Stylish Academic Writing

Author Helen Sword read and analyzed 1,000 articles published in academic journals in 10 disciplines to determine what constitutes stylish academic writing. She also studied 100 recently-published style guides to see where they agreed and differed on points of academic writing style. In Stylish Academic Writing she shares what she's learned about what makes a good article. In fourteen chapters she discusses voice, sentence construction, titles, hooks, jargon, article structure, citation style, creative academic writing, and more. Two of the chapters speak most to me: the one on voice, and the other on citation style. They both speak to pet peeves of mine. The first is when an author has to mangle their writing to avoid using the first person. Much of the writing in library science is reporting on a project or case study, in which the author is simply telling a story about how a project was launched, carried out or successfully completed. It makes no sense to not be able to use the first person when telling this story. But if you look at much of the library science literature, you'll see many of these stories told in a way that puts a distance between the reader and what's being shared. This makes the article harder to read, and less interesting. Articles should be written in a way that conveys all of the important information that the author is trying to share, but in a way that will increase readership. Writing in the first person can help with that goal. Sword advocates for the use of the first person when possible. My second pet peeve has to do with citation styles that require the author to put names, dates, and sometimes page numbers in parentheses right in the text. When I read an article that has a lot of citations, I sometimes find it difficult to follow the threads of a sentence or paragraph through all of these parenthetical citations. The simple use of endnotes, identified with a superscripted number, avoids this problem. Sentences and paragraphs with the simple numbered indication of an endnote are much easier to read and comprehend than one with the citations in parentheses interrupting the flow. Again, the goal is to share information and increase the readership of each article, and a simpler citation style does that. Sword supports the use of simpler citation styles that don't interrupt the flow of the article. While I'm only highlighting two issues in this review, Sword's book is full of good advice. She illustrates all of her chapters with both good and bad examples so readers can understand what makes good writing, and what hinders comprehension. I believe this book would be useful to all academics who want to improve their writing.

Stylish Academic Writing (SAW) changed the way I view academic writing: completing my MA in Early Childhood Development, Sword's advice provides the courage and confidence to be brave in style, liberating me from the conventions of academic writing. Sword writes with flair and mild humour, reading it in two days; I was hooked. Her approach is revelationary, providing immediate results. Stylish Academic Writing has become a 'go to' reference when I need encouragement or inspiration; my writing has improved, ensuring I am better equipped to critique other's work. My literature review is imminent, and Helen ( I feel like she is an additional supervisor at this stage) has provided the licence to forgo anything referred to as 'turgid writing'... I feel liberated. I am a diligent student and love the area of research I'm involved with; tenacity is my middle name. However; until I read SAW, I viewed my inability to get through some of the jargon-filled, dense journal articles as my fault. This shift in thinking has made space for more productive reading, unafraid to put something down and find another more accessible research paper when needed. I have started to notice the academic flair of others and can identify preferences. Stylish Academic Writing has rapidly become my touchstone, and Helen Sword is my new mind-crush... Additionally, I recommend you check out 'The Writer's Diet', a free, online service, that dissects your writing, providing a diagnosis...anything beyond 'fit and trim' and it's back to the writing table...

This is a much-needed book for academia. The problem that the author describes about academic writing is very true and so commonly practiced by everyone. I also try to use impersonal passive sentences to achieve an objective tone in my writing. I also try to avoid using any first person pronouns. I also try to limit my verbs to the weak ones such as "be", "show", "indicate" and etc. So I can definitely relate to all the problems with academic writing that the author points out. Her solutions are also very useful. Before reading this book, in some of my "less-academic" writings, I had already used many of the techniques that the author proposes. So her solutions are also very relatable. All in all, I think this is an excellent book and it does remind us that the quality of academic writing does not have to be negatively correlated with linguistic creativity. But of course I think there are practical reasons for not following the author's advice in many cases as well. For example, most of us read papers to find information that we need. Thus a predictable structure of writing and very little figurative language or very little use of "unnecessary literary flare" are definitely very welcome. If we can just glance at a 50-page paper and figure out where we can find the information we need, and finish reading those paragraphs in the least amount of time possible, we are making good progress. The kind of stylish writing that the author proposes is sometimes "verbose" and not straight to the point. Second, using too much creative writing for academic purposes might not present the academic ideas correctly. Sometimes academic writing has to be very precise. Using literary techniques sometimes brings about unnecessary vagueness. Thus I think maybe that is also one reason why some authors try to avoid using literary language in their scientific work. One more thing that I want to point out is that the author holds the view that we as educated readers and peers should be able to understand the work of our peers in other disciplines if they write clearly. I think this is true in some cases. But for many disciplines there are just so much terminology, conceptual framework, contextual knowledge that it is just not possible for a layperson to understand the writings in those disciplines.

Helen Sword's perspective on academic writing is both timely and helpful. For at least fifteen years, discussion of academic writing style has either deplored it or defended it, without really figuring out what was wrong. The Bad Writing Contest and the Sokal Hoax showed us just how tangled up academic style had become, but failed to distinguish between a stylistic problem and outright fraud. The other side simply defended the indefensible: jargon for jargon's sake. What Sword had done here is point a way forward. Useful advice on how to make academic prose interesting and readable, along with fine examples from many fields, will undoubtedly send scholars in the right direction. An excellent, if brief, book, and what I hope will be the beginning of a positive direction in writing, especially in the humanities.

As someone who is committed to improving his writing, I found this book extremely valuable. Helen Sword demonstrates the power of stylish academic writing through how she makes her points and explains concepts. I like the fact that she draws upon disciplines as varied as philosophy, fiction, psychology and science in illustrating her points. She is passionate about the subject of writing and clearly wants those who read her work to get it. It is an enjoyable and illuminating book.

Intriguing book. She makes some claims I'm not sure she can back up. But it's an easy read and challenges what we've been told as academic writers. A useful starting point...

I had the pleasure of meeting Helen Sword at a seminar on academic writing. Her views are a breath of fresh air, much as she believes academic writing should be. I purchased two copies -- one for myself, and one for my daughter who is undertaking her PhD. She read it cover to cover in an afternoon. That's the sort of book this is. I can see it becoming a standard item on the bookshelves of academics. It is clear concise and easy to read -- the very qualities she espouses and promotes in this book.

This exceptional primer on stylish academic writing deserves a place on many more university book shelves. Helen Sword, the author, fights zombie nouns, clarifies citation styles, and illuminates the perils of terrible writing. Fortunately, she also provides practical suggestions so academics can clearly convey information and insights in a compelling manner. By the way, the popular TED-ED video on Zombie Nouns is based on an excerpt in this fine book. In short, it behooves more graduate students, junior academics, and university hiring committees to at least scan this wonderful style guide.