Students at higher professional education or at the university all have to deal with it once: academic writing. A scientific essay or a thesis is, in fact, different from a personal report and requires academic language use. However, not all students are taught this in the first year of their study. However, they are still lucky because they live in the Internet age. They can seek help online when they are faced with a difficult writing assignment. For example, if they have difficulty completing an essay they can ask for help from services such as WriteMyEssayOnline. If you want to know the important points in writing academic papers, you are on the right page.
These 7 tips can help you on your way to writing.
1. Avoid ‘I’ and ‘we’
In a thesis or essay it is often (with some exceptions) not the intention to write from a personal perspective with ‘I’ or ‘we’. In this case, it is better to formulate in a more impersonal way and avoid these two words.
Example:
Not: In this chapter I discuss the method of the research.
Well: This chapter is about the method of the research.
2. Do not speak to the reader
Not only can the words ‘I’ and ‘we’ be better avoided in a thesis or essay, but the same applies to the personal pronouns ‘you’, ‘you’ and ‘you’. It is not usually the intention to appeal to your reader in a formal text. Here too, you are better off choosing an impersonal formulation.
Example:
Not: As a company, you can best align your marketing strategy with the target group.
Well: A company can best align its marketing strategy with the target group.
3. Do not use too many passive sentences
Since you are trying to avoid phrases with ‘me’ and ‘we’, it can be tempting to use many passive sentences, that is, the suffering form. These are sentences in which you make the direct object the subject of the sentence, such as ‘The suspect was arrested by the agent’ instead of ‘the agent picks up the suspect’. Especially with long sentences, a suffering form often makes the text unnecessarily complex. Although a number of passive sentences certainly can’t hurt, it is good to be careful that your text does not suffice with these kinds of sentences.
Example:
Not: The complex subject matter is regarded by many researchers as an interesting topic.
Well: Many researchers find the complex matter an interesting subject.
4. Use as few subjective terms as possible
One of the most important characteristics of academic writing is that the text must be as objective as possible. You should describe what you have found from results instead of giving your own opinion about it. Terms such as ‘natural’ or ‘great’ can, therefore, best be used as little as possible or not at all. Describe your results as concretely and objectively as possible.
Example:
Not: The respondents naturally find this great result an improvement.
Well: The respondents think this result is an improvement.
5. Use not only quotes, but also paraphrases
It is generally known that in academic texts you must include source references and substantiate claims with research or publications from others. One way to do this is to quote previous publications. However, it often does not read as well as the current text is constantly interrupted by quotations. It is therefore good to occasionally paraphrase something, in other words in your own words. In that case, it is also necessary to include a source indication with the information.
6. Use as much language as possible
Although it is not an obligation for academic writing, it is generally good to use words that are as concrete as possible in this way of writing. In this way, you can better avoid proverbs that normally use a journalistic text in a thesis.
Example:
Not: The scientists’ noses are in the same direction.
Well: The scientists agree that…
7. Do not be too formal
Although it is not the intention to use street language or informal language, it is also not convenient to be formal in a text. This way you can better avoid archaic words or other very unusual words. Make sure that your text is understandable for both older and younger readers.
Example:
Not: Notwithstanding the company’s large turnover, the company could not find a possibility to engage a new target group.
Well: Despite the fact that the company had a large turnover, the company could not find a possibility to attract a new target group.
We hope that the 7 tips above can help you in making academic papers.
