gh-endigo-claude-skills-academic-writer-skills/skills/academic-research-writer/references/ACADEMIC-WRITING.md

Academic Writing Conventions

Table of Contents

1. Academic Tone and Voice
2. Sentence and Paragraph Construction
3. Argumentation and Logic
4. Common Errors to Avoid
5. Discipline-Specific Conventions

1. Academic Tone and Voice

Formality Levels

High Formality (STEM, Law, Medicine):

• Avoid contractions (use "cannot" not "can't")
• Minimize personal pronouns
• Use passive voice strategically
• Employ technical terminology precisely

Moderate Formality (Social Sciences, Humanities):

• Personal pronouns acceptable in methodology
• Active voice preferred for clarity
• Balance between accessibility and precision

Objectivity

Maintain neutrality:

• Present multiple perspectives
• Acknowledge counterarguments
• Use hedging language: "suggests," "appears," "may indicate"
• Avoid absolute statements: "proves," "always," "never"

Hedge appropriately:

• Strong evidence: "demonstrates," "shows," "indicates"
• Moderate evidence: "suggests," "implies," "may reflect"
• Weak evidence: "might," "could," "appears to"

Precision

Be specific:

• ❌ "Many studies show..."
• ✅ "A meta-analysis of 47 studies [1] demonstrates..."

Use technical terms correctly:

• Define specialized terms on first use
• Maintain consistency in terminology
• Use standard abbreviations

2. Sentence and Paragraph Construction

Sentence Structure

Clarity principles:

• One main idea per sentence
• Subject-verb proximity
• Active voice for clarity (when appropriate)
• Vary sentence length for readability

Examples:

❌ Weak: "It was found by the researchers that the algorithm performed better." ✅ Strong: "The algorithm demonstrated superior performance [1]."

❌ Weak: "There are many factors that contribute to climate change." ✅ Strong: "Multiple factors contribute to climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and industrial activity [2]."

Paragraph Structure

Standard academic paragraph:

1. Topic sentence: Introduces main idea
2. Evidence: Supporting data, citations, examples
3. Analysis: Interpretation and explanation
4. Link: Connection to thesis or transition to next point

Example:

"Machine learning algorithms have transformed medical diagnostics [Topic]. Recent studies demonstrate that deep learning models achieve diagnostic accuracy comparable to expert physicians in radiology [1], dermatology [2], and pathology [3] [Evidence]. This performance stems from the algorithms' ability to recognize complex patterns in large datasets that may elude human observation [Analysis]. These advances suggest a paradigm shift in clinical decision-making processes [Link]."

Transitions

Between paragraphs:

• However, Moreover, Furthermore
• In contrast, Similarly, Conversely
• Consequently, Therefore, Thus
• First, Second, Finally

Within paragraphs:

• Additionally, Also, Furthermore
• For example, For instance, Specifically
• In other words, That is to say
• Nevertheless, Nonetheless, Still

3. Argumentation and Logic

Thesis Development

Strong thesis characteristics:

• Specific and focused
• Arguable (not self-evident)
• Supported by evidence
• Addresses "so what?" question

Examples:

❌ Weak: "Social media affects society." ✅ Strong: "Social media platforms' algorithmic curation of content contributes to political polarization by creating echo chambers that reinforce existing beliefs and limit exposure to diverse viewpoints."

Evidence Integration

Citation placement:

Author-prominent: "Smith et al. [1] argue that quantum computing will revolutionize cryptography."

Information-prominent: "Quantum computing threatens current cryptographic methods [1], [2]."

Synthesis of multiple sources: "While some researchers emphasize the benefits of AI in education [1], [3], others highlight potential risks [2], [4]."

Logical Fallacies to Avoid

1. Hasty generalization: Drawing broad conclusions from limited evidence
2. False causation: Assuming correlation implies causation
3. Appeal to authority: Relying solely on credentials without evidence
4. Straw man: Misrepresenting opposing arguments
5. Cherry picking: Selecting only supporting evidence

4. Common Errors to Avoid

Wordiness

❌ "Due to the fact that" ✅ "Because"

❌ "In order to" ✅ "To"

❌ "It is important to note that" ✅ Delete (unnecessary)

Redundancy

❌ "Past history," "future plans," "advance warning" ✅ "History," "plans," "warning"

Vague Language

❌ "Things," "stuff," "a lot," "very" ✅ Specific nouns and precise quantifiers

Inappropriate Register

❌ "The data is super interesting and shows..." ✅ "The data reveals significant patterns..."

Anthropomorphism

❌ "The study wants to prove..." ✅ "This study aims to demonstrate..."

❌ "The paper believes that..." ✅ "This paper argues that..."

5. Discipline-Specific Conventions

STEM Fields

Characteristics:

• Emphasis on methodology and reproducibility
• Extensive use of figures, tables, equations
• Passive voice acceptable in methods sections
• Present tense for established facts, past tense for specific studies

Example: "Samples were collected from five sites (Methods). Figure 1 shows the temperature distribution (Results). These findings indicate that thermal gradients affect reaction rates (Discussion)."

Social Sciences

Characteristics:

• Theoretical frameworks prominently discussed
• Qualitative and quantitative methods
• First-person acceptable in reflective methodology
• Past tense for research conducted, present for ongoing debate

Example: "Previous research suggests that socioeconomic factors influence educational outcomes [1]. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 participants to explore this relationship."

Humanities

Characteristics:

• Emphasis on interpretation and analysis
• Extensive engagement with primary texts
• Present tense for discussing texts/artworks
• More flexible citation practices (footnotes common)

Example: "In Pride and Prejudice, Austen critiques the marriage market of Regency England. Elizabeth Bennet's refusal of Mr. Collins represents a radical assertion of female autonomy."

Engineering

Characteristics:

• Focus on problem-solving and implementation
• Detailed technical specifications
• Extensive use of diagrams and schematics
• Clear delineation of requirements and results

Example: "The proposed architecture achieves 95% accuracy with 40% lower computational complexity than existing methods [1]. Figure 2 illustrates the system design."

Best Practices Summary

1. Clarity over complexity: Simple, direct language conveys ideas more effectively
2. Evidence-based claims: Support all assertions with citations
3. Logical structure: Organize ideas hierarchically and sequentially
4. Consistent terminology: Use terms uniformly throughout
5. Appropriate tone: Match formality to discipline and audience
6. Active engagement: Show critical thinking, not just summary
7. Revision: Multiple drafts improve quality significantly

Self-Review Checklist

• Each paragraph has clear topic sentence
• Claims supported by evidence
• Transitions between ideas smooth
• Tone formal and objective
• Technical terms defined
• No logical fallacies
• Sentence variety maintained
• Citations integrated smoothly
• Discipline conventions followed
• "So what?" question answered