ACADEMIC VERSUS NON-ACADEMIC WRITING Video #3 Dr. Matthew Robinson Appalachian State University Boone, NC USA

 Questions to ask yourself:  1) Who wrote it? (an academic or a “layperson”?)  2) Who is it written for? (an academic audience or the general public?)  Recall that academic writing is writing done by scholars for other scholars ACADEMIC WRITING: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

 3) Where is it published?  Is it an academic source?  For example, an academic journal  For example, a “university press” ACADEMIC WRITING: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

 4) Is it “blindly reviewed”  The blind review process:  a) paper written by a scholar is submitted to journal  b) editor sends paper to other scholars  (the paper does NOT have the name of the author on it)  c) the other scholars read the paper to determine if it should be published  (the identify of those scholars (the reviewers) is never known by the author of the paper) ACADEMIC WRITING: QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES  1) Academic journal article  Article written by scholar(s) …  Submitted to journal …  “Blindly” reviewed …

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES  Academic journals

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 2) University press book  Book written by scholar(s) …  Submitted to publisher …  “Blindly reviewed”

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES (American Association of University Presses)

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 University presses

ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 University press books

 Articles and books published are often NOT academic …  in magazines  in newspapers  on websites  These might be accurate and they might be useful  Since they are NOT reviewed, they might NOT be accurate or useful NON ACADEMIC WRITING

 You determine this by evaluating the source  Who are the authors?  What are their agendas/biases?  For example, would you trust a report on climate change by an oil company? NON ACADEMIC WRITING

 Examples of NON academic sources  “Global Warming & Climate Change” (website from New York Times)  “Climate Change/Environment” (website from The Guardian)  “How To Talk About Climate Change so People Will Listen” (article in The Atlantic, a magazine)  “Climate Change” (article in Discover Magazine)  “Climate Change is Here” (article in National Geographic, a magazine) NON ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 Lots of websites, too! NON ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 Lots of websites, too! NON ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 Lots of websites, too! NON ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 Lots of websites, too! NON ACADEMIC WRITING: EXAMPLES

 To determine if writing is academic, remember:  1) Who wrote it?  2) Who is it written for?  3) Where is it published?  4) Is it “blindly reviewed” ACADEMIC WRITING: A SUMMARY