Abstract

Although the humanities and sciences differ and the structure of an academic article may vary, I would like to suggest that there is a basic set of parameters that may be used to develop a sound academic paper, at least in the scientific disciplines. Given the fact that the sciences deal more with hard evidence and quantitative results, there is a clearer structure for the presentation of such results and answering a particular set of questions of even confirming a hypothesis. This is not as relevant in the context of the humanities which may be considered less structured or less a matter of proof as such and thus less dependent of a clearly defined formulae for writing an academic article. Thus, this brief paper is more useful in the context of the sciences where the following structure applies: introduction; methods, results and discussion and conclusion. In the foregoing I will unpack useful “tips” that assist in developing an argument accordingly and thus communicating one’s findings in a way that is easily understandable and as a result makes for a good academic article.