Basic Writing Tips

1. Spell check and grammar check will catch many mistakes, but you still need to proofread carefully.

2. If you are not doing historical research, make sure you are using recent citations. While good things happened in 1978, be wary of filling your papers with citations from that era.

3. Prepositions don’t belong at the end of sentences.

No: That is the group they belonged to.

Yes: That is the group to which they belonged.

4. Avoid contractions. Do not use them.

5. “While” = time. “Although” = contingency. “May” = permission. “Might” = potential.

6. It is not “lots”---it is “a lot” (and that’s not terribly descriptive anyhow).

7. Avoid split infinitives [to go boldly (yes) vs. to boldly go]

8. “Data” is a plural word in need of a plural verb. (e.g., data are, not data is)

9. Use gender inclusive language (“First year students” is better than “freshmen”)

10. Be consistent between the number in your subject and the number in your predicate pronoun.

No: A first year student must learn to prioritize their time.

Yes: First year students must learn to prioritize their time.

Yes: A first year student must learn to prioritize time.

11. Know the difference between effect and affect.

12. Be certain you have subject-verb agreement.

13. It is “people who” and “things that.” (Writing that is organized is coherent. Writers who are coherent are organized.)

14. “Which” is only used in a parenthetical phrase to refer back to the subject. (Incoherent writing, which lacks organization, is hard to understand.) When choosing between which and that, if the sentence is correct with that, it is the better word.

15. If you interview anyone for assignments, you should use pseudonyms, not their real names.

16. Be pithy and edit well to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. (in regards to = regarding)

17. Avoid one sentence paragraphs.

18. Write in a formal (but not stuffy) voice in contrast to a conversational one. (“I would have to say. . .”)

19. Avoid beginning sentences with a number (and spell if you do).

20. Understand the research you read. Findings provide support or evidence for a point of view. They rarely “prove” anything.

21. Know the difference between correlation and cause and effect

22. Use plural, singular possessive, and plural possessive correctly (e.g., students, student’s, students’)

23. When I suggest a length for papers, just count the body of the paper, not the title and reference pages. If a word count is required, count the entire document. The limit accounts for references, citations, etc.

24. When you think you are finished, reread the assignment and make certain you have addressed all that is required.

25. Headings will make it easier to read your paper. Make sure to use paragraphs as appropriate. It is a rare one that should exceed a page! Keep headings with paragraph (e.g., not at bottom of page with no text).

APA Issues

26. In reference citations, know and follow the rule on continuous pagination. (For continuously paginated journals, do not include the issue number after the volume number.) Also, include a space between author’s initials and a comma before the ampersand (Jones, A. G., & Jackson, E. J.)

27. Cite the Chronicle of Higher Education as a newspaper. (242-243 in APA Manual)

28. See directions for citing and whether or not to use page numbers.

29. Know the difference between quoting versus paraphrasing and how to cite each.

30. See APA directions for long quotes (over 40 words).

31. Avoid “as cited in” and see directions for using it properly when necessary. Even if it is inconvenient, look at the original source and cite it directly.

32. See APA for numbers—one, two, three, 12, 13, 14.

33. In text, it’s 10%, not 10 percent.

34. The first line of a paragraph should not be alone at the bottom of a page and the last line of a paragraph should not be alone at the top of a page. Your word processor can probably be set to catch “widows and orphans.”

35. APA uses just one space after a period, not two.