Academic literature refers to publications written by and for academics.
Academics use these publications to inform each other of their research results, discuss the significance of the results,
and to formulate hypotheses and theories to stimulate further research.
These publications must meet certain academic criteria, and readers are assumed to have a critical academic approach.
Material that is published is not automatically true; it must be ‘proven’.
Readers of academic publications must be able to verify the correctness of the content. In order to make it easier
to verify information, there are agreements and quality criteria in place for academic publications.
Authors of academic publications must provide precise references to the information on which the publication is based.
This is done in many different ways:
Academic publications have a number of notable characteristics:
For more information on (writing) academic publications please visit the
Academic Communication skills portal of the University of Groningen Language Centre.
Popular academic publications are intended for readers who do not have specialist knowledge of the subject.
The characteristics of popularized academic publications include:
Publications for trades and professions are published by the relevant organizations, i.e. associations of
businesses and companies within a particular branch of industry. Their aim is to represent the interests
of their members and to share knowledge and information with members.
They use three channels to do this:
Characteristics of these publications include:
These publications are not academic, but they can be highly informative.