I'm taking an English academic writing course. My teacher recommended using today as it is more accepted compared to nowadays. I asked her if this is accepted in American English (she's from US) or in general. She said in general. Then I asked her why it was recommended. Her reasoning was:
When you publish an article your audience will be the whole world and not everyone in this world is a native English speaker, so it is recommended to use simple English.
Is replacing nowadays by today really recommended? I'm looking for a source that can prove or disprove the above statement. I am a non-native English speaker myself, trying to learn English from different sources.