Mapping Review of Tools Developed for Teaching Academic Writing

Academic writing is a core activity in higher education. Due to the increasing number of students, instructors are pressed for time and resources to guide students in their writing processes, ranging from undergraduate reports to master’s theses. As digital technologies become increasingly available, writing is supported using both commercial tools and open-source platforms. However, many popular tools are generic and not designed for teaching academic writing. Thus, instructors across disciplines, including computer science, engineering, and psychology, have developed their own tools to address specific challenges in writing processes, such as peer review or automatic writing evaluation. This mapping review surveys independently developed and open-source tools designed for teaching academic writing in English across various disciplinary contexts during 2000–2022. The results indicate that such tools have been developed and researched globally, with the English-speaking and East and South-East Asian regions increasingly developing custom tools to support writing instruction. This review helps instructors and educational decision-makers across fields make decisions about future tool development that may incorporate large language models. However, there is further need for research on educational technologies in academic writing instruction.