Academic writing follows a formal writing style and is geared towards minimizing distractions as the author(s) passes on information and presents new ideas and theories. Since the audience is mostly from academic circles, it is advised that students should follow the set guidelines to present their assignments and papers in the style preferred by professors and researchers.
Academic writing services expert Wiley Black offers some easy tips for students who are struggling with getting it right:
Avoid colloquial language.
Except for personal essays and scriptwriting, the conversational tone should be avoided while writing assignments. The sentence construction should follow a formal writing style leaving no scope for ambiguity and misunderstanding.
For example:
- Instead of writing ‘It was so noisy, I couldn’t think’, consider writing ‘The noise made it difficult to concentrate.’
- Instead of writing ‘In group work, the chain is only strong as its weakest link’, consider writing ‘In group work, everyone needs to contribute equally. Otherwise, the quality of the project suffers.’
- Instead of writing ‘I worked hard on the assignment because I didn’t want to fail’, consider writing ‘I worked diligently on the assignment because I wanted to succeed.’
Do not use contractions.
Assignment help expert Emma Jones says, “Many students don’t realize that they have used contractions while writing because they are used to it. For example, if I were writing an assignment for someone, I would have written ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t’. Similarly, choose to write ‘could not’ instead of ‘couldn’t’ and ‘should not’ instead of ‘shouldn’t’ and so on. I realize that keeping these rules in mind may distract you while writing. Hence, I suggest my students write assignments first and then edit and proofread them before submission.”
If you are not well-versed with the academic writing style your professor prefers yet, you can opt for online assignment editing and proofreading services.
Balance the use of active and passive voice.
Wiley says, “In the 20th century, scientific writing was almost always in the passive voice. But now things are changing. Most academic writing style guides (For example APA 6th edition) recommend scholars to use active voice to keep things clear and concise.”
Passive voice makes writing flat. In 1998, Ding suggested that scientific writing should be represented in terms of objects, things, and materials. But people find that it can make users lose sight of the relevance of the text. To reconcile the difference of opinions in what voice to use for academic writing, Wiley suggests that students should use a balanced approach in using voices and verb tenses.
The APA academic writing style recommends that passive voice should be used to describe a process or the results of a study or other material which is objective. But active voice should be used to describe actions. Assignment Helper John Edward says, “In the ‘Discussion’ section of a research paper, one must use active voice, especially to show what you have supposed and what specific assessments you have made. You can use both passive and active voice in the ‘Method’ section to break the monotony.”
Avoid split infinitives in academic writing.
Infinitives are verb forms preceded by ‘to’. While split infinitives are grammatically correct, they are still considered a crime in many academic circles. Assignment editing service provider Maria Helton says, “This unwritten rule comes from the Latin language. In Latin, infinitives are single words. If you want to split them, you will need to chop the word into pieces. In English, infinitives are two-letter words and splitting the infinitive seems preferable. So, if you split an infinitive and write ‘I wanted to finally get out of that place’ instead of ‘I finally wanted to get out of that place’ in English, it is grammatically correct. But this practice is still best avoided in academic writing.”
Most experts agree that split infinitives are considered bad in the formal writing style but they are acceptable in informal writing or speech writing. They suggest that students should only use split infinitives when they can add to the clarity of the sentence.
Lena Moore, the essay help provider from the US, adds, “If there are two or more elements in an infinitives phrase, you should never split them in academic writing tasks. For example, instead of writing ‘Our company decided to legally and rightfully seek damages for non-compliance of safety rules’, you should write ‘Legally and rightfully, our company decided to seek damages for non-compliance of safety rules’.
The first person is not commonly used in academic writing.
We write in the first person when we are writing a journal, personal essay, or a book. But while writing Science and Mathematics assignments, it is considered somewhat arrogant to say ‘we’ found something. The focus of communication in research paper writing is the ‘research’ itself and not the people who conducted it. So, instead of writing ‘Based on my results, I concluded that A and B did not equal to C’, you should write ‘Based on the results of the experiment, A and B did not equal to C’.
The second person is also best avoided in academic writing tasks. Assignment writing service provider Milan Matthews says, “You may use the second person while writing instructions, advice, how-to manuals, and recipe books.”
The third person is the most preferred form of writing in scientific papers. “Keep in mind, instead of using masculine or feminine terminology; you must use indefinite pronouns in research paper writing”, says Milan.
But using ‘him or her’ again and again can make writing cumbersome. To avoid this, you can make subjects plural. For example, instead of writing ‘A research must ensure that he or she has enough material for his or her experiment’, you should write ‘Researchers must ensure that they have enough material for their experiment’.
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/1-real-money-casino-300x95-1.png)
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/6-exposedmagazine-justuk.png)
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/4-exposedmagazine-gampro.png)
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/5-exposedmagazine-gpoint.png)
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2-toprated.png)
![](https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/3-banner_bingo77-1-1.png)