When I started my master’s program in the fall of 2017, it had been many years since I had used scholarly-writing to put my discoveries and thoughts on paper. As a graphic and web designer, instructional designer and online teacher, the types of writing I was accustomed to producing were much different. I was used to writing short concise marketing materials and information for web sites. I wrote assignment directions in a technical style. I even wrote in a more personal style for my blog such as this one. I had much to learn about the differences between those styles and what is required for scholarly writing.

It may be obvious, but one of the biggest differences between scholarly-writing and other types is their purpose. Scholarly-writing is meant to be informational and grounded in proven theories and evidence. Ideas and thoughts presented are built upon research performed by others in the past with the goal of expanding knowledge. Other styles of non-scholarly writing can also be informational, but are not necessarily grounded in fact or aim to expand knowledge. For instance, marketing materials use language meant to persuade (hannahhunt09, 2016).

Scholarly-writing has a more formal tone, strives for a more objective point-of-view, and uses a vocabulary specific to the academic discipline it supports. Science-based writing requires the author to reduce as much personal bias as possible and avoid using personal pronouns. Casual language, slang, and contractions are not used. The terms used to describe observations and ideas have precise meaning to get as close to a concept as possible with some only used within the people who study and work within a specific field of study. Alternatively, other styles of non-scholarly writing, such as marketing materials, can be extremely biased and showcase personal opinions in a range of casual to formal language. Also, with widely disseminated materials written for marketing purposes or to provide easy technical instructions, the vocabulary used for non-scholarly writing is chosen by how well it can be understood by the general public. I sometimes see people used to writing in a scholarly-style struggle with composing clear instructions. An example is a when a professor writes a lengthy verbose syllabus for first-year in college freshman. I am sure after writing scholarly articles for their peers comfortable wiith reading academic vocabulary and long explanations it is hard to switch to non-academic writing that requires basic terms and sentence structure.

Scholarly-writing has structural rules to follow such as the American Psychological Association (APA) style, Modern Language Association (MLA) style, and The Chicago Manual of Style. There is a prescribed formula for how a paper is laid out and formatted going into such details as font usage, line spacing, citing sources, and more. Other styles of writing may have conventions to follow, such as preferences on paragraph alignment in an invitation versus a newspaper article, but there is not an all-inclusive published guide with strict rules to follow.

I admit I struggled with reading and writing scholarly articles a year ago when I started my master’s program. But as I read more, received tips from the writing center, became familiar with the Purdue OWL website, and got great feedback from my peers and instructors, I grew more comfortable with the style. I still have a way to go until I am proficient and frankly tend turn to more casual and technical language in my everyday duties. But I am thankful I have access to the wealth of knowledge provided in scholarly writings.

References

Academic vs non-academic articles. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mid Michigan College: https://www.midmich.edu/student-resources/lls/library/find-articles/academic-articles

Badley, G. (2009, April). Academic writing as shaping and re-shaping. Teaching in Higher Education, 14(2), 209-219. doi:10.1080/13562510902757294

Elton, L. (2010, April). Academic writing and tacit knowledge. Teaching in Higher Education, 15(2), 151-160. doi:10.1080/13562511003619979

hannahhunt09. (2016, December 2). What are some similarities and differences of academic and non-academic writing? Retrieved from eNotes: https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/similarities-differences-academic-non-academic-258762

How is academic writing different to other kinds of writing? (n.d.). Retrieved from The University of Sydney Learning Centre: http://sydney.edu.au/stuserv/learning_centre/help/styleStructure/st_academicWriting.shtml

Purdue online writing lab: OWL. (n.d.). Retrieved from Purdue University: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html

Smissaert, C., & Jalonen, K. (2018). Responsibility in academic writing: A dialogue of the dead. Qualitative Inquiry, 24(9), 704-711. doi:10.1177/1077800417734008

 

Tags: LTEC 5580

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