If you are quoting someone else in your essay you must enclose the quotation in quotation marks (although it’s often much better to remove the quotation and express the idea in your own words). And in my opinion that is the only proper use of quotation marks in essays.
Sometimes people put quotation marks around a word or a phrase to distance themselves from it, e.g.:
Michael Moore, the so-called “journalist”…
This implies that some people call Moore a journalist, but the writer wants the reader to know that she wouldn’t call him a journalist herself. It’s a rather snide construction and in my opinion it has no place in academic writing. If you don’t agree with a phrase either don’t use it at all, or state your opinion clearly and justify it. e.g.:
In my opinion, Michael Moore’s work does not match the definition of journalism because ….
Or if your tutor doesn’t allow first-person writing:
Michael Moore’s work does not match the definition of journalism because ….
Another way people sometimes use quotation marks is for emphasis. Sometimes a pub will advertise something like:
Traditional Sunday roast “beef” lunch served here
Which always makes me think they’re using scare quotes and they’re trying to say:
Some people might call it “beef”, but I wouldn’t call it that myself.
Language is always changing and although using quotation marks for emphasis is considered incorrect now, it may become normal and acceptable in future. But you just don’t need to use typography to emphasise anything in academic writing. Don’t use bold or italics or underlining or all capitals and certainly don’t use quotation marks for emphasis.
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Melanie Rimmer 