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Conclusions and Reflection Topic

Once you have completed your field work and data collection, you will have to draw conclusions from what you have found, reflect on what those conclusions mean and finish writing your dissertation or thesis. The learning units in this topic will help you to both form conclusions from your findings and to explain them, as well as covering issues such as effective writing and presentation, defending your thesis in viva voce examinations, and thinking about what you might want to do after you have finished your research.
Conclusions and reflection > Writing for publication > Qualities of good academic writing

Qualities of good academic writing

Lindisfarne Gospels - incipit from Gospel of MatthewAll researchers at some stage will probably have read an academic publication that they considered poor quality, perhaps whilst reviewing a paper before submission, or as a peer-reviewer post-submission. Select a paper that you feel is poor quality and spend 5 or 10 minutes thinking about why you believe it is poor quality. Think about things such as structure, language and content. You might like to jot down a few notes and to keep these for reference whilst writing you own paper. From your own writing experiences to date, do you tend to have any problem areas? For example, you might often stuggle to think of an impacting opening sentence when writting, or perhaps you find it difficult to decide what to include and what to leave out? Is there anyone who is familiar with your writing such as your supervisor or a peer who could give you some feedback on writing strengths and weaknesses? This will increase your awareness of any problem areas before you begin to write.

Below is a list of good qualities of academic writing that you might like to consider:

  • The discussion is opened with a rhetorical device. This could be a semi-contentious or controversial statement (Murray 2005).
  • The paper starts with simple and clear ideas and introduces more complex concepts gradually throughout.
  • Secialist language is used appropriately and not in a way that would intimidate readers.
  • The paper is worth reading and even citing.
  • The paper is scholarly i.e. accurate, rigorous, informative etc.
  • The paper has been pitched at the right level for the intended audience.
  • The paper engages all sorts of readers, who will all gain something.

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