Academic writing refers to the style of writing you are expected to use at university. While different disciplines or areas of study have their own writing conventions, the information in this guide provides an overview of the features of academic writing common across all disciplines.
Why is academic style important?
Academic writing aims to express complex ideas clearly, build a convincing argument based on evidence, and contribute to a broader discussion among experts in a field. The features of academic writing (formal, objective, precise, and concise) help to meet these aims.
Most written assignments at university, such as essays, reports, and reflections, will have a section dedicated to academic style in the marking rubric. The rubric sets out expectations for each grade category, and many will indicate what percentage of the grade is determined by following academic writing conventions.
Good academic writing can also improve your assignments more broadly. The clearer your writing is, the more likely it is that the marker will follow your line of argument or understand how you are answering a particular question. Concise writing can give you additional space to develop ideas and provide deep analysis within a limited word count. Objectivity strengthens your arguments, conclusions, or recommendations, and gives them more credibility.
Features of academic writing
Formal
Academic writing is more formal in tone than standard conversational English. It avoids contractions (such as can’t or won’t) slang terms or colloquialism, and idiomatic phrases.
Examples
Informal language: It’s really important to know your stuff as a teacher otherwise you can’t teach the kids.
Formal language: Sound knowledge of the curriculum is essential for teachers’ ability to support student learning.
Objective
Academic writing is objective, meaning it presents arguments or conclusions based on evidence and avoids personal judgements. With the exception of personal reflections which use first-person language, academic writing is typically in third person. It avoids exaggeration for effect and overgeneralising, and does not directly address the reader.
Examples
Subjective language: Everyone knows the most important thing in business is management because bad management destroys thousands of companies worldwide.
Objective language: Research has shown that management has a significant impact on the success of business, with poor management shown to be a contributing factor to businesses failing (Smith, 2020; Jones, 2022*).
*N. B. References are invented for illustration purposes.
Precise
Academic writing uses precise wording to avoid ambiguity and explain complex ideas or theories. Each discipline or area of study will also use its own specific terminology, which you will need to learn and understand. Some words may have different meanings in different disciplines. For example, ‘constructivism’ in Education means something quite different to ‘constructivism’ in Humanities subjects. If you are looking up definitions for unfamiliar words, make sure you use resources specific to your discipline such as textbooks or articles on theory.
Examples
Imprecise language: The present-day typical temperature of the global surface was a degree celsius higher than mid-twentieth-century, highlighting the impact of the changing climate (NASA, 2024).
Precise language: The 2024 annual average global surface temperature was 1°C higher than the average recorded from 1951–1980, highlighting the impact of global warming (NASA, 2025).
Concise
Academic writing is concise, meaning it uses as few words as possible to express meaning. Concise writing helps with clarity and allows for greater depth of analysis in limited space. This style is achieved by avoiding any redundant words or repetition, and use of phrasal verbs that don’t need prepositions (e.g. investigate rather than look into; disappears instead of goes away).
Examples
Wordy language: Doctor Who, a beloved British cult science-fiction television series over 60 years old, has looked at the theme of neurodiversity repeatedly, with both its lead and supporting characters displaying behavioural traits of both autism and neurodiversity (Crawford, 2024; Manning, 2015). This can be seen with an example, ...
Concise language: Long-running cult science-fiction program Doctor Who features characters displaying neurodivergent traits (Crawford, 2024; Manning, 2015). For example, ...
How can I improve my academic writing?
The best way to learn the academic writing style of your discipline is to read as much as possible. The more you read, the more familiar you will become with how knowledge is created and shared in your field, and the better you will be able to understand complex theories and developments in it.
For many people, writing in academic style feels unnatural or daunting. You may find it easier to write a first draft of your assignments in a more natural, informal style, and edit for tone later. This allows you to focus on getting your ideas onto the page first before refining the language.
You can book a 45-minute appointment with a Learning Skills Advisor for one-on-one targeted support with academic writing. Appointments can be booked through the Learning Skills Program on the Student Success Portal.
External resources
Academic Phrasebank (University of Manchester)
Academic Language Feedback Guide (Monash University)
References
Crawford, L. (2024). The power of the Doctor. Doctor Who Magazine, 611, 34–36.
Manning, X. (2015). Negotiating Doctor Who: Neurodiversity and fandom. In E. Thorsen, H. Savigny, J. Alexander & D. Jackson (Eds.), Media, margins and popular culture (pp. 153–165). Palgrave Macmillan.
NASA. (2025). Global temperature. https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/?intent=121