions” of interest to anyone who is seeking factually-based, objectively-presented information on a particular topic. What are the rules of academic writing? 1. Structure Some kind of structure is required, such as a beginning, middle, and end. This simple structure is typical of a thesis format, as well as other assignment writing tasks. Basically, a competent academic writer is someone who can, for instance, in the context of a Master’s thesis, exhibit pro?ciency in tackling seven phases normally found in the Thesis Life Cycle (TLC) below: 2. Referencing A significant distinction between academic writing and other writing genres is based on the citation and referencing of published authors. If you make judgments 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 by other authors is central to academic writing because it shows you have read the literature, understood the ideas, and have integrated these issues and various 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. 3. Abstract thought Traditionally, academic topics have focused on abstract things, like ideas and concepts, which cannot, necessarily, be given in a concrete or physical form. Hence, academic writing is often more likely to focus on abstract processes and