Originalidade na escrita acadêmica a pergunta de pesquisa em foco

In this article, I discuss, based on the studies of Maria da Graça Lisboa Castro Pinto, the theme of originality in academic writing and its close relationship with the research question. Both the importance of formalizing the research question, which guides writing with originality, and the difficulty of post-graduate students in elaborating it, according to this approach, are unquestionable. This constitutes a challenge to be overcome early in the development of a research. A well-defined research question, aligned with the nature of academic writing, whose essential characteristic is originality, assists the author in exposing his own voice, in articulating and reflecting on the theoretical contribution, in defining categories of analysis and in writing discussion and results. To illustrate the theme, I present post-graduate students’ testimonies from three important Brazilian universities and also point out ways for academic writing, focusing on the research question.