Consistency in verb usage immediately elevates any manuscript. Tense consistency is one of the keys to better verb usage, and so is the choice between passive or active voice. In the active voice, the subject performs the action. For the passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Read more…
Most experienced writers have struggled at least once in their career with a choice between “comprise,” “compose,” or “constitute.” These three verbs frequently cause confusion due to subtle gradations in usage that make them only partially synonymous. While sticking the landing with “comprise” signals an extra level of polish and Read more…
One of the more tedious aspects of preparing a manuscript for publication is checking citations and reference lists. As citation organization tools have gained traction for the research process, machine learning has started to offer the possibility of relieving some of the task of re-checking references on the back end. Read more…
In academic and technical writing, consistency in verb tenses frequently poses a problem. When it comes to verbs–especially in longer, complex pieces of writing–the key question is how to balance consistency and flexibility. How do authors keep tenses consistent without sounding rigidly simplistic? This becomes particularly acute when dealing with Read more…
Verbs constitute one of the most powerful aspects of written English. The most fundamental rule of English grammar states that all sentences can be distilled down to the formula subject + verb + object. As its central position in that formula implies, the verb functions as the fulcrum of every Read more…
At the end of the day, writers will probably only work within a very narrow range across one or two manuals at most. Not every single entry in this series will have the same utility for every single writer. No matter which guide you use, though, there are still some Read more…
So far, this series has focused primarily on academic journals and guides. They are, after all, the first step in bringing research to public attention. If you want to make the jump from the pages of academia to public influence, however, at some point you will likely come across the Read more…
What is the role of MLA in modern research publishing? Chicago and APA occupy so much of the space within modern scholarship that MLA sometimes seems like an afterthought. This is mostly a misperception, however. This style guide sets the standards for modern English usage in academic and pedagogical contexts. Read more…
The citation generators that came out of online note-taking software like Zotero and Evernote were a revelation. They removed much of the mystery regarding the placement of colons in reference notes, or the order in which authors should be listed. They cut down significantly on the time and effort spent Read more…
Conclusions are possibly the most universally hated part of writing. Even for writers who follow a fairly standard formula or outline, conclusions can pose problems: How do you summarize a large amount of information effectively? How do you make sure you don’t just repeat content? How do you leave readers Read more…