Academic Writing Tips

Writing in a second language is not an easy task, especially when an academic audience will evaluate the document. A good paper does not happen the first time anyone sits down to compose. Written work only becomes a valuable product after the writer plans, organizes, drafts, revises and edits it. Therefore, the process of writing truly demands time, practice, and tools.

Tools that guide or instruct writers in expressing their ideas overcome some of the hurdles in writing. One such tool is a writing reference or, better yet, tips on how to “put it all together” creating a fine-tuned document/paper.

Take advantage of these writing tips, by simply printing out the tips and placing them by the computer for easy reference. Everyone, even native speakers can benefit from this type of tool.

Note: All writing information is based on general standards for academic papers. We suggest checking with your professors or department for any specific writing policies Thanks!

Tip 1: Writing Process – Revising and Editing

Tip 2: Documentation of Sources

Tip 3: Topic Sentences

Tip 4: Linking Paragraphs

Tip 5: Length of Sentence and Paragraph

Tip 6: Basic Parallelism

Tip 7: Sentence Variety

Tip 8: Tense consistency

Tip 9: Variety in syntax

Tip 10: Connectors

Tip 11: Pronoun Antecedents

Tip 12: Verb Suppression

Tip 13: Directness

Tip 14: Redundancy

Tip 15: Using Gerunds, Not Nouns

Tip 16: The Pronoun One

Tip 17: Gender Bias Pronouns

Tip 18: Split Infinitives

Tip 19: Reduced Adjective Clauses

Tip 20: Unneccesary Repetition

Tip 21: Anticipatory It

Tip 22: Quotation Marks

Tip 23: Ellipsis Mark

Tip 24: Adverb Suppression

Tip 25: The Dash

Tip 26: Apostrophe

Tip 27: Capitalization

Tip 28: Prepositions

Tip 29: Italics

Tip 30: Abbreviations

Tip 31: Brackets

Tip 32: Rules About Numbers

Tip 33: Writing Addresses for Academia and Government