kinds of messages sent among various people engaged in the academy. The partial list below indicates the complexity of academic writing and the academic world it is part of. By researchers for other researchers Scholarly monograph, in many types and varieties Chapter in an edited volume Book Review Conference paper Essay; usually short, between 1,500 and 6,000 words in length Explication; usually a short factual note explaining some part of a particular work; e.g. its terminology, dialect, allusions or coded references Literature review or Review Essay; a summary and careful comparison of previous academic work published on a specific topic Research Article Research proposal Site description and plan (e.g. in archeology) Technical report Translation Journal article (e.g. History Today); usually presenting a digest of recent research Technical or administrative forms Brief; short summary, often instructions for a commissioned work Peer review report Proposal for research or for a book White paper; detailed technical specifications and/or performance report Collating the work of others Anthology; collection, collation, ordering and editing of the work of others Catalogue raisonné; the definitive collection of the work of a single artist, in book form Collected works; often referred to as the 'critical edition'. The definitive collection of the work of a single writer or poet, in book form, carefully purged of publishers errors and later forgeries, etc. Monograph or exhibition catalog; usually containing exemplary works, and a scholarly essay. Sometime contains new work by a creative writer, responding to the work Transcribing, selecting and ordering oral testimony (e.g. oral history recordings) Research and planning Empirical research Experimental plan Laboratory report Raw data collection plan Research proposal, including research questions Structured notes Newer forms Collaborative writing, especially using the internet Hypertext, often incorporating new media and multimedia forms within the text Performative writing (see also: belles-lettres) By graduate students for their advisors and committees Doctoral Dissertation, completed over a number of years, often in excess of 20,000 words in length Masters Thesis (in some regions referred to as Masters Dissertation), often completed within a year and between 6,000 and 20,000 words in length. Thesis or Dissertation Proposal By undergraduate students for their instructors Research Paper; longer essay involving library research, 3000 to 6000 words in length Book report Exam Essays By instructors for students Exam questions Instructional pamphlet, or hand-out, or reading list Presentations; usually short, often illustrated Syllabus Summaries of knowledge for researchers, students or general