Language in academic writing is usually described as formal, concise, precise, and neutral. If these characteristics fail to appear in writing, even the most innovative and intelligent ideas might be perceived as simplistic or even be disregarded by a scholarly community. To avoid this situation, writers should strive for formality in their writing. This handout outlines language features that usually contribute to informality and provides examples of more formal alternatives.
NOTE: It is crucial to remember that the language features described below are NOT completely avoided in all academic writing. Depending on the context, discipline, genre, year of publication, and even section of a paper, these features could appear with varying frequency. Still, they are generally uncommon in academic writing.
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Informal Feature |
Possible Substitution |
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It is uncommon to address the reader in academic writing. Avoid second person pronouns (you/your/yours).
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You will find the results in Figure 2. |
Results can be found in Figure 2. |
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Contractions (e.g. don’t, he’d, she’s) make writing less formal. Use full forms instead. |
The study doesn’t examine… |
The study does not examine… |
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Generally, questions are not used in scholarly writing (unless it is a research question).
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Why has antibiotic resistance increased? |
Many studies have investigated why antibiotic resistance has increased. |
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Avoid exclamations. |
…evidence! |
…evidence. |
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Use 1-word verbs instead of 2- or more word verbs (phrasal verbs). |
This articles talks about… The prices go up… |
This article discusses… The prices increase … |
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Avoid unattended this/these; use this/these+ a summary word instead. |
Writing instructors know that students need to understand the differences between formal and informal language. This can help students make strategic choices in their writing.
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Writing instructors know that students need to understand the differences between formal and informal language. This understanding can help students make strategic choices in their writing. |
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Limit the use of “run on” expressions, such as: and so on; etc. |
Examples include laptops, smart phones, etc. |
Examples include laptops, smart phones, and other devices. |
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Single-word negatives are more formal. |
Not many of the participants saw a change. The study did not show any contradictory findings. |
Few participants saw a change. The study showed no contradictory findings. |
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“There is” and “There are” can usually be cut from the beginning of sentences. |
There was little evidence… |
Little evidence appeared… |
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Limit the use of coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) at the beginning of sentences. |
And the study also compared… |
The study also compared… |
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In many disciplines, writers do not utilize first person (I/me/my/mine or we/our/ours), or they use it sparingly. Avoid first person pronouns unless they are used frequently in your field, in a specific writing genre (e.g. personal reflection) or in a certain part of a paper (e.g. in introductions to state the purpose of research). |
I can explain this fact by… |
This fact can be explained by… |
Passive voice: Although grammar checkers caution against the use of passive voice, it is used in academic writing when the agent of the action is unimportant. Thus, limit, but not completely avoid passive voice in your writing.
Word Choice
In addition to the language features listed above, it is important to be mindful of general word choice as well. The following verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs might be too general or vague, so usually more specific alternatives are preferred.
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Informal Words |
Possible Substitutions |
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Verbs get make put let look say |
collect, gain produce, construct place, locate allow, permit appear, seem discuss, explain, suggest |
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Nouns thing(s), stuff kid(s) people
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use a word more specific to the context child(ren), daughter(s), son(s) experts, students, participants, or any other specific word
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Adjectives & Adverbs sort of like very/really/so lots/a lot of big good bad done nice beautiful |
rather, somewhat such as, for example omit and use a stronger adjective/adverb a great number/amount of, a variety of substantial, significant positive, considerable, high-quality negative, unhealthy finished, completed personable, helpful use attractive to describe a person or use an adjective more specific to the situation to describe other nouns (e.g. I want to use more effective words – not beautiful words) |
Strategies
- When you edit your paper electronically, enter the informal word (e.g. stuff) in your word processor’s search box to identify all the instances of this word in your text. Use a formal alternative to replace the informal word, but try to use a variety of formal words, not the same one in every example.
- To identify whether a certain word is commonly used in academic writing, search for this word in COCA Word and Phrase (https://www.wordandphrase.info/frequencyList.asp ). Click on the word for context and synonyms, and a box below will show you a graph that displays the word frequency in different contexts (e.g. in spoken language, magazines, fiction, and academic writing). If the graph shows that this word is infrequent in academic writing, it is a good idea to look for synonyms (also provided on this website).
- Another place to look for synonyms is in online dictionaries (e.g. http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/ or https://www.wordsmyth.net)
Practice
Identify informal features in the following sentences. Underline informal words and phrases and offer more formal alternatives.