Summary
Acknowledgements are more than polite thanks. In an academic or scientific paper, they publicly recognise intellectual, technical, financial, institutional, and personal support. Done well, they demonstrate integrity, reveal collaboration networks, and help readers identify useful contacts, resources, and funding bodies.
Write them with intention, not haste. Use the first person (“I” or “we”), keep a professional tone, list contributors in an order that reflects the importance of their support, and use accurate names for individuals and institutions. Follow journal requirements and avoid exaggeration or overly personal remarks.
Bottom line: A well-structured Acknowledgements section strengthens your paper. It records how the work was made possible, gives fair credit, and conveys professionalism, collegiality, and transparency.
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Acknowledgements for Academic and Scientific Papers: Principles, Purpose & A Model Example
The Acknowledgements section of an academic or scientific paper is often written quickly and with little reflection, yet it is one of the most visible parts of a manuscript. It represents the human and institutional relationships behind the research—relationships that shaped, supported, or enabled the project. Good acknowledgements demonstrate academic integrity, strengthen your credibility as a researcher, and record the collaborative and material conditions that make scholarly work possible. They also serve practical functions: they help readers locate the same archival materials, identify funding sources, or understand the intellectual lineage behind a piece of research.
This article provides a full guide to writing effective acknowledgements. It highlights what belongs in the section, how to structure it, how to maintain a professional yet sincere tone, and how to respect disciplinary and journal-level expectations. It then provides a complete, realistic example based on a fictional naval-history research project, demonstrating how the principles operate in practice.
1) What belongs in an Acknowledgements section?
The Acknowledgements section serves to recognise individuals and organisations whose contributions were meaningful to the research but do not qualify them for authorship. Authors must follow the definitions of authorship used in their discipline or journal; most journals follow criteria from committees such as ICMJE or COPE. Anyone who does not meet authorship criteria, but still provided substantial support, belongs in the Acknowledgements.
Typical contributors include:
- Supervisors and mentors: intellectual guidance, conceptual framing, training or methodological oversight.
- Academic colleagues: feedback on drafts, shared expertise, assistance with specialised interpretations, or advice during the research process.
- Librarians and archivists: access to collections, specialist knowledge, image provision, or help navigating complex institutional holdings.
- Laboratory and technical staff: support with equipment, data processing, software, fieldwork logistics, or experimental setup.
- Research assistants: help with coding, transcription, scanning, digitisation, or administrative tasks.
- Peer reviewers: when appropriate, to recognise anonymous but influential feedback.
- Funding bodies: fellowships, grants, and travel support.
- Community partners or participants: in certain disciplines, community collaborators warrant acknowledgment if journal guidelines permit.
- Personal support: partners, family members, or friends who offered significant emotional or practical assistance.
Some journals require certain information—such as funding, ethics approvals, or conflict-of-interest disclosures—to appear outside the Acknowledgements in separate, labelled sections. Always check the “Instructions for Authors.”
2) Tone, voice, and professionalism
Acknowledgements must strike a balance between sincerity and professionalism. The tone should be collegial and warm, but also concise and respectful. The voice should almost always be first-person, singular (“I”) for sole authors and plural (“we”) for collaborative papers. Third-person phrasing is rarely appropriate unless required by the journal.
Effective acknowledgements tend to:
- thank contributors specifically for the type of assistance given
- avoid vague or overly sentimental statements
- avoid flattery, exaggeration, or emotional language
- use complete and grammatically correct sentences
- name individuals, departments, and organisations accurately
Think of acknowledgements as a professional record, not a personal dedication. You are documenting contributions that others made to support the research—not writing a private letter of thanks.
3) Order and structure of contributions
The order in which contributors are acknowledged should reflect the nature and importance of the support. A widely accepted sequence is:
- Primary intellectual contribution — supervisors, directors of study, central mentors.
- Secondary scholarly assistance — colleagues, departmental staff, institutional partners, peer reviewers, scholars who provided essential guidance.
- Access to resources — librarians, archivists, curators, laboratory staff, technicians.
- Financial support — grants, fellowships, scholarships, travel funds (and grant numbers if required).
- Practical or technical assistance — IT support, transcription services, data design, graphic preparation.
- Personal encouragement — partners, family, and friends.
This hierarchy is not fixed, but it prevents inconsistencies such as thanking a partner before acknowledging a major funding body or supervisor.
4) Naming individuals and institutions accurately
Accuracy is essential. Always use:
- the full names of individuals
- their preferred professional titles when relevant
- the complete official names of institutions, collections, departments, laboratories, and archives
If a library specifies that a manuscript or collection must be cited using a formal, non-abbreviated name, follow this requirement precisely. Archivists and librarians rely on these forms to ensure traceability and correct cataloguing.
5) Length, limitations, and journal requirements
Acknowledgements for journal articles are typically 200–500 words, but book chapters and theses may allow more. When writing, keep these practical guidelines in mind:
- Be concise. Acknowledgements are not a biography of the project.
- Be precise. Mention only those who contributed meaningfully.
- Respect privacy. Do not include personal information unless the individual has agreed (e.g., partners are typically named only with permission).
- Follow journal structure. Some publishers require funding details in a separate section.
If you are unsure, examine recently published articles in your target journal to see what form is expected.
6) Model Acknowledgements section (fictional)
The following example illustrates many of the principles discussed above. It is based on a fictional research project involving a manuscript titled British Naval Ships MS VII.2.77. Names, institutions, and organisations are invented, but the tone, format, and scope are suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Example Acknowledgements
This paper and the broader doctoral project from which it emerged would not have been possible without the exceptional support of my supervisor, Professor Lawrence Magister. His deep knowledge of British maritime history, his enthusiasm for archival work, and his careful feedback on each successive draft have shaped this research from my first encounter with British Naval Ships MS VII.2.77 to the final version submitted here. I am sincerely grateful for his mentorship, guidance, and patience.
I also wish to thank my colleagues Dr Margaret Kempis and Dr Matthew Brown at Western University for reviewing my transcriptions and answering numerous questions about the linguistic and paleographic features of MS VII.2.77. Their expertise in naval log books and historical linguistics greatly improved the accuracy of my work.
Access to the manuscript was made possible through the generous support of Ms Samantha McKenzie, Head Librarian of the Southern Region Central Collegiate Library Special Collections and Microfilms Department. She not only provided high-resolution colour images on short notice but also shared valuable catalogue notes and historical context that she has compiled over almost twenty years. I also appreciate the thoughtful comments offered by the anonymous peer reviewers for Books & Texts, whose suggestions strengthened both the structure and clarity of this article. Any remaining errors are my own.
I gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance that supported this research. A Western University Doctoral Fellowship funded the wider project on which this paper is based. A travel grant from the Literary Society of the Southern Region allowed me to examine MS VII.2.77 in person, and free accommodation generously provided by Ms McKay enabled me to extend my archival work longer than would otherwise have been possible.
I am indebted to Sam Stone of A+AcaSciTables.com for designing the transcription tables in Appendices I–III. His technical skill transformed my rough diagrams into clear, accurate figures suitable for publication. Finally, I would like to thank my partner, Kendric James, whose patient reading of countless drafts and whose thoughtful combination of criticism and encouragement sustained me throughout this project. He has endured what he affectionately calls “my unusual fascination with ships’ log books” with admirable humour and generosity.
7) Common mistakes to avoid
Even experienced researchers fall into predictable traps when writing acknowledgements. Watch out for the following issues:
- Overly casual tone: Avoid jokes, slang, or private references meaningful only to you.
- Unbalanced thanks: Thanking a minor assistant extensively while barely mentioning key funding sources or supervisors.
- Missing contributors: Forgetting librarians, technicians, or funders whose support was essential.
- Ambiguous contributions: Failing to specify what each person or organisation contributed.
- Ignoring journal structure: Placing funding or ethics information in the acknowledgements when it must appear elsewhere.
- Excessive length: Writing an overly long or emotionally expressive section that distracts from the professionalism of the paper.
8) Final thoughts: The strategic value of good acknowledgements
The Acknowledgements section is not merely an add-on but a reflection of your research practice. It reveals how your intellectual environment operates, recognises unseen labour, and records the conditions that made your scholarship possible. When written well—clearly, professionally, and with respect—it strengthens your credibility and contributes to a culture of transparency and collaboration in academia. When written poorly, it suggests inattention, carelessness, or a lack of understanding of disciplinary norms.
Approach your acknowledgements with the same precision you apply to your methods, citations, or data. Fair credit, professional tone, accurate naming, and an awareness of journal expectations all communicate that you are a responsible and considerate member of the scholarly community.
