What are some common grammatical mistakes I should avoid in academic writing?
Here are some common grammatical mistakes I often need to fix when authors submit their writing to my academic journals:
The word “incredible” means “beyond belief”; use it only for truly unbelievable events (such as space aliens landing on campus).
2. Avoid colloquial words (e.g., “folks,” “kids,” “I felt crappy”) unless the words are part of a direct quote.
3. Avoid clichés. A cliché is an expression that has been used by so many people that it has lost its effect (e.g., “Our results were not meaningful, so we’re back to square one.” “We decided to let sleeping dogs lie and find a new project.”). You can see a list of clichés on http://suspense.net/whitefish/cliche.htm
4. Be sure to spell out acronyms (e.g., LGBTQ, STEM, PTSD) the first time they are used. Do not assume all readers are familiar with US geography (e.g., our participants were from FL, GA, and AL”) or US universities (e.g., “UCLA,” “MIT”).
5. Limit use of direct quotes. Use quotes only when the quote is so catchy or unique that you cannot capture the tone by rephrasing it.
6. Use “I” or avoid pronouns, but avoid “we” and “you.” For example, “We have all run outside when the sun was shining” will offend a reader who is in a wheelchair.
7. In the U.S., periods and commas go inside quotes (“like this,” and NOT “like this”.) This is different in the U.K. But all other grammar (semi-colons, question marks, colons, exclamation marks) go outside quotes (“like this”!) as long as they are not part of the quote.
8. People in Central and South America are also “American,” so I suggest using “U.S.” as both a noun and adjective instead of “America” or “American.”
9. When using two words before a noun, they are hyphenated when used as adjectives (second-hand information) but not when used as nouns (the information was second hand).
10. In the U.S., “which” follows a comma whereas “that” does not (e.g., A segment of the population that has been oppressed, which is why…).
11. Use parallel structure in lists so that each point starts with a noun, or with a verb, etc. Incorrect: The purpose of our graduate program is to teach writing, learn theory, and becoming a physical therapist. Correct: The purpose of our graduate program is to teach writing, learn theory, and become a physical therapist.
12. The word “media” is plural (the singular is “medium”) and so is the word “data” (the singular is “datum”). Correct usage: “The media are wrong when they report that it rains a lot in San Diego.” “These data are biased.”
13. The words “amongst” and “whilst” are used in the UK; the US equivalents are “among” and “while.”
14. Do not put apostrophes into dates: 1970s is correct; 1970’s is not
Avoid repetition; rephrase sentences so that the same words or phrases are not used.
“Often times” is used in colloquial conversation but is not correct in writing; use “often.” Similarly, “off of” is used in colloquial conversation but is not correct in writing; use “off.”
“A lot” should be two words, not one. (My spell check won’t even let me write it as one word!)
“With regard to” is correct; “in regards” and “with regards to” are not.
One of my pet peeves (with apologies for the colloquialism) is the use of the word "Irregardless"!