Academic Writing Business/Technical Writing

Mechanics
(correctness)
Correct spelling, punctuation, grammar
important, but not criticalunless errors
interfere with meaning or unless document
will be submitted for publication.
Correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar
absolutely crucial because writing represents a
business or company and may affect its
reputation. Errors signal carelessness or lack of
attention to detail. Errors that affect meaning
could also lead to liability issues.
Format Room for flexibility. Manuscript format can
change from instructor to instructor or from
academic publisher to academic publisher.
Many business and technical formats (e.g.,
memo, business letter, proposal, lab reports,
research reports, etc. remain fairly static and
consistent.
Liability !lagiarism may affect grade, "!#
documentation of sources critical.
$egal liabilitywording must be accurate and
must a%oid exclusi%e language, discriminatory
language, plagiarism, any wording that may be
used in legal disco%ery.
Style &sually somewhat formal, high le%el of
%ocabulary. #%oids clich's and
collo(uialisms. )entences are combination of
short, medium and long. !aragraphs can be
%ery long and are indented. !assi%e %oice is
a%oided, but is sometimes necessary. #%oids
use of contractions and the first person
pronouns (*, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours.
+ocabulary is clear and understandable to a
wide audience of both experts and non,experts.
-echnical terms are a%oided, unless audience is
well,%ersed in topic. Medium le%el of
formalitycommunication products should be
friendly and approachable, but not intimate.
"enerally, tone is positi%e and direct. Mostly
a%oids clich's. )entences tend to be short and
medium. !aragraphs also tend to be short with
extra spacerather than indentationsignaling
paragraph break. -endency to use subheadings,
and bulleted and numbered lists. !assi%e %oice
preferred in scientific writing. Concision
important.
Content "enerally, ideas are meticulously and
extensi%ely discussed and analy.ed. &ses
descripti%e and metaphoric language. *n
researched writing, points are supported with
outside supporting material, which is carefully
cited and documented. *ntroductions and
conclusions tend to include contextual
material like historical background,
establishment of the importance of an issue,
anecdotes, examples, (uotations, etc.
$anguage can be either or both concrete and
abstract.
*deas expressed concisely, clearly, and directly
a%oiding unnecessary description or
explanations. -ransitions are clear and logic,
based (e.g., while, although, because, if, but,
first, second, third, therefore, in conclusion,
finally. Clear and concise introductions and
conclusions. *ntroductions clearly spell out the
purpose of the document. *deas expressed in
concrete, /0- %ague or abstract language.
Conclusions sum up points made in the
document and little else.
Organiation 0rgani.ation generally dictated by genre
expectations (e.g., argument, rhetorical
analysis, narrati%e, comparison1contrast,
definition. )tyle format (e.g.,, #!# may
dictate organi.ation of parts of the whole
document (e.g., M$# organi.ation2 co%er
page, text, end notes, work cited, appendix.
0rgani.ation generally dictated by format
con%entions (e.g., memo, proposal, business
letter, lab reports, articles, research reports or
by organi.ational con%entions, which may be
described in an organi.ational style manual.
)ome commonly used style formats are C)E
(C3E, #!#, #)#, and Chicago.
A Com!arison o" Academic and Business/Technical Writing #$!ectations
%
4
-his comparison is general in nature. Expectations may %ary somewhat among certain businesses, instructors, and academic
publications.
5 Write &lace, 6747
Re%ised and created by Carol Mohrbacher