How do we write academically?

In academic writing we can not say things like “some people believe X”we have to be precise and state exactly how many people believe X.

We should be careful about supporting claims with evidence. We soften our message by saying: “it seems to be that…”, “it might be that…”. This shows your ability to think critically! (Stash coming soon).

for some examples: https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/using-cautious-language/

This relates to the the previous tip. If you write academically you state just the results, not that it has “great impact to society” or “revolutionises the industry”. This can be hard to do for my entrepreneurial friends. 😅

Whatever you write in an academic context can be hard, most of it is serious stuff. Texts full of industry specific vocabulary. Therefore it is important that you write as concise as possible.

One way to write more concisely is to use noun phrases. In noun phrases we turn verbs into noun. For example:

Students often need to be encouraged.

Students often need encouragement.

What helps me is to just type the verb from my sentence in to Google, plus the word noun. And then rephrase my sentence.

Everything we mention in our academic text has to be complete. We fully explain a topic or thought or further research idea. Some things can be obvious to you but they are not so obvious for your reader.

Have someone else, preferable someone that doesn’t know much about your field, read your text. Someone like me maybe?

Rhetorical questions are only used in presentation to capture the attention of your audience.