In academia, writing and publishing is conducted in several sets of forms and genres. This is a list of genres of academic writing. It is a short summary of the full spectrum of critical & academic writing. It does not cover the variety of critical approaches that can be applied when writing about a subject. However as Harwood and Hadley (2004) and Hyland (2004) have pointed out the amount of variation that exists between different disciplines may mean that we cannot refer to a single academic literacy.^[1]

Writing in these forms or styles is usually serious, intended for a critical and informed audience, based on closely investigated knowledge, and posits ideas or arguments. It usually circulates within the academic world ('the academy'), but the academic writer may also find an audience outside via journalism, speeches, pamphlets, etc.

Typically scholarly writing has an objective stance, clearly states the significance of the topic, and is organized with adequate detail so that other scholars could try to replicate the results. Strong papers are not overly general and correctly utilize formal academic rhetoric.

While academic writing consists of a number of text types and genres, what they have in common, the conventions that academic writers traditionally follow, has been a subject of debate.^[1] Many writers have called for conventions to be challenged, for example Pennycook (1997) and Ivanic (1998), while others suggest that some conventions should be maintained, for example Clark (1997, p136).^[1]

Academic document types

• Book, in many types and varieties.
• Book report.
• Conference paper.
• Dissertation; usually between 6,000 and 20,000 words in length.
• Essay; usually short, between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length.
• Explication; usually a short factual note explaining some obscure part of a particular work; e.g. its terminology, dialect, allusions or coded references.
• Research Article.
• Research Paper; longer essay involving library research, 3000 to 6000 words in length.
• Technical report
• Thesis; completed over a number of years, often in excess of 20,000 words in length.
• Translation.

For students

• Exam questions & Essay titles; the formulating of these.
• Instructional pamphlet, or hand-out, or reading list; usually meant for students.
• Presentations; usually short, often illustrated.

Summaries of knowledge

• Annotated bibliography.
• Annotated catalogue, often of an individual or group's papers and/or library.
• Creating a simplified graphical representation of knowledge; e.g. a map, or refining a display generated from a database. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work.
• Creating a timeline or chronological plan. There will often be a 'key' or written work incorporated with the final work.
• Devising a classification scheme; e.g. for animals, or newly arisen sub-cultures, or a radically new style of design.
• Encyclopedia entry.
• Journal article (e.g. History Today); usually presenting a digest of recent research.
• Literature review; a summary and careful comparison of previous academic work published on a specific topic.
• Site description and plan (e.g. in archeology).

Collating the work of others

• Anthology; collection, collation, ordering and editing of the work of others.
• Catalogue raisonn ; the definitive collection of the work of a single artist, in book form.
• Collected works; often referred to as the 'critical edition'. The definitive collection of the work of a single writer or poet, in book form, carefully purged of publishers errors and later forgeries, etc.
• Monograph or exhibition catalog; usually containing exemplary works, and a scholarly essay. Sometime contains new work by a creative writer, responding to the work.
• Transcribing, selecting and ordering oral testimony (e.g. oral history recordings).

Research & planning

• Experiment plan.
• Laboratory report.
• Raw data collection plan.
• Research plan (sometimes called desk-based research).
• Structured notes.

Disseminating knowledge outside the academy

• call for papers.
• Documentary film script or TV script or radio script.
• Obituary.
• Opinion; an academic may sometimes be asked to give an expert written opinion, for use in a legal case before a court of law.
• Polemical newspaper opinion article.
• Public speech or lecture.
• Review of a book, film, exhibition, event, etc.
• Think-tank pamphlet, position paper, or briefing paper.

Technical or administrative forms

• Brief; short summary, often instructions for a commissioned work.
• Peer review report.
• Proofreading and correction.
• Proposal.
• White paper; detailed technical specifications and/or performance report.

Personal forms

These are acceptable to some academic disciplines, e.g. Cultural studies, Fine art, Feminist studies, Queer theory, Literary studies.

• Artist's book or Chapbook.
• Autobiography.
• Belles-lettres; stylish or aesthetic writing on serious subjects, often with reference to one's personal experience.
• Commonplace book.
• Diary or Weblog.
• Memoire; usually a short work, giving one's own memories of a famous person or event.
• Notebooks.

Newer forms

• Collaborative writing, especially using the internet.
• Hypertext, often incorporating new media and multimedia forms within the text.
• Performative writing (see also: belles-lettres).

Disposition

The most common disposition standard in the academic world is the IMRAD method, stating that an academic document should consist of sections in the following order:

• Introduction (Problem motivation, aim, objective, problem statement, own contributions, background materials, overview)
• Method (Assumptions, questionary, system model, simulation model, performance measures)
• Result (Empirical results, charts, plots)

and

• Discussion (Analysis, Conclusions)

Other common sections in academic documents are:

• Abstract
• Indeces
• Bibliography
• List of references
• Appendix/Addendum, any addition to a document

See also

• Academia
• Academic journal
• Academic publishing
• Creative class
• Criticism
• Expository writing
• Knowledge
• Knowledge worker
• Narrative
• Persuasive writing or rhetoric
• Publishing
• Scientific writing
• Scientific publishing
• Scholar
• Scholarship
• Style guide
• Writing

Further Reading

General

• Becher, Tony, and Paul Trowler (2001). Academic Tribes and Territories: Intellectual Enquiry and the Culture of Disciplines, 2nd edn (Buckingham: Open University Press)
• Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams (2008). The Craft of Research, 3rd ed. edn (Chicago: University of Chicago Press)
• Borg, Erik (2003). 'Discourse Community', English Language Teaching (ELT) Journal, 57, 4, pp. 398-400
• Canagarajah, A. Suresh (2002). A Geopolitics of Academic Writing (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press)
• Clare, Judith, and Helen Hamilton (2003). Writing Research: Transforming Data into Text (Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone)
• Coinam, David (2004). 'Concordancing Yourself: A Personal Exploration of Academic Writing', Language Awareness, 13, 1, pp. 49-55
• Creme, Phyllis, and Mary R. Lea (2008). Writing at University: A Guide for Students, 3rd edn (Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill; Open University Press)
• Goodall, H. Lloyd, Jr. (2000). Writing Qualitative Inquiry: Self, Stories, and Academic Life (Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press)
• Hyland, Ken (2004). Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing, Michigan classics edn (Ann Arbor; London: University of Michigan Press)
• Johns, Ann M. (1997). Text, Role and Context: Developing Academic Literacies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
• King, Donald W., Carol Tenopir, Songphan Choemprayong, and Lei Wu (2009). 'Scholarly Journal Information Seeking and Reading Patterns of Faculty at Five U.S. Universities', Learned Publishing, 22, 2, pp. 126-144
• Kouritzin, Sandra G., Nathalie A. C Piquemal, and Renee Norman, eds (2009). Qualitative Research: Challenging the Orthodoxies in Standard Academic Discourse(s) (New York: Routledge)
• Lincoln, Yvonna S, and Norman K Denzin (2003). Turning Points in Qualitative Research: Tying Knots in a Handkerchief (Walnut Creek, CA; Oxfor: AltaMira Press)
• Luey, Beth (2010). Handbook for Academic Authors, 5th edn (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
• Murray, Rowena, and Sarah Moore (2006). The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach (Maidenhead: Open University Press)
• Nash, Robert J. (2004). Liberating Scholarly Writing: The Power of Personal Narrative (New York; London: Teachers College Press)
• Paltridge, Brian (2004). 'Academic Writing', Language Teaching, 37, 02, pp. 87-105
• Pelias, Ronald J. (1999). Writing Performance: Poeticizing the Researcher's Body (Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press)
• Prior, Paul A. (1998). Writing/Disciplinarity: A Sociohistoric Account of Literate Activity in the Academy (Mahwah, NJ; London: Lawrence Erlbaum)
• Rhodes, Carl and Andrew D. Brown (2005). 'Writing Responsibly: Narrative Fiction and Organization Studies', The Organization: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Organizationory and Society, 12, 4, pp. 467-491
• Richards, Janet C., and Sharon K. Miller (2005). Doing Academic Writing in Education: Connecting the Personal and the Professional (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum)
• Zamel, Vivian, and Ruth Spack (1998). Negotiating Academic Literacies: Teaching and Learning across Languages and Cultures (Mahwah, NJ; London: Lawrence Erlbaum)

Architecture, Design and Art

• Crysler, C. Greig (2002). Writing Spaces: Discourses of Architecture, Urbanism and the Built Environment (London: Routledge)
• Francis, Pat (2009). Inspiring Writing in Art and Design: Taking a Line for a Write (Bristol; Chicago: Intellect)
• Frayling, Christopher (1993). 'Research in Art and Design', Royal College of Art Research Papers, 1, 1, pp. 1-5
• Piotrowski, Andrzej (2008). 'The Spectacle of Architectural Discourses', Architectural Theory Review, 13, 2, pp. 130-144
• Roudavski, Stanislav (2010). 'Transparency or Drama? Extending the Range of Academic Writing in Architecture and Design', Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 3, 2, pp. 111-133

References

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