Some points to start from if you are thinking of AcademicWriting

* What exactly is AcademicWriting, and what makes it different from other types of writing?
All types of writing are defined by the conventions of the community in which they exist. Academic writing is writing produced in academia. So, it is writing that is formed with the conventions and values of academia. Essentially, it is what determines whether or not writing is academic writing in both the original purpose of the writer and the acceptance of the product by the academic community.

* Is what we're doing on this wiki a form of AcademicWriting, or is it something else?
Under the definition created above, this wiki would be considered academic writing because it is produced for an academic purpose and because it is accepted by at least part of the academic community. However, just because it can be considered academic writing does not mean that it can't also be considered something else as well.

* Are Wikis, or Blogs for that matter, tools for AcademicWriting, and how so?

BerneChristiansen


My grandfather, who is truly an EducatedMan (naturally, another topic of discussion), has been trying for years to try to teach me what "academic" means. And, of course, he's not the kind of guy who will actually come out and just TELL me what it means. I have to figure it out.

So I've spent two and a half years at this institution trying to get a handle on "academia." (Although he now says that because I've completed my liberal education, I am no longer a part of academia. And I'm beginning to understand what he means. Except not really.)

If any one out there seems to have a better grasp on the word than I do, write down your thoughts. But don't try to trick me by writing some long essay with a lot of "academic" sounding words, cause I can tell the difference.

No. I'm looking for a simple definition. Something you could say in a sentence or two.

And please hurry. I don't want to be scared anymore.

-AaronReini

: The problem here is that we haven't got a topic, only a subject. Someone fork a topic here: AcademicWritingOnAWiki, maybe.

Ooh... tough definition.

I want to say that academic writing is writing that shares knowledge... but isn't that what all writing does? Poetry shares a type of knowledge, usually knowledge of a greater truth, but that doesn't make it academic.

You could go the easy route and say that academic writing is simply writing that takes place in academia... but that's not very helpful now, is it?

So far, the best definition I can come up with is that academic writing shares information, things that could be learned by performing an experiment or study or analysis of some sort. That seems to fit with most "academic writing" I've encountered... but I have the feeling that this definition only coveres what is necessary, not what is sufficient to call something academic writing.

AngelBatterman

Is what we're doing on this wiki a form of AcademicWriting, or is it something else?
The answer is yes, in most cases what we are doing on this wiki is academic writing.
Would you ask this question?
Is what we're doing on a typewriter a form of academic writing, or is it something else?
Wikis are tools, just like typewriters, the resulting content is what gets judged.


Are Wikis, or Blogs for that matter, tools for AcademicWriting, and how so?
Without question Wikis and Blogs are useful tools for academic writing.
The how so, should be the fun part. I will start an answer on AcademicWritingOnAWiki

EricBinkert

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