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Comparision Between Academic And  Technical Writing

Many people fail to distinguish between the technical and academic form of writing. The major difference between both of these forms lies in their style. Technical writing is linked to the processes. It involves a step by step explanation of a procedure so that anyone can understand it. From business letters to the product descriptions and editorial letters, it conveys the technical information such as engineering and scientific studies in the easiest way possible. Academic writing is more specific in nature as it is linked to a particular discipline. It is a complex form of writing which can more commonly be seen in the form of scholarly articles and textbooks.

Difference Between Academic & Technical Writing

There is a huge difference between the technical and academic writing. A skilled academic writer may not have the proficiency in technical writing and vice versa. Let us see the major differences between these two styles of writing.

• Definition                 

In academic writing, a person intends to prove a theory or viewpoint in one way or the other, whereas technical writing is entirely goal-oriented and it talks about different ways by which the desired goal can be achieved. An academic writing is used in the form of theses,essays or book reports.

• Purpose

Technical writing intends to explain the working of a product or service in a step-by-step process. While the academic writing revolves around the results of the academic research. However, sometimes it is also based on one’s viewpoint on a particular topic.

• Target Audience

The target audience in both the types of writing is very different. In academic writing, the target audience is research scholars or professionals who have an expertise in a specialization. Technical writing targets any person who needs to know the task followed by a particular organization.

Similarities Between Academic & Technical Writing

Certainly, academic and technical writings are two different forms of writing but they do share some common attributes too. Let us see the parameters on the basis of which both the writing styles can be considered similar.

• Organized Structure

At the beginning of an academic research, a writer needs to mention the reason for which he undertook the research and then talk about different methodologies. This is a general structure which explains the entire process to the reader in a well-organized form. Similarly, in a technical writing, the writer includes the points such as goals, strategies, benefits etc. Hence, both the forms of writing exhibit a well-organized pattern.

• The Format

Both academic, as well as technical writing, comes under the category of formal writing. This implies that they follow a specific set of guidelines and the tone of writing remains serious. Hence, you can’t use slang terms or jargons in technical or academic writing.

Though both the styles have some striking similarities, a writer needs to adapt to a lot many changes when he shifts from an academic writing style to the technical writing. In order to have a proficiency in both the forms of writing, one needs to do a thorough practice in different writing styles.

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Tags: academic writing, Content Writing, technical writiing