As an important part of studying abroad, writing academic papers is crucial. In this article, we will analyse some common misunderstandings and share some practical strategies in a concise and clear way, aiming to help you better complete the writing of academic papers.
First of all, we need to make it clear that the purpose of an academic paper is to convey knowledge and insights, therefore, in the process of writing, you should use professional terminology and objective expressions as much as possible, avoiding the use of overly subjective or colloquial words. For example, words such as “normally”, “obviously” and “I think”, although widely used in daily life, are not formal enough in academic papers, which may affect the credibility and evaluation of the paper.
Secondly, the use of passive voice should be kept in moderation. Although passive voice can make sentence structure clearer in some cases, its overuse may lead to the weakening of the subject of the original sentence, thus affecting the logic and coherence of the essay.
In addition, for beginners, they may try to obtain references by translating Chinese sources into English. However, this practice is risky because not all Chinese sources are of sufficient academic value and there may be a large amount of repetitive information. Therefore, it is recommended that you prioritise English-language literature and follow relevant academic norms and standards when selecting references.
Furthermore, when selecting research topics and contents, you should focus on their academic value and innovation. The research methodology should be designed around how to solve the problem, not just to meet the word count requirement. Meanwhile, when writing a dissertation, care should be taken to distinguish between the two different formatting requirements of Essay and Report.
Finally, in the process of writing a dissertation, the principle of academic integrity should be strictly adhered to, and plagiarism or plagiarism of others’ works should be avoided. At the same time, one should carefully read the specific requirements of the instructor, such as specifying the research object or product, so as to avoid failure due to negligence.
Writing academic papers is not an easy task and requires us to have a solid academic foundation, rigorous habits of thought and good language skills. We hope that the above tips can help you and wish you excel in your academic path!
