Academic writing refers to the style of writing that is commonly used in schools, colleges and

universities. Academic writing is a formal and structured way of writing that follows specific
guidelines and conventions. The purpose of academic writing is to communicate information. In
academic writing there are five main parts of a good academic essay which are topic,
introduction, research, editing, and referencing. Payne and Whittaker (2006) defines an essay as
an arguement for which the writting has to take a particular stance and support it with evidence
inorder to convince the reader.

To begin with the topic, it serves several important functions in academic writing. The topic
highlights the main idea of a paragraph, letting the reader know what the paragraph will be
about. The topic also serves as a guide for the reader, providing a clear understanding of what the
writer is talking about. It helps the reader to anticipate the content and structure of the writer's
paper, making it easier for them to follow the writer's facts, arguments and ideas according to
Rectenwald and Carl (2016). The topic makes it easier to communicate with the reader that is, it
allows the reader to quickly know what the paragraph is all about. In the topic this is when the
writer to identity key words and defines them contextually hence the topic would help the writer
to understand the requirements or demands of the question. The topic in academic writing plays
an important role in establishing relevance that is it indicates the why the subject matter is
important. Moreover, the topic also serves as a communication tool between the writer and the
reader.

The introduction is the part which will tell the reader what to expect or see in the essay. The
introduction should capture the reader's attention and make them interested in reading further
about what the writer is writing about. Ibidi according to Soles (2010) the writer should write an
introduction that would engage the reader’s interest and encourage them to read on, not because
they have to they want to. The writer should understand their audience so as to be able to address
what he is going to write or talk about in the essay when writing an introduction. An introduction
should provide necessary background information on the topic, that is a brief summary of what
the writer is going to talk about in the paragraph according to Read (2018). The introduction
ends with a clear and concise thesis statement. According to Soles (2010:29) “the thesis
statement is an expression of the central or controlling idea of your entire essay”. Moreover, an
introduction provides a guide to the reader with the necessary information and context to
understand the purpose and content of the paper.

Research in academic writing also serves several vital functions such as to gather information,
evidence and data to support and strengthen the arguments or claims made in the writing by the
writer. Research allows the writer to explore various perspectives, theories and existing studies
of other scholars related to their topic. Furthermore, research helps writers to critically evaluate
and anlyze existing theories and methodologies of other scholars in relation to what the writer
already knows. In academic writing the writer would use information for his/her research.
Moreover, Curry (2021) assert that research in academic writing is to provide a solid foundation
of evidence, and critical thinking so as to support the writer’s arguments and ideas by citing or
paraphrasing using researched information. Overall, research is essential in academic writing as
it provides evidence, credibility and originality to the writer’s work.

In academic writing editing gives up a function of refining and improving the clarity, coherence
and quality of the writer’s work. Editing involves reviewing and revising the content, structure,
grammar and style. Moreover, editing involves checking for consistency and accuracy that is it
involves checking for errors in formatting, citation style, and referencing throughout the writer’s
work. It ensures that all the sources are properly cited and referenced according to citation style
(e.g., Havard ). Furthermore, editing allows the writer to critically assess the strength of the
writer’s arguments and supporting evidence cited in the writer’s work. According to Thomas and
Reinersten (2018) it also allows the writer to identify any weaknesses and suggesting revision or
additional evidence to strengthen the writer’s claim. In summary editing it is a crucial step in
academic writing as it helps to refine and improves the quality of the writer’s work by enhancing
clarity, grammar, consistency and logical coherence. It ensures the final work of the writer to be
polished and ready for submission without or with less errors.

Referencing performs several roles in academic writing such as giving acknowledging and
giving credit to the original sources of the information that the writer has used in his/her work. It
is the acknowledgement that the writer has used other scholar’s ideas, theory in his/ or her work.
In academic writing referencing plays a crucial role which is to avoid plagiarism. According to
Soles (2010) plagiarism it is the failure of the writer to acknowledge and recognize the work of
other scholars. It ensures that the writer gives a proper credit of the original authors and avoid
plagiarism, which is the act of presenting someone else’s work as his/her own. Moreover,
referencing shows evidence of background reading that it shows that the writer has been reading
or studying. According to Pears and Sheilds (2010) by referencing it provides the reader with
evidence of the breadth and depth of the writer’s reading and it demonstrates the ability of the
writer to conduct thorough research and engage with the scholarly community. Furthermore,
referencing it allows the reader to trace and retrieve the cited sources. This will allow the reader
to verify if the sources cited by the writer are authentic.

In conclusion for a scholar to write a good academic essay he/she must be able to present the
topic, introduction, research, editing and references since they play a crucial role in academic
writing. The writer should be able to present these five components very well in such a way that
will grab the reader’s attention so that the reader would continue to read not because he/she have
to but because he/she want to.
REFERENCE LIST

Curry, N. 2021. Academic writing And Reader Engagement. Abingdon: Routledge.

Payne, E. and Whittaker, L. 2006. Developing Essential Study Skills. United Kingdom: FT Prentice Hall.

Pears, R. And Shields, G. 2010. Cite Them Right. London: Plgrave Macmillan.

Read, S.H. 2018. Academic Writing Skills For International Students. New York: Bloomsbury
Publishing.

Rectenwald, M. and Carl, L. 2016. Academic Writing. Calgary: Broadview Press.

Soles, D. 2010. The essentials of academic writing. 2nd edition. Washington DC: Lyn Uhl.

Thomas, L.M and Reinersten, A.B. 2018 Academic Writing And Identity Constructions. Berlin. Springers
Publishers.