UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING

OF ACADEMIC WRITING
“Academic writing is any writing done to fulfil a requirement of a college or university… which may
be used for publications that are read by teacher and researchers or presented at conferences”. Such as
essays, book reports, abstracts, translations, research, research and term papers, academic journals,
theses, and dissertations (“Writing for Education,”2018).

Academic writing is any formal written work produced in an academic setting by students, professors,
and researchers to convey ideas, make arguments, and engage in scholarly conversation. Its most
common forms are literary analyses, research papers, and theses and dissertations.(Valdes, 2018)
 KNOWING HOW ACADEMIC WRITING IS DONE
Although the academic output varies from discipline to discipline, the same process of writing is followed
for all degree programs. Here are the guidelines that need to be considered (Bullock & Weinberg, 2009).

1. Choose a topic. Look for any topic that interest you. The topic should be appropriate to the kind of text
assigned and to the specified, required time of completion.

2. Consider the rhetorical elements. These are (a) purpose for writing, (b) expected audience, (c) stance
whether serious, objective, critical, opinionated, curious passionate, or indifferent and tone whether
funny, ironic; reasonable, thoughtful, angry, or gentle, (d) genre that calls for either formal or informal
language such as memo, letter, report, abstract, research, personal essay, narrative, review, and
proposals, (e) medium print, spoken, or electronic, and (f) design format, typefaces, illustration, and
audio-visual materials.
3. Generate ideas and text. Aim to find the best information from credible sources.
Self-publishing media, such as websites, should be evaluated- if managed by and
expert or a group of experts, or by laypersons and amateurs.

4. Organize your ideas. The organization needed depends on rhetorical elements, like
purpose, audience, stance and tone, genre, and medium.

5. Write out a draft. Consider your genre, medium, and design when deciding on
register and style of writing.

6. Revise, edit, and prooftread. Pay special attention to correctness of language

(grammar, mechanics, style).
7. Evaluate your work. Answer the following questions.
a. How well did you convey the information? Is it complete enough for your
audience’s need?
b. What strategies did you rely on, and how did they help you achieve your purpose?
c. How well did you organize your ideas?
d. Are the data properly documented? Are the sources of information credible?
e. Did you use any tables, graphs, diagrams, photographs, illustrations, or some other
graphics effectively?
f. What did you do especially well?
g. What could still be improved?