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.
  

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.

The links below will also help you understand how to structure your text.

Layout and formatting

Here you will find information about layout and formatting of written works.

• Help and training for 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.
  
• 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.