Essential Vocabulary for an Academic Writing Style

Introduction

The academic writing style is quite different from other styles of writing. The primary distinction that makes it different is the choice of words. The words that are written in this form of writing need to be chosen extremely wisely. This is because academic papers must adhere to the principles of critical writing. At the same time, academic writing needs to be concise and correct. Further, this style of writing encompasses a formal tone. This means that there should be no use of short-form vocabulary. Such a formal context requires the use of certain essential words. Here is a review of the essential vocabulary for academic writing style.  

Essential Vocabulary

There are a lot of words which we use on a daily basis while conversing with our friends, family, and colleagues. However, not all words are suitable for the academic writing style. This is due to the fact that academic writing needs to be formal in its tone. Words which are conversational in nature do not fit the definition of academic writing. For example, there are five kinds of words which are informal or casual due to their tone and they need to be replaced by words that have a more formal connotation. These include contractions, slang words, abbreviations, clichés, etc. These kind of words are not to be used since they are extremely casual and do not sound formal. By using casual words, the logical flow of your academic piece can be hampered a great deal. This is not the right way to go about it. Instead of these, there are some other words which are an absolute must for the academic writing style. These include words such as “Alternatively”, “However”, “Conversely”, “On the other hand”, and “On the contrary”. Such words are vital since they denote the different ways to compare and contrast text. Without the use of such words, it would be very difficult to write in the academic style since comparisons are a critical component of academic writing. Often, you are required to compare two opposing sets of views, which can only be done correctly by making use of these words. The next set of words is the ones which denote similarities. These include words such as “Likewise”, “Equally”, “Similarly”, “In the same way”, and “Correspondingly”. Whenever one is comparing literature or reviewing it, such words can come in handy since they have a formal connotation attached to them.   There are also some general set of words which can add value to your academic research. These include words such as “Firstly”, “Coupled with”, “Not to mention”, “As well as”, “Moreover” and “Furthermore”. Such words can ensure that the overall flow of your academic piece is maintained. These words can be used for a number of reasons. They can help you in building convincing arguments and also in adding further information in support of your theory. It is advisable that these words are also used in academic writing pieces wherein literature is being reviewed. This is because literature reviews need linking words that have a formal tone to them and at the same time can improve the flow of the writing. The next set of words is the ones used for referring to cause and effect. This forms a very important part of academic writing since causes, and their effects are widely mentioned in academic text due to their inherent reasoning-based nature. Also, these set of words can come in handy when you are looking to create a link between two sets of thoughts or even data sets. Such words include “Consequently”, “Accordingly”, “Hence”, “Since”, “Therefore”, “Because”, and “For this reason”. Such words have been prominently used in academic text and their importance cannot be overstated. Apart from these, there are also certain words which show limitations or contradictions. These include words like “Even so”, “Despite”, “Nevertheless”, “Although”, “Admittedly”, and “On the contrary”. Often, academic texts are full of these words due to the fact that almost all forms of research have some form of limitation or the other. Thus, it becomes inevitable that some of these words are used in order to refer to such limitations.   There are a further set of words that are vital for the academic style of writing. These are the words used to lay emphasis on a particular point. These words include “Especially”, “In fact”, “Moreover”, “Typically”, “In addition”, “Namely”, and “For instance”. All of these words are illustrative in nature. They point to something that is about to be mentioned, and this is central to the idea of academic writing. In this style, theories are often presented first, and then they are followed by examples or illustrations. Thus, using such words becomes very important. The final set of essential vocabulary for the academic style of writing includes the words used to summarise. Such words are again important since they allow you to conclude or infer things from your research. It is a set of words widely used in the academic style of writing since almost all pieces of research have a conclusion that they infer. Some of these words are “As can be seen”, “Finally”, “As described”, “Given the above”, “ultimately”, and “It can be concluded that”. All of these words are a great medium to summarise your findings in a formal manner. Therefore, they are critical for your vocabulary while attempting to write in the academic style.  

Conclusion

To sum up, there are various sets of words which are essential for you to use in the academic style of writing. Using these words not only ensures that your piece of writing has a formal connotation to it, but also makes sure that your flow of words becomes more logical and connected. This will lead to an academic writing style which is convincing and at the same time has a good connection between the words. By using these, you will be able to infer better, summarise better, and make your overall writing style much improved.
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