Academic Tone in Thesis Writing: 5 Common Mistakes That Kill Credibility (2026 Guide)

You have excellent data. You have a solid methodology. But when your supervisor reads your draft, they frown.

“This reads like a blog post,” they say. Or worse: “This sounds like a tabloid newspaper.”

Writing a thesis is not like writing a novel. It is not like writing a WhatsApp message. It is a specific dialect of English called Academic English.

Many postgraduate students in Malaysia misunderstand what “Academic English” means. They think it means using long, complicated words to sound smart. They think it means writing sentences that are 5 lines long.

They are wrong.

Academic writing is not about being “fancy.” It is about being precise, objective, and cautious.

If you write like a poet, you will annoy the examiner. If you write like a journalist, you will lose credibility. You need to write like a Judge: cold, factual, and unbiased.

Here are the 5 Most Common Mistakes in academic tone that I see in theses from UM, UiTM, and USM, and exactly how to fix them.

1. The “Emo” Researcher (Emotional Language)

You are passionate about your topic. That is good. But you cannot let your emotions leak onto the page.

The Mistake: Using adjectives that convey feeling rather than fact.

• “It is heartbreaking to see so many SMEs failing in Malaysia.”
• “The results were shocking.”
• “Unfortunately, the government failed to act.”

The Fix: Strip out the emotion. Let the numbers tell the story.

• Bad: “It is terrible that 60% of SMEs fail.”
• Good: “Statistics indicate that 60% of SMEs cease operations within three years (SMECorp, 2024), highlighting a critical sustainability issue.”
• Why? “Terrible” is an opinion. “Critical sustainability issue” is an academic categorization.

2. The “Absolute Truth” (Lack of Hedging)

In Malaysia, we like certainty. We want to say, “This proves that X is true.” In academia, there is no such thing as “Proof.” There is only “Evidence.”

The Mistake: Using “absolute” words that leave no room for error.

• “This study proves that price affects sales.”
• “It is undeniable that…”
• “This will solve the problem.”

The Fix: The Art of Hedging You must use “cautious” verbs. This protects you. If a future study finds you were wrong, you can say, “Hey, I only said it ‘suggests’, I didn’t say it ‘proves’!”

• Bad: “The data proves the hypothesis.”
• Good: “The data supports the hypothesis.”
• Bad: “This will cause an increase in sales.”
• Good: “This may lead to an increase in sales.”

Words to use: Suggests, Indicates, Implies, Appears to, Is likely to. Words to avoid: Proves, Always, Never, Undeniably, Obviously.

3. The “Thesaurus” Addict (Complexity)

Some students think that simple words are for children. So, they right-click on a simple word in Microsoft Word and pick the longest synonym they can find.

The Mistake: Using a “big word” incorrectly, making the sentence harder to read.

• Student writes: “The researcher utilized a survey to elucidate the myriad factors.”
• Examiner thinks: “Just say you ‘used a survey to explain the many factors’.”

The Fix: Clarity is King. If a simple word works, use it.

• Instead of: “Utilize” -> Use: “Use”
• Instead of: “Elucidate” -> Use: “Explain” / “Clarify”
• Instead of: “Aforementioned” -> Use: “Previous” / “Above”

The Rule: If your sentence makes the examiner pause and re-read it, it is a bad sentence.

4. The “Ghost” Writer (Passive Voice Overload)

This is a controversial one.

Old School Style (Passive):

• “The survey was distributed by the researcher.”
• “It was found that…”

Modern Style (Active – APA 7th):

• “I distributed the survey.”
• “The study found that…”

The Mistake: Writing sentences that are so twisted and passive that we don’t know who did the action.

• Bad: “It is believed that the interpretation of the data was conducted incorrectly.” (By whom? The ghost?)
• Good: “Smith (2020) interpreted the data incorrectly.”

The Malaysian Context: Many older supervisors (Professors in their 50s and 60s) still hate the word “I.” They think it sounds arrogant.

• Advice: Check with your supervisor. If they hate “I”, use “The researcher.” If they are modern, use “I” sparingly. But definitely avoid the “Ghost” passive voice where nobody is doing the action.

5. Anthropomorphism (Tables Can’t Talk)

“Anthropomorphism” means giving human qualities to non-human things.

The Mistake:

• “Table 4.1 discusses the demographic profile.”
• “The Figure argues that…”

The Reality: Tables cannot discuss. Figures cannot argue. They are ink on paper. Only people (authors) can discuss or argue.

The Fix:

• Bad: “The table discusses…”
• Good: “Table 4.1 presents…” / “Table 4.1 summarizes…” / “The results in Table 4.1 indicate…”

Summary Checklist: The “Tone” Test

Before you submit your chapter, pick a random paragraph and run this audit:

1. Search for “Prove”: Did I use it? Change it to “Support” or “Indicate.”
2. Search for “Sad/Happy/Terrible”: Did I use emotional adjectives? Delete them.
3. Check Verbs: Did I say “The table discusses”? Change it to “The table presents.”
4. Read Aloud: If you run out of breath reading one sentence, it is too long. Split it into two.

Does your writing sound “Rojak”?

• Get an Academic Editing/Proofreading Service: We don’t just fix grammar; we fix the tone.
• Paraphrasing Help: If you have high Turnitin similarity, we rewrite your text to be original AND academically precise.