How to use English in Academic Papers

Category: Education

Writing academic papers depends on your choice of the best-suited style for your manuscript and your target audience. In order to communicate ideas effectually, academic papers must be: Written Formally Express ideas clearly Be objective and concise Maintain consistency All the above-listed requisites can be met with correct grammar, rich vocabulary and appropriate presentation of the information. When writing academic papers, avoid using personal pronouns (the first person and second person); for instance, I, You, and We sound too personal, and informal. Therefore, do not use them. Only in situations where you need to display a direct relationship with your target readers, use personal pronouns. There is a difference between written and spoken English. When writing a research paper, avoid the use of contractions as they affect the formal tone of the document. For example, “In the USA, tax on personal income is only 3%, and there isn’t any VAT.” Here, the use of contraction renders the sentence informal. You can rephrase this to a more formal-sounding sentence such as "In the USA, tax on personal income is only 3%, and VAT is not levied." Vague, redundant, and repetitive words should be avoided to ensure a rich vocabulary. Use words that precisely portray ideas. Also, do not use rhetorical questions when introducing important, new ideas. For example, “Is the Indian tax system good or not?” This will be an informal question, and a more appropriate and formal version would be “It is important to consider the effectiveness of the Indian tax system.” Avoid using generic statements and claims while writing the academic paper and your reader should not assume your word is true. In simpler words, the statement “Everybody agrees that ration card services should be free” is incorrect, as it reflects a general assumption. Instead, use a more specific statement such as “Polls of public opinion strongly indicate that ration card services should be free.” Flawless academic papers cite references for the information or ideas sourced and include the necessary permission from authors or researchers whose work have been the basis or supported your research. On completing your writing, it is advisable that you read the entire paper closely, track down the errors pertaining to grammar and style, and rectify them. For those of you who are non-native English speakers, for enhancing the English language quality of your manuscript, seek assistance from editorial firms providing editing and proofreading services. These editorial houses render academic editing services or manuscript editing services that provide satisfactory comments and suggestions that will facilitate you to improve your writing skills. In addition, these suggestions will be fruitful in learning from the errors you made in your research manuscript and help you in avoid them in your future work.