Referring to tables and figures is something you do in every paper. But 
what phrases can you use? And what common errors should you avoid? In this 
post, we show you the most frequent word combinations with the subjects 
'table' and 'figure' across a data set of published papers.

How to present tables and figures in your paper: an analysis

Whether you’re writing a paper, thesis, or report: you’re likely to present 
the results of your work. In this analysis, we look at the phrases authors 
use when referring to their results.

How to present your results: an analysis

Cross-referencing, or referring to sections or objects elsewhere in your 
paper, is important for making your text structured and coherent. But how 
do you do this? For this post, we analyzed how authors usually 
cross-reference within their research paper.

How to refer to tables and figures, sections, and other parts of your paper

You probably know the most common academic transition words like however 
and therefore, but there are many other words and phrases to use. We 
analyzed the most common sentence starts in published research papers to 
show you how to link your sentences.

How to connect your sentences in academic writing: an analysis

Paraphrasing is important in academic writing. Here are six techniques to 
rewrite your sentences! Still struggling? Switch to Writefull’s Paraphraser 
in Writefull for Word or for Overleaf, and let AI do the work.

How to paraphrase: techniques and tips

What should an abstract cover? We analyzed the language patterns of 250,000 
scientific abstracts to find out.

How to structure your abstract

In this post, we share a few tips for introducing the purpose of your work, 
together with phrases for you to use - extracted from our database of 
scientific articles.

How to introduce your study

This blog is the second in a series on the topic of common ESL errors in 
academic writing, and looks at errors in the use of articles.

Common ESL errors in academic writing - Part 2: Articles

This blog is the first in a series on the topic of common ESL errors in 
academic writing, and looks at ESL errors in the use of prepositions.

Common ESL errors in academic writing - Part 1: Prepositions

Nouns and verbs come in pairs. We ran Writefull’s language check on a set 
of papers to analyze what verb-noun errors authors make most often, and 
what the correct alternatives are.

Academic writing errors to avoid: verb-noun pairs

We analyzed which preposition errors are most common in academic writing. 
Make sure you avoid these!

Academic writing errors to avoid: Prepositions

Nouns and verbs come in pairs. Studies are performed or conducted, but research is only conducted. We ran Writefull’s language check on a set of papers to analyze what verb-noun errors authors make most often, and what the correct alternatives are. Use this list to avoid the most common verb-noun errors in your own writing!

Prepositions are tricky. Should you refer to the results of your study or from your study? And do you present at or in a conference? We analyzed which preposition errors are most common in academic writing. Make sure you avoid these!

Phrasal verbs can be difficult for non-native speakers of English. Here we 
look at commonly held beliefs about these challenging multi-word 
combinations.

Phrasal verbsTrue or False? The truth about phrasal verbs

As verbs consisting of two or three separate parts, often with idiomatic 
meanings, phrasal verbs can be challenging for non-native speakers. How 
common are they in academic writing, and how are they used?

Phrasal verbs in academic writing

There are a lot of writing apps out there. If you are studying or doing 
research at university, here’s why you need one specifically for academic 
writing.

Why you need a writing app tailored to science and academia

If you read a lot of academic papers, you will have seen lots of hedging. 
Here we explain what hedging is, how it's used, and how to use it in your 
text.

Hedging in academic writing

The use of awkward noun chunks is all too common in research papers, at the 
expense of clarity. Here’s why you should avoid them in your writing, and 
how.

Why (and how to) avoid noun chunks in your paper

Writing a thesis is a daunting task. Many students don’t fully understand 
what thesis writing should look like, and embark on their PhD with 
misconceptions around what constitutes good practice. Here are a few common 
ones.

Thesis writing myths

Plagiarism is a very serious offense in academia, with consequences ranging 
from failing your essay to getting suspended from your course. Even if not 
intending to, it can be easy to mistakenly plagiarize content from other 
papers. Here are some sure ways to avoid falling into that trap.

How to avoid plagiarism in your paper

When preparing your manuscript, remember to include at least some of the 
following statements before submitting it to a journal.

Don’t forget these sections before submitting your paper

It’s the last thing on your mind when writing a paper, but the first thing 
readers see. Not only is a title important to attract attention, but also 
to make your work discoverable. In this blog, we give some general tips and 
ideas of titles for your paper.

Choosing a title for your paper

(Adj.) Meanings*:1. sufficiently great or important to be worthy of 
attention; noteworthy e.g. This could have a significant effect on the 
outcome of the election.2. having a particular meaning; indicative

Academic word of the month: SIGNIFICANT

Convoluted language is a major impediment to text comprehension, and 
nowhere is comprehension more important than when communicating research 
findings. Read on for some top tips to make your writing more concise.

Conciseness in academic writing

Doing research in such anxious times can be difficult, and many researchers 
find themselves struggling to sustain the focus and concentration required 
to write academic papers. Read on for our three tips on how to keep going.

Academic writing tips in times of anxiety

How do you discuss other authors’ work? In this blog post, we show you what 
reporting verbs you can use - and how Writefull helps you choose them.

Does Smith suggest, claim, or propose? On reporting verbs

It’s hard to get work published that is not well-written. So what are the 
do’s and don’ts? We here give you seven language tips for your next paper.

Academic writing: seven language tips

One of the hardest parts of writing a paper is putting the pieces of 
information together. Writefull's sentence palette helps you with this.

Corpus analyses

At Writefull, we often carry out analyses on research papers to explore the language used by authors. We publish our findings as resources for students, researchers, or academic / ESL writing instructors. Feel free to use and share our materials!

How to...

These analyses focus on the language that authors use for specific tasks, like writing an abstract, introducing a study, or connecting sentences. They reveal the words, phrases, and structures that are the most frequently used.