Academic language and tone from formal diction, grammar, and usage

The to-do

a. Use of nouns—specific terms or jargon with discrimination. Jargon is the special language of
your profession as the researcher of your area of study; minimize your use of jargon and
avoid terms that seem outdated and used too often.
b. Use of precise facts or figures; state them as clearly as possible. Avoid absolute statements
such as about a hundred or hundreds of years ago. If it is necessary to estimate numbers, use
approximately rather than about.
c. Use of specific wording as much as possible. Avoid the following words or phrases:
like for introducing examples—use such as or for instance.
thing and combinations nothing or something—use factor, issue, or topic.
lots of –use a significant/considerable number.
little/big—use other clearer and formal expressions such as small/large.
“get” phrases such as get better/worse—use improve and deteriorate.
d. Strive for a balance of active and passive verbs: Academic English tends to use the passive
more than Standard English; however, even the passive should not be overused. Both have
their place. Compare:
Manners (1995) claims that most companies perform worse when …

It is widely agreed that most companies perform worse when …

e. Use of tentative expressions in conclusions. Avoid absolute statements or generations such as

unemployment causes crime. Instead use cautious phrases: unemployment may cause crime or
tends to cause crime. The use of tentative expressions will help create an objective, less
biased, or absolute tone.
f. Use plural and single nouns properly, “these” data (better) vs “the“ data (data: plural).
g. Use tenses accurately and simply in academic writing, e.g., Sanchez (2000) presented …
h. Use of sentence structures which are relatively longer and dense by means of wh-words or
ing-words.

The not-to-do

i. Avoid fad expressions that have a brief vogue in your profession and then disappear. For
example: most educators are tired of hearing about “paradigm shift.”
j. Avoid idiomatic or colloquial vocabulary, e.g. kids, boss. Instead use Standard English:
children, manager. Two-word verbs or phrase verbs will be avoided such as go on or bring
up.
k. Avoid adverbs that reflect your personal attitude, e.g., luckily, remarkably, surprisingly.
l. Avoid contracted verb forms, e.g., isn’t, don’t, can’t. Use the full form: is not, do not, cannot.
m. Avoid emotive adjectives which diminish the power of the arguments. The usage reveals a
sense of subjectivity and biased point of view.
n. Avoid the vague use of pronouns such as we, our, you, and I as these pronouns are often
ambiguous in terms of to whom they refer. For example:
“We should be more concerned with student responsibility.”
Write a clearer version:
“Educators should be more concerned with student responsibility.”
 o. Avoid the sexist use of the masculine pronoun in referring to males and females. Use the
plural forms because they are not gender specific, or use a substitute such as his or her.
SEXIST: A doctor should avoid imposing his opinions on patients. (A doctor is not
necessarily a male.)
BETTER: Doctors should avoid imposing their opinions on patients.
p. Avoid careless errors in parallel structures. For example, red, orange and yellow are
commonly used. BETTER: red, orange, and yellow
q. Avoid wrong subject-verb agreements. For example, the data indicates that …
BETER: the/these data indicate that . . . (note that it is considered more formal and acceptable
in the APA style).

Academic format

a. Use of Font size (12), Font (Times New Roman), and spacing (double for items in the
reference list suggested by the research committee or instructors).
b. Use of in-text and end-text citations for ideas cited in the body of the text and in the reference
list. It is practice demonstrating integrity, reliability, and competence.
c. Use of paraphrases rather than direct quotations. Use direct quotation only when it is
important to preserve the exact words of the original. In most cases, paraphrase.
d. Avoid using question forms such as what were the reasons for the decline in wool exports?
Instead use statements: There were four main reasons for the decline …
e. Avoid numbering sections of your text, except in reports and long essays such as
dissertations. Use conjunctions and signposting expressions to introduce new sections, e.g.,
Turning to the questions of taxation …
f. Avoid using etc. and so on when writing lists. Insert and before the last item, e.g., The main
products were pharmaceuticals, electronic goods, and confectionary.
g. Avoid tables or graphs in short essays (less than 1000 words).

Punctuation

Punctuation is used with prudence as it makes a difference in meaning to the reader. The use of
double or single quotation marks needs to be clearly defined. What are the differences? Which one is
correct?

a. ‘Although many researchers have analysed organizations as “loosely coupled systems”, only
a few have bothered to define what is meant by “loose coupling”.’

b. “Although many researchers have analysed organizations as ‘loosely coupled systems,’ only a
few have bothered to define what is meant by ‘loose coupling.’”
The correct one is: ____________________
Explanation: