Topics discussed:

- Academic writing as a conversation (Example of a writer entering a party, representing the scholarship)

- Academic writing as genre (think of your audience - who is reading you, how to best fit in into the existing conversation)

- Academic writing is about writing a story and respecting conventions (style, formal requirements), and ethical issues

- Macrostructure of academic writing (IMRAD structure). IMRAD is standing for “Introduction, Methods, Results And Discussion". Why the scope of scientific paper has an hourglass shape?

- Microstructure of academic writing (paragraph, the unit of meaning, is separated from the ideal below and from the idea above, each paragraph has a good fit in the text)

- Table/Figure: Make a general but also a specific comment on each Table/Figure in your text.

- Literature review: Describe past research. Describe the current research. Position your research in the current research.

- Understand the literature review as a creative challenge. A useful analogy for the literature review is trying to get an octopus into a jar (link).

- Literature review is the most difficult part of academic writing. What is the academic debate on the topic? What are the most important studies I shall amplify (ask supervisor)? How to organize studies in the review (by argument, chronologically, thematically)?

- Literatur review is not a "shopping list". It should help you to make a voice.

- Language of literature review. Use hedges and boosters e.g. "pioneering contribution", "strong influence".

Other materials: