Because!

[SDnekojin]

My teacher says we should start using more academic language on our homework: like using したがって instead of だから.
I've never used that word in my life.

Are these used in the same way, so I can just substitute one for the other?

Any good tips on how to sound scholarly? I already feel odd using である all the time. What other ways can I make my paper more stuffy?

[Harisenbon]

Well, したがって、means that "it follows that" or "therefore" while だから simply means "beacuse." They are used in pretty much the same way though.

I never really considered だから to be very stuffy or academic. ので is much more formal, I feel.

If you want to get a feel for how to write more scholarly, find research papers and whatnot on the net and try copying some of the phrases. Once you get used to reading them, you'll be able to write in a much more professional style.

[Harisenbon]

Well, grammatically, 空いてたから and だから use the same から the only difference is the verb that they are following.

[Mukade]

If you are purposely trying to sound scholarly, however, or are looking for grammar that is used in writing but not in daily speech, then just study the materials for the JLPT. The test is really a test of one's reading and writing ability in Japanese...very little spoken/conversational Japanese is on that exam (especially at the second and first levels).

You can also read the newspaper on-line to get an idea of written Japanese forms. Be careful, though, since newspapers in Japan (as in the English-speaking world) tend to use a unique "journalese."

Lastly, I would second Harisenbon's suggestion to read scholarly articles to get an idea of what academic writing looks like. Check your local library to see if they have an Asian studies section (more likely at a university library), and make some photocopies of a couple essays in some journals. Literary journals are the best, since they try to be as complex, dry and scholarly as possible.

Good luck!

[Harisenbon]

If you want to find some japanese papers online, just google for
(whatever subject you're interested in) + 論文　or even 作文 . That should get you some good info. If you're more for business stuff than scholarly writings, try 指導

[InsanityRanch]

sasuga harisenbon! VERY cool tip. (figuring out search terms in a foreign language is such a pain!)