Predictors of a Well-Written Academic Paper

Good academic writing usually requires that you persuade your reader to accept your ideas/interpretations/reactions on the basis of the evidence you offer and how logically you explain that evidence. The secret of good academic writing is to keep in mind that the reader may not be familiar with your topic so you need to take the time to clearly elaborate and support your ideas. The following are some indicators of good

scholarly writing:

Thesis/Argument:

State your thesis, main argument, main idea clearly near the beginning of the paper, ask yourself is it original, interesting and most importantly is it addressing the writing prompt or assignment. (Thesis = main idea)

Make your thesis specific or narrow enough to be proved in a succinct manner no matter the length of the paper. Anticipate and answer intelligent questions and objections to your idea.

Support and Documentation:

Include support evidence for your argument in order to persuade someone who disagrees with you. Choose your evidence carefully and explain thoroughly how such evidence proves your main point and supporting points.

Avoid merely summarizing theories or points from other references make the connection to how you are utilizing such literature, theory to support or assert your main idea.

Use quotations with care (too many quotations seem like padding. Too few may give the impression you have done no reading on the subject).

Paraphrase other scholarly literature, theories, research related to your main idea in your own words and style of writing (paying attention to tone and if such sections flow and sound like the rest of your paper).

Proofread your paper and pay attention to tone, logical framework (write an outline of your paper as you re-read it to proof your logic). Eliminate oversimplifications and contradictions. Is your sentence style straightforward and concise? Have you given enough documentation and page references? Have you answered the question or assignment prompt?

Please see the Doctoral Support Center Blackboard website (click course documents, then click on the workshop handouts folder to access the academic writing folder) for a complete power point presentation and additional information on ways to improve your academic writing.

Fight on!