Academic writing

Academic writing differs from many other types of texts that you write. An academic text is held up to a different standard when it comes to readability and clarity. Here you can read more about, why, what and how you write academically.

Writing academically

Academic writing, no matter which field, aims at communicating correct and factual information to the reader.

Why?

Academic writing, no matter which field, aims at communicating correct and factual information to the reader. The reason being that the research has to be described in a reliable way and should be repeatable.

What?

An academic text is therefore judged by a different standard than other texts you might write. It is more structured and more formal, but above all, it must be clear and its readibility must be high.

How?

Writing an academic text is a process that has to take time, and therefore, also requires planning. Academic writing is to plan your writing, finding out how to formulate and structure the text and deciding what every part should contain.

The writing process

It can be helpful to divide the writing in different phases. It is a good idea to make the prewriting phase a priority. This facilitates the rest of the writing process. Together with your peers you can work with feedback.

Prewriting:

• What should you do? (what kind of work)
• What is the task?
• What does the study guide say?
• What type of text?
• What is the requirement for that type of text?
• Who will read the text and in what context?
• Search and collect material (source criticism)
  

Structuring:

• What should the text contain?
• Plan your disposition.
• What headlines?
  

Formulating:

• Academic language and style (for example writing clearly and impersonal)
• Rephrase and cite.
  

Revising:

• Review the structure and formulations.
• Does the text answer the correct things?
• Proofread.
  

Feedback:

• Work with feedback a number of times during the writing process, that is, not just at the end when your text is considered done.
• Feedback should be constructive and concrete. It’s not about finding errors in the text you are reviewing.
  

AI as support in the writing process

Generative AI tools, such as Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT, can support you when writing academic texts. Your teacher and the course instructions determine whether and how you may use AI in an assignment. Therefore, read the study guide, assignment instructions and information in Canvas carefully.

Before using AI:

• Find out what applies in your specific course. Ask your teacher if you are unsure.
• Consider whether the assignment is intended to demonstrate your own writing ability. In such cases, the use of AI may be restricted.
• Do not share sensitive personal data, unpublished material or data that must not be disclosed in open AI services.
• Remember that you are always responsible for what you submit, even if you have used AI. The tool should not replace your own thinking, analysis or responsibility for the content.

Support in different stages of the writing process

Generative AI can be used at different stages of the writing process, for example when preparing, structuring, drafting and revising your text. It is important to use these tools in an ethical and responsible way. Here are examples of how you can work with generative AI:

Prepare your text

• Understand the text type with the help of examples or a description of the genre.
• Formulate your aim and research questions.
• Get suggestions for research questions to explore and possible delimitations.
• Rephrase your search question in English and brainstorm keywords, synonyms or relevant English terms.
• Get explanations of complex concepts, which you then verify in scholarly sources.
• Get suggestions for databases and material that may be relevant to your topic.

• Search tips
  Read more about using generative AI in the search process.
  

Structure your text

• Plan the overall structure and get suggestions on how to organise headings and subheadings. Always check the study guide and methodology literature to ensure the structure fits the text type.
• Get explanations of what different sections should contain and the characteristics of each part. For example: I am writing a literature review. What is a common structure and what characterises each section?

Formulate your text

• Get suggestions and examples of how to clarify a sentence or make the language more formal, readable or coherent.
• Get examples of the typical language features of your text type and how they differ from other types of texts. For example: I am writing a literature review. Describe typical language features and provide example sentences.
• Get explanations of subject-specific concepts and terminology and how to use them.
• Generate examples of academic phrases that you then adapt to your own writing style or voice.

Revise your text

• Get a checklist of aspects to review in your text, such as coherence, use of concepts and references.
• Receive feedback on parts of your text to help you improve clarity and flow. Ask the AI tool to point out where improvements can be made without rewriting your text.
  Example prompt: Without rewriting my text, can you point out where I can make it clearer, more readable and more concise?
• Get suggestions for questions to ask yourself during revision, for example: What is unclear?Example prompt: I want to make my text easier to read without simplifying the content. Give me 15 questions I can ask myself to improve the text, such as paragraph structure, headings, coherence and sentence-level clarity.

Guides for using AI

Would you like to learn more about how to use generative AI in your studies? The following guides provide information on how to:

• Search for information using AI.
• Write, read and summarise with AI.
• Use generative AI in academic writing.
• Design prompts for AI tools.

• AI for students
  Karolinska Institutet University Library has developed a guide on how to use AI effectively and responsibly in your studies.
  
• The writing guide
  The Writing Guide provides practical tips on how to use generative AI as support in your writing. Available in Swedish.
  

Writing guides, formatting and templates

The library does not provide ready-made templates for reports or essays. However, by using guides, examples and the instructions given in your course assignment, you can create your own template in your word-processing software.

The course assignment often specifies how the report or essay should be structured.

Structure and layout may also vary between subject areas. For this reason, some courses or departments may have their own templates or guidelines that you are required to follow.

There may also be methodology textbooks that describe the typical structure of academic texts within the subject area.

If there is no clear template or methodology textbook to follow, APA Style (American Psychological Association) can be used as general guidance for academic writing and text presentation.

• APA Style (American Psychological Association)
  The guide is a manual that provides advice on structure, language and formatting.

Layout and formatting

Here you will find information about the layout and formatting of written assignments. The links also provide guidance on how to structure your text.

• Help and training for Microsoft Word
  Includes videos on layout and formatting of text.
• Google Docs
  Create, edit and collaborate in online documents.
• LaTex
  LaTex is a tool that you can use to write, edit and publish scientific documents.

• Example report with nonsense text (.pdf) pdf, 246.6 kB.
  This example shows how a report can be structured and what headings it can contain.

Writing guides and other tools

Here you can find writing guides and other tools to help you develop your academic writing.

• Academic writing
  In this open course you will learn more about academic writing, the writing process and feedback.
  
• The writing guide
  Provides concrete advice on the writing process, how to express yourself and how to use AI tools to support your writing. By libraries and writing workshops at four Swedish universities.
  
• Academic writing
  Learn more about general requirements for academic writing. By Karolinska Institutet.
• Films on academic writing
  Contains general advice on how to plan your writing as well as more specific tips on outline, structure, language and style. By Lund University.
• Frasbanken
  Here are suggestions for phrases that are common in different parts of an essay. By Karolinska Institutet.
• Dictionaries and encyclopedias
  Swedish and English dictionaries and thesauruses.