How to Write Academic Articles
There are many writing styles used for many purposes. Even within the isolated context of letter writing, you might be able to define a "letter to Grandmother style" as being quite different from a "letter to college roommate style." Depending upon your grandmother, one style might be a bit more formal and use verbs somewhat more restrained than the other. Academic articles also demand attention to style. Understanding some basic tenets can ease this process.
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Instructions
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Develop a feel for the philosophy of informal, journalistic and academic writing styles. Essentially, academic writing is impersonal, while journalistic is attention grabbing, and informal is colloquial.
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Familiarize yourself with the concept of "nominalization." Technically, nominalization is turning a verb into a noun--"nominalize" into "nominalization." In a more general sense, it refers to a paring of language by eliminating unnecessary words as well as objectifying a topic.
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Learn the difference between active and passive voices. The most basic definition of passive voice is: making the subject of a sentence the object of an action. Active voice has the subject of a sentence acting upon the object.
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Read academic articles in your subject of interest with attention to the use of passive voice. Passive voice is used more often in academic writing (that was the passive voice,) but it should not be overused. Some academic arenas use it less than others.
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Realize that there are different style guides for different publications. The "Associated Press Style Guide" is perhaps the one used most commonly, but you will need to check the specifics of your target journal or magazine.
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Pay particular attention to the footnote and citation policy of your target journal or magazine. Some publications require a formal citation for what you might think are "commonly accepted" short quotes or pieces of data.
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Check the spelling of any unfamiliar names, foreign words or technical terms. Spell-checkers are usually only as good as whatever spelling your have added to your personal dictionary.
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