Academic Style: Formality

Academic writing is fairly formal and impersonal. The main emphasis is generally on the argument you want to put
forward, or the information you want to convey, rather than on the writer personality.

Formal v. Informal
1. The following texts convey the same information but in different styles. Compare them. What differences do
you notice in length and in style? Or in sentence structure?

Academic English
It has been found that faulty interpretation of forensic evidence has
contributed to approximately half of all wrongful convictions in the US
in recent years.

Spoken English
I heard they’ve been looking into cases in the States where someone
has gone to prison for a crime they didn’t actually commit. And what
they’ve found is that about half of all those cases were down to people
making mistakes with forensic evidence. How shocking is that?

What to avoid
In formal and academic English, it is best to avoid:
 Informal word or expressions, e.g. the States, down to.
 Abbreviations and contractions, e.g. they’ve, it’s, etc.
 Phrasal verbs (when formal alternatives are available), e.g. look into, locked up.
 Overuse of the pronoun I, and the phrases I think and In my opinion.
 Questions to the reader, e.g. “How shocking is that?”

2. Examples of language which is not formal enough for academic writing have underlined in the following text.
Choose expressions from the list below to replace the underlined sections.

The popularity of camera phones has made it more and more tricky to
prevent people from taking photos of things they shouldn’t record, e.g.
military equipment. But now there’s a system that can find out any camera
phones and send out rays of light to mess up any pictures they take.

detect emit images should not

difficult for example increasingly subjects
distort however photographing there is
The passive
Passive forms occur in 25 percent of all verb phrases in academic English, reflecting the focus on actions and processes
rather than on the agents. Passives avoid the need to use a general word like People or Someone when the identity of
the agent isn’t known or isn’t important.

3. Rewrite the following passive constructions, making any changes necessary.

Example: People used the North Star as a navigation aid > The North star was used…
1. You can even see Venus in the middle of the day.
2. They outlawed smoking in public spaces in 2003.
3. Someone has found a new galaxy circling the Milky Way.
4. Researchers repeated the tests a year later.
5. They are testing a nasal spray which may cure Alzheimer’s disease.

It-constructions
The use of an it-construction with the passive voice is a common way of making a statement more impersonal.
e.g. what they’ve found is… > it has been found that…

4. Change the following phrases to passive constructions with it-.

Example: Most people agree that… > It is generally agreed that…

1. Scientists think that volcanic eruptions may have destroyed the dinosaurs.
2. Nowadays we know that exercise can reverse many symptoms of ageing.
3. Researchers have found that sun bathing is addictive.
4. In the past, people used to think that bed rest was good for people with weak hearts.
5. Some people might argue that sending young offenders to jail is counterproductive.

Common verbs used in it-constructions in academic English include:

accept suggest say consider

believe agree think show
find claim argue understand