Scholarly Writing vs. Web Writing

Scholarly Writing vs. Web Writing

The difference between scholarly writing vs. web writing is that scholarly writing is communicated better and more researched. Scholarly writing is written by professionals in a particular field of study.Web writing is more informal and scholarly writing has everything more organized.

Writing reliable, well-designed papers for college or publication requires the use of scholarly writing mechanics. The writer must combine ideas from sources, cite and reference properly, paraphrase, and use minimal quotes.  Characteristics of scholarly writing include: a formal tone, use of third person rather than whereas web writing uses first person perspective, clear focus on the issue rather than the author's opinion.

Web writing uses plain language so it’s easier for people to find what they need and use it to their needs. In study of online reading behavior, Jakob Nielsen found that “on the average webpage, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely”(usability.gov). Research has shown that short, concise paragraphs and bulleted lists work best for web use. Characteristics of web writing: expressions and jargons, writing in first person or making “I” statements, making direct personal statements and imprecise word choices.

The tone for scholarly writing is formal. For example, in the syllabus for this class the goal was to inform and explain the purpose of the class. Whereas the syllabus focused on one objective and web writing you can write about any topic you would like. A lot of web writings have pictures with captions, and ads.

The audience for scholarly writings is professors, professionals, and graduate students. Web writings are written in everyday language so it’s understandable for the audience to understand.

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/writing-for-the-web.html