Academic Writing in English is intended primarily for students in higher education with Swedish as their native language. There is for example a condensed presentation of the contrastive dimension, the main areas of grammar where Swedish and English differ. This handbook will be of particular use to students who are expected to hand in independently produced English as part of their programme requirements. Its aim is to exemplify good writing from the diverse academic fields included in most English language programmes, as well as from two very different fields: political science and medicine.

The book adopts an approach with a gradually narrowing focus. It opens with a general discussion of the genre of academic writing and its linguistic characteristics. Students are then taken through the stages of the writing process. We also discuss text cohesion and problems that detract from the quality of the text. A special chapter presents the standard conventions for correctly acknowledging, referring to and quoting text-external voices.

Academic Writing in English provides its users with academic insight into the characteristics of well-written texts and offers practical advice on how to attain the same level in their own writing. Comments on the exercises in the book can soon be found in the e-book Academic Writing in English – Suggested Answers.

Per Lysvåg is retired Associate Professor of English Language at the University of Oslo. Ph.D. Gjertrud Flermoen Stenbrenden is Associate Professor of English Language at the University of Oslo.