Introduction to Academic Writing: Language and Style

Dr Alex AdamsWriting Development Centre

Based on materials developed by Alicia Cresswell

How to write your doctoral thesis

Gather and organise your materials: Data Literature and other evidence Notes

Plan the structure of the thesis, with wordcount

Plan the content of each chapter Write up each chapter as you go Edit each chapter in response to

feedback from peers and supervisors Revise the thesis as a whole Ensure it conforms to required

presentation Submit on time

Why isn’t it that easy?

It’s unpredictable, complicated and difficult by nature

Lack of clarity about aims, content, process or standard

Writer’s block – lack of effective writing strategies

Perfectionism or anxiety about what supervisor / examiner thinks

Procrastination or ineffective time management

Not knowing when to stop or when is enough

Binge-writing and exhaustion

This Session: Good Academic Practice

Developing good academic practice is one of the ways you can solve the wider dilemma of how to address the thesis and manage the workload.

Your work habits are personal, but developing a healthy and productive way of working (and of taking time away from the project when you need to refresh) is really important.

This Session: Good Academic Practice

Study habits

Structure and paragraphing

Concision, style, tone, presentation, grammar

Drafting, editing and proofreading

A few words about publishing

What is involved in the writing process?

Reading Thinking and clarifying your ideas Structuring your argument Producing a first draft to give you something to work with Giving someone (your supervisor or peers) an indication of

your work for feedback Editing and refining your writing for content and style Formatting your writing Reviewing your work for overall consistency, cohesion and

direction

Don’t attempt all of these at once – ‘layer’ the process of writing

Your writing preferences

Reflect honestly on your writing practice.

Do you prefer to write in large blocks (time or words) or a little at a time?

Where do you prefer to write? What are the conditions which help you write?

When do you prefer to write? What time of day? What motivates you to write – rewards and rituals? Are these strategies reliably working for you?

Unconstructive beliefs

I can’t write unless I know what I’m going to say.

That’s not the way I work. I can’t work like that.

What’s the point of producing bad writing? Why bother if it’s no good?

I can’t start writing unless I’m in the mood/inspired.

I can’t write until I’ve done.....

I don’t have time to....!

It’s not good enough!

Why do we put off or get stuck with writing?

1. Habit, beliefs, too risk-averse to challenge these

2. Aversion to discomfort

3. Resentment or lack of clarity about extrinsic goals

4. Anxiety that others won’t be satisfied with our work

5. Reluctance to be satisfied with our own work, due to unrealistically high standards

Possible solutions

Start writing an ‘easy’ section, or something you feel comfortable approaching.

Set short-term goals, and provide rewards.

Practise freewriting – get something written without thinking too much about the finished product.

Seek feedback – perhaps find a writing buddy or mentor, or set up a writing group.

Possible solutions

If you don’t feel like writing, there are other activities that are worthwhile, such as compiling references or bibliography (but try to ensure this doesn’t become procrastination).

Break it down into bearable chunks – tell yourself to write for only 20 minutes, or only 500 words (you can continue if you want to) but promise yourself you can stop or discard work.

Pick the section you find most approachable – work backwards from the end if you have to.

Planning

Writing, in any discipline, is an organic process.

Planning

Drafting

Rewriting and editing

Proofreading

Planning

Planning involves various academic skills.

Reading, collecting, organising, and selecting materials.

Drawing up a plan that organises ideas and material into a rough sequence. This can be any form of plan that makes sense to you, and could take the form of a linear plan, a mindmap, or a collection of colour-coded post-it notes.

Writing, rewriting and revising.

Planning

Planning involves various academic skills.

Reorganising, changing, or adapting parts of the project is not unusual and can be an important part of planning.

Remain fluid and adaptable with the material as far as possible.

Structure: Overall

Theses usually contain most of these sections: Title page Abstract Acknowledgements Contents page Introduction Literature review Materials and methods (or this can be part of every main chapter if you using

different materials and methods in each main chapter) Results Discussion Themed main chapters (if not following a Results – Discussion structure) Conclusions References Appendices

What structure would work for you?

Subsections

The thesis will require you to produce several different kinds of academic writing in the course of one project. Each section of the dissertation requires you to demonstrate different academic skills.

Results and methodology sections can be more descriptive, as they require you to present data in a detailed and precise way.

Literature reviews and discussions of findings should be more analytical and critical, and they require you to undertake independent research and reading.

Structure

Good writing anticipates the expectations and questions

of the reader.

State your position clearly and concisely.

Move from the general to the specific when structuring your points.

Use signposting language to guide the reader through the sections and to link sentences and paragraphs.

Paragraphs

Topic Sentence

Evidence

Discussion

Signposting

Paragraphs

Scan the first line of each paragraph. Is it clear what the paragraph is about, and is there a signpost word to signal the link or move you’re making?

Have you included appropriate evidence?

Have you discussed it in appropriate detail and depth?

Are you signalling what you will tell the reader and why it is important? Note next to each paragraph the ‘job’ it’s doing, not what it’s about - is that reflected in the text?

Paragraphs

Checklist:

Does each paragraph contain a main idea? Is the main idea developed in the sentences that

follow? Is there a smooth transition from one paragraph to the

next? Are paragraph breaks clearly indicated? For instance,

have you indented new paragraphs or left a blank line after each paragraph?

Are paragraphs of the appropriate length?

Editing and proofreading are fundamental aspects of good academic practice.

Editing is the process of continually revising and improving your written work. It is often an activity that forms a major part of the writing process.

Proofreading is the final check before printing and submission. It is a process that helps remove errors and improve presentation.

Editing and Proofreading

Attitudes Leading to Effective Revisions

Editing is a long-term process – have patience.

Allow plenty of time – take a break before revising. In fact, take regular breaks, as this well help you avoid burning out.

Be objective – try to put some critical distance between you and your work.

Develop a sense of audience – consider your reader.

Be critical – assume that a draft will need improving, however well you write.

Content Revisions: Checklist

Are your aims/objectives/hypotheses clearly stated? Are they specific enough?

Does the background section/literature review include an appropriate selection of sources? Are there any important omissions?

Have you reported other scientists’ work accurately and fairly?

Is the methodology explained clearly? Is the information given accurate? Is it specific and precise enough?

Are the tables and figures used in the presentation of results suitable? Are they labelled? Could the data be presented in a clearer manner?

Content Revisions: Checklist

Have you explained the key findings in the text? Is the link between tables/figures and text clear? Are the claims you make about your findings commensurate

with the evidence provided? Are they convincing? Have you established links between your findings and the

existing research? Have you emphasised them clearly? Have you identified and acknowledged the limitations of your

study? Have you made appropriate recommendations for further

research? Are your conclusions clearly linked to the aims of the

investigation?

Proofreading

Proofreading is the practice of checking your completed writing for any final errors. It can be difficult, particularly when you are still very close to the work.

Let the work cool – come back to your work after some time has passed.

Seek help – get a colleague or fellow student to check your writing. Peer review can be very rewarding.

Read aloud – this can allow you to encounter the work in a different way.

Note: The University does not offer a formal proofreading service.

Proofreading

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/11/11/_crappy_gabor_paper_overly_honest_citation_slips_into_peer_reviewed_journal.html

Style

There are a variety of styles you will be expected to produce. These can include descriptive, analytical, and reflective writing, and they each have their demands and expectations. Overall, however, all good academic writing is:

explicit, clear, economical and concise formal in language and style precise in expression and choice of words

Style

Read a lot of journals and textbooks in your field, and practice imitating the style.

Note key phrases, common ways of presenting ideas, and common ways of transitioning between paragraphs.

Visit Academic Phrasebank for recommendations of appropriate language and for phrases that you can use to prompt your writing.

Always bear your reader in mind – anticipate the questions that an interested reader will want answered.

Don’t make the reader guess.

“Rogeting”

Avoid “Rogeting”, which is defined as “the creation of new meaningless phrases through the thoughtless and ill-considered use of a Roget’s Thesaurus.”

Sometimes students substitute words in their sentences with words found in the thesaurus, which, rather than improving the style, renders the writing unclear and, sometimes, unintentionally ridiculous.

Source: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/sinister-buttocks-roget-would-blush-at-the-crafty-cheek/2015027.article

“Rogeting”

Example:

“Common mature musicians and recent liturgy providers are looking to satisfy Herculean personalised liturgies.”

Original text:

“The current big players and new service providers are looking to supply more powerful personalised services.”

“Rogeting”

The lesson: keep it as simple as you can.

The complexity of an idea does not prevent it being presented clearly and accessibly.

Sentences

Each sentence should contain information about one guiding idea.

The central principles should be simplicity, clarity, and economy of expression.

Sentence Structure

Some straightforward questions can help improve the presentation of your work as you draft it.

Have you written complete sentences?

Have you avoided excessively long sentences?

Are all your sentences clear, in terms of both syntax and meaning?

Are the transitions between sentences smooth and clear?

Vocabulary

Have you used technical and non-technical vocabulary accurately and correctly?

Have you defined terms where necessary?

Have you used abbreviations and acronyms correctly? Have you spelled out the abbreviation on its first occurrence, with the abbreviation in parenthesis?

Have you avoided slang and colloquialisms?

Formal Vocabulary

Coming up with clear proof of the decrease in the number of ladybirds has been difficult.

Providing clear proof of the decrease in ladybird population has been difficult.

Without that information, they can only guess how many people should be evacuated.

Without that information, it is not possible to predict how many people should be evacuated.

Although researchers can now accurately predict when a volcanic eruption will occur, they still have no idea just how big it will be.

Although researchers can now accurately predict when a volcanic eruption will occur, they are still unable to predict its magnitude / its magnitude cannot be predicted.

Preventing unnecessary evacuations is crucial because local people quickly lose faith in scientists that cry wolf.

Preventing unnecessary evacuations is crucial because false alarms will cause the local population to ignore warnings.

Formal Vocabulary

What is the problem here?

The conclusion so far is that for both outputs, most airports are operating under increasing returns to scale. Indicating that, to improve relative efficiency, most airports could increase their scale of operations to reach MPSS, or have already done so.

Revised Version

The conclusion so far is that for both outputs, most airports are operating under increasing returns to scale. This indicates that, to improve relative efficiency, most airports could increase their scale of operations to reach MPSS, or have already done so.

Concision

According to the research team headed by Jeeves (2005), this drug, like other similar compounds, has several potentially serious side effects – complications which have long been known to researchers at least since the initial trials. However, to date absolutely no measures have been taken to attempt to restrict the use of this drug, or to at least monitor the severity of these aforementioned serious side effects.

Concision

More concise alternatives:

Jeeves (2005) concludes that this drug has several potentially serious side effects known to researchers since the initial trials. However, nothing has been done to restrict its use or to monitor the severity of these side effects.

Or:

This drug has several potentially serious side effects known to researchers since the initial trials. However, nothing has been done to restrict its use or to monitor the severity of these side effects (Jeeves, 2005).

Concision

The silica depletion hypothesis formulated by Schelske & Stoermer (1971, 1972) rests on the assumptions that increased nutrient loading causes an increase in phytoplankton production, and some fraction of the diatoms produced are permanently lost from the water column and sequestered in the sediments. The ultimate effect is a depletion of water column DSi concentrations. There are numerous lines of evidence supporting the hypothesis that the biogeochemical cycle of silica has been modified in the North American Laurentian Great Lakes. These include long-term increases in nutrient loading, changes in algal community composition, declines in water column DSi concentrations, experiments on the effect of phosphorous enrichment on natural phytoplankton assemblages, and paleolimnological evidence of increased accumulation of biogenic silica and historical changes in diatom species composition.

Revised Version (1)

The silica depletion hypothesis formulated by Schelske & Stoermer (1971, 1972) rests on two assumptions: (1) that increased nutrient loading causes an increase in phytoplankton production, and (2) that some fraction of the diatoms produced are permanently lost from the water column and sequestered in the sediments. The ultimate effect is a depletion of water column DSi concentrations. There is ample evidence supporting the hypothesis that the biogeochemical cycle of silica has been modified in the North American Laurentian Great Lakes, including long-term increases in nutrient loading, changes in algal community composition, and declines in water column DSi concentrations. Further support for the hypothesis has been obtained from experiments on the effect of phosphorous enrichment on natural phytoplankton assemblages, as well aspaleolimnological evidence of increased accumulation of biogenic silica and historical changes in diatom species composition.

Revised Version (2)

The silica depletion hypothesis formulated by Schelske & Stoermer (1971, 1972) rests on two assumptions: (1) that increased nutrient loading causes an increase in phytoplankton production, and (2) that some fraction of the diatoms produced are permanently lost from the water column and sequestered in the sediments. The ultimate effect is a depletion of water column DSi concentrations. There is ample evidence supporting the hypothesis that the biogeochemical cycle of silica has been modified in the North American Laurentian Great Lakes. The evidence includes:• long-term increases in nutrient loading• changes in algal community composition• declines in water column DSi concentrations• experiments on the effect of phosphorous enrichment on natural phytoplankton

assemblages• paleolimnological evidence of increased accumulation of biogenic silica and

historical changes in diatom species composition.

Grammar and Style

Avoid contracted forms of auxiliary verbs. The government said that interest rates won’t increase.The government said that interest rates will not increase.The government said that interest rates will remain unchanged.

Avoid using the second person (‘you’). As you can see in table 2, …

As table 2 shows, …. As can be seen in table 2, …. (correct but wordy)

The first person pronoun “I” is not appropriate for formal scientific writing.

Grammar and Style

Inconsistent use of tenses

Each participant was tested separately. They are asked to indicate whether…

Each participant was tested separately. They were asked to indicate whether…

Lack of subject-verb agreement

The instructions in the user’s manual is confusing.

The instructions in the user’s manual are confusing.

Misuse of the apostrophe

Its or it’s? Whose or who’s? Their, there or they’re?

Spelling: Commonly Confused Words

lose and loose affect and effect brake and break enquiry and inquiry eminent, imminent, and immanent ensure and insure practise and practice stationary and stationery then and than

…and many others

For a full list an explanations, see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/accurate/confused.htm

Citations: Avoiding Plagiarism

Checking your referencing can be laborious and tedious, but it is very important. Don’t let it be an afterthought!

Acknowledge your sources.

Follow citation conventions – take the time to learn these.

Identify the source of tables, figures, illustrations or diagrams that are not your own.

Summarise or paraphrase.

Use quotations judiciously.

Include all sources cited in your list of references.

Formatting and Printing

Don’t underestimate how long this will take!

Identify what formatting issues you can work with from an early stage - font and size, margins, line spacing, reference style.

Make an estimate of word count for each section and try and keep to it, approximately, as you write (or at least consider which bits are expendable if needed).

Bringing together separate documents is a complex process.

Try and factor in breaks from it so you can see it clearly enough to proofread effectively.

Leave plenty of time for printing and binding. Seriously. Find out how much notice is needed.

Academic Publishing

Publishing is an integral part of academic life.

Consider very carefully where you are going to publish – esteem is everything. Consult with your supervisor if you are unsure.

Draft carefully and submit your best work, but expect incisive criticism.

Academic Publishing: Prior to Acceptance

The editor evaluates referees’ comments. They will also consider their own view, and the readership and scope of the journal. On this basis they decide whether or not

to publish your work.

The referees evaluate the paper, noting weaknesses and problems. They also suggest solutions and

improvements.

The editor receives your paper and sends it to referees,

who are often esteemed experts in the field.

Possible Outcomes

1) Unconditional acceptance of the paper or proposal

2) Acceptance subject to revisions

3) Rejection, with encouragement to revision and resubmission

4) Outright rejection

Referee Feedback

Reasons for Rejection

The issue under investigation is not considered important/relevant by the editor/reviewers.

Lack of originality. The study does not test the hypothesis. Research design is inadequate. Statistical analysis is incorrect. The conclusions drawn from the data are not justified. The paper is badly written/difficult to understand.

Adapted from Murray, 2005: 198

Rejection

“I have read this paper several times through, and I have nothing to say in its defense.”

“You aimed for the bare minimum, and missed!” “I stopped reading the subsequent data reports

carefully, because I no longer had confidence that they would be accurate.”

“Table 2 stunningly over-interprets some relatively small signals in the data.”

“It is shocking to read how statistics are being misused just for the sake of being able to write something… I rate this article as very un-scientific…”

http://shitmyreviewerssay.tumblr.com/

Academic Publishing

Don’t be discouraged!

The peer review process can be very demanding, as it requires you to respond adaptably and in detail to potentially challenging feedback.

However, publishing is a key part of academia, so perseverance (and a thick skin) is really important!

This Session: Good Academic Practice

Study habits

Structure and paragraphing

Concision, style, tone, presentation, grammar

Drafting, editing and proofreading

A few words about publishing

Useful Resources

Writing Development Centre Online Resources

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/

Macmillan Dictionary Online

http://www.macmillandictionary.com

Academic Phrasebank

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/

Learning Support

The WDC run lectures, seminars and workshops.

Generic sessions are open to all students.

Timetable available at:

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/group/generic/

The Writing Development Centre

Address: Writing Development CentreLevel 2, Room 202 Robinson Library

Web: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc

E-mail: wdc@ncl.ac.uk

Book an appointment online at:http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/support/

Opening times:

Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm

Friday 9am to 1pm