1. Rules for academic style

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Rules for academic style

a) Do not use idiomatic or colloquial vocabulary: dad, guy. Use standard English: father, man.

b) Use vocabulary accurately. There is a difference between rule and law, or currency and money, which you are expected to know.

c) Be as precise as possible when dealing with facts or figures. Avoid phrases such as about a hundred or hundreds of years ago. If it is necessary to estimate numbers use approximately rather than about.

d) Conclusions should use tentative language. Avoid absolute statements such as education reduces crime. Instead use cautious phrases: may reduce crime or tends to reduce crime.

e) Avoid adverbs that show your personal attitude: luckily, remarkably, surprisingly.

f) Do not contract verb forms: don’t, can’t. Use the full form: do not, cannot.

g) Although academic English tends to use the passive more than standard English, it should not be over-used. Both have their place.Compare:

Manners (1995) claims that most companies perform worse when …

It is widely agreed that most companies perform worse when …

In the first case, the focus is on the source, in the second on what companies do.

h) Avoid the following:

like for introducing examples. Use such as or for instance.

thing and combinations: nothing or something. Use factor, issue or topic.

lots of. Use a significant/considerable number.

little/big. Use small/large.

get phrases such as get better/worse. Use improve and deteriorate.

i) Do not use question forms such as What were the reasons for the decline in wool exports? Instead use statements: There were four main reasons for the decline…

j) Avoid numbering sections of your text, except in certain reports.

Use conjunctions and signposting expressions to introduce new sections (Turning to the question of taxation …). Sub-headings are widely used.

k) When writing lists, avoid using etc. or and so on. Insert and before the last item:

The forests of the twelfth century consisted of oak, ash and lime.

l) Avoid using two-word verbs such as go on or bring up if there is a suitable synonym. Use continue or raise.

In the following, first underline the examples of poor style and then re-write them in a more suitable way:

a) Lots of people think that the railways are getting worse.

b) Sadly, serious crime like murder is going up.

c) You can’t always trust the numbers in that report.

d) The second thing is that most kids in that district will become criminals.

e) I think that there’s a big risk of more strikes, disorder etc.

f) A few years ago they allowed women to vote.

g) Regrettably, the inflation in Russia led to increased poverty, illness and

so on.

h) Sometime soon they will find a vaccine for malaria.

i) What were the main causes of the American Revolution?