Use of academic style While you will need to use different styles of writing for different subjects and tasks, there are some characteristics of academic writing which are common to all subject areas. Order points logically This is important at the planning stage of your writing. It is very difficult to make a piece of writing flow well if the ideas are not presented in a logical order. Make sure you have one main unifying idea per paragraph and that the ideas within the paragraph lead logically from one to the next. Also take note of the order of paragraphs so that there is a logical progression from one main idea to the next. Link ideas within and between paragraphs Good flow in a piece of writing can be achieved by making clear links between your ideas and also making it clear how each main idea is related to the topic. Where possible, linking words and expressions should indicate the relationship between ideas. The point in one sentence should also be connected to the following sentence. For example, if you want to show that a second sentence is a result of the first sentence, you could start the second sentence with a ‘as result’. The following table gives a brief list of linking words and expressions. Linking word Function Examples in sentences examples Similarity Similarly, Similarly, the plasma membrane plays several Likewise, roles… In a similar way, A similar A similar study of hyperthermia also found a study… correlation between … Contrast In contrast, In contrast, the blood flows at high velocity ….. Conversely, On the other hand, (less formal) While there has been much discussion about the factors that contribute to the development of an While…, … eating disorder,……… Although…., … Although the design of the study was adequate, ….; however,… insufficient planning had gone into the ….However,… implementation stage. There was an increase in the health adjusted life expectancy of women; however, there was no change in… X causes Y A reaction of this type causes extensive damage Cause → Effect X leads to Y to the cells. X results in Y X leads to Y Acclimatization to cold leads to a higher
Use of academic style While you will need to use different styles of writing for different subjects and tasks, there are some characteristics of academic writing which are common to all subject areas. Order points logically This is important at the planning stage of your writing. It is very difficult to make a piece of writing flow well if the ideas are not presented in a logical order. Make sure you have one main unifying idea per paragraph and that the ideas within the paragraph lead logically from one to the next. Also take note of the order of paragraphs so that there is a logical progression from one main idea to the next. Link ideas within and between paragraphs Good flow in a piece of writing can be achieved by making clear links between your ideas and also making it clear how each main idea is related to the topic. Where possible, linking words and expressions should indicate the relationship between ideas. The point in one sentence should also be connected to the following sentence. For example, if you want to show that a second sentence is a result of the first sentence, you could start the second sentence with ‘as a result’. The following table gives a brief list of linking words and expressions. Function Linking word examples Examples in sentences Similarity Similarly, Likewise, In a similar way, A similar study… Similarly, the plasma membrane plays several roles… A similar study of hyperthermia also found a correlation between … Contrast In contrast, Conversely, On the other hand, (less formal) While…, … Although…., … ….; however,… ….However,… In contrast, the blood flows at high velocity ….. While there has been much discussion about the factors that contribute to the development of an eating disorder,……… Although the design of the study was adequate, insufficient planning had gone into the implementation stage. There was an increase in the health adjusted life expectancy of women; however, there was no change in… Cause → Effect X causes Y X leads to Y X results in Y X leads to Y A reaction of this type causes extensive damage to the cells. Acclimatization to cold leads to a higher
HealthSciences_SurvivalGuide.docx