Academic writing: some resources

As some of you might be aware, November is Academic Writing Month, so I thought that it might be useful to share some articles I’ve stumbled upon over time on the topic of scholarly writing.

The basics

Starting with the most mundane of topics, here’s some advice on improving typing skills. While on the topic of typing, the University of Manchester also contains useful advice on selecting a laptop and working on it, as well as setting up a workstation.

Generic advice on academic writing

1. A fairly basic introduction to academic writing;
2. No-nonsense advice on how to write “less badly” from the Chronicle of Higher Education;
3. Some mistakes to avoid when writing for publication;
4. A reminder to write slowly;
5. A step-by-step guide on producing a journal article (Parts 1 & 2)
6. Advice on writing collaboratively;
7. A handy Academic English phrasebank;
8. An even more comprehensive phrasebank, by the University of Manchester.
9. Some info on Creative Commons Attribution.

Writing for specific Purposes

1. Some tips on writing a dissertation proposal;
2. Advice on writing for a journal;
3. Thoughts on writing for a general audience;
4. Advice on how to turn a dissertation into journal articles;

On Non-Traditional Writing Outlets

While on the topic of writing, one should remember that part of scholarly communication is about engaging wide audiences. However, non-traditional writing, such as blogging, is still viewed “with considerable suspicion by many academics”. In addition, there may be risks involved in contributing to public debate, especially for early career researchers.

If the caveats above have not put you off, you may want to peruse the following links on academic blogging:

1. A beginners’ guide to academic blogging;
2. “Why do some academics hate blogging“?
3. More on academic blogging.

And one last thing: it was argued here that academics cannot write. Perhaps we can prove them wrong.