Twelve Common Leaks in Academic English

Academic writing rarely fails because the writer has nothing to say. More often, the problem is register: the prose has the grammar and vocabulary of casual speech, or it makes claims with more confidence than the evidence can support. Twelve habits are worth checking in any draft. Individually they may seem small; together they determine whether a paper reads as academic argument or informal commentary.

1. Contractions. Formal academic prose usually avoids them. Expand don't to do not, and treat similar forms the same way.

2. Phrasal verbs. Verb-and-particle combinations often sound conversational and imprecise. Use increase instead of go up, and remove instead of take away.

3. Idioms. Expressions such as A1 for excellent belong in casual speech, not academic argument. Write excellent instead.

4. Slang. Replace kids with children, and look for other words that mark the prose as spoken rather than written.

5. Pronouns. Second-person address can make an academic paper sound like a set of instructions. Instead of you can see from the graph ..., write The graph shows that ....

6. Negatives. Where a single negative word is available, it is often sharper. Change is not effective to is ineffective, and is not positive to is negative.

7. Clichés. Stock phrases such as when all is said and done should give way to the actual function of the sentence, for example in conclusion.

8. Punctuation. The exclamation mark is rarely neutral in academic style; it adds urgency or excitement. In MLA- or APA-style writing, use a semicolon where appropriate: ! → ; (MLA-APA style guide).

9. Vague language. Words such as a bit, a lot, kind of, sort of, and considerable can blur a claim. Replace them with specific quantities or more exact terms.

10. Simple vocabulary. Plain words are not automatically wrong, but academic writing often needs a more precise distinction. For example, big difference can become major distinction.

11. Personal opinion. I think can make an argument sound like a private preference. Attribute the claim instead: use according to when you are drawing on a source.

12. Direct language. Overly blunt or absolute wording can be too strong; a claim that can't be justified should be qualified to match the evidence.

These are not rules to apply mechanically. They are signals to check: if a sentence sounds like conversation, or if it claims more than the evidence allows, the wording probably needs another pass.