Scholarly writing is a type of writing intended for an academic audience based on a thoroughly researched subject that the writer has informed or expert knowledge about. Although scholarly writing is typically aimed at a specific audience educated in a specific field, the writer may also find an audience outside of this area, through journalism, speeches and published materials such as literary journals and pamphlets. The difference between scholarly writing and day to day language and many forms of journalism is that the author will assume their audience is familiar with the ideas and terms used within the literature and will therefore not define the themes for the reader. The purpose of scholarly writing is to communicate a unique perspective on a topic and convince the reader of their findings. Within the piece the author will develop analysis or present primary research arguing their new insight, which must have been made through thorough research and not simply be a matter or opinion or personal experience. The components of scholarly writing are obvious in its style and structure. In order for scholarly writing to be taken seriously it must use a careful citation of sources which are referenced in a bibliography. This will assert that the author is well read in this field and has adapted their knowledge beyond common sense or assumption. Typically scholarly writing has an objective stance, which clearly states the significance of the topic, and is organised in detail so that other scholars may try to replicate the results. This will help the writer to achieve their purpose in convincing the reader of their findings. Strong papers are not overly general and are composed of formal language and academic rhetoric; avoiding colloquialisms, slang, contradictions, biased language, rhetorical questions and second person pronouns.
