Learn How to Write an Academic Article

To maintain a strong academic reputation, it is essential to create articles and publish them in journals. Furthermore, a good published record is important for research grants as well. Unfortunately, several postgraduate students experience difficulties with writing an excellent academic article. Therefore, in this blog, we have explained in detail how to write an academic article.

If it is challenging for you to create an academic article, follow the tips and steps presented here. It will help you prepare a well-structured academic article. Remember, you need not be a published author to achieve success. All you require is a systematic, concise, and clear writing style for creating outstanding academic articles.

Before we move on to the steps for writing an academic article, first let us have a brief overview of it.

An Overview of Academic Article

A journal is a scholastic publication that includes a collection of academic articles. Professors, researchers, and other specialists typically write academic articles after conducting considerable research and analysis on a given issue. Other names for academic articles are research articles and journal articles.

In simple terms, academic articles represent a methodical and exhaustive examination of a specific research topic. However, depending on the journal, you can publish a variety of scholarly articles. It comprises short reports, review papers, case studies, and methodologies.

Standard Structure of an Academic Article

In general, it is important to create a well-structured academic article for a journal. If you are unsure how to unsure how to write an academic article in a well-organized manner, take a look below.

Here, we have listed the essential components you need to include in an academic article.

Also read: What Does Et Al. Mean in Academic Papers?

Title

The title is the first thing that every reader will notice in an academic article. So, you should initially create a catchy title relevant to the interest of your readers. Note that, the title that you write should concisely describe your article’s main idea, perspective, or issue.

Moreover, your tile should be powerful enough to create an expectation in your reader’s mind about your article. Never create a false expectation through your title. Make sure to express the appropriate nature of your study in your title. The length of your title should be between 8 and 15 words.

Keywords

When writing an academic article, it is necessary to give significance to keywords. So, mention at least 6 to 8 keywords to help the readers get a better understanding of the important terms in your abstract page. The keywords you list should focus on the theme, subfield, research field, and study setting.

Abstract

An abstract is a short description of an article. Mostly, readers will decide whether to continue reading the academic article or not by skimming the article. So, you should write the abstract in a manner that is impressive to your readers.

When you write an abstract, always start with a brief theme sentence about the article’s topic. Next, state the primary objective or purpose of your study. Also, in your abstract, state the research methodology you have chosen, and major conclusions.

Remember, the conclusion statement that you create should mention your research’s contribution to fill literature gaps. Finally, end your abstract by emphasizing the practical or managerial importance of your study.

Acknowledgment

This is another important component of an academic article. Here, you will have to thank the individuals who have helped you to finish your academic article. The individual may be someone who helped you academically, financially, or in other ways.

When you acknowledge someone in your academic paper, you display better honesty as a writer. This shows that you are not claiming other academics’ views as your own. Additionally, it can help your readers with their research.

Introduction

The introduction is the opening part of an academic article. Here, you will have to briefly introduce your article topic to your readers. Remember, your introduction part should give an intriguing preview of what is to come. Most importantly, your introduction should ignite the curiosity of your readers.

Typically, in your academic article introduction, you should

• Determine the general narrative or subject of the study.
• Showcase the article’s academic and practical value.
• Highlight the most notable gaps, contradictions, and disagreements in the literature examined in the study.
• Summarize the existing literature and list the most important previous research relevant to the current topic.
• Outline the rest of the article’s structure.

Main Body

After the introduction, you should create a body of the journal article. Typically, your body paragraphs should focus on your research arguments and evidence. For your article, you may create multiple body paragraphs. But each paragraph should deal with a unique concept along with clear links between them.

In general, body paragraphs should contain the following three parts.

• Topic Sentence – The topic sentence establishes the paragraph’s topic. Also, it informs the reader of the paragraph’s topic.
• Explanatory Sentences- These sentences illuminate, clarify, and help readers understand the subject better.
• Evaluating Sentences- These sentences tell readers the significance of the paragraph. Also, they establish a connection between the relevance of the paragraphs and the paper’s main theme.

Also read: How to Write a Conclusion in an Academic Paper

Conclusion

This is the closing part of an academic article. In your article conclusion, you should include an examination of your results. Typically, your conclusion should focus on the subjects discussed in the article’s main body. Never introduce new concepts in your conclusion part.

Citation and References

After you finish writing your academic article, make sure to add citations and references page to avoid plagiarism. Citations and references in scholarly works should be well-balanced, recent, and relevant. While each field is different, you should try to choose references that are no more than ten years old. Note that your references should be closely relevant to the subject of your study.

Major Sections to Include in an Academic Article

Every academic article that you compose should have an introduction, body, and conclusion. Specifically, the academic articles that you publish in a journal should also contain the following sections.

Literature Review

It is an important section where you will have to demonstrate your knowledge of the academic literature on your topic. In simple terms, here, you can analyze and present an overview of the already published works on the topic you have chosen. You may use this section to present the background details of your research.

Research Methodology

This section primarily examines the design, equipment, and justification of the research method that you have used. Typically, here, you will have to explain the systematic plan that you have devised to solve a research problem. Your research methodology may be quantitative, qualitative, experimental, or a case study.

Result

In this section, you will have to describe the findings of your study. Also, you can explain the statistical methods that you have used to derive the conclusion or generate results. It can be descriptive statistics or hypothesis testing.

Discussion

Here, you will have to present the theories, correlations, and conclusions of your research. In specific, you may discuss the summary of your findings, managerial implications, limitations, and future research recommendations.

Length of an Academic Article

Till now we have seen how to structure an academic article with essential components. Next, let us look at how to present a journal article and its word length.

Most academic journals publish articles with a word count of 4,000–7,000 words, or 20–25 A4 pages (with 1.5 line spacing). So, based on that, you need to adjust and write the key sections of your academic article.

The following are the preferred word lengths you need to consider when creating an academic article.

Also read: What is DOI and What are its Uses in Academic Writing?

Academic Article Writing Steps

Hopefully, by now, you will have gained a good understanding of the key components of an academic article. Next, by using the knowledge of the essential sections, you can effortlessly create a journal article.

To make the preparation process easier, below we have explained how to write an academic article. Follow them all to come up with a brilliant journal article.

• First, choose an ideal topic for your academic article. The topic you choose should be unique, interesting, and informative to your readers.
• Secondly, brainstorm and gather the important ideas needed to research and analyze your topic. This step will give you a clear idea about how to approach research.
• Thirdly, perform in-depth research on the topic you have chosen. Especially, when conducting research, you can take references from credible materials already published on your topic.
• Fourthly, create an academic article outline. The outline will help you to create a well-structured journal article without missing the key points.
• Following the outline creation, begin writing an academic article by including essential components such as the title, abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, and references.
• Finally, before publication, proofread your article multiple times. The final draft of your article that is ready for submission should be plagiarism-free and flawless.

Academic Article Writing Tips

The following are some valuable tips that you may follow to come up with a great academic article.

• Use a formal tone and write a well-structured journal article as per the academic standards and guidelines. Following the standards may improve the chance of approval.
• When you write an article, organize the ideas and structure them all based on the standard format. Your article must have an effective title, abstract, introduction, literature review, research methodology, and discussion.
• The article you compose should have a concise argument and it should engage with current academic discourse.
• Keep in mind that all the information that you present in your article should have a strong connection. Also, you should maintain a logical sequence throughout your journal article.
• Never submit your academic article before proofreading. Take time to rectify all the grammar, spelling, and typographic mistakes in the content.

Conclusion

Academic article writing may seem challenging. But if you have a clear idea about its key components, then you can easily compose an article. To create a successful journal article, just follow the tips and steps suggested in this blog.