Scholarly (Non-Fiction) Writing Rules

The following are some of the lessons I have learned over the past few years primarily from writing school essays, receiving feedback from my professors, and reading dissertations. I learned many other lessons lectures, books, and my wonderful teammates.

Basic Writing Rules (Things We Must)

1. Grammar and Style: Ask MS Word to check grammar and style while you write. MS Word is very good at detecting passive voice, split infinitives, poor sentence structure, end-of-sentence prepositions, and wordiness. From the [Tools] dropdown menu, select [Options] and then select the [Spelling & Grammar] tab. Use the Writing style dropdown to select [Grammar & Style].
2. Indentation: Do not use a [Tab] or spaces to indent a paragraph. Use MS Word’s indentation function to create First line and Hanging indentations. We use first line indentations for normal paragraphs and hanging indentations for bibliographic references. Modify the indentation of a paragraph by selecting [Paragraph] from the [Format] dropdown menu. Change the indentation with the special indentation dropdown.
3. Stay on Topic: Use your outline, plan, purpose statement, or assignment instructions to help stay on topic.
4. Precision (this & that): Find and rewrite where possible to remove instances of the following words: this, these, of, and, however, yet, and since. Also, use some version of the phrase, “the current research study” instead of the less precise “this study.”
5. Avoid Personalization: Avoid personalization by removing unnecessary references to self (i.e., a density of references to “the researcher”). The essay or dissertation should be about the research instead of the researcher.
6. Scientific Tone: Be consistent in the use of a scientific tone avoiding colloquial, jargon, slang, trite, anthropomorphism, author opinion, and hyperbole.
7. Big ol’ Fancified Words: Remember that one of the goals of scholarly writing is clarity. Therefore, refrain from using overly complex words when a simple and more direct word will do.
8. “Such That” Virus: “Such that” is used to connect a meaningless first clause with a second meaningful clause. There are three solutions: (a) delete the first clause; (b) replace “such that” with a colon or dash; (c) rewrite the sentence (Silvia, 2007).
9. Cite Declarative Sentences: Most sentences that make statements should have a citation unless it is otherwise clear that they are the conclusions or opinions of the author(s).
10. Expletive Constructions: Avoid using meaningless phrases like “there is,” “there was,” “it is,” “it was,” or “there are.” Acceptable usage of words like “it” or “there” include unambiguous references to places or things usually within the same sentence.
11. Lists: Try not to overly use lists. Instead, take advantage of lists to expand on the concepts in the list, which is especially useful if you are attempting to increase your word count.
12. WritePoint: If you have access, run your completed writing through WritePoint and the Plagiarism Checker as many times as is required to ensure the process finds no errors. Remember to tell the Plagiarism Checker to ignore the bibliography and quoted text. Please do this even with essay sections before submitting to your writing partners.
13. Read Aloud: I really do this myself. Read your completed writing aloud to catch the most obvious grammar and style errors. Most writers would never speak aloud their written errors, which make the most obvious errors easy to identify. Try to wait at least an hour with your mind on something other than your writing before reading aloud.
14. Reference Matching: (1) Ensure at least one in-text reference exists for each reference in the bibliography (reference section). Perform a word search though the document for each author name in the bibliography. As you find each author’s name, verify the correct date is used. (2) Conversely, verify a bibliographic reference exists for every in-text reference and that the date matches.
15. APA 5th Rules: Assuming your writing must comply with APA standards, crack that Publication Manual open! The following is a list of the sections I see most people struggling with: Headings (3.31 & 3.32), Seriation (3.33), Quotations (3.34 – 3.38), General Forms (4.07), Sample References (4.16), In-Text References (3.94 – 3.99), Page Headers (5.06).

Writing Guidelines (Things We Should)

1. Possessives: Remove all possessives other than “its.” For example, “technology’s relationship” should be rewritten to say something like “the relationship of technology to . . .”
2. Paragraph Structure: Aim for 3-5 sentences. Center the complexity and content on the main subject and flow the subject matter from and to the bounding paragraphs.
3. Judgment Words: Watch for and minimize or completely exclude the use of words expressing judgment such as good, nice, super, bad, great, seemingly, reasonable, substantial, lazy, etc.
4. Long Clauses: Wherever possible, rewrite long clauses to shorter sentences. Long clauses put the reader to sleep. Test the lengthiness of clauses by reading aloud to judge if enough breath remains for normal respiration. ;-)
5. Peer Reviewed Reference Count: Unless the professor instructs otherwise, average class essays should include a minimum of two peer-reviewed article references not more than five years old. Continue to include book references as necessary but they do not count towards the peer-reviewed article requirement. The summary should have at least one peer-reviewed in-text reference.

Advanced Writing Rules & Guidelines

1. Introductions: Fully introduce the essay/article by ensuring the following elements are contained in the introduction: (a) purpose, (b) design/methodology/approach, (c) findings, and (d) originality/value.
2. Compose: Do not write; compose. There is much more to writing than sharing a stream of written consciousness that poured through our fingers into keyboard or pen. I often start by talking aloud and writing with pen and paper far away from a computer. Always go back repeatedly to read aloud and edit the initial sloppy copy.
3. Theory Discussion: When discussing theory in an essay/article, explore the theory by taking it apart, reassembling, and explaining its importance. Discuss how the theory explains, explores, or helps to evaluate problems for the organization. Treat the theory discussion like a conversation by pointing out relevant theorist and informing the reader about their points of view. Hold a conversation and teaching event with the reader, discussing the relevant theoretical ideas based on the content of the paper.

Essential Reading & References

1. Elements of Style (William Strunk Jr.): Strunk created this little book more than 50 years ago by a professor that cut the vast set of English style rules down to a size his students could easily use. If you do not already have one, please purchase a copy of the little book, read it, and make it one of your primary references.
2. On Writing Well (William K. Zinsser): This book is a classic for non-fiction writing now in active print for over 33 years. Zinsser is an advocate of simplicity telling us to remove the clutter and read our nonfiction aloud. Please purchase a copy if you do not already have one.

References
Silvia, P. J. (2007). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.