Ten quick tips to improve your academic and report writing in English

It’s normal to focus on WHAT you are saying when you are speaking a second language, and not so much on how you say it. There are some differences to how we write in academic or business English, and how we write in casual English. Here are some quick tips to help you on your way:

1.       Do not abbreviate! - When I write blogs I abbreviate do not to “don’t”. This is absolutely fine for casual English but is considered unprofessional in academia and business.

2.       Never start a sentence with “And” or “But”- Every sentence should make sense on its own. If I just say “And this was very important”, the reader thinks “And? Where is the first part?”

3.       Try to avoid redundancy in language - Redundancy is where you use two things in a sentence which describe the same idea; you only need one. An example is “I work 24/7, seven days a week”. People say this a lot but the idea is redundant, you have already said you work seven days a week so there is no need to repeat it.

4.       Spell out numbers under 10 - Any number over 10 can be written using digits like “37” etc. Any number under ten (including 10) is best written out like “seven” or “ten”.

5.       Don’t use exclamation marks!!!! – Exclamation marks are considered shouting in English, and not very professional.

6.       Cite your sources – If you quote someone, or add data into your report or essay, cite where you found this information. If you are referring to one source in a sentence add where you got this from at the end of the sentence. If there is more than one source, add the source after each piece of information in the sentence. Write this in brackets with the website or surname of the source, a comma, and then the year: (Wright English, 2020).

7.       Write in the passive voice – Professional writing is almost always in the passive voice. This means there are no pronouns (I, you, he, she, it) etc. So instead of saying “I carried out an experiment at my university”, write “An experiment was carried out at the university of XYZ”.

8.       Proofread! – Many people write absolutely outstanding pieces of academic writing but fail to proofread their work before submitting it. This is the biggest mistake you can make. Everyone makes typo’s, and one autocorrect can change the meaning of a sentence or make your very capable work look unprofessional.

9.       Put references at the end of your piece – Everything you refer to in your text should be referenced at the end of your writing piece if it is at university level or for a report. This allows your readers to find more information for themselves, and believe that you actually cited reliable sources!

10.   Keep your sentences simple, clear, and short - Don’t write everything in three word sentences, but make sure that you do not have extremely long sentences, repeat yourself or use extremely complicated words. Good academic and report writing is done to make the report readable for as many people as possible.

These ten simple tips are a great start to writing academically or for business in a new language. Can you think of any things I have missed here that you think should be in the top ten? Would you like me to create a full guide to academic writing on in the Wright English resources section? Let me know in the comments below!

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