1. Lay a Strong Foundation for Your Paper
Academic papers follow a very formulaic structure of introduction, literature review, methods, data, and analysis/conclusion. What is important is to make sure that you have all of the pieces of information you will need before you begin to put the puzzle together. In other words, you need to do some preparation to write a good academic paper.
What kind of preparation should you make? Of course, this depends on your assignment, but in addition to basic research about your topic, you need to learn to organize your thoughts through notes.
Many academics like to use a product like Mendeley to help organize their sources. As you write, you should save useful papers, articles, or other resources and add notes for yourself about why you saved this particular resource.
That way, later, you can remember what you were thinking. Once you have a good research foundation, organized and detailed notes, and a strong thesis statement, you are ready to start writing your academic paper.
2. Use Active Voice
One thing that sets good English writing apart from excellent English writing is the use of the active vs. the passive voice. What does it mean to use active voice? Consider the following two sentences:
- All of the money was spent by Michael on gifts for Michael’s dog.
- Michael spent all of the money on gifts for his dog.
Both of these sentences tell the same story, but one sentence is much easier to understand than the other. Why? Since English typically follows subject-verb-object construction, the second sentence is straightforward and to the point. It highlights who did what and leaves no room for guessing.
The first sentence forces us as readers to work backward and think to understand what happened. In academic writing, it is important to be as clear as possible; with a few exceptions, an active voice is the best way to do that.
3. Write Short, Concise Sentences
On a similar note, many students favor passive voice because they mistake lengthy, complex sentences for sounding “fancy” and, therefore, academic. However, the truth is that your writing is better when it’s direct and to the point.
After all, the purpose of writing an academic paper isn’t to confuse your audience by overwhelming them with information or distracting them with your impressive vocabulary. Instead, the goal is to explain what research you’ve done, why you did it, how you did it, and what you think it means.
This doesn’t mean you need to only write short sentences and never use a comma or complex construction. But it would be best if you tried to err on the side of writing clearly and simply so that your audience can easily understand your work and reasoning.
4. Consider Your Audience
Whom are you writing for? First, think about who will read your paper. Most papers you write as a student are intended for an academic audience- either your professor or other students.
That means you can assume a base level of knowledge about your topic and likely don’t need to define every specialized term you use. However, that doesn’t mean you should never define your terms or explain your reasoning!
For example, if you are writing about democracy, there are multiple definitions of democracy that are referenced by professional researchers in the field. You should clearly explain which definition you are using. However, you probably don’t need to explain what a polymerase chain reaction test is to your biochemistry professor in a final paper or exam you submit.
5. Edit and Proofread
Editing and proofreading are a must for any writer, especially aspiring academic writers. Your work quality will improve immensely just from giving it a couple of rounds of editing and proofreading.
You can do this yourself or enlist the help of a friend or an editing service. I recommend writing the first draft, then returning to it a few days later and reading it with fresh eyes. You will naturally identify parts that need editing and catch mistakes you missed the first time.
If you aren’t confident in your editing and proofreading skills, you can ask a classmate to help you, or you can engage the help of a professional online editing or proofreading service. A professional editor can help you see where your writing can improve. Regardless of how you do it, ensure you always proofread and edit your work at least once before submitting it.
6. Practice, Practice, Practice
Finally, one of the absolute best ways to improve your academic writing is to read and write— a lot! Reading many articles and books will help you get an intuitive feeling of what kind of “voice” is appropriate in an academic paper.
You will better understand how professional academics and researchers present their ideas when they write a thesis or dissertation. At the same time, you’ll benefit from expanding your knowledge.
If you’re starting out in the university and feel a bit overwhelmed about everything you don’t know, don’t worry! You have years to learn and grow as a student and as an academic writer. And if you’re already well into your academic career, it’s never too late to put these tips into practice. So don’t hesitate— to start improving your academic writing today with these six tips.
