Academic Writing II — Error-prone Style Details

This article documents some error-prone style details where non-native English speakers tend to make mistakes when writing academic papers.

Spelling

Plurals

The word data is plural, not singular.

Possessives

Inanimate nouns — except for references to time — rarely take the possessive form.

a day’s length but not the house’s door
the performance of the tool but not the tool’s performance

Punctuation

Commas

Independent Clauses

In a sentence containing two of more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), put a comma before the conjunction. No comma is needed between two short independent clauses.

Students around the world want to learn English, and many young Americans are eager to teach them.
The senator arrived at noon and the president left at one.

But do not insert a comma before a conjunction joining two subjects or two predicates.

The agencies that design the surveys and the analysts who evaluate the results should work together.
They do not condone such practices but attempt to refute them theoretically.

Series

Always use a comma before the conjunction that introduces the last item.

The governor wrote his senators, the president, and the vice president.

Nonrestrictive Clauses and Phrases

Use paired commas to set off a nonrestrictive clause. A clause is nonrestrictive if it is not necessary to uniquely identify the noun it modifies.

The five books, which are on reserve in the library, are required reading.

For the restrictive clause, commas are not used.

The books that are required reading are on reserve in the library.

Although while is often used with restrictive clauses, American writters generally preserve the distinction between restrictive that (no comma) and nonrestrictive which (comma).
The principle delineated above apply also to restrictive and nonrestrictive phrases.

The president, wearing a red dress, attend the conference.
The woman wearing a red dress is the president.

Semicolons

A semicolon is stronger than a comma and marks a greater break in the continuity of a sentence. Use a semicolon before the words then, however, thus, hence, indeed, accordingly, besides, and therefore.

Some think freedom always comes with democracy; however, many voters in many countries have voted for governments that they know will restrict their rights.

Colons

A colon should follow only a complete independent clause; often an introductory element such as the following or as follows should precede the colon.

The qualifications are as follows: a doctorate in economics and an ability to communicate statistical data to a lay audience.

but not

The qualifications are: a doctorate in economics …

Hyphens and Dashes

Hyphens

Hyphens are used in compound words and inclusive numbers.

a well-known author
45-50 equals from 45 to 50

Dashes

A dash is an elongated hypthen used to set off text in a way similar to but more prominent than commas or parentheses. Also called an em dash (because in most fonts it is approximately the width of the captital letter M). Mac provides the such key combination to type the em dash: Shift + Option + -.

The influence of three impressionists — Monet (1840-1926), Sisley (1839-99), and Degas (1834-1917) — is obvious in her work.

You can also use a single dash to set off an amplifying or explanatory element.

It was a reviewal of a most potent image — the revolutionary idea.

Abbreviations

General Principles

In most papers, use abbrevations only sparingly in text because they can make your writing seem too informal or too technical. Give the full term on first reference, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. If you use more than a few such abbreviations, consider adding a list of abbreviations to the front matter of the paper.

Notice that abbreviations are not normally italicized.

Here are some common-used abbreviations in papers.

e.g. (“exampli gratia”, a Latin phrase that means “for example”)
et al. (Latin term “et alia”, which means “and others”)
etc. (Latin term “et cetera”, which means “and similar things”)
i.e. (Latin term “id est”, which means “that is”)

Personal Names

In general, do not abbreviate a person’s first or last name. Once you have used a full name in text, use just the person’s last name in subsequent references.

Months

Note that some months are not abbreviated.

Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June
July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.