More about writing 

Contents

• Bad subordinate (dangling modifier; mistaken subject)

• Avoiding there is, there are

• That/which: defining & non-defining subordinates

This page is provisional and will be updated

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 Dangling modifier, mistaken subject, bad subordinate 

"Sleeping in my orchard, a serpent stung me", Hamlet

 

• Instead of:  Being reluctant participants, the game facilitator decided to debrief at length.,

Write:  The game facilitator decided to debrief at length because the participants were reluctant.

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• Instead of:  Originally designed as a simulation about cultural diversity, we have used this activity to explore how outsiders are recruited to join a team.,

Write:  This simulation was originally about cultural diversity, but we have used it to explore the ways in which outsiders are recruited to join a team.

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• Instead of:  Based on these four barriers to complex dynamic decision making, we designed an instructional and learning strategy

Write:  Using these four barriers to complex dynamic decision making, we designed an instructional and learning strategy

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• Instead of:  Summarizing it briefly, participants in BLEND play

Write:  To summarize, we can say that participants in BLEND play ...

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• Instead of:  Based upon current recommendations for gamifying classrooms (Sheldon, 2012), a course at Syracuse University was gamified by adding

Write:   Using current recommendations for gamifying classrooms, Sheldon (2012) gamified a course at Syracuse University by adding

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Morte here:  https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/mechanics/dangling_modifiers_and_how_to_correct_them.html

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 Defining and non-defining clauses - that, which 

• Pls make sure that your defining and non-defining clauses are done correctly.

• If they are incorrect, the meaning can be almost the opposite of that which you intend.
   

• British English does not always make a careful distinction between that and which, between defining and non-defining clauses.

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• It is especially important that you get these absolutely right, both in your draft ms, and in your final ms.

• They are important even in your draft, so that reviewers understand you better, and your ms is more likely to get accepted.

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This page will help:  https://e4l-jrnl.weebly.com/that-which.html.

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• Below are some pages taken from the Perdue OWL - a marvellous collection of pages on all aspects of writing.

• You will find others, of course, but the Perdue OWL should serve most of your needs.

• Remember that you should use formal English, not informal.

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/that_vs_which.html

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/relative_pronouns/index.html

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https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/relative_pronouns/relative_pronouns_in_non_defining_clauses.html

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 There is / there are 

• Please eliminate there is and there are from your ms right from the start, before you submit your first ms.  With all the examples on this page, no excuse can be given for not doing it thoroughly.

• If you quote material (from other articles, including your own, or from informants, subjects, participants, etc), in which there is a there is/are (!), then keep the there from the original in your quote.

See how to correct your there is/are here:  https://e4l-jrnl.weebly.com/there-is-are.html

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Writing guides

Be concise:  This page tells you how to use few words and be more readable:

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/conciseness/index.html

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All good writers should have a few writing reference books on their shelf.  You can do no better than the following.  Some may be on the internet.

• Fowler, H. W.  A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.   Oxford University Press.

• https://owl.purdue.edu/   «««««« highly recomended

These too are excellent:

• Bryson, B. The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words.   Penguin.

• Carey, G. V. Mind the Stop: A Brief Guide to Punctuation.   Penguin.

• Gowers, E. The Complete Plain Words.  Penguin.

• Hacker, D. A Writer’s Reference.  St Martin’s Press.

• Manser, M. H. The Penguin Wordmaster Dictionary.   Penguin.

• Strunk, W. & White, E. B.  The Elements of Style.   Macmillan.

• The Publication manual of the APA has some excellent advice.

• Strunk on the Web.   «««««« highly recomended

• Psychology with style: A hypertext writing guide.   «««««« highly recomended - uses APA

 
Web sites with useful advice on good writing include the following:

• https://www.editage.com/insights/

• https://www.editage.com/insights/seven-secrets-of-stylish-academic-writing

• https://www.editage.com/insights/categories/style-format

• http://www.csr.city.ac.uk/people/norman.fenton/papers/good_writing/good_writing_index.html

• http://aspp.hssfc.ca/tips.htm

• http://www.beloit.edu/~academic/fyi/fyiwriting-all.html

• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

• http://www.chompchomp.com/rules.htm

• http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/

Some more (added Jan 2020)
- On Writing Well, William Zinsser
- The Elements of Style, Strunk and White
- Sin and Syntax, Constance Hale
- Essentials of Writing Biomedical Research Papers, Mimi Zeiger
- http://www.aacc.org/publications/clin_chem/ccgsw/Pages/default.aspx
- Science and Society: An Anthology for Readers and Writers, eds: Nelson-McDermott, LePan, Buzzard

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