Academic writing

Academic writing is thesis-driven, argumentative work backed by sources. Documents are essays, with supporting literature reviews and appendices, and the citation coach checks your references.

The documents it offers

When you add a document to the project you choose its type. Each type shapes the stages the document moves through:

• Essay — a thesis-driven argumentative essay — the default.
• Literature-Review Note — a note surveying sources and prior work.
• Appendix — supporting material kept out of the main body.

Each document type has its own page — find them in the sidebar under this content type — describing the stages it moves through and where it fits.

A blank document is available in every content type too, for when you want an empty page with no structure imposed.

The stages a document moves through

Every document moves through the same shape: Ideation, Outline, Draft, Revision, Final edit. After Ideation you can move back and forth freely — jump to whichever stage the work needs.

The coaches that apply

Beyond the coaches every content type gets, these are recommended for this kind of writing (you can switch any coach on or off from the Coaches tab):

• Readability & Skimmability — keep the argument easy to follow.
• Citation coach — checks your reference list against APA, MLA, Chicago, or IEEE.
• Fact-checker — looks at the real-world claims you make.

Every content type also gets the coaches that apply to all writing: the select-text Coach for focused feedback on a passage, VoiceCheck and StyleCheck against your voice and style guide, and the free grammar and spelling checks.