dr. karen d. bowser the write approach to academic success for nsu students 2012: the basics ”...

Dr. Karen D. Bowser

The Write Approach to Academic Successfor NSU Students2012: The Basics

”What is written without effort is, in general, read without pleasure” (Samuel Johnson).

Why students fail to complete their dissertations:

A Tale of Two Approaches to Writing

Procrastination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk&feature=related

The Write Approach

• Why are some speeches and writing more effective than others?

POWER!

How to Put POWER in Your Writing

PPre-writere-write

OOrganizerganize

WWriterite

EEditdit

RRewriteewrite

Establish A Writing Routine

1. Schedule writing times—Block them out on your schedule. Make an appointment with your computer. More importantly—keep the appointment!

2. Work on a time-based/task-based approach—whichever works best for you, but PICK ONE!

Boyle-Single, P. (2009). “A writing routine.” Demystifying the Dissertation.

Quick Tricks for Prewriting

Start with Audience• Who will be reading, viewing, or hearing

what you compose?• What do they already know?• What do they need to know?• What format do they expect?• How can your build a relationship between

them and your topic?


What Academic Audiences Expect• Academic writing = building knowledge• Take existing knowledge seriously• Gather credible evidence• Only make arguments you can support

with evidence• The emphasis is on the ideas, not the

writer.• Writing that looks academic.

Quick Tricks for Prewriting—Understand Your Project

• If this is for your dissertation, make sure you download ALL the documents from the ARC.

• Read the assignment carefully.• Underline any key words in the

assignment.

Quick Tricks for Prewriting—Understand Your Project

• Why are you writing about this?• Develop your purpose—The purpose is…• If you need to do some research first, start

gathering information to feed your ideas.

Quick Tricks for Prewriting—Getting Started

• Brainstorm your ideas.• Write each idea down using post-it notes

so they can be sorted and reorganized later

• Use the outlining function on a computer.• Ask questions.• What additional research is needed?


Think About Purpose• Consider that what you are composing is

a tool for changing minds.


Think About Purpose• Academic writing is NOT conversational!• Academic writing is NOT an essay.• You do NOT express your own opinion.• Do not use the familiar “I, we, you, “ etc.• Use longer words and sentences• Use a higher level of vocabulary


Think About Purpose• Employ more complex grammatical

structures• Never make claims that cannot be

supported by the evidence• Give full acknowledgement to the works of

others


Think About Strategy• What sources will convince your

audience?• Know your APA and Nova formatting.

– Academic writing looks more professional because of its style and format!


Think About Context• Define the tone• Define the approach• Prescribe the details that are necessary• Get to the point and sticks with it.


Think About Context• Give definitions of terms• Do not use creative, figurative language• Present varying opinions from credible

sources

Quick Tricks for Prewriting/Organizing

• If you cannot find research to guide your paper, you likely need to change or alter your topic.

• Continue adding ideas to your post-it notes or computer outline.

• Make a final decision on the main topic, subtopics, and direction of your paper based on your brainstorming.

Quick Tricks for Organizing

• Sort the ideas. • See where you have a lot of ideas and

where you are weak.• Do additional research for key information.• Make sure that you check related bodies

of literature, too.• Use other authors’ references to lead you

to other sources.

Quick Tricks for Organizing

• Are there any ideas that need additional support?

• Broaden your research.

• Organize your thoughts into subtopics.

• Make sure that you have enough information to adequately support each subtopic.

• Decide the best order for your subtopics.


3. Begin at the beginning and go to the end—then revise!

4. Turn off your internal critic!


Quick Tricks for Writing

• Because you spent time organizing your thoughts, you will be able to write fairly quickly.

• Do not spend time thinking of the PERFECT word or sentence, just get down the “inking of your thinking.”

• Write a “rough draft” first.


5. Backup, backup, backup!—Backup and rename the document each day.

6. Stop and prepare for your next writing session—write a few notes to yourself.



7. Track your progress—recruit a writing group or partner

8. Pat yourself on the back!



• Must have one main idea

• Must be organized

• Support the main idea with key subtopics

• Support each subtopic with statistics, examples, facts, etc.

• Use appropriate words and sentence structure.

• Vary sentence structure.


• Write your topic sentence by “restating” the writing assignment or purpose, introducing your main topic, providing some direction as to how you will develop your paper.

• Support every idea with the research.

• Cite carefully and correctly.


• Introduction—Set the context for your academic argument and the approach that will be taken. What is the purpose of your paper?

• Body—Provide the best evidence you can find in the research. Use sub-headings (Level II) to guide your writing and your reader.

• Conclusion—Tie it all together for your audience.


What to Avoid in Your Introduction

• Starting with a dictionary definition—TRITE

• Using trite expressions

• Making excuses

• Not introducing your reader to the context, the purpose, and the approach—jumping right in hoping your reader can catch up!

The Write Information Earns the Right Grade

• Function of body paragraphs

The Write Information Earns the Right Grade

• What readers expect in paragraphs

The Write Information Earns the Right GradeBuilding Coherence

• Transitional expressions and conjunctions (Check your blue sheet.)

• Repetition of key words or phrases• Parallelism—all parts of a series have equal

weight• Use headings to visually organize your paper for

the reader(Hint: One of these bullets is not parallel. Can you find

which one?)


• Do not just throw quotations into your paper. Introduce them.

• Do not ask a paragraph to do too much.

• Do not ask a paragraph to do too little. No one-sentence paragraphs.

• Explain all terms.

• Use pronouns wisely—clear references.

• Remove trite expressions—”in today’s world”


• Do not use wikis in academic papers.

• Use a variety of sources

• Do not use contractions!

• All sources cited in your text (with the exception of personal communications) must appear in the reference list.

• All references in the reference list must be cited in your text.

Quick Tricks for Editing: Getting Feedback

• Finish your paper early.• Put it aside for a day or at least a few hours.• Read your paper out loud or have someone read

your paper out loud to catch any unclear sentences and even punctuation errors.

• Read your paper from the beginning to the end taking time to correct any misspellings, grammar, etc.

• What worked? What didn’t work?

Quick Tricks for Editing: Getting Feedback

• Are you clear about your thesis?

• Did you support your thesis with clear evidence?

• Will your readers understand your purpose?

• Does the order make senses?—Read just the first sentence of every paragraph.

• Do your paragraphs make sense? Read the first and last sentence of each paragraph.

Editing: Most Common APA ErrorsDo not be a statistic!

Themes Frequency

Grammar 72%

Format 67%

Hyphenation 65%

Citing multiple authors 61%

In-text citations 60%

Numbers 57%

Capitalization (particularly of titles and headers)

57%

Punctuation 48%

Quotations 36%

Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Combs, J. P., Slate, J. R., & Frels, R. K. (2010). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding the mostcommon APA errors in journal article submissions. Research in the Schools.

Quick Tricks for Editing and Revising

• How can you refine your composition to be even stronger, more professional?

• Read your document from the last sentence to the first sentence.

• Check each verb—did you use the correct tenses? (past tense for most cited lit)

• Use your “ Quick Tricks” list to check for errors that you have made in past papers.


• Read your paper, paragraph by paragraph, from the end to the beginning.

• Does each paragraph have unity, coherence, and development?

• Does each paragraph read well by itself?

• Get someone else’s feedback.

• Remember that your chair is not your editor.

Commas, Semi-colons, and

Colons

Commas in a Compound Sentence

• Independent clause, conjunction independent clause.

• An independent clause must have a subject and a verb and be able to stand on its own as a sentence.– Writing can be powerful, and students are wise to

master the art of academic writing.– Writing can be powerful. (independent clause)– Students are wise to master the art of academic

writing. (independent clause)

Commas in a Compound Sentence


• Conjunctions: “FAN BOYS”—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

• Remember that you cannot start a sentence with any of these conjunctions in academic writing!

Semi-colons in a Compound Sentence


• Use a semi-colon in place of the comma and conjunction.

– Independent clause; independent clause.

– Writing can be powerful; students are wise to master the art of academic writing.

• Independent clause; transitional expression, independent clause.

• Writing can be powerful; therefore, students are wise to master the art of academic writing.

Commas After Introductory Words, Phrases, and Clauses

• Introductory words such as a transitional expression must be followed by a comma.– First, the researcher identified the variables.

• Introductory phrases and clauses are followed by commas.– After Jones (2020) discovered the cure for the

common cold, the cold medicine industry suffered a huge drop in sales.

Commas Serve as “Pot Handles” in Non-essential Clauses

• Dr. Smith, who is a 2009 graduate of Fischler/NSU, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Read the sentences without the clause between the commas to see if the meaning changes. If it does, then you need the clause, but should not use the commas.

• Do the “by the way” test.

Commas in a Series

• In academic writing, commas must be used when three or more items appear in a series or list. There MUST be a comma before the “and.”– Writing, team building, and time management

are essential skills for doctoral students to master.

Commas With Adjectives

• Use a comma between two adjectives that precede a noun if they are of equal weight.– Ambitious, erudite doctoral students want to earn As

and learn something through the process.– Seven doctoral students stated they wanted me to

help them with their writing.• A quick trick is to read the sentence with “and” in place

of the comma. If it still reads well, you know you need the comma.– Ambitious and erudite doctoral students…YES– Seven and doctoral…NO

Commas With Quotations

• Use a comma after expressions like Johnston (2010) stated, “This is easy.”

• Do not use a comma when the sentence leads into the quotation with “that.” Johnston (2010) found that “fifteen men lost their way in the mountain.”

Unnecessary Commas

• Do not separate a subject from its verb with a single comma.– John, could not understand how he had used the

comma incorrectly.– John, the distinguished professor, could not

understand how he had used the comma incorrectly in the previous sentence.

Unnecessary Commas

• Do not put a comma between a compound subject, verb, or object.– The students danced and sang after they completed

all of their writing modules.

Unnecessary Commas

• Do not put a comma before a dependent clause that follows an independent clause except when you want to show a strong contrast.– Students make comma errors, because they do not

know the rules.

• Do not put a comma after such as or especially.

– Strong writers have many advantages, such as higher pay, more frequent promotions, and the ability to win people with words.

Semi-colons Have Two Purposes in Life

• Think of semi-colons as “strong commas.”• Semi-colons can replace a comma and a

conjunction in a compound sentence.• Semi-colons are used in a series or list when a

“stonger comma” is needed.– I have lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Raleigh,

North Carolina; and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Colons

• Colons are the most powerful!• Colons must follow an independent clause .

They cannot be used after an incomplete thought in academic writing.

• CORRECT: This module include rules on the following items: commas, semi-colons, and colons.

• INCORRECT: This module includes: commas, semi-colons, and colons.

Commas, semi-colons, and colons

cause a slight break in the action. Use

them wisely!

The Connectors: Hyphens and Dashes

• Hyphens– One part of a compound word with the other

• Dashes– One part of a sentence with another part of a

sentence

Connectors

Part of a compound word Part of a compound word

Hyphen

Hyphens Can Compound the Situation

• Compound words– Follow up--verb

– Follow-up—noun or adjective

– Race car—some compounds will always be two words

• Compound words are usually introduced to the world of words with a hyphen.– Data-base (early 70s)

– Database (now)

• Temporary compounds—used only for a particular paper or a thought

HOW IS AN ACADEMIC WRITER SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHEN TO HYPHENATE A WORD?

Hyphen Rules

• Follow Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary for most compound words

• Temporary compounds– If it precedes the word it modifies, it will likely be

hyphenated. First-class decision– If it follows the word it modifies, it is usually NOT

hyphenated. Decision was first class.– If the temporary compound might be misunderstood

by the reader, it should be hyphenated. Re-create– When in doubt—use the hyphen!

Hyphen Rules When the Compound Precedes the Term It

Modifies• See p. 98 in APA, Sixth Edition for a chart.• Examples of the hyphen match game

(comp0und adjectives):– A compound + a participle

• Prize-winning author or well-known researcher– Phrase used as an adjective

• Trial-by-error method or my father-in-law– Adjective + a noun

• First-class study or clear-cut decision


Modifies• Examples of the hyphen match game:

– Prefixes, suffixes, and letters• Self-indulgent--prefix• President-elect--suffix• T-shirt--letter• E-mail—letter

• See p. 99 in APA, Sixth Edition for a chart of prefixes or suffixes that do NOT take hyphens.



• Double vowels and triple consonants– Anti-itch– Bell-like

• To avoid ambiguity– Recreation (fun times)– Re-creation of the study (create again)



– Fractions and compound numbers• One-half or two-thirds• Thirty-five students

• Do not use hyphens to separate parts of a word at the end of a line in academic writing. Move the entire word to the next line.

• Spacing– NO SPACES BEFORE OR AFTER THE HYPHEN

Dash It All! How Do I Use a Dash Properly?

• A mark of interruption• Think of the dash as the “ta-dah” of the sentence

or neon lights that put special emphasis on the words within the dash.– Bowser (2010) proved an important thing—students

can learn to write in an academic style.

• Can be used in the place of a comma (more emphasis)

• Can be used in the place of a colon (less formal)


• A dash is two hyphens used together

• Do not put a space before, after, or in the middle of a dash


• Dashes need to have an entrance and an exit.• If you use a dash in the middle of the sentence,

you must put a dash on either end.

• Many symptoms—skin discoloration, the sudden appearance of moles, the presence of lumps—may signify cancer.


• Dashes need to have an entrance and an exit.

• If you use a dash when the phrase ends the sentence, the period will provide the exit.

• Many symptoms may signify cancer—skin discoloration, the sudden appearance of moles, or the presence of lumps.


• Dashes need to have an entrance and an exit.

• If you use a dash at the beginning of a sentence the initial capital letter is the entrance.– Skin discoloration, the sudden appearance of

moles, or the presence of lumps—all may be symptoms of cancer.

Percentages, Percent Signs,

and Ampersands

You say “percentage,” but I say %.

• If you use a numeral, you must use “%.” – Smith (2010) found that those who write

well earn, on average, 10% more than those who do not write well.

You say “percentage,” but I say %.

• When you use words to indicate the number or when no number is used, you must spell out the word “percent” or “percentage.”– Seventeen percent of students will need to

view this module.– A high percentage of students will master this

concept within one viewing.

To & or not to &; that is the question.

• Ampersands (&) are only used within citations within the parenthesis and references, and as a substitute for “and” in official names of businesses.– Smith and Jones (1980) found that

ampersands have special uses.– Ampersands are important (Smith & Jones,

1980).– Jones & Sons is a great moving company.

No # Zone

• Academic writing does not use the pound (#) sign.

Academicians use % and & properly, and never use #.

When to Quote

• When the person quoted is a recognized expert in his or her field

• When the words must be worded exactly the way they are in the original text to deliver the correct meaning to the reader of the new document

• If the words are from a primary source.

When to Quote

• The quote cannot be paraphrased without distortion of the meaning.

• The words themselves are the issue you are illustrating.

• The quotation is an illustration of your point.

How to Quote Accurately

• Keep the quote short—only relevant material.• Copy the quoted material carefully.• Proofread the quote carefully—all words and

punctuation must be exact!• Include page or paragraph numbers in your

citation.


• Use quotation marks around quotations shorter than 40 words.

• Use an indented format if the quote is 40 or more words.

• Use brackets around any material that you add within the quote.


• Use ellipsis marks to omit irrelevant material.

• Introduce your quote properly—do not just throw it into the rest of your text.

• Do not overuse quotations.

Single Quotation Marks

• Single quotation marks are ONLY used within double quotation marks.

• Single quotation marks indicate that the quotation contains a quote or title.

Titles

• In academic writing, titles for entire things, such as books, ocean liners, television programs, etc. appear in italics within the text.– “Learning the Rules for Quotation Marks” is my

favorite chapter of The Write Approach to Academic Writing (2010).

• Parts of larger works or short things, such as short stories or poems, are placed inside quotation marks.

Using Other Forms of Punctuation with Quotation Marks

• Periods and commas go inside the final quotation marks 100% of the time.

• Semi-colons and colons go outside the final quotation marks 100% of the time.

• Dashes, question marks, and exclamation points go inside the quotation marks if they are part of the quote. Otherwise, they go outside.

Punctuation Spacing

• Insert one space after – commas, colons, semi-colons– Periods that separate parts of a reference ;– Periods after initials used with a person’s name– After sentence-ending punctuation (Nova’s Rule)

• DO NOT put spaces after internal periods in abbreviations: U.S. , a.m., etc.

• DONOT put spaces before or after a dash or a hyphen!

Terms

• Terms that appear in academic writing as terms are placed in italics the first time they are defined.– An anthropomorphism is when a writer

assigns animate characteristics to an inanimate object.

You can quote me!

Putting Pronouns in Their Place

Pronouns Stand In for Nouns

• Pronouns do one thing and one thing only—they take the place of nouns.

• As a result, remember these important rules.– Each pronoun has a noun to which it refers.

This is called its antecedent.– The pronoun must agree in number and

person with its antecedent.

Pronouns Stand In for Nouns

• As a result, remember these important rules.– Number is determined by whether or not the

noun (antecedent) is singular or plural.– Person is either first, second, or third.

Singular number Plural number

First person I, me , my We, us, our

Second person

You, your You, your

Third person He, she, it, one, anyone, him, her, his, her, its

They, them, their

The Problem with Pronouns

• You cannot use first or second pronouns in academic writing because the reference would be vague.



Second person

You, your You, your


They, them, their

Quick Tricks for Checking Pronouns

• Use “Find” within Word to highlight and find each pronoun one at a time.

• Remove any first or second pronouns.


• Check to see if each pronoun has an antecedent and, if so, that the pronoun agrees in person and number with the antecedent.

• If the pronoun does not have an antecedent, either insert one before the pronoun or change the pronoun to a noun.

• ALTERNATIVE METHOD: Print out a copy and use a highlighter to find all the pronouns. Follow the two previous steps.

Pronouns With Special Jobs

Interrogative Pronouns ???

• Interrogative pronouns ask questions.• When you use an interrogative pronoun, the

noun may be implied.• Who, which, what• Who is knocking on my door?• Which student deserves the A?• What happened?

Indefinite Pronouns

• Use indefinite pronouns when you cannot be specific about the noun.

• One, each, every, another, anybody, none, no one, neither, either, both, few, some, many, most, all

• No one stands alone.• Most learn the hard way.

Demonstrative

• Use demonstrative pronouns to be more specific about a person or thing.

• This, that, these, and those

• This researcher changed the direction of education.

Reciprocal Pronouns

• Use reciprocal pronouns when you want to show nouns acting on each other.

• Be kind to one another.

• Support each other.

Relative Pronouns

• Relative pronouns introduce clauses. They provide more information about the noun.

• You can combine sentences if you use a relative pronoun.

• Who, whom, whoever, which, that, what, whatever

Relative Pronouns

• Students write well. Students receive good grades.

• Students who write well receive good grades.• These clauses become dependent clauses

because if you took the dependent clause by itself, it would be a sentence fragment. It needs an independent clause to exist with it in the sentence.

Who or Whom?

• Who is used for people when it is the subject of the sentence or clause.

• Whom is used for people when it is the object of a preposition or a direct object.

• Quick Trick: Rearrange the order of the sentence or clause to see whether or not the pronoun is subjective or objective.

Relative Pronouns

• Which --nonessential clauses (these clauses can be removed from the sentence without changing the meaning of the sentence). It is ALWAYS preceded with a comma to indicate that it can be removed.

• The most important course, which I happen to enjoy, is EDD 8OOO.

• You can check to see which one you need to use by adding by the way after you use which. If it fits, you need ,which because it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

• The most important course is EDD 8OOO.

Most People Use These Words Incorrectly—Do you?

• That/which

• Hint: A witch (which) cannot go out without her broom (comma).

,

Relative Pronouns

• That is used with essential clauses (cannot be taken out of the sentence without changing the meaning). Do NOT use a comma.

• The sheep that was cloned made scientific history.

• The sheep made scientific history. Now we are missing an important detail.

Be Proactive with Pronouns

• Make sure you have an antecedent (implied or stated prior to the pronoun being used).

• They were more likely to use their equipment than their equipment. HUH?

• The baseball team was more likely to use Wilson baseball equipment than Spaulding’s.


• Choose the correct pronoun for the job.– Example: Mary and I went to town.– Example: The office staff held a party for Mary

and me. We enjoyed it!


• Watch out for compound parts of speech that make your pronouns plural.– Example: Mary and John came for a visit.

They always visit on Thursdays.• Watch out for the tendency to use a plural

pronoun when a singular one is needed.– Example: Each student must do their own work.– Example: Each student must do his or her own work.

REMEMBER: A PRONOUN’S MAIN JOB IS TO TAKE THE PLACE OF A NOUN.

the king

Plurals and Possessives

Plurals of Abbreviations

• To form the plural of most abbreviations, simply add an “s.” DO NOT ADD AN APOSTROPHE with the “s.”– Mary made all As in her courses.

– RNs earn a great deal of respect for their caring ways.

• To form the plural of the abbreviation for page (p.) in a reference or citation, double the “p” (pp.).

Possessives Show Ownership

• Think of the apostrophe as a hook on which you can hang something you own.

Mike’s pants

Possessives Show Ownership

• For the most part, to form the possessive of a singular name , simply add ‘s. The hook shows that the noun that follows belongs to that noun.– Jack’s book

• To show possession for a name that ends in s, simply add the apostrophe.– The Wilsons’ home

Apostrophes in Academic Writing

• Apostrophes are never used in academic writing to make anything plural.

• Apostrophes are only used to show possession.

• Contractions have no place in academic

writing, so apostrophes are not used.


• Quick Trick: Do a Find search in Word for the letter s + (white space).

• Check to see whether an apostrophe has been added or needs to be added.


• Quick Trick: Do a Find search in Word for apostrophes.

• Do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of nouns.

• Do not use an apostrophe to form the possessives of personal pronouns.– Not –it’s toes– Yes-its toes– Not –This is your’s.– Yes—This is yours.

Complicated Apostrophes

• Compound words: Add ‘s to the last word.– Brother-in-law’s

• For more than one owner add ‘s based on the type of possession.– Belonging to each individual—Joe’s and

Gene’s behavior in class was unacceptable.– Jointly owned—Joe and Gene’s race car

Students can master the apostrophe’s use in academic writing and

learn to use both apostrophes and plurals correctly.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Ground Rules

• Subjects and verbs must agree with one another in both number (singular or plural) and person.

• The subject of every sentence is either singular or plural.

• The subject determines whether the verb will be singular or plural.

• Singular subjects take singular verbs.• Plural subjects take plural verbs.

The Importance of the S: Opposites Attract

• Nouns and verbs use es and s differently.

• An s usually makes a noun plural, but it always makes a present tense verb singular.– Boys (plural) usually like (plural) frogs.– A boy (singular) likes (singular) frogs, girls,

and cars.

Finding Verbs

• As you know, finding the verbs is easy because they are the only part of the sentence that will change when you change the timing of the sentence.– James walked.– James will walk.– James walks every day.

Getting to the Heart of the Subject-Verb Connection

• First, eliminate all phrases in your sentences. You can do this by printing out a copy of your paper and crossing them out, or opening a draft copy of your paper on the screen and cutting out all the phrases (if you want to save it, save it as a file with another name or you will lose your original version).– Around the world, I searched for you.

• Now you are down to the heart of the subject and verb relationship.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy

• Subjects joined by and take a plural verb.– Mary and John have completed their concept

papers.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy

• When subjects are joined by or, either…or, neither…nor, or not only…but also , the verb agrees with the subject closest to it.– Neither the students in this class nor Tom from the

other class is ready to take the test. – (Tom is closest, so the verb is singular, too.)– Neither Tom nor the students in this class are ready

to take the test. – (This time the students are closest, so the verb is

plural.)

Relationships Are Not Always Easy—Clauses and Phrases as

Subjects• When an entire clause is the subject of a

sentence, use a singular verb.– To do well in this class means something

different to everyone.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy—Clauses and Phrases as

Subjects• EXCEPTION—to be –Look out!

• If the verb is a to be (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been) in a clause, the verb agrees with the noun that follows the verb.– What you will learn in this class is discipline. (singular)– What you will learn in this class are the fundamentals.

(plural)

Relationships Are Not Always Easy--Indefinites

• Each, every, and any take singular verbs.• Trouble makers are none, some, most, or all. In

these cases, it depends on the meaning of the subject.– Most of the students want to do well. (several

students)– Most of this course is easy. (a large part of this

course)

Relationships Are Not Always Easy—Collective Nouns and Amounts

• Nouns that refer to a group are collective nouns.• When the group acts as one entity, the noun is

singular and the verb is, too.– Our team is on top.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy—Collective Nouns and Amounts

• When each member of the group acts as an individual, the verb is plural.– The audience were looking in several different

directions.

• When the subject names an amount, the verb is singular. – Five hundred points is too many.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy—Plural Words as Subjects

• Some words like physics, economics, and measles are considered singular (one disease, one entity).

• Measles affects many children.

• Other words like jeans, eyeglasses, thanks, take on a plural verb. Something to consider—all of these things have more than one part—two pant legs, two lens, more than one thanks.

• My skinny jeans finally fit after months of dieting.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy— Titles, Companies, Words, and

Quotations as Subjects

• All of these words are treated as singular.– A Tale of Two Cities is my favorite book.– Apple Computers is hiring.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy— Linking Verbs

• Learn the Terrible Twenty-Three—All the Linking Verbs– Is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, has, have,

had, do, does, did, shall, will, may, might, must, can, could, should, would

• Linking verbs agree with the subject NOT the complement (the noun that follows the linking verb).

• Dogs generally have a long life.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy— There is, Here is/are

• When the subject is there or here, the verb agrees with the complement (the noun that follows the verb).– There are a lot of rules for subject-verb agreement.– Here is the answer.

Relationships Are Not Always Easy— Who, which, one, and that as

subjects

• When the subject is who, which, one, or that, the verb agrees with the antecedent.– Students learn by doing. Those who study

hard will make a good grade (plural).– An unethical decision, which happens

(singular) too often, can bring a company down.

Be a matchmaker for your subjects

and verbs.

Verb Tenses: Tenses Anyone?

Verb Tenses with Cited Works

• Use past tense when you cite an author or researcher.

• As soon as the words are printed, the author no longer states, he or she stated.

Shifting Verb Tenses Signal a Shift of Time

• If you use a present tense in one part of your sentence, you should use present tense in the rest of that sentence.

• Changing the tense can confuse your reader.• When all else fails, use an editor.• Sometimes tenses need to shift if your intention

is to show a shift of time.• After I had completed EDD 8OOO, I sailed

through my other classes.

Quick Tricks for Checking Verb Tenses

• Do a search in “Word” to find parenthesis. • The search will take you to all cited material. Be

sure that you used the past tense.• Highlight the verb in every sentence. Read just

the verbs and mark where the tense shifts. Ask yourself if the verb shift was necessary.

Do not be tense about verb

tenses.

Keeping Your Ducks in a Row

The Art of Parallelism

Look at These Three Lines

A

Now, Look at These Three Lines

B

Which Lines Flow in a Logical Way?

• Which set of lines looks more orderly—A or B?

• Like parallel lines, items in a series must be in parallel construction.

Parallelism Signals: Coordinating Conjunctions

And, but, or, not, yet

Parallelism

All components in a series must have the same grammatical structure.

• Noun, noun, noun– Parallel: Mary, Bob, and Tom

– Not Parallel: Mary, Bob, and went to school

Parallelism

All components in a series must have the same grammatical structure.

• *ing, *ing, *ing– Parallel: running, jumping , and laughing

– Not Parallel: running, jumping, and to laugh

• Infinitive, infinitive, infinitive– Parallel: to laugh, to live, to write

– Not parallel: to laugh, living, and to write

Lists, Headings, and Outlines

1. Phrase

2. Phrase

3. Phrase

The Highlights of APA

Tuning Up Your Academic Voice

Is there a doctor in the house? How to write healthy papers

• Anthropomorphisms (Personification)– Do not use personification in APA.– Personification is giving human qualities to

animals or inanimate objects.– Many students make this error.

• The research found…

• The study attempted to demonstrate…

Is there a doctor in the house? How to write healthy papers

Anthropomorphisms Organizations seek improvement in their

bottom line.Organizational leaders seek improvement in

their company’s bottom line.

Direct from APA, Sixth Edition

An experiment cannot attempt to demonstrate, control unwanted variables, or interpret findings, nor can tables or figures compare (all of these can, however, show or indicate.)

American Psychological Association (APA, Sixth Edition, 2010). p. 69.

The Problem with Pronouns

• You cannot use first or second pronouns in academic writing because the reference would be unclear.



Second person You, your You, your


They, them, their


• Use “Find” within Word to highlight and find each first or second person pronoun one at a time.

• Remove any first or second pronouns.

• ALTERNATIVE METHOD: Print out a copy and use a highlighter to find all the pronouns. Follow the previous step.

Tuning Up Your Academic Voice

• Once you have tuned up your academic voice, your words will resonate with others.

Hey, APA, Sixth Edition!

I’ve Got Your Number.

Numerals or Numbers??

• Use numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 0) for numbers 10 and above.– Last month, 13 black cats crossed my path

on Friday the 13th.

• Use words to express numbers below 10.– One boy and two girls

• Use numerals for numbers that come before a unit of measurement.– He was 6 feet, 5 inches tall.


• Use numerals in statistics, mathematics, percentages, etc. except when the number comes at the beginning of a sentence. Then the word is used.

• Use numerals for expressions of time, dates, ages, points on a scale, sums of money, except for approximations of time.– About four months ago…


• Words are used for numbers in titles, at the beginning of sentences, and for common phrases or expressions.– The Ten Commandments– Follow the twelve-step program to sobriety.

REMEMBERING WHETHER TO USE THE WORD OR A NUMERAL TO REPRESENT A NUMBER WILL REDUCE YOUR NUMBER OF APA ERRORS.

Seriation: A list of ideas

Help your reader get the key points!

• Seriation helps your reader quickly see the key points you are making.

• In informal writing, seriation appears as lists.• In academic writing, seriation can take two

forms.

Help your reader get the key points!

• Unlike APA, Sixth Edition, Nova does not allow you to use bullets unless you are directly quoting an author who used bullets.

• Within a sentence, your seriation takes the following form:– The Foundations of Graduate Study course

focuses on four essential skills: (a) time management, (b) writing, (c) teamwork, and (d) presentations.

Seriation with Sentences and Paragraphs

• Place items in a numbered list.• Here is an example of a numbered list:

1. Item one would be here.

2. Item two would follow it.

3. Item three would follow that .

• Numbered lists are indented like the paragraph, and the second line is flush with the left margin.

Seriation

When using a seriated list in academic writing, use

1. Indented first lines that are even with the indents

of all other paragraphs.

2. If a second line is needed, it is even with the left

margin.

One last tip, items in a series are always

parallel to one another.

Citations

Cite often; cite correctly!

What You Always Wanted to Know About APA But Were Afraid to Ask

• Citations – See pages 174-179.

• TAB THESE PAGES!!!!

Overview

• Support every idea with the research.

• Cite carefully and correctly.

• Critical page in APA is p. 177. Great chart!


• If you cite a source in the text of your document, you must place the full citation in the reference list.

• If you list a source in your reference list, you must have at least one citation in your text.


In-text Citations• If you are using someone else’s ideas or words,

you must cite that source in your document.• Key elements

– The author or authors’ names– The year of publication– Page number (s) if it is a direct quote.


In-text Citations• If you use the author’s (authors’) name (s)

within the text, you only include the date of publication in the parentheses.

• Punctuation with citations should follow the final parentheses.

• Do not use punctuation with a citation that you would not use if the citation were not present.


In-text Citations• If you use the author’s name in a citation, the

format would be (Bowser, 2007)• If there are two authors, your citation should look

like this: (Bowser & Fields, 2007).• If you are citing two sources, place them

alphabetically in the citation:(Bowser, 2007; Fields, 2007)


In-text Citations

• If there are more than two authors, you must include the entire list the first time it is presented in the text.

(Bowser, Fields, & Smith, 2007).

• The next time you use that source, it would look like this:

(Bowser, et al., 2007)


In-text Citations• If there is no author, cite the first few words of

the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year.

• Rules for titles follow the same rules you use for a title in the text.

• Book titles are italicized; magazine articles are in quotes.


In-text Citations• Groups as authors are spelled out each time

they are used.

(Fischler School of Education and Human Services, 2007).

• If you cite the same source within a paragraph, you must include the name and the date each time.


In-text Citations• Use page numbers with direct quotations. • Page numbers are not required when you

are only paraphrasing the source. • Review the rules in APA, Sixth Edition, pp.

170-171. (Bowser, 2007, p. 27) or (Bowser, 2007,

pp. 27-29) • Use the block quotation format if the quote

cited is longer than 40 words.


In-text Citations• Direct quotes must be accurate.• You must follow the original source, even

if the grammar and punctuation are not correct.

• Use quotation marks when you use a direct quote that is under 40 words.

• Do not use quotation marks with block quotations.


In-text Citations• When you use a short quotation, the order is final

quotation marks, citation in parentheses including the page number, and then the punctuation.

Book” (Bowser, 2007, p. 22).

• However, in a block quotation, the punctuation comes immediately after the last word in the quote, then the citation.

Book. (Bowser, 2007, p. 22)


In-text Citations—Personal Communications• These may be letters, e-mails, interviews, etc.• Do not include these in your reference list

because they are not recoverable data.• However, you must include them in your text.

Use the initials with the last name and the exact date of the communication.

K. D. Bowser (personal communication, September 28, 2008) stated …

APA Resources

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

APA help / tutorials:

http://www.apastyle.org/http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/apa/index.htm

•Laura Lucio Ramirez, Director of North Miami Beach Library Services

http://www.apastyle.org/

http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/apa/index.htm

Two types of citations -parenthetical and reference

Parenthetical text citation (direct quote):

McPherson (2007) coined the phrase “goblet of motivation” (p. 71).

Parenthetical text citation (paraphrase):

McPherson (2007) raised issues of motivation in reading.

Parenthetical text citation (direct quote):

McPherson (2007) coined the phrase “goblet of motivation” (p. 71).

Parenthetical text citation (paraphrase):

McPherson (2007) raised issues of motivation in reading.

Reference citation -- in reference list:

McPherson, K. (2007). Harry Potter and the goblet of motivation. Teacher Librarian, 34(4), 71. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482

Parenthetical Citations in the Text Use Author and Year of Publication: Wilson’s research confirmed the results of cloning (Fink, 2007).

Adams found through a couple of experiments (Eifrig, 1976; Skinner, 1956)

The website did not support the data (Wienhorst, n.d.) . n.d. – no date

See APA manual, Chapter 6, beginning on p. 174.

When using a direct quote, provide the page #

“… victims of cyberterrorism” (Windhorst & Tan, 2004, p. 237). Krankenstein and Jones (2006) reported that "empirical research verified compliance" (p. 48).

Lynch (2007) stated, “The findings are not valid” (p. 22) but later maintained that other studies reached different conclusions.

Vest (2008) reported that "empirical research verified compliance" (Discussion section, para. 3).

See APA, Chapter 6, pp. 171-172

Secondary Sources

Seidenberg and McClelland’s study (as cited in Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993) …

Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual-route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100(4), 589-608.

Text citation:

List the primary source in the reference list entry:

See APA Chap. 6, p. 178

Citations

• Remember, you may be the person that future doctoral students are citing!

References

Verifying Your Research and Helping the Next Researcher


• References – See pages 183-224.

• Critical pages are 202-203.

• Mark these pages in your APA, Sixth Edition so you can find them quickly!

• Create your reference list as you do your research.


References• Personal communications are NOT included in

the references.• List references alphabetically.• Works by the same author are arranged by date

of publication.• One-author entries come before multiple-author

entries that begin with the same last name.


References• Periodical

Author, A. A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (2007, September 28). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number, 200-201.

• BookAuthor, A. A. (2007). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

Capitalization follows certain rules. Note what is capitalized and what is not.

Notice what is italicized and what is not.

Online ReferencesDigital Object Identifier (DOI)

• A unique identifier for online reference material

• Written in all lower case letters—doi


Online References• Periodical when DOI is not available

Author, A. A., Author, B.B., & Author, C.C. (2007, September 28). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number, 200-201. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxx

Be sure to REMOVE hyperlink.

• Document when DOI is availableAuthor, A. A. (2007). Title of work. doi:xxxxx

Making the Grade:Is there a doctor in the house?

• Format--References– Start on a new page—Use <CTRL> + <ENTER>– Pagination continues– Hanging indents (Go back to your paragraph function)

and make this change.

Making the Grade:Is there a doctor in the house?

• Format—References– Single-space entries; double-space between entries– List entries alphabetically– All sources cited in the paper must be in the reference

list; all sources in the reference list must be cited in the paper.

The following slides were created by

Dr. Laura Lucio Ramirez,Director of North Miami Beach

Library Services

References

Jones, R. N., del Rio, J. A., Humenik, J. A., García, E. O., & Ramírez, A. M. (2006). Citation mining: Integrating text mining and bibliometrics for research user profiling. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 52, 1148-1156.

Kushkowski, J. D. (1985). Master's and doctoral thesis citations: Analysis and trends of a longitudinal study. Portal, 3, 459-479. doi:10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482

Kushkowski, J. D. (1999a). Identifying uniform core journal titles for music libraries: A dissertation citation study. College & Research Libraries, 60(2), 153-163.

Kushkowski, J. D. (1999b). Measuring the use and value of electronic journals and books. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship. Retrieved from Expanded Academic Index database.

Morner, C. J. (1995). Measuring the library research skills of education doctoral students. In R. AnRhein (Ed.), Continuity & transformation: The promise of confluence. Proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 29-April 1, 1995 (pp. 381-391). Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.

Norton, M. J. (2009). Introductory concepts in information science. doi:10.5634/93944-090

O'Connor, D. O., & Voos, H. (2008). Empirical laws, theory construction, and bibliometrics. In J. Smith & B. B. Jones, New adventures on the Web. Springfield, MA: Springer Verlag.

• Page entitledReferences

• Hanging indentations

• (FSEHS) Single space in citations, but double space between citations

• Use italics, do not underline

• Alphabetical order, Then by date

32

Reference PageCentered and bold

Citing Journals and Web pages

Citation of an article:

Citation of a Web site::

Dvoretsky, D. P. (n.d.). History: Pavlov Institute of Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Retrieved from http://www.infran.ru /history_eng.htm

Ingham, R. J., Warner, A., Byrd, A., & Cotton, J. (2006). Speech effort measurement and stuttering: Investigating the chorus reading effect. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49(3), 660-670. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2006/048)

Example of a DOI

DOI lookup tool

Reference with a DOI

Ingham, R. J., Warner, A., Byrd, A., & Cotton, J. (2006). Speech effort measurement and stuttering: Investigating the chorus reading effect. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 49(3), 660-670. doi:10.1044/1092

-4388(2006/048)

Use the DOI to link to Full Text

Spot check and fix any errors

APA shortcut in Education Full Text Wilson

Alphabetizing the Reference List in Word 2003

• Go to Table.

• Select Sort.

• Click OK.

2.

3.

4.

In Word 2007, 1) select No Spacing, 2) adjust font & size 3) use Paste Special,and 4) select Unformatted Text to copy and paste easier.

1.

Hanging Indentations in Word 2007

Alphabetizing the Reference List in Word 2007

Final Reference Tips

• Use your APA, Sixth Edition, Manual frequently.

• Do NOT depend on electronic sources to do your formatting, references, etc.

• The better your references are—the more credibility you will have.

Headings are important!

Format--Headings and sub-headings follow APA, Sixth Edition

• First-level headings are bold, centered, and in title case—Capitalize words that are four or more letters.

• One space in between heading and body text.



• Second-level headings are bold, flush with the left margin, and in title case—Capitalize words that are four or more letters.

• One space in between heading and body text.



• Third-level headings are bold, indented .5 inches, and are in sentence case.

• Only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.

• They end with a period. • Your text follows one space after the period.


• They guide you as you write.• They guide the reader through your written

thoughts.• Your headings should read like a telegraph of

your paper.• Use them appropriately and often!


• Once you are sure the draft is as perfect as you can make it—submit it for your chair’s feedback.

• Make any and ALL changes suggested by your chair and committee member before you send the next draft.

See you at graduation,

Doctor!

References

Boyle-Single, P. (2010). “A writing routine.”Demystifying the Dissertation. Stylus Publishing: Sterling, VA.

Elbow, P. (1981). Writing with POWER: Techniques for mastering the writing process.Oxford University Press: NY.

Onwuegbuzie, A.J., Combs, J. P., Slate, J. R., & Frels, R. K. (2010). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding the mostcommon APA errors in journal article submissions. Research in the Schools.

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