College-level writing is different from other forms of writing that you have encountered before, such as newspaper and blog articles. What you learned in middle school and high school provides the basis of academic writing required in college. Academic writing is the writing that you have to do to attain a college or university degree. Any paper or assignment that you will be asked to do in colleges such as an essay, research paper, coursework, discussion posts, term paper, book review, book reports, and article critique is a form of academic writing. The highest form of academic writing is writing a dissertation to attain your Ph.D. 

Academic writing takes different forms depending on the subject, assignment, and topic. For example, writing a critical analysis is different from writing a book review. However, all these assignments have the same goals and principles. This step-by-step guide will provide you with the general principles of academic writing by using essay assignments as an example. No matter the subject, educational level, topic, or length of your paper, this academic writing guide will help you write a strong academic paper that will guarantee you good grades.