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Word bank for academic writing
Typology: Cheat Sheet
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A compendium of commonly
used phrasal elements in
academic English in PDF format
2014b edition
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Theoretical Influences The Academic Phrasebank largely draws on an approach to analysing academic texts originally pioneered by John Swales in the 1980s. Utilising a genre analysis approach to identify rhetorical patterns in the introductions to research articles, Swales defined a ‘move’ as a section of text that serves a specific communicative function (Swales, 1981,1990). This unit of rhetorical analysis is used as one of the main organising sub-categories of the Academic Phrasebank. Swales not only identified commonly-used moves in article introductions, but he was interested in showing the kind of language which was used to achieve the communicative purpose of each move. Much of this language was phraseological in nature.
The resource also draws upon psycholinguistic insights into how language is learnt and produced. It is now accepted that much of the language we use is phraseological in nature; that it is acquired, stored and retrieved as pre-formulated constructions (Bolinger, 1976; Pawley and Syder, 1983). These insights began to be supported empirically as computer technology permitted the identification of recurrent phraseological patterns in very large corpora of spoken and written English using specialised software (e.g. Sinclair, 1991). Phrasebank recognises that there is an important phraseological dimension to academic language and attempts to make examples of this explicit.
Sources of the phrases The vast majority of phrases in this resource have been taken from authentic academic sources. The original corpus from which the phrases were ‘harvested’ consisted of 100 postgraduate dissertations completed at the University of Manchester. However, phrases from academic articles drawn from a broad spectrum of disciples have also been, and continue to be, incorporated. In most cases, the phrases have been simplified and where necessary they have been ‘sifted’ from their particularised academic content. Where content words have been included for exemplificatory purposes, these are substitutions of the original words. In selecting a phrase for inclusion into the Academic Phrasebank, the following questions are asked:
When is it acceptable to reuse phrases in academic writing? In a recent study (Davis and Morley, 2013), 45 academics from two British universities were surveyed to determine whether reusing phrases was a legitimate activity for academic writers, and if so, what kind of phrases could be reused. From the survey and later from in-depth interviews, the following characteristics for acceptability emerged. A reused phrase:
Major sections
There are many ways to introduce an academic essay or short paper. Most academic writers, however, appear to do one or more of the following in their introductions:
Introductions to research articles and dissertations tend to be relatively short but quite complex. Some of the more common moves include:
Examples of phrases which are commonly employed to realise these functions are listed below. Note that there may be a certain amount of overlap between some of the categories under which the phrases are listed.
Establishing the importance of the topic for the world or society X is a fundamental property of …. X is fast becoming a key instrument in …. X is a common disorder characterised by …. X plays an important role in the maintenance of …. Xs are the most potent anti-inflammatory agents known. X is a major public health problem, and the main cause of …. Xs are one of the most rapidly declining groups of insects in .... In the new global economy, X has become a central issue for …. X is the leading cause of death in western-industrialised countries. Xs are one of the most widely used groups of antibacterial agents and …. X is increasingly recognised as a serious, worldwide public health concern. X is an important component in the climate system, and plays a key role in Y. In the history of development economics, X has been thought of as a key factor in ….
Establishing the importance of the topic for the discipline A key aspect of X is …. X is a classic problem in …. A primary concern of X is …. X is at the heart of our understanding of …. X is an increasingly important area in applied linguistics.
Highlighting a controversy in the field of study To date there has been little agreement on what …. One major issue in early X research concerned …. The issue has grown in importance in light of recent …. One observer has already drawn attention to the paradox in …. Questions have been raised about the safety of prolonged use of …. Debate continues about the best strategies for the management of …. In many Xs, a debate is taking place between Ys and Zs concerning …. This concept has recently been challenged by X studies demonstrating …. The debate about X has gained fresh prominence with many arguing that …. More recently, literature has emerged that offers contradictory findings about …. One of the most significant current discussions in legal and moral philosophy is …. One major theoretical issue that has dominated the field for many years concerns …. The controversy about scientific evidence for X has raged unabated for over a century. The causes of X have been the subject of intense debate within the scientific community. The issue of X has been a controversial and much disputed subject within the field of …. In the literature on X, the relative importance of Y has been subject to considerable debate.
Highlighting inadequacies of previous studies Researchers have not treated X in much detail. Previous studies of X have not dealt with …. Half of the studies evaluated failed to specify whether …. Most studies in the field of X have only focused on …. Most studies in X have only been carried out in a small number of areas. The generalisability of much published research on this issue is problematic. The experimental data are rather controversial, and there is no general agreement about …. Such expositions are unsatisfactory because they …. The research to date has tended to focus on X rather than Y. Research on the subject has been mostly restricted to limited comparisons of …. The existing accounts fail to resolve the contradiction between X and Y.
However, few writers have been able to draw on any systematic research into …. However, much of the research up to now has been descriptive in nature …. However, these results were based upon data from over 30 years ago and it is unclear if …. Although extensive research has been carried out on X, no single study exists which …. X’s analysis does not take account of …. nor does she examine ….
Highlighting a knowledge gap in the field of study What is not yet clear is the impact of X on …. No previous study has investigated X. There has been little quantitative analysis of …. The neurobiological basis of this X is poorly understood. Until recently, there has been no reliable evidence that …. In addition, no research has been found that surveyed …. Little is known about X and it is not clear what factors …. This indicates a need to understand the various perceptions of X that exist among ….
So far this method has only been applied to …. So far, however, there has been little discussion about …. However, far too little attention has been paid to …. However, the evidence for this relationship is inconclusive …. However, much uncertainty still exists about the relation between ….
However, there have been no controlled studies which compare differences in …. In contrast, very little is known about X in non-mammalian vertebrates and in ….
Although While Whilst
some research has been carried out on X,
no single study exists which …. no studies have been found which …. no controlled studies have been reported. only two studies have attempted to investigate …. the mechanism by which …. has not been established. there have been few empirical investigations into …..
Apart from Smith (2014), there is a general lack of research in …. Despite this, very few studies have investigated the impact of X on …. Several studies have produced estimates of X (Smith, 2002; Jones, 2003), but there is still insufficient data for ….
Indicating the focus, aim, argument of a short paper This paper contests the claim that …. This paper will review the research conducted on …. This paper will focus on/examine/give an account of …. This paper seeks to remedy these problems by analysing the literature of …. This paper examines the significance of X in the rise of …. This essay critically examines/discusses/traces ….
This account seeks to …. In this paper I argue that …. In the pages that follow, it will be argued that …. This paper attempts to show that …. In this essay, I attempt to defend the view that …. The central thesis of this paper is that …. The aim of the paper is to provide a conceptual theoretical framework based on…. The purpose of this paper is to review recent research into the ….
Stating the purpose of research The major objective of this study was to investigate …..
The aim of this study is to investigate the differences between X and Y. The aim of this research project has therefore been to try and establish what …. The main aim of this investigation is to assess the doses and risks associated with …. The aim of this study is to shine new light on these debates through an examination of ….
The objectives of this research are to determine whether …. The main purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of …. This paper investigates the usefulness of …. This thesis intends to determine the extent to which …. and whether …. This thesis will examine the way in which the …. This research examines the emerging role of X in the context of …. This case study seeks to examine the changing nature of …. This dissertation seeks to explain the development of …. This dissertation aims to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding …. This study systematically reviews the data for…., aiming to provide ….
Giving reasons for personal Interest* My main reason for choosing this topic is personal interest. I became interested in Xs after reading …. This project was conceived during my time working for X. As a medical advisor, I witnessed … I have worked closely with X for many years and …. It is my experience of working with X that has driven this research.
Outlining the structure The main questions/issues addressed in this paper are: a), b and c). This paper has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with …. The essay has been organised in the following way. This paper reviews the evidence for …. This paper begins by …. It will then go on to …. The first section of this paper will examine …. This paper first gives a brief overview of the recent history of X. My thesis is composed of four themed chapters. The overall structure of the study takes the form of six chapters, including this introductory chapter. Chapter Two begins by laying out the theoretical dimensions of the research, and looks at how …. The third chapter is concerned with the methodology used for this study. The fourth section presents the findings of the research, focusing on the three key themes that …. Chapter 6 analyses the results of interviews and focus group discussions undertaken during …. The remaining part of the paper proceeds as follows: …. The final chapter draws upon the entire thesis, tying up the various theoretical and empirical strands in order to …. …. and includes a discussion of the implication of the findings to future research into this area. Finally, the conclusion gives a brief summary and critique of the findings. Finally, areas for further research are identified.
Explaining Keywords (refer to Defining Terms ) Throughout this paper, the term X will refer to …. Throughout this dissertation, the term X will be used to refer to …. In this article, the acronym/abbreviation XYZ will be used. According to Smith (2002), X can be defined as follows: “….” The term X is a relatively new name for …., commonly referred to as …. While a variety of definitions of the term X have been suggested, this paper will use the definition first suggested by Smith (1968) who saw it as ….
One of the distinguishing features of academic writing is that it is informed by what is already known, what work has been done before, and/or what ideas and models have already been developed. Thus, academic writers frequently make reference to external sources. In some cases, where the individual author is important, the author’s name will be the main subject of the sentence; in other cases, the source may only be mentioned in brackets ( …. ) or via a number notation system (e.g. footnotes and endnotes). The ‘author as subject’ style is less common in the empirical disciplines (sciences) and more commonly used in the humanities. The verbs and verb phrases typically used for referring to sources are listed below. Note that different referencing systems are used in different disciplines. In the examples given here, the Harvard in-text referencing system has been used.
The literature review: it is the purpose of the literature review section of a paper or dissertation to show the reader, in a systematic way, what is already known about the research topic as a whole, and to outline the key ideas and theories that help us to understand this. As well as being systematic, the review should be evaluative and critical of the studies or ideas which are relevant to the current work (refer to Being Critical ). For example, you may think a particular study did not investigate some important aspect of the area you are researching, that the authors failed to notice a weakness in their methods, or that their conclusion is not well-supported.
A note on verb tenses: For general reference to the literature, the present perfect tense (have/has + verb + ed) tends to be used. For reference to specific studies carried out in the past, the simple past tense is most commonly used. This is always the case where a specific date or time in the past forms a part of the sentence. When referring to the words or ideas of writers, the present tense is often used if the ideas are still relevant, even if the author is no longer alive. The examples given below reflect these general patterns.
General descriptions of the relevant literature A large and growing body of literature has investigated …. More recent attention has focused on the provision of …. Much of the current literature on X pays particular attention to …. Over the past decade most research in X has emphasized the use of …. There is a large volume of published studies describing the role of …. In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on …. The generalisability of much published research on this issue is problematic. During the past 30 years, much more information has become available on …. A considerable amount of literature has been published on X. These studies …. The first serious discussions and analyses of X emerged during the 1970s with …. What we know about X is largely based upon empirical studies that investigate how ….
General reference to previous research or scholarship: normally more than one author Traditionally, it has been argued that …. (Smith, 1982; O’Brien, 1984). Surveys such as that conducted by Smith (1988) have shown that …. Many historians have argued that …. (e.g. Jones, 1987; Johnson, 1990; Smith, 1994). There is a consensus among social scientists that ….(e.g. Jones, 1987; Johnson, 1990; ….
interviewed 250 undergraduate students using semi-structured …. studied the effects of X on unprotected nerve cells. performed a similar series of experiments in the 1960s to show that …. carried out a number of investigations into the …. conducted a series of trials in which he mixed X with different quantities of …. measured both components of the …. labelled these subsets as …. examined the flow of international students …. identified parents of disabled children as …. used a survey to assess the various ….
Wang et al. (2004) have recently developed a methodology for the selective introduction of ….
Reference to single investigations or publications in the past: time frame prominent In 1975, Smith et al. published a paper in which they described …. In 1990, Patel et al. demonstrated that replacement of H2O with heavy water led to …. Thirty years later, Smith (1974) reported three cases of X which …. In the 1950s, Gunnar Myrdal pointed to some of the ways in which …. (Myrdal, 1957) In 1981, Smith and co-workers demonstrated that X induced in vitro resistance to …. In 1990, Al-Masry et al. reported a new and convenient synthetic procedure to obtain …. In 1984, Jones et al. made several amino acid esters of X and evaluated them as ….
Reference to single investigations in the past: investigation prominent Preliminary work on X was undertaken by Abdul Karim (1992). The first systematic study of X was reported by Patel et al. in 1986. The study of the structural behaviour of X was first carried out by Rao et al. (1986)….. Analysis of the genes involved in X was first carried out by Smith et al (1983). One study by Smith (2014) examined the trend in …. A recent study by Smith and Jones (2012) involved …. A longitudinal study of X by Smith (2012) reports that …. A small scale study by Smith (2012) reaches different conclusions, finding no increase in ….
Smith’s cross-country analysis (2012) showed that …. Smith’s comparative study (2012) found that …. Detailed examination of X by Smith and Patel (1961) showed that …. Brown’s (1992) model of X assumes three main ….
In an analysis of X, Smith et al. (2012) found …. In an investigation into X, Smith et al. (2012) found …. In another major study, Zhao (1974) found that just over half of the …. In a study which set out to determine X, Smith (2012) found that …. In a randomised controlled study of X, Smith (2012) reported that …. In a large longitudinal study, Smith et al. (2012) investigated the incidence of X in Y. In one well-known recent experiment, limits on X were found to be ….. (Al-Masry, 2013)
Reference to single investigations in the past: research topic as main focus To determine the effects of X, Zhao et al (2005) compared …. X was originally isolated from Y in a soil sample from …. (Wang et al. , 1952). The electronic spectroscopy of X was first studied by Smith and Jones1 in 1970 X formed the central focus of a study by Smith (2002) in which the author found …. X was first demonstrated experimentally by Pavlov (Smith, 2002). In his seminal study ….
The acid-catalyzed condensation reaction between X and Y was first reported by Smith in 1872 To better understand the mechanisms of X and its effects, Al-Masry (2013) analysed the …. The way in which the X gene is regulated was studied extensively by Ho and colleagues (Ho et al. 1995 and 1998).
Reference to what other writers do in their text: author as subject Smith (2013) identifies X, Y, and Z as the major causes of …. Perez (2013) draws on an extensive range of sources to assess …. Toh (2013) mentions the special situation of Singapore as an example of …. Al-Masry (2013) uses examples of these various techniques as evidence that …. Smith (2013) questions whether mainstream schools are the best environment for …. Jones (2013) draws our attention to distinctive categories of X often observed in …. Brown (2013) considers whether countries work well on cross-border issues such as …. Smith (2013) discusses the challenges and strategies for facilitating and promoting …. Jones (2013) provides in-depth analysis of the work of Aristotle showing its relevance to …. Rao (2013) lists three reasons why the English language has become so dominant. These are: …. Smith (2013) traces the development of Japanese history and philosophy during the 19th century. Smith (2013) defines evidence based medicine as the conscious, explicit and judicious use of ….. Rao (2013) highlights the need to break the link between economic growth and transport growth …..
By drawing on the concept of X, Smith has been able to show that …. Drawing on an extensive range of sources, the authors set out the different ways in which …. In Chapter 2, Smith provides us with a number of important …. In the subsequent chapter, Smith examines the extent to which …. Some analysts (e.g. Carnoy, 2002) have attempted to draw fine distinctions between …. Other authors (see Harbison, 2003; Kaplan, 2004) question the usefulness of such an approach.
In her major study, In her seminal article, In her classic critique of …., In her case study of …, In her review of …., In her analysis of …., In her introduction to ….,’
Smith (2012) identifies five characteristics of ….
Reference to another writer’s ideas or position (author as subject) According to Smith (2003), preventative medicine is far more cost effective, and therefore …. As noted by Smith (2003) X is far more cost effective, and therefore ….
Smith (2013)
points out argues maintains claims concludes suggests
that preventative medicine is far more cost effective, and therefore better adapted to the developing world.
Smith (2013) argues for an explanatory theory for each type of irrational belief.
Some ways of introducing quotations Commenting on X, Smith (2003) argues: ‘…. ….’ As Smith argues: ‘In the past, the purpose of education was to ….’ (Smith , 2000:150). As Carnoy (2004: 215) states: ‘there are many good reasons to be sceptical’. In the final part of the Theses, Marx writes: ‘Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point ….’ Sachs concludes: ‘The idea of development stands today like a ruin in the intellectual landscape…’ (Sachs, 1992a: 156).
As Smith
reminds us: ‘…. …. …. …. …. ‘ observes: ‘…. …. …. …. …. ‘ notes: ‘…. …. …. …. …. ‘ points out: ‘…. …. …. …. …. ‘ argues: ‘…. …. …. …. …. ‘
(Smith 2003: 23).
Summarising the review or parts of the review Together, these studies outline that …. Overall, these studies highlight the need for …. Collectively, these studies outline a critical role for… The evidence presented in this section suggests that …. The studies presented thus far provide evidence that …. Overall, there seems to be some evidence to indicate that …. Together these studies provide important insights into the …. In view of all that has been mentioned so far, one may suppose that ….
In the Methods section of a dissertation or research article, writers give an account of how they carried out their research. The Methods section should be clear and detailed enough for another experienced person to repeat the research and reproduce the results. Where the methods chosen are new, unfamiliar or perhaps even controversial, or where the intended audience is from many disciplines, the Methods section will tend to be much more extensive. Typical stretches of text found in this section of a research article or dissertation along with examples of the kind of language used for these are listed below. Note that for most of the functional categories in this section, the verbs are written in the simple past tense.
Describing previously used methods To date various methods have been developed and introduced to measure X: In most recent studies, X has been measured in four different ways. Traditionally, X has been assessed by measuring…. Different authors have measured X in a variety of ways. Previous studies have based their criteria for selection on …. The use of qualitative case studies is a well-established approach in …. This test is widely available, and has been used in many investigational studies. Case studies have been long established in X to present detailed analysis of …. Recently, simpler and more rapid tests of X have been developed. Radiographic techniques are the main non-invasive method used to determine …. A variety of methods are used to assess X. Each has its advantages and drawbacks. Data were gathered from multiple sources at various time points during ….
Giving reasons why a particular method was adopted or rejected A case study approach was used to allow a …. Qualitative methods offer an effective way of …. A quantitative approach was employed since …. The design of the questionnaires was based on …. The X method is one of the more practical ways of …. The semi-structured approach was chosen because …. The X approach has a number of attractive features: …. The second advantage of using the multivariate method is …. For this study, the X was used to explore the subsurface …. Smith et al. (1994) identify several advantages of the case study, …. It was decided that the best method to adopt for this investigation was to …. The study uses qualitative analysis in order to gain insights into …. It was considered that quantitative measures would usefully supplement and extend the …. Many of the distributions were not normal so non-parametric signed rank tests were run. One advantage of the X analysis is that it avoids the problem of …. The sensitivity of the X technique has been demonstrated in a report by Smith et al (2011). However, there are certain drawbacks associated with the use of …. The main disadvantage of the experimental method is that …. A major problem with the experimental method is that …. There are certain problems with the use of focus groups. One of these is that there is less ….
Indicating a specific method X was prepared according to the procedure used by Patel et al. (1957). The synthesis of X was done according to the procedure of Smith (1973). X was synthesised using the same method that was detailed for Y, using ….
