Academic writing

An academic text differs greatly from the texts you write in high school. When you start studying at the university, you will read literature and listen to lecturers using words other than you may be used to. Pretty soon, you need to use the words and terms to communicate within your subject area, for example when writing a report or an examination.

A part of academic writing is structuring the text according to the tradition of your particular subject area. There is a difference in how to write and structure a text between health science and engineering. You also need to critically review and use different sources and cite the sources correctly.

The more you read research and publications in your subject area, the greater understanding you will get about formulating and structuring your writing.

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.

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

Guidelines and tools

Here you can find useful links in academic writing.

Guides and templates

Guides and templates for layout and formatting of your written work.

Tutorial in the writing process