Academic writing: An orientation

Researchers engaged in various fields of science are constantly on the verge of a scientific breakthrough. New scientific information is accepted and
validated only through publication. Hence, the status of their research and their findings and observations are frequently reported in journals or
magazines. These reports and such magazines and journals employ the academic style of writing. “Academic style” alludes to specific rules and
conventions that should be kept in mind while writing or editing an academic paper. Academic writing is chiefly intended for publication in such
scientific journals and magazines for the purpose of communicating new findings or knowledge from any discipline.

Types of papers

Given below are the most frequently encountered types of papers and the features of each category.

Research Paper/Original Paper

• Approx. 3,000–20,000 words, depending on the journal

• Research on already existing field of knowledge or a new perspective in that field

• Original effort by researcher(s), from conception to the final presentation

• Usually involves conducting experiments to verify a hypothesis and presenting results. (A research paper from the field of literature is

similar to a large version of an essay that presents your own interpretation or evaluation and argument.)

• A research paper is usually published in a journal dedicated to a specific discipline.

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Dissertation/Thesis

• Approx. 20,000 words

• A criterion for acquiring a doctor’s degree and usually written by a student pursuing a doctoral degree

• The first page usually has the phrase “in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of…”

• Relies on extensive references to works of other experts in the field (e.g., citations from journal articles, books)

• Contains an empirical component that involves gathering of data through questionnaires, interviews, etc.

Literature Review

• Approx. 1000 words

• Familiarizes the reader with the existing or established knowledge on a topic and its strengths and weaknesses

• Must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g., the research objective or the problem or issue being discussed)

• Is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers and therefore contains a number of citations and

references; most of it is part of the Introduction section of an essay, research paper, or thesis.

• Centered on the thesis or research question that is being developed, and aims to identify areas of controversy in the literature

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Case Report/Case History

• Approx. 3000 words, depending on the journal

• Serves as an important precursor to further treatment; it should help the reader identify and deal with a similar problem should he/she

encounter one.

• One of the oldest and most basic forms of communication in medicine and psychology

• A tool used by most clinicians, a case report records preliminary details about what happened to a patient, background or history of previous

illnesses, and the time and course of events that may aid the clinician to diagnose or provide future treatment

• Typically consists of an Abstract that is divided into an Objective, Background, Results, and Conclusion. It contains a section called “Case

Description” or “Presentation of the Case” followed by “Diagnosis and Treatment.”

• The audience is usually members of the medical and psychological fraternity.

Lab Report

• Not more than 1,000 words

• Documents research findings and communicates their significance (mostly used in engineering and related fields)

• Focuses on the experimental procedure and the writer’s understanding of the principles that the experiment design is supposed to examine

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 • Divided into sections such as an Abstract, Introduction, Materials & Methods, Diagram of Apparatus, Results, Tables, and Conclusion

• Covers the experimental procedure in detail and consists of a number of tables and figures

Conference Proceedings/Conference Report

• Typically not more than 1,000 words

• Current status reports which provide a quick reference to papers discussed in a conference before they are published in journals

• Describe findings presented at many of the most important scientific conferences around the world

• Usually available as a booklet containing the print versions of the papers presented at a particular conference, and provides full experimental

details along with the results and discussion of the data

• An abbreviated approach: the problem is stated; the methodology used is described (but not in detail); and the results are presented briefly,

with two or three tables or figures. The relevance of the results is speculated about, often at considerable length.

Letters (not to be confused with letters for correspondence)

• Typically not more than 1,500 words

• Communicate outstanding findings of original research that are of interest to scientists in other fields

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 • Focus on outstanding findings from an original research that are of interest to scientists in other fields as well (e.g., cloning would be of

interest to scientists not only from biosciences but also from medicine)

• Intended for a general audience, and begin with a basic introduction to the field followed by a brief statement on the main findings of the

study

• Much shorter than original papers and primarily focus on the findings of a study. Unlike original papers, letters do not describe the

experimental procedure in detail.

Systematic review

• Usually not more than 5,000 words

• Critically assesses and evaluates studies that address a specific clinical issue.

• Findings from individual studies are summarized in an unbiased, explicit and reproducible manner.

• It is more rigorous than a traditional literature review and attempts to reduce the influence of bias.

• The difference between a systematic review and a meta-analysis is that a systematic review looks at the whole picture (qualitative view),

while a meta-analysis looks for the specific statistical picture (quantitative view).

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Meta-analysis

• Usually not more than 5,000 words

• Combines and statistically analyzes data from different research studies.

• The combined data (usually taken from randomized controlled clinical trials) are used to derive a pooled estimate of treatment effectiveness

and statistical significance.

• Merging data increases sample size, thereby allowing for analyses that would not otherwise be possible

• Meta-analyses should not be confused with reviews of the literature or systematic reviews.

Trial protocol

• No standard word count

• Describes how a clinical trial will be conducted with respect to essential aspects such as study design, methodology, and organization.

• Must meet scientific and ethical requirements and ensure the safety of the trial subjects and the integrity of the data collected

• States the research question and discusses the study design, study population, treatment characteristics, data collection and analysis, ethical

obligations, legal responsibilities, and research management

• The content is conventionally presented in present and future tense.

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Research proposal

• No standard word count

• Presents and justifies the need to study a research problem and presents detailed methodology aimed at addressing the problem. Anticipated

outcomes and/or potentials benefits derived from the study's completion must also be discussed.

• It typically includes Background and significance, Literature review, Study design and methods, Preliminary suppositions and implications,

Conclusions, and Citations

• The content is conventionally presented in present and future tense.

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