One of the best ways to learn academic writing (other than writing academic papers) is to read scholarly texts. Read a few scholarly publications, and you will understand what is characteristic of academic writing and how it differs from other styles.
Here are some online resources to guide you:
Monash University offers sample essays on a wide variety of academic subjects.
JSTOR is an online library of scholarly journals in various fields. If you're a university student, check with the dean's office: you may be entitled to free access to this library.
Questia is another aggregator of scholarly publications which costs only $1 for the first month. It is ideal for those who simply want to read a variety of scholarly texts in a small amount of time.
To find free scholarly journals, use the Directory of Open Access Journals, where you can find free access publications on a variety of scholarly subjects.
Many of the publications you'll find on all of these resources are high-level research papers, so don't worry if you don't understand them! Student papers will be much easier and easier to understand. What you should be interested in is the format and style of writing
Most writing services offer free samples as well. Discussions, dissertations, reports, research papers, you name it. You might get interested in ordering one by yourself while browsing it, but don’t get hooked too quickly. I’ve been using essaypro for a while a couple of years ago. I can’t guarantee they’re still providing the same quality papers, so better start with reading some revises and find out if essaypro.com is good after all.
You can also get samples from websites like coursehero, but mind that it ain’t free. However, the collection of papers that coursehero has is outstanding.
Related Resources:
How to write a dissertation at a university?
These are some great suggestions for finding academic essay samples! I’d also add that exploring topics outside of traditional school subjects can be helpful too—like health, communication, or therapy-related fields. For instance, I recently came across well-structured articles and case studies on speech therapy for adults, which are great examples of clear, informative writing. They’re especially useful if you're interested in writing about health sciences or therapy-related topics. Looking at samples from a range of subjects can really improve your understanding of different writing styles and formats.