In his book 10 Novels and Their Authors, William Somerset Maugham, the well-known English writer of the 20th century, recounts that one day a publisher asked him to make a list of what, in his opinion, Maugham’s were the ten best novels in the world. Speaking of that list, Maugham adds:1 “Of course my list was arbitrary. I could have made one of ten other novels, as good in their different ways as the ones I chose, and given just as strong reasons for selecting them.”
while trying to list the top ten books or other resources on academic writing, I remembered those words and it comforted me. however, the purpose of this article is more practical, and although others would make a different list, I like to think, as maugham did, that “in all the lists, most of the ones I have chosen would find a place”.
You are reading: Books on academic writing
The other consideration that has driven the choice of books for researchers is to focus on books that will show you how to be a competent writer over time by showing you what good writing is and what it takes to be able to write well. although I have also included three resources for researchers to help you during your writing, sources that are more in the nature of well-known style guide-like reference tools, which I have deliberately excluded, simply because are widely known. For the same reason, I wanted to highlight some of the lesser-known books for researchers (actually academic writers) that deserve to be better known.
That said, here, in random order, is my top ten list of resources for researchers.
1. academic writing with style
Few have subjected academic writing to such rigorous scrutiny as Helen Sword has, and the results of her study are available to all. he began by asking “more than seventy scholars from all disciplines to describe the characteristics of ‘stylish scholarly writing’ in their respective fields”. she then analyzed “books and articles by over a hundred exemplary authors recommended [to her] by her discipline peers” and analyzed in great detail a corpus of a thousand articles from ten disciplines taken from the leading journals in each discipline. helen <www.helensword.com> also offers a free trial of how good writing hers is at .
2. science words and the story behind them
Words of Science also has a companion volume, namely More Words of Science, both written by Isaac Asímov, perhaps the most prolific of science writers of all the times. Although far from recent (the books were published in 1959 and 1972), any academic writer would do well to dip into these books from time to time because, as Asímov says, “scientific vocabulary is the bridge by which we enter the earth , not the wall that keeps us out.” The books are arranged alphabetically and consist of short essays, each on a selected word.The essays explain not only what the word in question means, but also how it was derived, how it is used and, when necessary, how it is pronounced. You may think that these two books are a strange choice for this list of books for researchers, but they are not, after all, words are the building blocks of any writing.
3. how to write a lot
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For those of you who struggle to find time to write or suffer from writer’s block, Paul Silvia has some excellent advice. In less than 150 short pages, How to Write a Lot (2nd Edition, 2019) is packed with lots of practical advice and shows that productive writing is a skill that people can learn.
4. on writing well: the classic guide to writing nonfiction
as the subtitle states, this is indeed a classic, the sixth edition of which was published in 2001. william zinsser wrote the first edition in 1976, when most writing was done by hand or on a typewriter. As Zinsser puts it, “The word processor made good writers better and bad writers worse.” however, On How to Write Well is a concise and readable guide that teaches the “art of writing with warmth and clarity.”
5. The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century
steven pinker is a scientist who studies cognitive psychology. In addition to that, he is the author of bestsellers such as The Language Instinct and Words and Rules. Illustrated with examples of good and bad writing, A Sense of Style is ‘designed for people who can write and want to write better’ and is one of the newest books for researchers.
6. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills
Again, as the subtitle states, John Swales and Christine Feak draw on their considerable experience as writing professors at the English Language Institute of Michigan to show how writers can approach different kinds of writing. this first-hand experience makes his book one of the premier resources for researchers.
7. simple and direct: a rhetoric for writers
Jacques Barzun wrote several memorable books for researchers, scholars, and academics.The Modern Researcher is one of the best known books. barzun cared for scholarship and was also particular that the fruits of scholarship were expressed simply and clearly. In simple and direct, he writes not only about choosing the right word and ordering the chosen words in clear syntax, but also addresses the correct tone and the need to revise his writing.
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8. the editor’s manual
While almost all of the books for researchers mentioned so far are pre-reading for mastering the craft of academic writing,the editor’s manual <https://editorsmanual.com/> is a website to be used more as a reference to look up specific advice while writing or reviewing. The contents are divided into four main categories, namely usage, punctuation, style and grammar, so that users can quickly find specific and relevant information to solve a particular query.
9. the academic phrase bank
a handy writing tool, the academic phrase bank <https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/> is an especially useful resource for researchers who struggle to paraphrase, trying to put their fellow researchers’ relevant findings into their own words rather than copying them verbatim (and, in the process, escaping the ‘similarity check’ that can point to plagiarism). Phrase Bank groups typical phrases used in academic writing by typical sections of a research paper, such as introduction, method, and results, so that users can refer to the most common phrases that are often used in research papers. respective sections.
10. dictionary of academic english for oxford students
Designed to cater to those who are learning English specifically for academic purposes, this dictionary supports the meaning of each word with example sentences drawn from authentic academic texts. I had reviewed this book a few years ago,2 and it was the first resource that came to mind when I started compiling this list of books for researchers. the printed version comes supplied with a disc, which contains a writing tutor for reference.
references
1. William Somerset Maugham. ten novels and their authors. (heinemann, 1954).
2. yatendra joshi. English for Academic Writing: A Useful Dictionary for Researchers. editing insights https://www.editage.com/insights/english-for-academic-writing-a-helpful-… (2014).
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