← Về thư mục
📄 / / root / ceo-project / academic-research-skills / skills / academic-paper / references / academic_writing_style.md

Academic Writing Style Guide

Used by draft_writer_agent and peer_reviewer_agent.

Core Principles

1. Precision

2. Conciseness

3. Objectivity

4. Formality

Register Adjustment by Discipline

Sciences (Natural, Applied)

Register: Formal, impersonal, method-focused
Voice: Passive voice common ("was measured," "were analyzed")
Terminology: Precise measurements, SI units, statistical notation
Example: "The sample was heated to 350°C for 2 hours, yielding a conversion rate of 87.3% (SD = 2.1)."

Social Sciences

Register: Formal, theory-informed, participant-aware
Voice: Active voice encouraged, first person for researcher decisions
Terminology: Theoretical constructs, operationalized variables
Example: "We employed semi-structured interviews to explore how participants understood institutional change (N = 24)."

Humanities

Register: Formal, argument-driven, interpretive
Voice: First person acceptable for arguments, active voice
Terminology: Close reading vocabulary, theoretical language
Example: "I argue that the text's spatial metaphors reveal an underlying anxiety about institutional permanence."

Engineering / CS

Register: Formal, problem-solution oriented, specification-precise
Voice: Passive common for methods, active for contributions
Terminology: Technical specifications, performance metrics
Example: "The proposed algorithm achieves O(n log n) complexity, outperforming the baseline by 34% on the benchmark dataset."

Education

Register: Formal, practice-oriented, stakeholder-aware
Voice: Active voice, first person for reflexive practice
Terminology: Pedagogical concepts, assessment language
Example: "The intervention improved student metacognitive awareness, as evidenced by a significant increase in self-regulation scores (t(45) = 3.21, p = .002, d = 0.72)."

Medicine / Health

Register: Formal, evidence-hierarchy conscious, clinical precision
Voice: Passive for methods, active for findings
Terminology: Clinical terms, diagnostic criteria, statistical reporting
Example: "Patients receiving the intervention showed a 40% reduction in readmission rates (RR = 0.60, 95% CI [0.45, 0.80], p = .001)."

Hedging and Strength Language

Hedging (for uncertain or qualified claims)

Strength Hedging Devices Example
Weak may, might, could, possibly "This may suggest a correlation."
Moderate suggests, indicates, appears "The data suggest a positive trend."
Strong demonstrates, establishes, confirms "The evidence demonstrates a clear link."

When to Hedge

When NOT to Hedge

Transition Words and Phrases

Addition

moreover, furthermore, in addition, additionally, similarly, likewise

Contrast

however, nevertheless, in contrast, on the other hand, conversely, whereas

Cause/Effect

therefore, consequently, as a result, thus, hence, accordingly

Example

for example, for instance, specifically, in particular, such as, namely

Sequence

first, second, third, subsequently, finally, meanwhile

Summary

in summary, to conclude, overall, taken together, in short

Concession

although, despite, while, granted that, notwithstanding

Paragraph Construction

Standard Academic Paragraph (TEEL)

  1. Topic sentence — states the paragraph's main point
  2. Evidence — data, citations, examples that support the point
  3. Explanation — interpret the evidence, connect to argument
  4. Link — connect to the next paragraph or back to thesis

Example

[T] AI-assisted quality assurance has shown promise in improving evaluation consistency across institutions. [E] Smith (2024) found that institutions using AI tools reported a 23% reduction in inter-rater variance, while Chen and Wang (2023) documented improved agreement on scoring rubrics (κ = 0.82 vs. 0.64). [E] These findings suggest that algorithmic assistance can mitigate the subjective biases inherent in human evaluation, particularly when assessors have varying levels of experience. [L] However, the reliance on AI tools also raises concerns about the loss of contextual judgment, which the following section addresses.

Common Style Errors

Wordiness

Wordy Concise
in order to to
due to the fact that because
a large number of many
at the present time currently / now
it is important to note that notably
in the event that if
has the ability to can
with regard to regarding / about
in spite of the fact that despite / although
conduct an investigation of investigate

Vague Language

Vague Precise
"many studies" "several studies (e.g., Chen, 2023; Smith, 2024)"
"a significant impact" "a 23% increase in retention rates"
"in recent years" "since 2020" or "over the past five years"
"some researchers" Name them with citations
"it is well known that" Cite the source or remove

Tense Usage

Section Tense Example
Literature review (reporting findings) Past "Smith (2024) found that..."
Literature review (ongoing state) Present "The theory posits that..."
Methodology Past "Data were collected through..."
Results Past "The analysis revealed..."
Discussion (interpreting) Present "These findings suggest..."
Conclusion (implications) Present/Future "This has implications for... / Future research should..."

Chinese Academic Writing (zh-TW) Conventions

Register

Common Academic Expressions

English Romanized Chinese
This study aims to Ben Yan Jiu Zhi Zai
The findings indicate Yan Jiu Jie Guo Xian Shi
It is worth noting Zhi De Zhu Yi De Shi
In conclusion Zong Shang Suo Shu
Based on the above analysis Gen Ju Shang Shu Fen Xi
Further research is needed Wei Lai Yan Jiu Ke Jin Yi Bu Tan Tao

Avoiding Translationese