Academic writing is a broad category comprised of numerous scholarly genres. It includes articles found in scholarly journals, books published by academic imprints, teaching resources, and virtually all written work produced by students. With the exception of student writing, pieces in this genre are usually created by career academics such as professors, scientists, and researchers, as well as by public intellectuals.

Aside from the vocational implications of the term, academic writing is also generically defined as discursive nonfiction. Academic writing concerns ideas, facts, and theories; across fields of study, academic writing is premised on presenting a thesis and defending it.

Different areas of scholarship tend to favor particular generic conventions. This extends to elements like formatting, organizational frameworks, and style (e.g., writing in the humanities tends to favor Modern Language Association [MLA] style; research in medicine and the social sciences favors American Psychological Association [APA] style; engineering papers are written in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering [IEEE] style).

Scientific studies, for example, tend to be written in dry, heavily technical styles. Conversely, writing across the humanities tends to be less rigid; humanities writers often draw from literary craft and poetics when developing their voices.