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The best academic writing books: My list


The best academic writing books symbolized by watercolor showing blue and yellow books

The best academic writing books are those you’ll refer to throughout your time in academia. They become your desk’s permanent residents and give you reassurance when you are struggling to write a paper, report, or thesis.

To make it easier for you to discover those books, I’ve created this list. As with many other lists of the best academic writing books, mine too is bound to be subjective. But I hope it helps anyway. My list comprises not only books about academic writing but also books on nonfiction writing that would benefit anyone who writes scholarly texts.

The Craft of Research by Wayne C. Booth et al.

The Craft of Research isn’t strictly about academic writing, but about conducting and reporting research. Still, it tops my list of the best academic writing books because it covers everything you need to know to write a great research paper.

This book teaches you how to select reliable sources, define your research questions, build arguments to support your claims, and create engaging introductions and conclusions. Following the advice of Booth and his co-authors should make writing a research report easier. They explain all the steps of the research writing process, from defining your argument to revising the final draft. And they do it using language that is far from boring, a rare thing for a reference book.

Recommended for: novice and experienced academic writers

Favorite quote: “Just about all of us, students and professionals alike, think our ideas are more coherent in the dark warmth of our minds than they turn out to be in the cold light of day.”

Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword

This book has received mixed reviews, but it’s on my list of the best academic writing books because scholarly writing deserves to be elegant and engaging.

The author examined a huge database of articles and selected 11 techniques that good academic writers use to produce stylish prose. Complete with examples and exercises, Stylish Academic Writing is one of the best academic writing guides I’ve read.

Don’t expect it to be a typical reference book, though. It can feel rather heavy to read at times, because it’s supported by a lot of data and examples. But it has precious advice you won’t find in typical academic writing textbooks. Following it will help you write better.

Recommended for: experienced academic writers

Favorite quote: “Nothing sinks a piece of prose more efficiently than a leaden first paragraph.”

Writing With Power by Peter Elbow

If you consider writing academic English a hassle and lack confidence in your skills, Writing With Power can help you get down words on paper. This book discusses techniques such as freewriting that you can use to speed up the writing process. Although it’s an older book, it has evergreen advice that will point you in the right direction when writing your PhD thesis seems impossible.

Whereas Stylish Academic Writing deals with the finesse of academic writing, Writing With Power is about how to complete a writing assignment fast and well. To do this, you need to avoid the traps that beginner writers typically fall into, such as trying to get it right the first time, or, at the other extreme, overrefining your sentences. So, if you’re one of those people who keep checking the word count of their paper as they write, it may be worth reading this book.

Recommended for: novice academic writers or those struggling with writer’s block

Favorite quote: “Put your body into it as you write. Clench your fist, bang your hand on the desk, stamp your feet, make faces. When you connect wholeheartedly with what you are trying to say you may well find yourself crying or giggling or shaking.”

Discipline-specific academic writing books

In addition to these general resources on scientific writing, there are books tailored for writing in specific academic disciplines. Here are some examples of the best scientific writing books:

  • Natural sciences: Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words by David Lindsay
  • Life and medical sciences: Scientific Writing and Communication by Angelika Hofmann
  • Mathematics: Handbook of Writing for the Mathematical Sciences by Nicholas J. Higham
  • Business: The Business Writer’s Handbook by Gerald J. Alred, Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu
  • Economics: Economical Writing by Deirdre McCloskey
  • Engineering: The Craft of Scientific Writing by Michael Alley

Best books to improve academic writing

Despite not being targeted at academic writers, some books on nonfiction writing are invaluable if you want to learn how to write effective research proposals, essays, papers, dissertations, or reviews. I’m adding the following titles to my list of the best academic writing books because they can elevate your writing skills to a professional level rather than just improve your academic writing skills.

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Non-Fiction by William Zinsser 

This book shows you what good writing is: clutter-free, stylish, appropriate for the audience, and scarce in adjectives and adverbs. And there’s no reason you shouldn’t aim for good writing when you’re planning your research paper or PhD thesis.

The advice in On Writing Well will not only serve you during your undergraduate or postgraduate studies but also in your professional career beyond academia. Writing reports, letters, digital content, and technical guides may be part of your job duties. If you write well you’ll not only be more efficient but also more valuable as an employee.

Recommended for: all writers and aspiring writers, academic and non-academic

Favorite quote: “Remember that words are the only tools you’ve got. Learn to use them with originality and care. And also remember: someone out there is listening.”

When Words Collide by Lauren Kessler and Duncan McDonald

I’m adding When Words Collide to my list of the best academic writing books because I’ve recommended it again and again to clients, friends, and co-workers as the secret to writing well. That may be an overstatement, but the way the authors explain English grammar rules in plain language makes When Words Collide as easy to digest as a blog post but as rich in valuable information as a textbook.

This book is aimed at professional editors and writers, not students or academic researchers. Perhaps that’s why the price for a new copy is so high for a small, 200-page book. As a new copy may be too expensive for a student budget, borrowing When Words Collide from the library is a good idea. I just want to note that I don’t earn any commission from recommending this book, or any other book.

Recommended for: anyone who writes in English

Favorite quote: “There is order in the grammatical universe—and writers should be grateful.”

Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing by Patricia T. O’Conner 

This is a witty book that you will enjoy reading. Words Fail Me packs lots of tips on how to improve your writing: using repetition to your advantage, stripping texts of superfluous words, punctuating a sentence the right way, and more. It doesn’t teach you how to write a research paper (or anything else for that matter), but how to fix your writing.

Recommended for: anyone who wants to write better in English or doesn’t believe reading about grammar can be fun

Favorite quote: “The length of a paragraph isn’t a measure of its intellectual depth. A paragraph expresses a train of thought, and some trains are longer than others.”

Some encouragement before you hit the books

If you don’t like the idea of reading the best academic writing books just to start the first draft of your paper, the author of Scientific Writing = Thinking in Words has great news: “If you are precise, clear and brief, then you do not have to conform to any other specific rules to be a good scientific writer.”

Do you need help editing or proofreading your research paper? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to K.S. for suggesting that I write this post. Thanks to I.G. for many enjoyable discussions over Skype about stylish academic writing.

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Last revised on 4 April 2023

Cristina N.

A freelance editor and writer with a keen interest in science, nature, and communication, I love to craft articles that help and inspire people.