Back to: Academic and Professional Writing Unit 2
What is an academic voice in writing? What are the three elements of academic voice?
An academic voice in academic writing is used to point out who should opinion belongs to, whether the writer or another author. An academic writing refers to a piece of writing which is done to complete the requirements of an educational institution. Any assignment which is given in an academic setting can be referred to as academic writing. Academic writing can be found in sources such as books, essays, translations, research papers, academic journals, conference papers, and the like.
Elements of Academic Voice
The three main elements of academic voice are as follows:
Accuracy:
The information provided in the academic writing should be accurate and precise meaning that the writer should avoid including any false information or information that lacks evidence.
Logical Presentation:
The writer should present the information in a logical manner so that the content is easy to read and understand.
Emotional Neutrality:
The writer should avoid biases and prejudices to maintain a neutral voice. Separating one’s beliefs from factual information is important to maintain emotional neutrality in academic writing.
Importance of Voice in an academic writing
Including Sources:
In academic writing, having sources that provide support to the ideas and arguments of the writer is highly important. Integral citations can be used to introduce sources in the form of source voice by the writer. This can enable the writer to support an argument, offer explanations, define a concept, and more.
Writing Convincing Arguments:
Source voices can help the writer to make their research and arguments more convincing. A reader might not care for the ideas of the critic who is inexperienced but with appropriate sources, the arguments can find the right support.
Separating Opinions:
The most important reason why voice is needed is because the writer can separate their opinions from those of others. Be it a counter argument or an agreement, voice can be used to separate opinions.
Academic writing is highly important for persuading and informing the audience and voice can be used for introducing and highlighting the ideas of the writer.
