Different types of academic writing
Academic style and conventions
Academic writing is different to other types of writing, such as personal journal writing or blogging. It is more formal than some other types of writing, with strict conventions writers are expected to conform to.
Activity:
What are the key characteristics of academic writing?
What about personal journal/blog writing?
Over the course of your degree you are likely to be asked to undertake a variety of different types of written assignment. This might include some of the following:
- A report
- Literature review
- Reflective writing
- Annotated bibliography
- Dissertation
- Commentary
Each of these types of academic writing has a slightly different purpose and you will have different aims for each one. Your purpose and aims will influence the structure of your writing and what you need to include. That is why it is important to make sure you fully understand what is expected of you before you start planning any written assignment. Make sure to carefully read the assignment information and check the marking scheme before you get started.
Report writing:
If you would like to learn more about what should be in a report and how to plan and structure your report check out our My Learning Essentials Report Writing online resource below:
Writing a literature review:
If you would like to know what a good literature review should include and how to plan and structure your review check out our resource Dissertations: The A-Z of Literature Reviews below:
Reflective writing:
Reflective writing includes some similar elements to academic writing, combined with some elements of personal journal writing. It is most commonly used with the medical and social care professions to reflect on interactions with patients. Reflective writing requires you to describe your subjective experience of a learning activity (as you might do in a journal) whilst also engaging critically with your own performance and relating that to relevant theory and literature (more like academic writing). The purpose of reflective writing is
The structure which is required for your piece of reflective writing may vary depending on your subject area and what your academic tutor would like you to include, so always refer to your assignment information before getting started. However, Gibb’s reflective writing model (1988) is well regarded and provides a good example of how to approach this type of writing. Gibb’s model focuses on six key elements which help the writer to critically engage with an experience and evidence their learning: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan. Tackling these six elements in turn will help you as a writer to move from the surface details of an experience (the description) to a critical understanding of how and why things occurred as they did (the evaluation and analysis). Finally, the conclusion and action plan allow you to highlight the key learning points and how you will build on the experience in future.
Embed Gibb’s reflective writing model:
file:///S:/Learning%20Development/Training%20Materials%202018–2019/Exploring%20your%20reflective%20writing%20using%20Lego%20Serious%20Play/Gibbs’%20reflective%20model%20A3.pdf
