1. Know your purpose

In general, most people write a journal article as an efficient means to disseminate their research to an audience. However, it’s important to think about what specific goals you’d like to achieve with your article. For example, consider:

• Whether you are seeking to develop an academic career and you are aiming to establish a publication record in high-quality, strategic journals in your research field.
• Whether you are a practitioner in a particular field and your article is a means of establishing and sharing your expertise on a topic.

2. Manage your scope

Academic articles vary in length depending on the journal and article type, but are typically between 3000 and 10,000 words long. To write well within these limitations:

• Set an appropriate scope for your article before you start writing, so you can present a discrete argument with sufficient depth and focus.
• If you are adapting material from an existing research project (e.g. your research thesis), consider how to rewrite a small 'slice' to suit the context of the academic journal.

3. Write to engage

An academic article is a formal piece of writing, but it still needs to engage its audience with a compelling story. To write effectively:

• Ensure you follow the writing conventions of your research field and of the journal you wish to publish in.
• Consider how to use different elements of the article structure to engage the reader (e.g. a compelling title and abstract to grab the reader's attention; a clear conclusion to logically close the argument).