Presents guidelines and tips for academic writing, arguing that scholarly writing does not have to be wordy and impersonal but instead can be witty, imaginative, and engaging.
Sword (University of Auckland, New Zealand) presents examples of both engaging and appalling academic prose, drawn from her own study of 1,000 peer-reviewed academic articles across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and argues that academic writers can use a wider range of stylistic choices than they now use. Emphasizing that stylish, readable writing is always appropriate for any setting, even academic journals, she gives practical writing advice on achieving clarity, engaging the reader's attention, avoiding jargon, and writing with originality and even the use of humor, while still conveying a sense of intellectual commitment and passion. The techniques can also be applied to public speaking. Boxes offer excerpts of good writing by published academic authors, some well known, such as Oliver Sacks and Michel Foucault. The book is for advanced students up to PhD level, and scholars who want to write for audiences beyond academia. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)