Style in Academic Writing Avoid extremes of style

Style in Academic Writing

Avoid extremes of style (informal OR formal)

Avoid extremes of style (informal OR formal) • Do not write: – – Results have been pretty good A lot of studies … Nobody knows what the real cause is The figures don’t show … • Write instead: – – Results have been encouraging A variety of studies The underlying main cause has yet to be revealed … do not show

Be PRECISE in your word choice • Do NOT write: – A loss of jobs is one of the things that will happen. – They can be used in robots, CD players etc. • Write instead: – … is one consequence. – … can be used in robots, CD players, and other electronic devices.

Use negative forms common to academic style • Not … any = no • Not much … = little • Not … many = few

Examples of negative forms common to academic style • Informal: The analysis didn’t yield any new results. • Academic: The analysis yielded no new results. • X didn’t allocate much funding for … • X allocated little funding for … • The problem doesn’t have many viable solutions. • … has few viable solutions.

Try to place adverbs within the verb • Then the solution can be discarded. • The solution can then be discarded. • The role of management has rarely been assessed.