Questions tagged [academic-writing]
The academic-writing tag has no usage guidance.
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Are words marked with the "old-fashioned" tag in dictionaries suitable for academic writing?
I guess there are old-fashioned informal words, but it seems to me that most "old-fashioned" words are formal. I've seen these words in the dictionary quite often, e.g. nigh on or nay (in ...
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On the cursive penmanship [closed]
In France, I was taught to write in cursive penmanship from my 6 years old to my 10 years old (alongside vocabulary, grammar, grammatical conjugation and so on). Once I have completed this learning, I ...
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Does using quotes around an informal word make it acceptable in academic writing?
Riding stunts such as "wheelie," "stoppie," or "drifting" are considered reckless driving when performed on public streets.
All three words are rather informal/slang, ...
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How do I know if an idiom is suitable for academic writing?
Flashing lights and camera lenses may put the judge, who must always be of sound mind, off his stride and hence affect his judgments.
There are idioms that can be used for academic writing, and there ...
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what does this phrase mean "placed on her end"?
I found this expression on this reading passage:
The RMS Titanic left Southampton for New York on April 10, 1912. On board were some of the richest and most famous people of the time who had paid ...
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Is there a British English equivalent of a "straight-A student"?
My 18-year-old private student, Italian, is taking the Cambridge Advance English exam in July. I am marking their essay which has the following phrase:
… by observing the dedication of these high-ace ...
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Could I use "that" if I merely have one bike?
On https://www.grammarly.com/blog/which-vs-that/, it says
In a restrictive clause, use that.
In a nonrestrictive clause, use which.
It shows two examples.
My bike that has a broken seat is in the ...
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Correct english word for undoing a knot: untangle, disentangle, untie?
What's the best English word to describe the undoing of a knot? Some I have in mind: untangle, disentangle, untie.
I would like to use this word as an adjective. Here is an example sentence:
After ...
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What is the proper way to use articles in formula annotations?
English is not my native language. Recently I ran into a problem while writing a scientific paper. It seems like different authors use a/the articles in formula annotations differently, and I can't ...
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"A too large dataset is difficult to learn" vs "If the dataset is too large, the learning is difficult"
I am writing an academic paper. I wrote the sentence "A too large dataset is difficult to learn". My colleague told me she felt that it was not a complete sentence, and it is better to ...
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To boil water down to the bottom of the pot
Boil (something) down
to heat a liquid or food so that part of it is turned into gas and its amount is reduced, or to be reduced in this way
If I boiled water, and water decreased to the bottom of ...
user182348
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Inclusive meaning
These example sentences are from Cambridge dictionary. One thing I can't understand is the use of the word inclusive. If I omit it, does it mean the same? The other example is the same. I don't know ...
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"The given text", or how should students or scholars refer to the text they are given in an exam?
In an exam situation students are often given a text which they have to summarize, analyze, you name it. Often they start their answers "The given text ... deals with" or "The text at ...
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Is this "Scaling up" or "Up to" ? and what does it mean?
Bellow is a title of a chapter of a book. Is this "Scaling up" or "Up to" ? and what does it mean?
Experimental Analyses of Population Dynamics: Scaling Up to the
Landscape
In ...
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How to use English Punctuations?
Comma
Colon
Semicolon
Brackets
After useing comma should we use space between comma and next word or not?
E.g:
When I saw him, he was reading book.
When I saw him,he was reading book.
After useing ...
user175480
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Is this usage of apostrophe grammatical: "the person with dementia’s employer"
This is from a booklet about caring for elderly people who has dementia:
"requesting flexible working arrangements from your employer and the person with dementia’s employer."
When I read it,...
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Comparison of two categories over a specific period of time
Year: 2009 / 2019
Mobile use: 15% / 26%
Tablet use: 5% / 19%
what is the correct way to describe changes in two different years? I have tried to describe the changes in three different ...
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Putting labels into quotation marks when describing a graph
Suppose we want to describe the following graph.
Isn't it preferable to put labels in quotation marks?
For example, instead of writing
1 Salaries comprise three-thirds of the total budget, as ...
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Difference between "Why is this so?" and "Give reasons for this and solutions?"
In IELTS writing task 2, I saw some questions such as the following,
Why is this so? Give reasons for this and solutions?
Here, the IDP asked to answer in the following essay structure (paragraph-...
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Am I asked to express my opinion?
In IELTS band descriptor, it is clearly written that I have to mention a position and stick to it throughout the essay from Introduction to Conclusion.
Band 9: “presents a fully developed position“
...
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Using "the" and "a" in title, figure titles, and headings in an academic paper
Is it acceptable to drop "a" and "the" words in the title, figure titles, and headings in an academic paper or on a NEWS website?
For example:
Instead of writing:
"The ...
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Is 'all the way up to 100%' a formal expression
I am writing an academic paper and I do not know whether my expression is formal. The full sentence is
There is a threshold (we call it take-off threshold) of ρc above which the proportion of the ...
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Adverbial phrase across multiple sentences
Consider the following toy example:
Chess is a board game. More precisely, there are 2 players. There is an 8 by 8 grid. There are 6 kinds of pieces. There are...
It seems to me that the scope of ...
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Is using the phrase 'That being said' acceptable in an academic paper for science?
I'm currently writing an academic paper on radioactivity, and I included the following sentence in one of my paragraphs:
That being said, it is also our (the community’s) responsibility to uphold the ...
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The use of 'their' in academic writing
Is it right to write “big corporations must work on their marketing strategies” in academic writing?
Our instructor said you can't use pronouns like 'their' in academic writing.
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Right position of "including" in academic writing
I saw this in the New York Times, I am curious to know if the position of "including" is right, especially for academic writing case?
What is the rule of thumb for position of phrases such ...
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What is the abbreviation for "column"?
While references usually refer to page numbers, e.g.
Smith, J. On a a certain subject. In: Obscure Journal 2022, pp. 75-81.
it is sometimes (e.g., in some lexicons) necessary to refer to text ...
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parenthesis or commas for extra information in academic writing?
Which style is more preferable for providing extra information in academic writing? Parenthesis or comma?
The two below examples are one sentence expressing the two styles.
Also, is there a better way ...
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Comparison between quantities of several things
For academic writing, which of these three comparative styles is preferred, or more correct?
The mantle velocity of the China Craton is around 8 Km/s, similar to the typical cratons.
The mantle ...
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How to rephrase a long comprative sentence
I am trying to state a comparative argument in a long sentence for an academic paper. I don't want to split it. Is there any way for shortening it? Is it always necessary to use "those of the&...
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How to use the verb "filter" to mean include?
Suppose I have a group of items. Each item in the group is of type A,B,C, or D. I want to filter them and keep only items of group A. I can say "I want to filter out B, C, and D from the group&...
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Using "the" to begin paper title for a scholarly article
Consider two following options for the title of a scientific article:
The underlying mechanism of coupled ion motion in lithium-sulfur batteries.
Underlying mechanism of coupled ion motion in ...
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long title without verb
As a non-native English speaker I know that English requires verbs in every sentence, but I don't know if it is the case for the long title (a title of a subsection in academic article).
Example for ...
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Inquiry vs Enquiry what's the difference?
Is there a difference between the two words Inquiry and Enquiry when being used in formal writing as the two have been used alternatively in literature. And if not which one should be preferred in ...
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Should "Example" have a capital letter when pluralised?
When referring to different examples in a research paper, the e should be capitalised:
In Example 3, we see how...
But does this hold for the plural as well? That is, which of the following is ...
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What is the word *then* doing in "The constant synthesis, **then**, of specific material from simple....",?
It was usually considered that the most characteristic feature of life is its
metabolism.
" The constant synthesis, then, of specific material from simple
compounds of a non-specific character ...
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"respectively"—should only be used if your sentence would be unclear without it?
Should we use in academic writing the word "respectively" for the following case:
Consider circles 1 and 2.
These circles have radii r1 and r2, respectively.
Maybe because it is obvious ...
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"or" between items
Which option is the proper in academic writing for "or" items (apples/pears/oranges):
I am going to eat red apples or yellow pears or green oranges.
I am going to eat red apples, or yellow ...
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Academic writing Simple Past/Simple Present in passive form
As per online guides, actions or events completed are to be written in simple past in academic papers. In that case, specific calculations and observations are to be in the past tense as well. For ...
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Using a comma instead of "and" in "A and B are the objects that are part of the equation."
It is proper to use "," between A and B
A, B are the objects that are part of the equation.
instead of "and"
A and B are the objects that are part of the equation.
in formal ...
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Is "to the point" formal enough to be written in an academic text?
In the following text I used "to the point" to mean that some governments control people and this tendency to control causes the right of individual liberty be restricted. Is it natural to ...
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Plural or singular verbs with lists of single elements
Another plural/singular verb question that I feel must have been asked before but cannot find a good example on ELL or the usual grammar websites. I know the rules for compound subjects.
The dog and ...
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at the same time as or at the same time when
The sentence:
At the same time as the value of x decreases, the variable y and its absolute value decrease.
Can we use when instead as?
At the same time when the value of x decreases, the variable ...
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With or without apostrophe: The Modal Analysis of Snowflakes' Wake Flows
I am about to print my Master Thesis and I am a bit confused with the title.
My supervisors didn't mention anything so I wanted to ask if the title is grammatically correct.
In the thesis, I have four ...
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definite or indefinite article for new term that described in other paper?
When we present a term for the first time with reference to another article, should we use definite or indefinite article? (without reference, we should use indefinite article)
Example (The Hilbert's ...
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definite article after "and"
The sentence about general facts:
Molecules are neutral particles made of two or more atoms bonded together.
The proton and the electron are parts of an atom.
Can we remove article before electron?
...
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"comma" or "and" between section names? [duplicate]
"Comma" or "and"?
Case 1:
In §2.1 and §2.2 we prove ...
or
In §2.1, §2.2 we prove ...
Case 2:
As mentioned in Section 2 (§2.1 and §2.2) ...
or
As mentioned in Section 2 (§2....
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"That which" or "What" for academic writing
That which and what have equivalent meanings. Which is better to use in an academic context? Does it depend on the context, e.g. scientific report vs essay?
For example:
That which comes from the ...
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What's the difference in "Ethics is (a/the) branch of philosophy"?
Is there any semantic or grammatic difference in "a branch" and "the branch" usage, or are the articles interchangeable?
Some examples:
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that ...
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Concise way of saying "harder than we were thinking"
I am writing the following sentence in a research article:
The authors investigated the feasibility of XXX; we find that this direction, though look promising, is much harder than we thought.
I am ...
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