The thesis and introduction of the paper introduce the main topic of your paper. They should give the reader a complete idea of what to expect as he continues reading the paper. They should also hook the reader, making him want to read more. The last sentence should work as a transition into the first body paragraph in the paper. Having a clear and concise thesis makes or breaks your introduction.
Academic writing should take into account two or more viewpoints on the subject being written about. These viewpoints need to be supported by facts from reliable sources. The writing should not be biased, though the writer is allowed to state his own opinion as long as it is supported by cited facts. You can also use the scholarly essays and writing of others as sources to either agree with or argue against a point another writer made.
The worst first impression a scholarly essay can give to a reader is grammar and spelling mistakes. Scholarly writing and academic writing are written by scholars for other scholars. This writing needs to be clean and have correct grammar and spelling. If it does not, the reliability of the writer is put into question and every fact that you present will be questioned for accuracy.
Academic and scholarly writing requires extensive research and the use of reliable sources for solid facts and information on the subject being written about. When writing academically consult with your professor or class advisor as to what style of guidelines you should format your sources to. All sources used need to be cited using the format they require whether that is MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style/Turabian, Harvard or another specified style. If you do not include a Works Cited or References page, you are plagiarizing material.