5 Important Things to Keep in Mind when Writing an Academic Paper
September 6, 2016| Category: Careers in Writing, Writing Tips
You can be an excellent writer, but writing an academic paper demands not simply paraphrasing original texts. Do you find the academic paper to be an instrument of torture? Actually, the process can be quite easy. To become a successful academic writer, you should keep in mind several important things for academic writing. Take it step by step.
5 Important Things to Keep in Mind when Writing an Academic Paper
1. Consult Your Instructor. No matter you are just choosing a topic or writing an academic paper, it is always better to ask your teacher for guidelines. Students must clarify all the details in the process of writing or even before it. When you are free to decide the purpose or select a topic, just refer to the professor about the best choice. It will save your time and efforts and help avoiding unnecessary revisions. To get the highest grade from an academic paper, you should follow the professor’s tips. That is how it works.
2. Have a Clear Focus. Writing an academic paper, many of your choices are determined by a good point of view or thesis statement in other words. It means your paper must have the structure that properly supports your own claim about the theme. In fact, every paragraph does it, and no irrelevant information is needed. Even when you place an alternative opinion, it should further reinforce the main idea. The thesis is always specific and depends on the essay type, so you should make it well-defined.
3. Measure the Amount of Words. Unfortunately, students usually forget that the length also has significance in academic writing. There is an indicated word count which you should not exceed nor write less as you might be penalized. If the professor doesn’t impose a strict restriction on word limit, 10% below or above it is generally acceptable. However, quality, not quantity, is the most important thing when writing an academic paper. That’s why you have to maintain a balance and stay within the limits.
4. Check for Technical Accuracy. The academic paper requires employing terminology correctly. What will you do when there is no spelling check? It is important to adhere to the following rules:
- literary terms are used;
- there is no slang;
- vocabulary is precise and wide, being neither too flashy nor restricted;
- paragraphs are logically organized;
- sentences are clear and complete;
- punctuation is proper.
To look professional, you should avoid colloquial expressions and informal words. Hence, accuracy is one of the main features of academic writing that you must pay attention to.
5. Check for Plagiarism. Submitting the academic paper, you may be expelled from your institution in case plagiarism has been found. During writing, a student uses a variety of sources that are eventually cited on the reference page. Moreover, every piece of information taken from any source and paraphrased should be given in accordance with the required academic writing style. Still, it is not a secret that the rules of in-text citations can be sometimes ignored or just forgot. Thus, while writing an academic paper, you should check it for plagiarism via anti-plagiarism software. Sure, not all checkers are absolutely trustworthy, so you have to avoid plagiarism carefully.
Writing an academic paper isn’t an easy job, but you can make it much less stressful due to good planning and organization. Use the above-mentioned tips to show your best, and you will find that there’s nothing more to do than just to provide a good focus, length, and tone. Probably, the most important point is not to wait till the last moment without understating what to write. Finally, check your paper to make sure it is well-written and plagiarism-free. Coherent and authoritative papers will always be positively evaluated.