Tag: academic writing guide

Simple Essay Writing Rules

Mastering the basic rules of academic writing is key to crafting insightful, clear, and well-structured essays. Understanding these essential essay writing rules can transform your writing, improving clarity and professionalism while helping you develop strong, persuasive arguments.  Understanding and applying these rules will help you write a great essay. Do you want to learn the rules for writing a great essay? Here’s a simple guide to the essential rules for essay writing.

It is important to note that these are general essay writing rules or rules of essay writing and not all of them will apply when writing all essays. Your instructor or client may, for example, require you to go against one or more of these rules. In such a case, the instructions given by your instructor, professor, institution, or client will override one or more of these rules.

1. Do not plagiarise

The first rule to writing a great essay is avoiding plagiarism. Copying other people’s content without crediting them with their effort or without paraphrasing their words is technically referred to as plagiarism. Engaging in plagiarism is arguably the worst form of mistake in academic essay writing. Not engaging in plagiarism is therefore one of the important academic essay writing laws or rules. When writing an academic essay, research information from other sources but write the essay content in your own words. The words you use and how they are arranged should not be similar to how someone else has written them. This means do not copy-paste other people’s words. There are software such as Copyscape and Turnitin that are used to detect when you copy someone else’s work or content. These software will almost definitely detect the content that you have copied directly from another source.

2. Use continuous prose

Essays are normally written in continuous prose. This means you have to write complete sentence and write in paragraph form – not in point, bullet, or numbered form. In other words, avoid numbering your points or using bullet points. There are a few exceptions where the use of numbering is acceptable. Such as in dissertations, theses, and research proposals. When writing a dissertation, theses and proposals, you may number your headings, objectives, tables, and figures. However, the body of these works is normally done in continuous prose.

Inappropriate (bullet points and numbering):

There are many ways of making money. These include:

• Farming
• Business
• Employment

There are many ways of making money. These include:

• Farming
• Business
• Employment

There are many ways of making money. These include: 1. farming, 2. business, 3. Employment.

Appropriate (sentence form/continuous prose)

There are many ways of making money including farming, business, and employment.

3. Present professional definitions and opinions

Writing one or more definitions to a concept is a common thing in academic writing. When defining a term, concept, or construct, present professional definitions and not definitions based purely on your own thoughts. You may come up with a definition that combine elements of the definitions of two or more professionals.

4. Avoid hanging sentences 

Avoid writing sentences that are incomplete or sound incomplete is one of the core rules for essay writing. Ensure that all your sentences make complete sense on their own. In other words, ensure all statements are a complete sentence. Each of your sentences should have a subject, verb and object (subject+verb+object). Software such as Grammarly and Hemingway Editor can help you detect and correct hanging or incomplete sentences.

Hanging sentence example

Throughout her period of study at the university, Mary wrote.
Although James, Peter, and Jane had just arrived at the bus station.
After completing their assignment, they went.

5. Provide relevant information

This means that the information you write should appropriately respond to the essay prompt, question asked, or topic given. Avoid providing irrelevant information – information that adds very little or no value to your essay.

Suppose you’re writing an essay on “The Impact of Climate Change on Marine Life.” Here’s an example of irrelevant information:

“Many people enjoy beach vacations and recreational activities like surfing, swimming, and sunbathing. Popular beach destinations like Hawaii, the Maldives, and the Caribbean attract millions of tourists each year. These places are also known for their unique food, culture, and music festivals, which add to the attraction.”

This information, while interesting, is irrelevant because it doesn’t contribute to the main focus of the essay: how climate change affects marine life. The passage about beach tourism and local culture doesn’t advance the discussion about ocean temperature, pollution, or the impact on marine species—points that are critical to the topic.

Instead, the essay should include relevant information, such as the effects of rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, or the decline of fish populations, as these directly address the impact of climate change on marine life.

6. Rely on other sources and cite them

Essay writing normally involves research. Never rely purely on your own knowledge to do an academic paper. You have to read widely relying on multiple sources. Generally, do not rely on only one or a few sources to come up with a research paper. Relying on more sources will likely present you with more points of view, more ideas to write on, and provide you with deeper understanding on the subject you are writing on. Find information from multiple sources, analyse, synthesize and bring them together.

7. Use quality sources for your research

Always rely on high quality sources for your research; books, journals, and reputable/ authoritative websites. Not every source you come across will be a good source to rely on for your research. For example, websites that market products or that offer certain services may not present an objective point of view as their main interest is selling their products or services.

8. Maintain objectivity

Always present different points of view, not just present the views that you favour. Always present both sides of an argument in your essay. For example, provide the advantages and disadvantages of something, not just advantages. If you are writing about whether abortion should be legalised, for example, present both arguments supporting its legalization and those that oppose its legalization.

9. Use unbiased and respectful language

Use neutral language and be gender sensitive. Do not be biased against certain groups of people. Even when presenting a position that you do not agree with, do not use confrontational or dismissive language. Be careful when using words and avoid bias against certain groups of people. For example do not use “man” or “mankind” to refer to both men and women, instead use “humans”, “humankind”, “people”, or “human beings”. Also, when referring to a person (who could be male or female) remember to take both gender into consideration by writing for example he/she. To be on the safe side you can use “they”. Only use pronouns that depict persons of male gender such as “he” “man” only when specifically referring to a male person.

Inappropriate

When a doctor is treating a patient, he should prescribe the right drugs – This sentence is gender biased (not all since doctors are male).

Appropriate

When a doctor is treating a patient, he or she should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

When a doctor is treating a patient, he/she should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

When a doctor is treating a patient, they should prescribe the right drugs – neutral (this is okay).

Note: It is correct and preferable to use “they” like has been done in this last example. “They” in this case includes both male and female doctors.

Inappropriate:

For a long time in history, man has desired to visit other planets – This sentence is bias against women.

For a long time, man has desired to explore the moon and the sun.

Appropriate:

For a long time in history, humankind has desired to visit other planets

For a long time, humans have desired to explore the moon and the sun.

Additionally, avoid using derogatory, abusive, hurtful, or offensive remarks or names in your essays. For example, people who are mad will be persons with schizophrenia. Referring to someone as being “mad” is considered offensive in the academic world.

Inappropriate – Offensive language	Appropriate
Lucy is a mad person	Lucy is a person with schizophrenia
Lucy is a schizophrenic	Lucy is a person with schizophrenia Lucy is suffering from schizophrenia
Jacob is an AIDS victim	Jacob is a person with AIDS

10. Avoid informal and emotive language

Avoid informal (colloquial) language, clichés, figures of speech, emotive remarks, and sweeping statements. Maintain a neutral voice and a formal tone.

Examples of informal and emotive language

“more or less”
“time is money”
“at the end of the day”
“When all is said and done”
“cost an arm and a leg”
“Gonna”
“There’s more than one way to skin a cat”

Here is an example of a paragraph in which emotive and informal language has been used.

I had nice time during my internship; my mentors were great and the patients lovely. I realised that undergoing a surgery costs an arm and a leg. I also realised that to save more lives, we were gonna have to work fast. We had to attend to many many patients; one hundred patients more or less. Although we did the best we could, the workplace was a disaster because of the manager whose style of management was absolutely absurd.

11. Keep yourself out of the picture

In academic essay writing, generally avoid using first and second person pronouns (“I”, “we” and “our”); remove yourself from the picture and present the professional point of view. Use of these pronouns is acceptable in special cases such as when writing personal journals or reflections. The use of third person pronouns (he, she, it, they) is the norm in academic writing.

12. Organize your ideas and points in a logical way

Ideally, your essay should have introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs. Where relevant, present a strong thesis at the beginning of your essay. Always arrange your ideas in a logical progression. One way to do this is by presenting your strongest point first and moving down to your weakest point, or the other way round. This strategy is especially ideal when you are writing an argumentative essay. Another way of doing this is by presenting your points step by step. This strategy is especially effective when writing a cause and-effect essay.

Another way of achieving this goal is by grouping related points together within the same paragraph or section. For example, when discussing the advantages and disadvantages of a topic, you may discuss the advantages in one or more paragraphs and then proceed to discuss the disadvantages in one or more paragraphs. Of course there is no harm in starting with the disadvantages and then proceeding to the advantages. The main thing is ensuring that you don’t mix unrelated points that may confuse the reader.

After presenting an idea or argument, provide evidence, such as data, quotes, or examples, to substantiate it. Make sure each piece of evidence is relevant to the paragraph’s main idea. Creating and following an essay outline can help you organise your essay effectively.

13. Stick to one language

In your essay, choose one language or language variant and stick to it. For example, do not mix American and British English in one research article/paper. Choose one language and use it consistently in your essay. Here are a few examples of differences in spellings between American and British English.

American	British	American	British
Favor	Favour	Learned	Learnt/learned
Color	Colour	Diarrhea	Diarrhoea
Capitalize	Capitalise	Anemia	Anaemia
Marvelous	Marvellous	Center	Centre
Canceled	Cancelled	Savior	Saviour
Meter	Metre	Theater	Theatre
Fiber	Fibre	Savor	Savour
Dreamed	Dreamed/Dreamt	Gray	Grey
Analyze	Analyse	Honor	Honour

14. Do not ask rhetoric questions

Avoid asking questions that you expect the reader to answer. Understand that you are supposed to be answering a question, not asking your reader or instructor questions. Research questions which are always presented in research proposals, research reports, theses, and dissertations are not considered to be rhetoric questions since it is you who will be answering the questions through your research work.

Examples of rhetoric question:

What good can you expect from this government that has ruined the economy?
What can be done to revive the country’s economy?
Getting a good grade requires hard work, right?

Here is an example of a rhetoric question in an essay paragraph:

Every sober college student desires to excel in their studies and achieve good grades. This desire is especially driven by the general appreciation that good academic achievement has a positive correlation with ease of finding gainful employment and achieving success in life. There are several factors that influence academic performance as measured by academic grade, one of which is hard work.  Getting a good grade requires hard work, right?

15. Make use of transition words 

Transitions are words such as: first, secondly, lastly, in addition, because, next, although, in contrast, in summary. Transitions help the reader understand your line of though and the relationship between your ideas. In addition to serving as signposts to the reader, transitions make the flow of ideas from sentence to sentence and from paragraph to paragraph smooth.

16. Avoid contractions

Avoid the use of contractions or shortened word forms in your essay. Instead use the long word or phrase forms. For example, instead of using “shouldn’t”, in your essay, use “should not”. Likewise,  instead of writing “don’t”, write “do not”.

Long form	Short form/ Contraction
Should not	Shouldn’t
Do not	Don’t
Are not	Aren’t
Cannot	Can’t
Will not	Won’t
I will	I’ll
He will	He’ll
That is	That’s
What is	What’s

17. Do not over-use words or phrases

Overusing certain words or phrases can make your essay sound boring and may indicate your lack of creativity and limited vocabulary. Here is an example of a paragraph where certain words or phrases have been overused:

I did my internship at ABCD hospital. My internship began at the outpatient department where I attended to patients with different illnesses. The next department I went to during my internship was the surgical department where I attended to patient who were being prepared to undergo major surgeries. The next department I went to during my internship was radiology. At the radiology department is where I learnt about different radiology machines including x-ray during my internship. Overall, I had a nice experience during my internship as  I learnt a lot and interacted with many professionals.

In this example, the phrase, “during my internship” has been used so many times.

18. Avoid fluff in your essay

Fluff is any content (word or group of words) that serves to unnecessarily increase the number of words in your essay. Including fluff in your essay can make your essay boring to the reader, difficult to understand,  irrelevant, or unprofessional. Always aim to pass your message as simply and quickly as possible.

Fluffy: In the year 2024, the United States conducted its presidential election. The presidential election candidates were two very strong opponents representing two very strong parties.  Donald Trump represented the Republican Party while Kamala Harris represented the Democratic Party.

Better: In 2024, the United States conducted its presidential election. The presidential election candidates were two opponents representing two parties.  Donald Trump represented the Republican Party while Kamala Harris represented the Democratic Party.

Fluffy: The University has extensive equipment and facilities that may be used by students in case they desire to gather first-hand information on the principles that they learn in class.

Better: Students can use the university facilities to further explore the topics they learn in class.

19. Thoroughly proofread your work

Always ensure you proofread and edit your work before submitting it. This way you rid your essay of any obvious errors such as spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, formatting mistakes, factual mistakes, lexicon mistakes, and tautologies.

Summary

Mastering the basic rules of essay writing is essential for crafting clear, persuasive, and impactful essays. From understanding avoiding plagiarism to developing a solid thesis to organizing ideas logically and maintaining a formal tone, each step in the writing process contributes to the essay’s overall effectiveness. By following these academic writing rules, including proper citation and thorough editing, you can elevate the quality of your work and ensure it meets academic standards. With consistent practice and attention to detail, applying these rules for essay writing will help you build strong writing skills that are valuable in both academic and professional settings.