Interdisciplinary Research Manual - Units.muohio.edu

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Common Writing Errors. Quotes need interpretation and application to your
argument, since they have been taken out of another context. Never string quotes together
without intervening interpretation and integration. Normally, long quotes should be
broken up so that you can integrate the points one-by-one into your argument. Unless the
long quote has unusual coherence, if you try to integrate it into your argument you will
end up either repeating individual points anyway or the integration will be crude because
it’s too imprecise.
Paragraphs group clusters of ideas together, clarifying the steps in your line of
reasoning. A paragraph of over half a page is a long paragraph. If a paragraph is over a
page long is definitely too long: it suggests a lack of clarity in those steps.
The first time you use an abbreviation, write out the word and put the
abbreviation in parentheses after it; e.g., “the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).”
If it’s been a couple chapters since you used an abbreviation that’s unfamiliar to most
readers, it’s a nice gesture to write it out again.
Keep verb tenses consistent. (The best way is to go back and check tenses after
completing a chapter.) For past action that continues into the present, or for timeless
action (a statement about gravity or Buddhism), use the present tense.
You should use language that does not inadvertently exclude categories of people
who should be included (i.e., non-sexist language), but nouns and their pronouns must
still agree in number. Using “his or her” is awkward, so it’s usually preferably to make
the noun plural instead; e.g., “Researchers must understand the different methods
available to them” not “The researcher must understand the different methods available to
him or her” (and certainly not “Ask any musician and they will tell you”).
Write out the numbers “one” to “twenty” when they are in a verbal, not a
numerical, context.
Write out the numbers of centuries; e.g., “twentieth century” not “20 th century.”
For quotes four full lines or longer, you must use block quote format: singlespace,
indent, remove the surrounding quotation marks, and move the citation to after the
period. For quotations less than three full lines long, you cannot use block quote format.
In between, it’s up to you. (Some style manuals, e.g. MLA, may direct you to doublespace
block quotes, but they are presuming that a production team will eventually assist
you in putting your manuscript in final form (which includes single-spacing block
quotes). Since you are a production team of one, you might as well put your project in
final form as you go, so single-space block quotes to begin with.
Add another adjective only if the first adjective doesn’t capture your full meaning.
Don’t add a second (or third) adjective that says pretty much the same thing; e.g., delete
either “useful” or “critical” in “Sustainable development may yet prove useful and critical
to the survival of Latin America.”
It makes a difference whether you place the adverb before or after the verb. “The
mural movement was born simultaneously in cities across the country” refers to multiple
births of a movement, whereas “The mural movement was simultaneously born in cities
across the country” suggests that it was more than just “born” in those cities; the reader
expects, for example, “and died” after “born.”
Use “few” (or “many”) when you can count them and “little” (or “much”) when
you cannot; e.g., “few tigers” but “little effect.” Similarly, use “number” when you can