Honing Your Academic Writing Skills

Abstract

This chapter on academic writing serves as a reference for a number of topics discussed throughout the textbook. Instructors can decide to teach this topic before talking about the literature review. This chapter is subdivided into the following topics: structuring writing, finding your voice, tips for non-native English speakers, and tips for productive academic writing. The first topic, on structuring writing, deals with the main questions you need to ask yourself before starting. The next topic, on finding your voice in writing, deals with writing styles, scholarly identity, and how different writing styles relate to different types of articles. Since the majority of scientific publications nowadays are in English, and many PhD candidates are non-native English speakers, we focus on the typical pitfalls for non-native speakers. We also discuss how, as a non-native speaker, you can work on improving your English, and how you can find your writing voice and scholarly identity in a language that is not your own. Finally, this chapter contains a series of tips for productive academic writing. Best practices are shared, and anecdotes from researchers worldwide illustrate how they manage to fit academic writing into their busy schedules.