November is ACADEMIC WRITING MONTH, so what better time to speak to Christa Lawrence, Head of Academic Publishing at Juta about the importance of academic writing.

Can we please define what academic writing is?
Firstly, it speaks to a specific style of writing – found in essays, journals, research papers, and textbooks – each with nuances and commonalities like terms and structure, for example, citations. It is non-fiction, and it is often based on empirical research, study, or reports.

What is the purpose of academic writing?
In the context of academic textbooks, the purpose of academic writing is to succinctly inform students and lecturers about course content. In research, it explores ideas or theories related to developments in a subject area that will further build the body of knowledge.  Ultimately, it is to inform someone of information relevant to their particular context and purpose.

What is its role specifically in higher education?

• It adds to academic rigour as you embark on an academic journey
   
• Prepares students for progression of higher study
   
• It enables students and lecturers to structure and articulate research
   
• Adds gravitas to the body of knowledge
   

Is academic writing important beyond university?
I think any writing requires practice and discipline, which is essential as it stretches us and expands our learning and learnability. Academic writing is a transferable skill – perhaps you will not use the same structure in your career, but the same skills will always be relevant: research, discipline, practice, and commitment. These will stand you in good stead for all sorts of endeavours!

Why is academic writing critical – what are the benefits thereof for a career, and why is it worth getting good at it?
The academic rigour! It readies one for what comes beyond studies, especially if you want to pursue postgraduate achievements, but the process and skill of acquiring and researching information, along with the discipline of putting it together well are hugely important and puts one in a better position for lifelong success.

What skills need to develop to do academic writing well?
It is so important to realise that writing is the final step! The first crucial, critical skill is research: excavating and investigating the information you require. Here, reading skills are critical, especially for complex pieces. If this is all correct then the write-up is less arduous!

The next skill is when it comes to formatting this information: rewriting is essential and learning to take criticism well (again a life skill!) will stand you in good stead. To be able to test your viewpoints objectively is a great asset.
Other essential skills include organisation, time management, and communication.  You employ all of this together to establish your argument and substantiate your position, and whatever hypothesis you state, always use theory well to frame it.

What are some of the problems with academic writing?
From a lecturer’s perspective, academic writing is essential to progress on any career path; not doing it, or not doing it well, can stunt your career opportunities. Peer-reviewed, published research papers add credibility to an academic CV.

From a student’s perspective, I think the most common issues are poor vocabulary and language skills, which make it very hard to articulate ideas and structure your thinking. Secondly, comprehending the research and extracting useful information succinctly. Here you need to be certain that you are capturing ideas appropriately and to standard. Thirdly, referencing is sometimes a painful, cluttered process, but it is essential to show evidence of research with comprehensive references and a basis for the hypothesis. Basically, you need complete transparency of HOW you went about this piece of work.

What is Christa’s Perfect Plan for successful academic writing?
 

1. Plan: manage your time
    
2. Dissect the problem: be clear about WHAT, highlight the questions and what you need to address
    
3. Sources: explore widely
    
4. Draft a structure: what info comes where – work to it and plan accordingly
    
5. Write a draft
    
6. Step away!
    
7. Evaluate: ask for advice, test your thinking
    
8. Based on feedback: write a final draft
    

Essentially the entire process comes down to taking consistent little steps to completion! Don’t be overwhelmed. Just follow these steps and do them one at a time.

Looking for a great title to assist you with this process? Try Academic Literacy, available from Juta – Inspiring Possibilities Together!