Academic writing

In academia, writing and publishing is conducted in several sets of forms and genres. This is a list of genres of academic writing. It is a short summary of the full spectrum of critical & academic writing. It does not cover the variety of critical approaches that can be applied when writing about a subject. However as Harwood and Hadley (2004) and Hyland (2004) have pointed out the amount of variation that exists between different disciplines may mean that we cannot refer to a single academic literacy.

Writing in these forms or styles is usually serious, intended for a critical and informed audience, based on closely investigated knowledge, and posits ideas or arguments. It usually circulates within the academic world ('the academy'), but the academic writer may also find an audience outside via journalism, speeches, pamphlets, etc.

Typically scholarly writing has an objective stance, clearly states the significance of the topic, and is organized with adequate detail so that other scholars could try to replicate the results. Strong papers are not overly general and correctly utilize formal academic rhetoric.

While academic writing consists of a number of text types and genres, what they have in common, the conventions that academic writers traditionally follow, has been a subject of debate. Many writers have called for conventions to be challenged, for example Pennycook (1997) and Ivanic (1998), while others suggest that some conventions should be maintained, for example Clark (1997, p136).

Academic document types

• Book, in many types and varieties.
• Book report.
• Conference paper.
• Dissertation; usually between 6,000 and 20,000 words in length.
• Essay; usually short, between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length.
• Explication; usually a short factual note explaining some obscure part of a particular work; e.g. its terminology, dialect, allusions or coded references.
• Research Article.
• Research Paper; longer essay involving library research, 3000 to 6000 words in length.
• Technical report
• Thesis; completed over a number of years, often in excess of 20,000 words in length.
• Translation.

For students

• Exam questions & Essay titles; the formulating of these.
• Instructional pamphlet, or hand-out, or reading list; usually meant for students.
• Presentations; usually short, often illustrated.

Summaries of knowledge

• Annotated bibliography.
• Annotated catalogue, often of an individual or group's papers and/or library.
• Creating a simplified graphical representation of knowledge; e.g. a map, or refining a display generated from a database. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work.
• Creating a timeline or chronological plan. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work.
• Devising a classification scheme; e.g. for animals, or newly arisen sub-cultures, or a radically new style of design.
• Encyclopedia entry.
• Journal article (e.g. History Today); usually presenting a digest of recent research.
• Literature review; a summary and careful comparison of previous academic work published on a specific topic.
• Site description and plan (e.g. in archeology).

Collating the work of others

• Anthology; collection, collation, ordering and editing of the work of others.
• Catalogue raisonné; the definitive collection of the work of a single artist, in book form.
• Collected works; often referred to as the 'critical edition'. The definitive collection of the work of a single writer or poet, in book form, carefully purged of publishers errors and later forgeries, etc.
• Monograph or exhibition catalog; usually containing exemplary works, and a scholarly essay. Sometime contains new work by a creative writer, responding to the work.
• Transcribing, selecting and ordering oral testimony (e.g. oral history recordings).

Research & planning

• Experiment plan.
• Laboratory report.
• Raw data collection plan.
• Research plan (sometimes called desk-based research).
• Structured notes.

Disseminating knowledge outside the academy

• call for papers.
• Documentary film script or TV script or radio script.
• Obituary.
• Opinion; an academic may sometimes be asked to give an expert written opinion, for use in a legal case before a court of law.
• Polemical newspaper opinion article.
• Public speech or lecture.
• Review of a book, film, exhibition, event, etc.
• Think-tank pamphlet, position paper, or briefing paper.

Technical or administrative forms

• Brief; short summary, often instructions for a commissioned work.
• Peer review report.
• Proofreading and correction.
• Proposal.
• White paper; detailed technical specifications and/or performance report.

Personal forms

These are acceptable to some academic disciplines, e.g. Cultural studies, Fine art, Feminist studies, Queer theory, Literary studies.

• Artist's book or Chapbook.
• Autobiography.
• Belles-lettres; stylish or aesthetic writing on serious subjects, often with reference to one's personal experience.
• Commonplace book.
• Diary or Weblog.
• Memoire; usually a short work, giving one's own memories of a famous person or event.
• Notebooks.

Newer forms

• Collaborative writing, especially using the internet.
• Hypertext, often incorporating new media and multimedia forms within the text.
• Performative writing (see also: belles-lettres).

Disposition

The most common disposition standard in the academic world is the IMRAD method, stating that an academic document should consist of sections in the following order:

• Introduction (Problem motivation, aim, objective, problem statement, own contributions, background materials, overview)
• Method (Assumptions, questionary, system model, simulation model, performance measures)
• Result (Empirical results, charts, plots)

and

• Discussion (Analysis, Conclusions)

Other common sections in academic documents are:

• Abstract
• Indeces
• Bibliography
• List of references
• Appendix/Addendum, any addition to a document

See also

• Academia
• Academic journal
• Academic publishing
• Creative class
• Criticism
• Expository writing
• Knowledge
• Knowledge worker
• Narrative
• Persuasive writing or rhetoric
• Publishing
• Scientific writing
• Scientific publishing
• Scholar
• Scholarship
• Style guide
• Writing

External links

• Academic Writing Module
• 8 Tips For Better Academic Writing
• Academic report writing guide
• The Academic Phrasebank
• The Academic writing Tips
• The Academic Writer Jobs