Academic writing skills: Combination of mastered subject matter, higher order thinking and communication skills

Academic writing skills: Combination of mastered subject matter, higher order thinking and communication skills

Once one becomes a subject expert with reading and notes-making skills by reading the work of others, attending seminars and discussions on the subject-topics and glossary, one must make deliberate efforts to acquire higher order thinking and writing skills.

The sub-set of thinking skills to be mastered for acquiring reasonable level of academic thinking skills consists of: in-depth evidence-based analytical thinking, critical thinking or critiquing skill, multi-perspective evaluative-thinking or reviewing skill, synthesis or creative thinking skill. Acquire these skills by reading the work of others as well by learning by doing. Attend workshops on researching skills and research methods. However, self-study on the higher order thinking skills is the best.

With proper academic writing and communication skills, the researcher is able to express his or her ideas and arguments with cohesion and clarity. The skills-subset for academic writing are: mastery over the keywords, terminology and standard glossary on the subject; paraphrasing skill with complex sentences; paragraph writing skill; transitioning skill from one paragraph to another; abstraction and summarising skill; mastery over use of signal verbs; and editing skill for conciseness and clarity.