Traits of Academic writing

R.Giridharan

giridharan54@gmail.com

Academic writing generally refers to articulation of ideas in an academic field. The

draft which is written must convey the depth of the work in a lucid manner and should be
able to convince the reader for investing the time required to completely go through the
article. There are many parts in an essay which conveys the voice and thought process of the
author. This is decided and implemented taking into account both the sides namely the writer
and the reader. The main parts of an essay must include an introduction, which conveys an
idea about the topic which the author is talking about. This gives the reader the required
momentum to continue into the context in the upcoming body paragraphs. The body
paragraphs generally posit the ideas which are substantiated with an example in each case.

One of the most important factors which determine the quality of the writing is
cohesion. Cohesion generally defines how much the author sticks to the topic. There are
possibilities that he might deviate and get into some other topic which is not generally
entertained. The Prime indicators of cohesion in an essay are repeated ideas, reference words,
and transition signals. When the ideas are reiterated it indicates that author sticks to what is
required. In good academic writing, same words are generally not used. Hence synonyms are
utilized whenever there is a necessity of a word being more than once. Reference words are
used to refer to things that are mentioned previously in the text, generally in a preceding
sentence. The most common type is pronouns, such as 'it' or 'this' or 'these'. The use of
transition words indicates the relationship between ideas. Some examples include ‘for
example’, ‘in contrast’, ‘as a result’ etc.

Secondly the coherence of the article, which determines the relationship between the
previous and the next paragraphs. These are macro-level features which deal with paragraphs
and sentences. Coherence denotes clarity in expression. This is actually implemented when
proper vocabulary and grammar is used in the article. Proper punctuation and broad word
choices are some extremely good tools which are used to ensure coherence in writing.
There are numerous unique classes of logical order, however a few of them (more frequently
used) are chronology, importance, and contrast. Chronology, firstly, has to do with time, and
in terms of logic, events are ordered in a sequence. Importance refers to ideas examined in a
sequence that entails increasing or decreasing order of importance. Thirdly, contrast has to do
with order in which the ideas flow by contrasting or comparing them.

Finally, transition signals (sometimes called linking words or linking adverbials) - has
to do with the use of specific words and phrases that evoke links and transition between
ideas. As was emphasised above, there is no substitute for ordering the various ideas and
parts of a text in a logical way. However, even when this is done in a satisfactory manner,
there is often a need to strengthen the organisational pattern of a text passage by inserting
logical markers.

A reader friendly writing is a one that is clear and simply understandable. It should
clearly tell the purpose of the work. It should contain phrases and words with which
the reader is acquainted. A reader friendly writing enables more readers to read it and make
them suggest to other readers. In order to ensure an AW to be more reader friendly, one must
use small, efficient and compact sentences. Use of more jargons must be prevented wherever
possible. Placing oneself in the mind of his reader(s) will help to know what readers think to
a greater extent, thus making it more reader friendly. Another good trait of a good AW is
avoiding Plagiarism. Plagiarism is nothing but portraying somebody's creation or concepts as
one’s individual work, with or without their approval, by including them into our work. It is a
severe crime. It is totally against publishing ethics. There might be some Plagiarism in an
AW beyond the knowledge of the author for which Plagiarism checking softwares are
available which the authors can make use of and try to avoid. This may be avoided if
they become more aware of their own writing and research customs. In Academic writing,
much emphasis is given for Plagiarism because Originality is worthy in a good Academic
writing. Plagiarism can be avoided by proper citation, quoting etc., Though not technically a
legal matter unless copyright violation is not involved, plagiarism may bring about in spoiling
one’s reputation.