Academic Writing
Academic writing is a vital skill for university study. When you arrive at university the expected standard of writing will be higher than at school or college and you should continue to improve your writing as you progress through your course and if you go on to postgraduate study then this will require a further improvement.
What is good academic writing?
It's not just about being obscure, using difficult words or writing long, convoluted sentences. Effective academic writing is about expressing complicated ideas clearly, coherently and convincingly.
Guide to academic writing
This guide is particularly helpful if you're working on your dissertation. It covers style, structure, developing an argument and several other topics. It's particularly for Masters students, but useful for all.
SPLASH workshops
We offer a range of workshops that can help you to develop your own writing, including What does a university essay look like?, How do I make my writing more academic? or How can I check or proof read my own work?
SPLASH online tutorial for academic writing.
Check out our new online tutorial. It includes elements of one of our workshops and interactive activities.
SPLASH Guides
There are a series of SPLASH guides available to download in pdf (or you can pick them up in SPLASH itself)
essay writing (115.63KB - Requires Adobe Reader) editing and proofreading (116.37KB - Requires Adobe Reader) Be a grammar guru (123.53KB - Requires Adobe Reader)SPLASH appointments
You might also want to see a Student Learning Advisor on a one-to-one basis about your work. If you come for an appointment, please bring along at least one recent example of your written work.
Useful websites
The Writing for Assignments E-library (WrAssE) created by the University of Plymouth provides examples of good writing from real student assignments alongside comments from tutors on why the writing is good or how it could be improved. You can search by subject, level (undergraduate level 1 up to doctoral level) or keyword.
The LearnHigher Academic Writing site includes advice on topics such as what makes for good academic writing or how to use evidence and includes tests to assess your skills, activities to improve your writing and links to other sources.
Writing in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Wishees (Writing in schools, higher education and employment settings) provides advice, including examples, of good writing at different levels. It's particularly useful at transition points, if you are moving from A level to university or having to write non-academic documents as part of your placement.