What is the difference between explain/explanation and interpret/interpretation in academic reading and in academic writing?

Answer 1

Explain and interpret are verbs, whereas explanation and interpretation are nouns, though I'm not sure that's what you meant. As for the difference between explanation and interpretation, I would say that both serve to demonstrate your understanding of something, so they are fairly interchangeable, though they have slightly different connotations. An interpretation leaves room for subjectivity in one's analysis, often consisting of arguments about the meaning of something, e.g. a piece of literature. On the other hand, an explanation will generally be more concrete, definitive, and based in objective facts, like you might explain the mechanism of some scientific process.