What is academic writing? Academic writing is a writing style that requires students to follow a particular formal style of written communication. If you are looking for professional academic writing tips, you may expect to receive top-quality advice here. Academic writing presupposes that a person uses a formal style of communication without colloquialism and jargon. Certain classes require students to follow the principles of academic writing, and it is essential for high school students to understand what is. Here are some academic writing essay tips for you to have a better vision of what it is. These insights are shared by the professional writers of essay service – a custom writing company that is on the market for more than 20 years now.
What Are The Best Practices?
- Academic writing presumes that a paper is concise. In many cases, papers following academic writing style are 200-500 words in length.
- Academic writing presupposes that a paper has a narrow topic. Since the papers are short in length, they have to focus directly on a particular idea.
- Academic writing assumes a perfect structure of a paper. Usually, it is a five-paragraph essay with the introduction, three paragraphs in the main body, and the conclusion.
- Academic writing should have a central idea; a thesis statement usually performs the role of this idea making an essay claim clear.
- Academic writing assumes that an author is highly in the theme. Therefore, it may sometimes sound too personal, while still formal style remains as it previously stated.
- Academic writing requires resorting to facts, evidence, and examples; the essay should have good support from scholarly and reputable sources.
So, the pro writing skills are basic skills students develop, as this is the information that will help them throughout education. Academic writing helps students properly structure their sentences and express their ideas clearly.
Academic Writing Format of a University Essay
If paper content is creative, students are free to develop; the paper format is a strict aspect of each paper. Any university paper must develop in accordance with particular format rules. You have to strictly follow the requirements offered by your professor. However, you may want to understand some general aspects of essay formatting. Even though each university may impose some individual requirements, in many cases, formatting rules are the same. Follow these recommendations if you do not have a strict academic writing guide:
Font
Stick to Times New Roman or Arial font; these are the most readable ones. Avoid using Calibri or Cambria even if you like them and consider them impressive. They are not suitable for academic writing despite the fact MS Word has set them as the default fonts.
Spacing
In many cases, you will need to write papers in double spacing. However, in rare cases, you may need to use a single or 1.5 line space. Follow the set requirements; however, stick to double lines in case of no particular instructions in this direction.
Headings
Headings are usually needs to follow your ideas in writing. In addition, in most cases, you will need to use the first level of headings only due to the short essay length. Your headings should follow the citation style chosen for the paper. If you have to follow APA referencing style, your level 1 headings will be bold and centered. In the case of MLA citation style, you will have to use left-aligned and bold headings. Level 2 and 3 headings are not frequently present in short papers.
Paragraphing
Each new idea should be written in a new paragraph. The paragraphs are usually indented at 1.27 cm. Sometimes professors may ask to use an additional line between the paragraphs, and in this case, indention is not necessary. No need to use both ways of differentiating between paragraphs.
Page Margins
MS Word has set margins of 2.54 cm all around. No need to change them unless you are asked to set particular margins for your paper.
Tips for Academic Writing Introduction Sections
The introduction is the first part of your paper. It is the section the reader sees first. Therefore, it is essential to leave a good impression on your writing and initiate a person to continue reading. The introduction should contain some basic ideas of your paper, some background facts, several hints on why you have selected this topic for writing, and some motivation for further reading.
Remember that an introduction in academic writing requires you to indicate the paper’s context and write a specific topic you will address. So, a strong and clear thesis should be the final sentence in your introduction.
In many cases, your introduction will be one paragraph only. No need to make it too long as you may wish to leave more space for discussion in your main body. Moreover, check the box below with some recommendations of how to arrange your introduction. No need to use all of them; focus on those you like.
Academic Writing Help: Five Academic Writing Tips for Writing
- Firstly, critically address each idea you present, as this is a perfect way to make your paper interesting and strong.
2. Secondly, develop a plan of your work on an academic paper. You may wish to develop a question to consider, develop a paper outline, write a paper, edit it, and proofread. Develop a draft and further try to improve it.
3. Make sure that each statement is perfectly supported. In addition, you need to cite the ideas you take from other sources.
4. Check examples to ensure that you are on the right track and have developed a perfect paper.
5. Finally, show your paper to peers who can provide feedback. It is a good idea to improve your paper following feedback.