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Academic writing

Academic writing is central to almost all degree programmes. However, it's very different from other types of writing, so it's a skill that has to be learnt. Becoming good at academic writing can be a challenge for all!

This guide contains resources to help you become a confident and successful academic writer.

Writing Centre

The Writing Centre offers 1:1 advice and guidance to all students to develop your academic writing and critical analysis skills.
Introducing the Writing Centre [YouTube]
Find out more and book your appointment:

How to use this guide

Work through page-by-page for a structured course in academic writing, or dip in and out of resources as you need them. Use the links below or the navigation at the top of each page to access guides.

General writing skills

Types of academic writing

Forthcoming training sessions

Forthcoming sessions on :

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Books to help with academic writing

The Library has books about academic writing. Most are shelved at 029.6, with more general study texts at K 8.3, and some subject-specific books in the respective subject sections, or you can search for "academic writing" in YorSearch.

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Subject Guides: Academic writing: a practical guide: Academic writing

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Subject Guides: Academic writing: a practical guide: Academic writing

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Do you want to develop your English language skills to enhance your chances of success at OU study? These brief tutorials are specifically aimed at students looking for support and guidance to improve their academic English. It focuses particularly on how to enhance your writing skills. There are 14 videos to watch and 32 activities in this set of articles.

Covered in this section

A description of the level of English that is expected of you during your studies

tips and activities for developing your basic English

tips and activities to help you express your ideas well

If you haven't studied with the OU before, our companion site English for OU study, introduces academic English to those considering study with us. It includes activities to help you assess your language skills and uses some sample texts from Level 1 modules.

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Do you want to develop your English language skills to enhance your chances of success at OU study? These brief tutorials are specifically aimed at students looking for support and guidance to improve their academic English. It focuses particularly on how to enhance your writing skills.

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These free online academic writing courses will help improve your learning development by teaching you how to analyse your readings and come out with what is important. Academic writing serves as a tool of communication that conveys acquired knowledge in a specific field of study with a focus on technique and style. You will learn the skills to analyse, convey understanding, and think critically.

Benefits Of An Alison Certificate

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Free Online Academic Writing Courses | Alison

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These free online Academic Writing courses will teach you everything you need to know about Academic Writing

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Writing in English for University - Online Course - FutureLearn

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Academic writing can be very different from other types of written English. This course has been developed to help you learn the basics of academic writing and develop your English language skills. You'll develop some proficiency in key areas of 'academic' grammar, learn about the stages in essay writing, and produce an essay of your own.

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Writing reports and assignments can be a daunting prospect. Learn how to interpret questions and how to plan, structure and write your assignment or report. This free course, Essay and report…

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Best Academic Writing Courses & Certificates Online [2024] | Coursera

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Learn Academic Writing or improve your skills online today. Choose from a wide range of Academic Writing courses offered from top universities and industry leaders. Our Academic Writing courses are perfect for individuals or for corporate Academic Writing training to upskill your workforce.

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Tips & Tools – The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (unc.edu)

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The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Tips & Tools - The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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We welcome feedback about these handouts and suggestions for additional handouts. Please email us or call us with your ideas.

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Writing Resources - Writing Center Handouts - Hamilton College

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Handouts Written by Faculty and Writing Center Tutors

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Writing Resources | (harvard.edu)

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Harvard Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing: These concise explanations provide advice on some fundamental elements of academic writing.

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pgtcriticalwriting.pdf (birmingham.ac.uk)

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Academic Phrasebank | The University of Manchester

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The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource for academic writers. It aims to provide you with examples of some of the phraseological 'nuts and bolts' of writing organised according to the main sections of a research paper or dissertation (see the top menu ). Other phrases are listed under the more general communicative functions of academic writing (see the menu on the left). The resource should be particularly useful for writers who need to report their research work. The phrases, and the headings under which they are listed, can be used simply to assist you in thinking about the content and organisation of your own writing, or the phrases can be incorporated into your writing where this is appropriate. In most cases, a certain amount of creativity and adaptation will be necessary when a phrase is used. The items in the Academic Phrasebank are mostly content neutral and generic in nature; in using them, therefore, you are not stealing other people's ideas and this does not constitute plagiarism. For some of the entries, specific content words have been included for illustrative purposes, and these should be substituted when the phrases are used. The resource was designed primarily for academic and scientific writers who are non-native speakers of English. However, native speaker writers may still find much of the material helpful. In fact, recent data suggest that the majority of users are native speakers of English. More about Academic Phrasebank.

This site was created by John Morley.

Academic Phrasebank is the Intellectual Property of the University of Manchester.

Copyright © 2023 The University of Manchester

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The Academic Phrasebank is a general resource for academic writers. It aims to provide you with examples of some of the phraseological 'nuts and bolts' of writing organised according to the main sections of a research paper or dissertation (see the top menu ).

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WRITING POSTGRADUATE ASSIGNMENTS (ed.ac.uk)

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Graduate-Level Writing Tips: Definitions, Do's And Don'ts (purdue.edu)

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Graduate-Level Writing Tips: Definitions, Do’s And Don’ts

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Seek writing coaching if you have questions or concerns about any aspect of good writing. The following graduate level writing tips may be helpful.

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UW-Madison Writer’s Handbook – The Writing Center – UW–Madison (wisc.edu)

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Introduction

In this section, you will find many instructional materials we've developed for our Writing Center teaching.

However, there are limitations to these materials. Assignments vary, and different instructors want different things from student writers. Therefore, the advice here may or may not apply to your writing situation.

Finally, handouts can give only a fraction of the customized guidance that an individual conference with a Writing Center instructor can provide. If you have questions about the information in our handouts, please make an appointment to see a Writing Center instructor.

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Introduction In this section, you will find many instructional materials we've developed for our Writing Center teaching. However, there are limitations to these materials. Assignments vary, and different instructors want different things from student writers. Therefore, the advice here may or may not apply to your writing situation.

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Essay and dissertation writing skills | University of Oxford

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Planning your essay
University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper (or finger to keyboard).

A really good starting point for you are these short, downloadable Tips for Successful Essay Writing and Answering the Question resources. Both resources will help you to plan your essay, as well as giving you guidance on how to distinguish between different sorts of essay questions.

You may find it helpful to watch this seven-minute video on six tips for essay writing which outlines how to interpret essay questions, as well as giving advice on planning and structuring your writing:

Different disciplines will have different expectations for essay structure and you should always refer to your Faculty or Department student handbook or course Canvas site for more specific guidance.

However, broadly speaking, all essays share the following features:
Writing your introduction
Essays need an introduction to establish and focus the parameters of the discussion that will follow. You may find it helpful to divide the introduction into areas to demonstrate your breadth and engagement with the essay question. You might define specific terms in the introduction to show your engagement with the essay question; for example, 'This is a large topic which has been variously discussed by many scientists and commentators. The principle tension is between the views of X and Y who define the main issues as...' Breadth might be demonstrated by showing the range of viewpoints from which the essay question could be considered; for example, 'A variety of factors including economic, social and political, influence A and B. This essay will focus on the social and economic aspects, with particular emphasis on.....'

Watch this two-minute video to learn more about how to plan and structure an introduction:
Structuring your essay
The main body of the essay should elaborate on the issues raised in the introduction and develop an argument(s) that answers the question. It should consist of a number of self-contained paragraphs each of which makes a specific point and provides some form of evidence to support the argument being made. Remember that a clear argument requires that each paragraph explicitly relates back to the essay question or the developing argument.

Conclusion: An essay should end with a conclusion that reiterates the argument in light of the evidence you have provided; you shouldn't use the conclusion to introduce new information.

References: You need to include references to the materials you've used to write your essay. These might be in the form of footnotes, in-text citations, or a bibliography at the end. Different systems exist for citing references and different disciplines will use various approaches to citation. Ask your tutor which method(s) you should be using for your essay and also consult your Department or Faculty webpages for specific guidance in your discipline.

Essay writing in science subjects

If you are writing an essay for a science subject you may need to consider additional areas, such as how to present data or diagrams. This five-minute video gives you some advice on how to approach your reading list, planning which information to include in your answer and how to write for your scientific audience - the video is available here:

A PDF providing further guidance on writing science essays for tutorials is available to download.
Short videos to support your essay writing skills
There are many other resources at Oxford that can help support your essay writing skills and if you are short on time, the Oxford Study Skills Centre has produced a number of short (2-minute) videos covering different aspects of essay writing, including:
Extended essays and dissertations
Longer pieces of writing like extended essays and dissertations may seem like quite a challenge from your regular essay writing. The important point is to start with a plan and to focus on what the question is asking. A PDF providing further guidance on planning Humanities and Social Science dissertations is available to download.
Planning your time effectively
Try not to leave the writing until close to your deadline, instead start as soon as you have some ideas to put down onto paper. Your early drafts may never end up in the final work, but the work of committing your ideas to paper helps to formulate not only your ideas, but the method of structuring your writing to read well and conclude firmly.
Structuring your dissertation
Although many students and tutors will say that the introduction is often written last, it is a good idea to begin to think about what will go into it early on. For example, the first draft of your introduction should set out your argument, the information you have, and your methods, and it should give a structure to the chapters and sections you will write. Your introduction will probably change as time goes on but it will stand as a guide to your entire extended essay or dissertation and it will help you to keep focused.

The structure of extended essays or dissertations will vary depending on the question and discipline, but may include some or all of the following:

The background information to - and context for - your research. This often takes
the form of a literature review.

Explanation of the focus of your work.

Explanation of the value of this work to scholarship on the topic.

List of the aims and objectives of the work and also the issues which will not be
covered because they are outside its scope.

The main body of your extended essay or dissertation will probably include your methodology, the results of research, and your argument(s) based on your findings.

The conclusion is to summarise the value your research has added to the topic, and any further lines of research you would undertake given more time or resources.
Tips on writing longer pieces of work
Approaching each chapter of a dissertation as a shorter essay can make the task of writing a dissertation seem less overwhelming. Each chapter will have an introduction, a main body where the argument is developed and substantiated with evidence, and a conclusion to tie things together. Unlike in a regular essay, chapter conclusions may also introduce the chapter that will follow, indicating how the chapters are connected to one another and how the argument will develop through your dissertation.

For further guidance, watch this two-minute video on writing longer pieces of work.

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Planning your essay University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question.

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Microsoft Word - Examples-of-level-7-writing.docx (herts.ac.uk)

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CriticalWritingExamples.doc (live.com)

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grad-apps-ws.pdf (harvard.edu)