How to: Academic Writing

Do you remember the first time you had to write an academic article? Or is your first academic article still waiting ahead for you? How do you feel about writing it? Nervous? Excited? Insecure? Don’t worry! JEPS has got you covered! This blog will give you a few tools and things to be mindful of during your next writing session.

First things first: what is academic writing? Think of an informal text you’ve read and then about a research article that you’ve read, what are the first differences that pop up in your head? Writing style? References? Structure? Exactly! Aspects like these distinguish a formal, academic paper from an informal text, such as a magazine or book you get at the bookstore. Academic papers are usually intended for a scholarly audience, such as professors, researchers, and students and there are quite a few rules that it needs to meet. As a psychology student, you’ve probably heard of the abbreviation ‘APA’, which is short for American Psychological Association. The rules that APA made for academic writing are leading for psychologists, you can basically see it as the bible for researchers. There are guidelines on every single part of a paper; the abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion, and very importantly: the references (you wouldn’t be the first to fail an assignment due to incorrect references *sad face*). But don’t feel too worried: there are tons of examples, explanations and websites to help you with this. I can hear you think: if everything needs to meet the same guidelines, don’t all papers look the same? Well, as our friend Steven Pinker used to say: ‘creativity in psychology tends to come from the ideas behind the writing, not the writing itself’.

Okay, let’s dive into academic writing. There are plenty of websites out there that give you good advice on how to write a paper. Let’s look at some (maybe logical) but important things regarding effective writing. Have you ever heard of ‘the curse of knowledge?’ Give it some time to think about it before reading further. So, the curse of knowledge refers to us tending to assume that other people have the same knowledge we do. When you are doing research, you have to dive into a certain topic. Before you know it, you are neck deep into it and know every little detail and the definition of hard words, such as ‘equifinality’ – yeah, I needed to Google that as well. After reading (and repeatedly Googling) it, you finally know what it means, but for others it is still a hard word. To be aware of the curse of knowledge is to realize that others haven’t done all the research that you have done. Therefore, it is important to elaborate all hard terms and minimize jargon. It might feel like you have to use the most difficult and professional words there are out there and make long sentences in order to make it academic (-synonyms.net was my most used website during my thesis), but the opposite is true: short is better than long and common is better than rare. Let’s do a little exercise to show the difference:

Short words are like clear signs on a familiar road. We see them often and know exactly where they lead. Simple words, like “go” and “home,” quickly tell us what to do and where to go without any confusion. They’re like a friendly wave, saying, “Hey, come this way!” Short words are buddies we’ve known forever, making it easy to understand and follow their meaning without any extra thinking. They’re the smooth path that doesn’t make us stumble, allowing us to get to the destination without getting lost.

Long words, with their abundance of syllables and intricate constructions, often pose a formidable challenge to our understanding. When we encounter lengthy terms such as “Neuropsychopharmacology,” they resemble a complex labyrinth, difficult to navigate without a map. Their prolonged nature requires substantial mental gymnastics, attempting to unravel the intricacies within. These words, not commonly used in everyday conversation, feel like cryptic codes needing deciphering. They demand more effort to process and, like a tangled knot, can be frustrating to untangle. Moreover, the risk of misinterpretation lurks as we grapple with their multifaceted meanings, making comprehension an arduous journey through dense linguistic terrain.

So, which was easier to read? The first one, right? This has to do with your verbal working memory, that is responsible for temporarily storing verbal information. Your verbal working memory can only store so many words, so reading long and difficult sentences can make it quite a challenge for your brain. Now, this doesn’t mean that it’s completely forbidden to use long sentences or rare words, this is just a reminder to be mindful about the use of long sentences and that it’s important to elaborate unusual words, and if possible, use abbreviations.

Let’s do an exercise before I explain the next aspect. Please read the text below:

People want to know that you have their back. They want to know that you care about what’s happening to them, and you’re working to make their lives better. And people in my state understand that you can’t get anything done if you won’t compromise. That’s just the reality. But compromise is hard, because people are afraid to take tough votes. People from the deep blue and deep red states are afraid that their base will turn on them if they compromise. And you know, I get that. Because people don’t call my office and say, ‘Senator, please compromise.’ Compromise isn’t what gets people excited. And honestly, journalism is part of the problem, too. Celebrity gossip is always going to get more clicks than a budget bill, so even when we do get something done, people write about the celebrity. They don’t say, ‘Hey, the senate did something good today.’”

Now, which kinds of people was the author referring to? I’ll give you a hint: it’s more than one group of people. Now read the text below:

‘People Voters want to know that you have their back. They want to know that you care about what’s happening to them, and you’re working to make their lives better. And people voters in my state understand that you can’t get anything done if you won’t compromise. That’s just the reality. But compromise is hard, because people senators are afraid to take tough votes. People Senators from the deep blue and deep red states are afraid that their base will turn on them if they compromise. And you know, I get that. Because people voters don’t call my office and say, ‘Senator, please compromise.’ Compromise isn’t what gets people the public excited. And honestly, journalism is part of the problem, too. Celebrity gossip is always going to get more clicks than a budget bill, so even when we do get something done, people journalists write about the celebrity. They don’t say, ‘Hey, the senate did something good today.’”

See the difference? It’s important to specify in your text who or what you’re talking about. This might be a simple example, but it’s tricky with some words. For example: when a text says ‘adolescents’, which age group is this referring to? Some might say ages 10-19, but others might think of 13-18 years, another one says 10-24 years. But another says that 18-15 is defined as ‘young adults’. So, don’t forget to be specific and elaborate.

One last thing I would like to talk about is the use of bias free language. Mistakes are easily made in the categories of gender, age, disability, sexual orientation – I’ve made them plenty myself and only got aware of them after a friend pointed it out to me. Especially with gender, the mistakes are lurking around the corner. For example using the word ‘men’, which group of men do you refer to? Transgender men? Cis men? It’s best to specify. Now, have a look at these words: seniors, elderly, older people, older patients – which one would you use in your paper? Which one do you think has the less bias? That’s right, the two last ones. Using words as ‘seniors’ or the ‘elderly’ come with certain prejudices towards these people. When I read elderly for example, I instantly think of a granny with gray hair and a cane, but she could be fit at a fettle riding around her bicycle everyday (the Dutch-ness is rooted deep as you can see). So, it’s better to use words such as older people. With this it is also important to specify at least once which age range you’re referring to.
Another mistake I made myself is the use of person-first language instead of identity first language. Image, you have paraplegia or another condition. How would you like to be described? With your condition in the spotlight? Or as a person with that condition? I think we can easily agree on this one. That’s why it’s best to use person-first language. Here is an example: a person with paraplegia (instead of a paraplegic). Even better would be, if you are studying a group of people with a disability for example, to ask them how they would like to be referred as. In that case you can never be wrong, and you’ll score extra points on the ethical side of your study: two birds with one stone.

Okay, that’s enough information for today. I hope this will give you some guidelines and make you feel a little more confident for your next writing session. If you want to know more about academic writing, feel free to reach out to JEPS or have a look at our website. Remember what I said in the beginning: be kind to yourself and give yourself time to learn. And… maybe we will even see your paper submitted to JEPS one day!

Warm hug, Aniek