Academic Writing Feature of Formality – What You Should Know

Academic writing is a distinctive writing style in terms of formality and use of language. It suggests following Standard English conventions, norms, and rules and compels a reader to think logically. Thus, this article will provide detailed notes on the feature of formality in two sessions. The first will introduce the concept of formality in academics with examples, while the other part will discuss the core features of academic writing.

Formality in academic writing examples

According to the definition, formality refers to something done by following the convention, rules, and customs. Similarly, the strict following of the convention or etiquette while drafting an academic essay refers to formality in academic writing. Academic writing is more concerned with formality than other forms of writing. It aims to provide the reader with all the necessary information he/she may need to understand a concept. It differs from other relatively informal writing types and relies on the readers to assume additional information to complete the message.

In writing, formality means evaluating how well an author presents the information in the light of Standard English writing rules. The reason for being more formal in academic writing is that the audience of these tasks usually includes colleagues, fellows, and tutors. These entities often have prior knowledge about your topic of discussion. Thus, to provide a detailed account of information on a chosen topic keeping in mind correct writing conventions, then the feature of formality in academic writing is of paramount importance. You can even hire assignment writing services UK to enhance the feature of formality in your academic writing.

How to measure the formality of the content

If someone asks you to measure the formality of the content, you must consider the following things:

• Has the author used proper written English conventions in the manuscript?
• Has the author used idiom, slang or cliché in writing?
• How objectively the author presents the information? Does it contain all the necessary information one may need to understand the information?
• How correctly does an author recognise his audience?
• Is the format of the academic task best fit according to the standard writing format?

Students should pay special attention to the academic writing features of formality as it prevents the spread of false information and creates misinterpretations in research work. For making an academic task more formal, you must avoid certain things. For a better understanding of the concept of formality in academic writing, you can review the following examples:

The sentences that deliver the sense of causality are usually considered as informal, for example:

• In my opinion, rhetorical sentences in academic writing may puzzle the readers.
• We cannot introduce improvement in an organisation due to funds restrictions.
• Elizabeth got stuck as it was raining cats and dogs.

Thus, sentences that include conversational style, slang, clichés and jargon are informal and not allowed to be used in academic writing. Thus, to use these sentences in academic writing, one must make them more formal. Like:

• The use of rhetorical sentences in academic writing may confuse readers.
• Fund restrictions may limit improvements in an organisation.
• The heavy rain caused Elizabeth to get stuck.

Seven features of academic writing

Academic writing is the most sophisticated type of writing used for accessing students’ intellectual abilities. Standard academic writing guides demand the writer to be concise, focused, clear and organised while attempting a writing task. In a few simple words, the academic task must be written by keeping in mind the feature of formality. The following are the features that an author must know to make an academic task informative:

1. Objectivity

Academic writing must present and explore an issue to draw logical conclusions. An author must rely on solid evidence and facts instead of stating personal feelings for objectivity. Objectivity demands us to remain fair in judgment and data presentation.

2. Precision

Another feature of formality is precision which aims to bring clarity and conciseness to writing. The writer must avoid the fuzziness and ambiguity that may distract the reader. Clarity refers to selecting words that can best convey your messages, while conciseness suggests using a minimal number of words without sacrificing clarity to convey a scientific message. Thus, in academic writing, one should develop arguments based on facts and evidence in the most precise manner.

3. Responsibility

Responsibility is the key feature of almost all types of writing. It explains that the writers are responsible for all the information he/she provides. Thus, in academic writing, you must provide the evidence and proof for every judgment and claim. Moreover, the author is also responsible for referring to all the sources he/she used in a study.

4. Complexity

Complexity refers to bringing difficulty in the concepts or making things confusing. At the same time, academic writing aims to provide detailed information on a topic in a way that people can understand. Apart from all, in academic writing, the varying level of complexity is recommended; for example, you can use more noun based phrases instead of verb-based phrases. Furthermore, you can also use grammatically complex but correct sentences, including subordinates, less common vocabulary, and passive sentences. Thus, complexity aims to bring diversity in the context of academics, so one should focus on it without sacrificing clarity.

5. Explicitness

Explicitness in academic writing refers to the writer’s responsibility to connect different text parts. For this, we can use signalling or transitional words. These words work for logically linking the ideas in a text.

6. Organisation

The feature of formality in academic and essay writing service demands us to produce a well-organised manuscript. A well-organised piece of information is the one that creates links between different sessions of a text. It aims to bring coherency and fluency for increasing the readability score. There are many structural organisation patterns like chronological order, order of importance, and comparison and contrast.

7. Accuracy

In academic writing, the use of accurate vocabulary is necessary. Students should pay extra attention to the subject-specialized vocabulary and its appropriate use while reporting academic findings. Thus, accuracy in academic writing refers to vocabulary that can help you explain a phenomenon.

Conclusion:

Formality in academic writing is the concept of giving a manuscript a more literary touch. For bringing formality to academic writing, one should avoid personal thoughts/ideas, slang, clichés and jargon. Moreover, objectivity, accuracy, precision, complexity, explicitness, organisation and responsibility are core features of formality needed to make the academic task more formal. Hence, by giving proper references, using subject-specific terms and good structural organisation, one can meet the requirements of the feature of formality in academic writing.