In the academic context, academic writing is one of the most crucial aspects, which is the major expression of academic communication, as it is also the hardest skill for many people to sink in.

What is academic writing?

Academic writing is writing which exchanges ideas, information, and research to a wider academic community in standard English. It can be divided into two types: student academic writing which is used as a form of assessment at university; expert academic writing which is done for publication purposes in an academic journal or book. Both types of writing are expected to adhere to the same standards, which are difficult for students to master.

Features of academic writing

There are characteristics of academic writing which are together distinguish it from other writing forms: structured, evidenced, critical, balanced, balanced, precise, objective, formal(Standard English)

• Structured
  Academic writing must have a clear structure which often varies from the genre of writing. For instance, a report often will have an introduction(subject), a method section(overview), a discussion section(detail paragraph), and so on, while an essay follows the construction that contains an introduction(statement), clear body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a conclusion at the end. The writing should be coherent, with logical progression throughout.

• Evidenced
  Arguments or Opinions in academic writing must be supported by evidence. Often the text is based on relative information from researchers or experts in the field, and it is important to reference the information in an appropriate manner.

• Critical
  Making a judgment about the topic, before deciding whether and how to integrate the information into text work, which is also known as critical writing. Critical writing requires a great deal of research in order for the writer to develop a deep enough understanding of the topic to be truly critical about it.

• Balanced
  Balance must be concerned within academic text work, it means giving consideration to all sides of the research and avoiding bias. This can be done using hedges(avoiding direct expression), for example, phrases such as the evidence suggest... or this could be caused by..., or boosters, that is, phrases such as clearly or the research indicates.

• Precise
  The content of writing must be clear and precise by using standard and academic words in order to ensure the reader a better understanding of the text.

• Objective
  Academic writing must be objective. In other words, the emphasis is placed on the arguments and information, rather than a writer's own opinion.

• Formal
  Lastly, academic writing should be more formal than everyday writing. It tends to use longer words and more complex descriptions while avoiding contractions and colloquial or informal expressions that are often common in Spoken English(the opposite side of Standard English)