Academic Writing
Academic Writing – Writing has been with us since the dawn of civilisation; it has made it possible for today’s man to communicate with the man of the past. It is one of the most effective ways of communication; people write to express, convey, and share ideas with others. Writing has transformed from a simple means of communication to a vast and complex form of expression.
Academic writing is a special form of writing whose purpose is to present a well-structured, focused, and concise piece of technical information to academia. Also Academic writing is filled with facts and facts-based arguments, a set tone of language and a structure that supports the content in a well-balanced manner. The Academic writing services include; research papers, thesis reports, dissertations, research proposals, etc.
All the academic writings follow a specific structure throughout the content, but a generalised structure is also present, which is implemented in most of the writings.
Description Of The Topic > Investigation Of Issues/ Discussion > Presentation Of Solutions/ Responses > Summery
Types Of Academic Writing
Academic writing types can be classified into multiple major and minor categories,
Based on the approach is divided into four categories. Some writings can also be a mixture of all these approaches as well.
· Descriptive
· Analytical
· Persuasive
· Critical
Based on the type of content, it is classified into six major categories.
· Case studies
· Methods or methodologies
· Opinion articles
· Original research
· Review articles
· Short reports or letters
Just like in the case of approach-based categories, these types can also overlap each other. We can still classify academic writing into many more types by considering other factors. But we will only discuss these for now.
Types based on approach
· Descriptive
Descriptive writing aims to introduce the reader to the information present in writing. It tries to convey as much information as required with keeping in mind the basic layout and rules of academic writing. This type of writing can describe a person, situation, place or event like an official document of a person or a lab report with all the relevant data and an extremely small word count.
· Analytical
As the name suggests, analytical writing deals with an investigation of specific data, and it is to study the problems and give possible solutions to these problems. It also expands on the solutions’ type and methods and assesses the viability of given solutions; it also gives a detailed comparison and weighs the pros & cons of these solutions. Mostly these writings will contain some statistical data like graphs, tables, and charts to back the content.
· Persuasive
Persuasive writing has a few other types of content writing, including the writer’s thoughts and perspective. This category goes beyond the analytical by imposing the writer’s perspective on the reader through argumentation backed by the analytical data, facts or evidence. Most news editorials, electronic gadget reviews and advertisements are persuasive.
· Critical
Critical writing is mainly used for research, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate writings, similar to persuasive writing. Persuasive writing tries to impose the writer’s perception, but critical writing takes this approach further by adding at least one more point of view. This type of paper can contain argumentation and interpretations of a particular person in a specific subject; after discussing this, the writer will give their arguments and interpretations and draw a comparison between both of them.
Types based on the subject matter
· Case study
Case studies are a type of academic writing with a lot to do with original data collection through analysing every aspect of a subject throughout a specific period. The subject can be a person, a group of people, a phenomenon, an event, etc. The case study can also be a restudy of already established data; e.g., medical scientists often use case studies to identify previously unknown or new pathogens or diseases. Case studies are further divided into sub-categories.
1. Collective
2. Descriptive
3. Explanatory
4. Exploratory
5. Instrumental
6. Intrinsic
7. Methods & methodologies
This type of writing suggests a newly designed approach or a better version of one already present, with a demonstration. Methodology sets the tone and direction of an article; when writing an academic paper, it should first be decided what methodology to use. It describes how and where the data was collected and how it was analysed. Case studies are also a methodology, along with surveys, self-reporting, etc. Methodologies are further divided into three broad categories
1. Qualitative research
2. Quantitative research
3. Mixed research
4. Opinion articles
Opinion article writing implements a persuasive writing approach. It is the writer’s perspective and criticism of a particular hypothesis or scientific theory. The writer employs the help of well-established data and evidence to support his/her opinion.
Opinion articles are usually short and contain much referencing to get the author’s point of view across. The writer aims to persuade the reader that his opinion is the only correct opinion regarding the subject matter.
· Original research
These types of articles are very common in scientific fields. The researchers’ original research articles are written by conducting tests and experimentation on a particular hypothesis. The results of such articles can prove or disprove the hypothesis or even well-established theories with the support of extensive experimentation.
Original research articles can be considered other academic writings like a case study, methodology, opinion, etc. Sometimes when researchers are trying to prove a hypothesis and disprove it, the research is still valid and published to benefit others in the specific field.
· Review articles
Reviews in an academic sense are analyses of a particular field or academic paper to determine its credibility, approach and direction. Well-knowledgeable experts in a specific field write these articles. The whole article summarises the subject paper, giving a perspective on its impact on other hypotheses, theories, data, etc., in that field.
· Short reports or letters
It is a concise and formal document informing a specific audience about a particular subject. It can be a report generated by analysing data in particular research to spark further studies in that field. Reports of this nature are rare in academic environments, mostly used in business, journalism and science.
Conclusion
Depending on the viewer’s perspective, academic writing services in pakistan can be classified into multiple broad and overlapping categories. As discussed above, all of these categories overlap regardless of the classification.
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