The difference between professional writing and academic writing can be rather confusing. This is because these two types of writing are often used in association with each other.
For example, a science lab doing a press release is a good example of professional writing being used in conjunction with academic writing. However, there are clear differences in how the two types of writing should be used.
Academic writing is writing geared primarily toward scientific publications or research papers, while professional writing is formal writing normally used for business or journalistic communication. The two are both forms of formal writing and are often strictly separated from each other.
However, there are many cases where the two intersect, borrow from, or support each other. Professional writing can be used to supplement academic papers and communication, and professionally written documents often use the structure or style of academic writing to gain more credibility.
As a scholar or academic, knowing how to write professionally can support your academic work and open up new career opportunities.
What Is Academic Writing?
Academic or scientific writing is a form of formal writing that follows the common organizational structure of IMRAD—Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. This type of writing follows a set of strict rules and conventions also known as academic style. This can be APA, MLA, or CMoS. These styles are especially important for giving credit to sources.
Scientific writing is concerned primarily with the discovery or creation of new knowledge. Also, a paper published in a scientific journal is a matter of scientific record. This means it should properly record its methods to ensure that experiments and results are repeatable and falsifiable.
As a result, it requires elaborate conventions. These conventions are designed to ensure the proper documentation of methods used in collecting data and rules to give credit sources, such as reference lists and in-text citations. And they should be meticulously followed.
For an article on how to write a research paper in the field of academic writing, you can take a look at the following article: How to Write Your Research Paper.
These rules exist for various reasons. For example, strict rules for citation and crediting sources ensure that a clear line is drawn between the work or ideas of the researcher and that of other researchers that they reference or rely on. Also, research writing at its most refined prioritizes the idea of "reproducibility."
This means that the results and the methods produced by a scientist or a researcher could be faithfully repeated or reproduced by other scientists. That's why the methods and materials used to obtain these results should follow a strict or even severe set of standards and rules. Of course academic writing methods ensure that these methods are written in a manner that could be clearly understood.
Academic writing examples include papers published in scientific journals, conference papers, and theses. In addition, they are often the subject of strict assessment or evaluation. In the case of journal publications, this would mean the peer-review process. For theses and dissertations, this would mean strict assessment from your advisor or review committee.
What Is Professional Writing?
Professional writing is also formal writing that is reserved for business and journalistic or press communication. It is the type of writing that you would expect to find in reputable press publications, such as the New York Times. It is also used for business contexts. Business letters, job applications, and business emails usually use professional writing.
Professional writing often has a wider audience than academic writing. Such an audience could be either consumers or business partners being targeted by business writing or the general public being targeted by a newspaper or business. This means that this style of writing although formal should be easier to read.
In short, professional writing is used for formal communication in business, journalism, and even academics. It is often used adjacent to or in support of academic writing. For example, a college admission essay can be viewed as a form of professional writing. Another example would be a press release from a science lab that just made a new discovery, that they would like to inform the public about.
Differences Between Academic and Professional Writing
It would help to know the major differences between the two in terms of style. Both academic writing and professional writing are formal in terms of style. However, academic writing is typically much more formal. For example, in professional writing, you can use common contractions such as "can't" or "don't." In academic writing, this is not allowed.
The table below features the key differences between the two.
Academic Writing | Professional Writing |
Used in journals, theses, and conference papers | Used in business emails, business letters, college and grant Applications, white papers, and newspaper articles |
Subject to strict review or evaluation before publication (e.g. peer review) | Not subject to strict review before publication |
Avoids using common contractions, such as don't, can't, etc. | Can use common contractions sometimes |
Avoids beginning sentences with conjunctions, such as "and", "or", "but", etc. | Can begin sentences with conjunctions, such as "and", "or", "but", etc. |
Uses academic styles that rely heavily on proper citation and references, such as APA, IEEE, and CMOS. | Mostly makes use of Associated Press (AP) or in-house styles |
Avoids using informal language, such as "figure out" or "OK" | Often uses informal language, such as "figure out" |
Pays attention to properly numbering and labeling figures and tables (e.g., Table 1 or Figure 1) | Pays less attention to properly labeling tables and figures (e.g., the table below or the figure above) |
The differences between the two types of writing are driven by their different purposes. And here is a summary of these major differences.
1. Audience. An academic audience is more specialized and narrow, whereas in professional or business writing, the audience is more broad. Think of a business sending out a newsletter to a B2B audience versus a cancer researcher writing about the discovery of the mechanism by which a new drug initiates apoptosis in cancer cells.
2. Language. The language used in both professional writing and academic writing is formal. However, that used in academic writing is much more technical or jargonistic.
Layout and style. Academic communications are typically more lengthy and more rigidly structured than professional writing.
Professional writing often borrows from or supports academic writing, but rarely does it make sense to use a professional writing style in an academic document. For example, in the world of business, a white paper is a formal informational document created by a company or other organization to describe or promote the features of a particular product or service that they offer or plan to offer.
Let's say the product being featured in a white paper is a medical product. Then, you would expect that the white paper would use extensive citations from high-ranking medical journals to support the claims being made about the medical product being offered.
This is to give credibility to the product, as consumers will have higher standards for medical products compared to other consumer goods. In this case, the white paper will resemble an academic research paper in terms of its use of citations and its reliance on authority.
As a scholar or academic being able to write proficiently in both styles would be useful. Professional writing for the academic often exists in support of scholarly works or publications. For example, after completing your paper for publication, you would need to write a cover letter to the editor.
This letter would follow similar conventions to a business letter or email in terms of format or structure. For example, there would be no need to include citations in your cover letter to the editor that accompanies your research paper.
Other examples of professional writing that support academic writing are:
A book written by scientists for the wider public
A press release from a lab about a new scientific discovery
A scientist writing in detail about their work in the press
Graduate program applications
College essay applications
Cover letters accompanying work meant for publishing
Final thoughts
Professional writing is what you do to introduce your work to journals or to explain it to the wider public. It often exists in support of academic writing. There are many scientists who think of professional writing as useless or a waste of time. But it is often necessary to acquire funds necessary for your research.
For example, writing a research grant would be an example of professional writing required to support your academic work. If you are unable to write a grant application that convinces your funding sources, who are often non-academic, your research might never be carried out. And you would never get the chance to publish.
Being able to write professionally can also open up new career avenues and opportunities for you as a scholar. A scientific discovery that captures the public's attention would need a scientist or academic to explain to them "the science" behind this discovery or development.
For example, a computer scientist can be hired to write an article explaining exactly how ChatGPT works. Also, a medical company might need a knowledgeable academic to explain a promising medical product that they want to promote through a white paper.
So, mastering professional writing can help both support your academic writing and open up new career avenues.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024). Academic vs Professional Writing. https://www.eminentediting.com/post/academic-writing-vs-professional-writing |
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