Academic Writing

Dr Carlos Ferreira

Objectives

To explore the need and uses for academic

writing (AW)
To explore practices of AW
Structure
Style
Writing techniques

Plan for the session

Why and what is? Academic Writing?

Writing Academically

Why and what is? Academic Writing?

What is Academic Writing?

A collection of forms of written communication

Primarily written by academics, for academics
Two guiding principles:
Inquiry
Peer-review

AW: the media

Academic papers
Books
Book chapters
Online academic journals
Degree coursework

AW: Inquiry

Starts with a Question

the Research Question

Must describe/tackle:
the relevance of the question...
the approach taken to address it...

Must address the question

AW: Inquiry

What it is about

Expanding knowledge
Tackling a problem
Opening to discussion
Research
Intellectual honesty

What it is NOT about

Finding out the truth

Solving a problem
Creating a polemic
Expos
Unbiased research

AW: Peer-review

AW is very specifically targeted

Academic audience

Publication of text depends on quality approval

Quality judged by peers
Double-blind review
Revisions to original text

AW: Peer-review

AW exists within a Discourse Community

Must acknowledge that tradition

Can disagree with existing discourse

community
More frequently, will complement existing work

Must, therefore, understand debates and

limitations of that Discourse Community

AW: Discourse community?

Social Sciences
Geography
Economic
Geography

Writing Academically

AW: Style, structure, techniques

Style

No single style of AW
Discipline-specific
Discourse community-specific

Depends on personal preference

First or third person?

Depends on module/coursework instruction

Style
Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84. Page
80

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
209

Style: which person?

A problem with what person you write on?

I believe that vs This paper argues that

No they are the same. However:

First person does not give you a free pass to make
unfounded claims
Third person does not make your work sound
unbiased and scientific

Structure

No single structure of AW; some common

elements
Introduction

Arguments/Development

Conclusion

Typical article structure

Abstract
Introduction
Literature review
Methods

Results/Results and discussion

Conclusions

Abstract

A summary of your entire paper

The last thing you write!
and often the only thing readers read

If you cant write a good abstract, you dont

know what your paper is about!
Typically 175-300 words

Abstract
Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84. Page
55

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
198

Introduction
Set out the problem youre addressing

Why does it matter?

How have others approached the problem?
What is your approach?
What is new about your approach?
What is the structure of your paper?

Its not literature review; dont over-reference it.

Typically 800-1200 words

Introduction: last paragraph

Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84.
Pages 58-59

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
200

Literature review
Standing on the shoulders of giants
Previous research on the problem;
Previous results and findings;
Limitations of previous findings;

Set out the discourse in which your paper fits

Never call it Literature Review
Demonstrate intellectual and academic honesty
Typically 3000-3500 words

Methods
Explain and justify what you did
Epistemological and ontological position;
Methodologies used; how they link with the
objectives;
Justify cases; sample size; sampling method; analysis
undertaken

This section can vary immensely; in many cases it

is unnecessary
Typically 600-1200 words

Methods
Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84.
Pages 62-63

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
203

Results/Discussion

What did you find? And what does it mean?

Address your research questions in order
Report your findings
Did they confirm or reject your hypotheses?

Typically 2000-2500 words

Conclusions

Wrap up your paper

Dont repeat results; contextualise them

Discuss where your results fit in the discourse

Management and policy implications

Presents limitations
Indicate future directions of research
Typically 1200-1700 words

Conclusion
Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84. Page
80-81

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
209-212

So, what is an academic paper?

A method of communicating to a discourse

community
Limited in range, objectives and reach
Follows traditions and tropes

Almost a LEGO structure you can play with

4 main sections, 2 optional sections
Typically 8000-10000 words
Around 40 paragraphs

Writing techniques: the Paragraph

If an AW piece is like LEGO, the paragraph is the

building block.
100-200 words
No more than 300

4 sections

Topic
Body
Tokens
Wrap

Paragraph: Topic

The topic signposts

what the paragraph is
about
Does not link back!
Dont start with
however, furthermore

Its a prompt, not a

summary of the
paragraph.

Paragraph: Body

Core argument
Set out reasoning
Describe results
Develop implications
Elaborate and explain

This is the meat

Paragraph: Token

Supporting material
Examples
References
Supporting facts
Analysis of charts and
diagrams

Important, but
potentially digressive
Its the salad, sauce and
slaw

Paragraph: Wrap

Pull it together
Add value to the
argument, not repeat
whats been said
Link forward to the next
paragraph

How do I do it?

1. Write down all headings

2. For each heading,
summarise each
paragraph in one
sentence
3. Revise, criticise, refine
4. Fill in the gaps!

How was your burger?

Coe, N., Johns, J. and Ward, K. (2009). Agents of
casualization? The temporary staffing industry
and labour market restructuring in Australia.
Journal of Economic Geography, 9(1), 55-84. Page
80, 3rd paragraph

Sullivan, S. (2013). Banking Nature? The

Spectacular Financialisation of Environmental
Conservation. Antipode, 45(1), 198217. Page
211, 3rd paragraph

AW: tips and tricks

Avoiding the blank page

Writing is never easy

But its not as hard as it sounds

There is no such things as inspiration!

Mostly, its about perspiration

Practice makes perfect

Getting it done

Tell a story
You figured something out; the reader wants to
know about it

Have a plan
Dont try to write if you dont know what you
want to say

Give yourself plenty of time

Draft, refine, re-write, polish, finish off

Thank you!
Any questions?

carlos.ferreira@coventry.ac.uk

@FerreiraCEM