Module 6

English in Academic Writing-III

-Dr Ajay Semalty
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
H.N.B Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar Garhwal-246174

In the previous modules, we discussed about effective academic writing in English by

avoiding grammatical errors, punctuation errors and by improving cohesion and coherence in the

writing. Now, we will focus how the language part should be taken care of in each section of a

manuscript, major do’s and don’ts and styles of writing.

Learning outcome

After completing this module, you will learn

• Improving language of each section of manuscript

• Writing styles and tips

• Avoiding most common mistakes of manuscript writing

• Features of different standard styles of research writing

Lesson Plan

Here we will discuss:

 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

• The section wise language improvement tips

• Most common mistakes to be avoided

• Major Don’ts

• Types of styles

• APA/ MLA/ CMS style

Article section wise tips (with respect to English language)

Though we will discuss the technical part of each and every section in later modules, we will

discuss the language part of the sections here.

Title:

As discussed earlier, title should be catchy, representative of your work and free from any spell

error. Double check the spelling, if the title is in upper case because spell check does not work in

upper case. Follow the word limit if prescribed in author’s guidelines.

Abstract:

In this section we give the central idea of our work and main finding in brief so as to attract the

prospective reader.

• Make the abstract simple, effective and catchy: You are aiming to attract the prospective

reader so the presentation must be very effective.

• Make short sentences: It is itself a small section, so using long sentences will be awkward.

• Make it self-explanatory and concise: Do not give the reader THE INTRPRETIVE

BURDEN.
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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

• Follow word limit as per the journal’s requirement: Many journals put a limit of words

ranging from 200-300 words. And if you have planned a longer abstract, the online

submission system would not accept it. In that case you have to reframe the abstract and

concise it. And when you cut short it in hurry, it results in disaster.

• Avoid abbreviations and complex sentences: You cannot start using the abbreviations in

the abstract itself. Using abbreviations without reference will just confuse the readers. And

the same holds true with the complex sentences.

• Make it structured or unstructured as per the “Instructions to authors” prescribed:

Structured abstract means writing the abstract divided in some heads like background/

Aim/objective, Method, Results, Conclusion. If required by the journal make it structured.

Introduction

Introduction section gives problem definition and acquaints the readers about the idea of

research.

When we write introduction following points must be taken care of

• Give brief background: Giving background is just like taking some steps back like a tiger

before the final attack. Or in another way taking a run up before delivering a ball in cricket

match. But have you seen any bowler starting the run up from pavilion or delivering the bowl

from non- striking end standing itself? So what is the point? Give the background of the

study in a concise way.

• Give a power packed story: Tell the idea like a complete story but do not make it too long.

Long introductions lose their focus.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

• Ensure cohesion and coherence: Cohesion at grammatical level and coherence at idea level

must be ensured for giving the sequential flow of information in a logical way. So, the reader

should be able to predict about the very next sentence.

• Present tense followed by the past: Introduction may be started in present tense to share the

current knowledge or status of the problem followed by background and problem/ hypothesis

which should be given in past tense.

Materials and Methods

• Use past tense throughout. Because you have already done the work and you reporting it.

• Clarify the method fully. It may be decisive in review process.

• Use good balance of passive and active voice.

• Many a times, in method passive voice is more common.

• Do not start a sentence with a digit.

• Use punctuations carefully.

Results & discussion

• Follow a pattern or the logical sequence to present the results and their discussion.

• Give due weightage to present every particular result.

• Avoid exaggeration or the vague statements in discussion.

• Avoid repeating the results already mentioned in table/figure.

• Be very clear in discussing and correlating the study with other studies.

• Make crisp sentences.

• Convince reader with your logic on the basis of evidence based discussion of results.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

Conclusion

• Concisely give concluding remark.

• Conclude as per the laid down objectives.

Acknowledgements

• Be humble and straightforward in acknowledgements.

References

• Follow punctuation as per the journal’s guidelines strictly.

We will discuss the technical part of each of these sections in later modules. In the next lecture

we will quickly focus the most common language mistakes committed by authors in AW.

Most Common language mistakes:

We have discussed the grammatical part, cohesion, coherence and section wise language tips

earlier. Now let us focus some of the most common language mistakes in AW.

Now, let us discuss the most common writing errors. This list of the most common errors was

compiled by Bob Connors and Andrea Lunsford after surveying 21,000 essays.

1. Apostrophe confusion: Rule: do not use the contractions. Its shows possession; It’s is

used for “it is” or “it has” but meaning is different.

2. Misplaced/dangling modifier: Rule: Put modifier close to the word they modify.

Example: Noting down carefully people answered the questionnaire. (wrong)

People answered the questionnaire and we noted down carefully.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

We noted down carefully when people were answering the questionnaire.

3. Fused/run on sentences: Rule: Independent clauses must be separated with a comma

and a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet and So).

Boys liked the movie girls did not like it. (wrong)

Boys liked the movie, BUT girls did not like it (right)

4. Unnecessary comma(s): Rule: Do not place commas around elements that restrict or

define the meaning of another part of the sentence.

The persons were shown the movie, Titanic, in seminar hall. (wrong)

The persons were shown the movie Titanic in seminar hall.

5. Pronouns and antecedent disagreement: Rule: Pronouns must match their antecedents

(the words they substitute for) in number case and gender.; indefinite pronouns have their

own rules (Body-, -one, -thing, each, either, and neither always take singular form; any ,

all, more, most, some, and none can be either singular or plural)

6. Missing comma in a series: Rule: Do not skip the final comma when listing three or

more items. (standard rule is to put comma but sometime exempted)

7. Subject and verb disagreement: Rule: A subject must agree with its verb in number and

person.

8. Wrong tense or verb form: Rule: verb should match time or order indicated by the

context. And use correct form of irregular verbs.

9. Sentence fragment: Rule: adding a period does not complete a sentence.

10. Unnecessary shift in pronouns: Rule: Donot shift to second person after starting with

the third person.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

11. Unnecessary shift in tense: Rule: stick to one tense.

12. Missing or misplaced apostrophe: Rule: Add ‘s to show possession (but not after a

plural ending in –s.)

13. Comma Splice: Rule: Do not use a comma by itself to combine sentences

14. Wrong or missing prepositions: Rule: Prepositions can be tricky; review usage guides

and look up words you are not sure about. (between/ among, beside/besides etc.)

15. Wrong or missing verb ending; Rule: When revising, make sure you haven’t left off

any verb or chosen the wrong verb.

16. Missing comma with a non-restrictive element: Rule; add comma to set apart elements

that do not restrict or define another part of the sentence.

17. Wrong word: Rule: do not depend on spell checker or auto correction (accept/except,

affect/effect, then/than)

18. Missing comma in compound sentence: Rule: If you combine two complete sentences,

you must separate them with a comma and coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS).

19. Vague pronoun reference: Rule : Donot use a pronoun unless it is clear to the reader

what it stands for (this, that, these, those; who, whom, whose, which etc.)

20. Missing comma after introductory element: Rule: Place a comma after anything that

comes before your main clause. (comma after therefore, however, moreover etc.)

(Dear learners see the examples of each type of error and learn the correct use. You can refer

further readings for learning the examples.)

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

In the list of most common mistakes we can add:

Do not use the

Helpful Online Resources for exercise:

• Passive and active voice handout: [Link]
[Link]

• Using first person effectively: [Link]

[Link]
• Citations reference from Duke Libraries website:
[Link]
• Proofreading for common grammatical mistakes:
[Link]
ook&taskid=3
• Numerous strategies for revising: [Link]
studio/resources/academic-writing/revising
• Reading aloud: [Link]

• Vague or casual words or language. (a bit of, sort of etc.)

• Acronyms

• Slang (kids, guys)

• Idioms, (A1, )

• Contractions, (don’t, isn’t)

• Phrasal verbs (take away)

The objective of the AW is always more formal and objective.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

Reading aloud is always a very good and simple technique to identify the language error. You

can even trace any deviation from required cohesion and coherence by just reading aloud.

Types of styles

The styles: By the style we refer to organization of an article. It includes formatting, referencing,

citation and all other specifications. These are generally prescribed by various different agencies

or well-known associations. But as long as you are strictly following a journal’s specific

guidelines it does not matter much, whether you know about the specific style or not.

Some important style their associations, their links and the subject coverage is listed for you in

the lecture’s pdf. These styles include APA, MLA, CMS, IEEE, Vancouver, Harvard, ACS AIP,

CSE etc.

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
Style Association/Organization Subject URL of Style Guide
APA American Psychological Psychology, Education, Sciences [Link]/
Association
MLA Modern Language Association English, Humanities [Link]/style_faq1
CMS Chicago Manual Style, Medical, biological, life sciences [Link]
University of Chicago Press
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Engineering [Link]
Electronics Engineers
Vancouver International Committee Medical, Biomedical, pharmacy, [Link]
of
Medical Journal Editors life sciences
Harvard Harvard University [Link]
ACS American Chemical Society Chemistry, life sciences, Pharmacy [Link]
AIP American Institute of Physics Physics, Astronomy [Link]
[Link]/AIP_Style_4thed.pdf
CSE Council of Science Editors Biology, Natural Sciences [Link]
DCGI/store/[Link]
AMS American Mathematical Society Mathematics [Link]
info/documentation/[Link]
AMA American Medical Association Medical, Biomedical, Pharmacy, [Link]
[Link]
AMS American Meteorological Society Geology, meterology [Link]
/
 The Big Three: APA, MLA, and CMS
Three main Style Schools, which are used to in formatting academic papers are APA, MLA and CMS.
• APA style: These are the official guidelines by the American Psychological Association (VI edition). This is the most suitable for
social sciences, sociology, psychology, medicine, or social work.
• MLA style: The Modern Language Association provides guidelines for writing in humanities. Therefore, the artists, English and
drama/ theatre students use this style MLA for a long time.
• CMS style: These guidelines are Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition). CMS style is used in the humanities, particularly with
literature, history and the arts students.

They have many things in common like margins and spacing. But their attributing of references to source materials is the main
distinguishing factor. E.g. For APA it is "references" on the other hand for MLA it is "works cited". –
It is a very small but very important difference but it may affect the fate of manuscript.
([Link]

What is a citation and citation style?

A citation is a way of giving credit to individuals for their creative and intellectual works that you utilized to support your research. It
can also be used to locate particular sources and combat plagiarism. Typically, a citation can include the author's name, date, location
of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI (Digital Object Identifier).

A citation style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other
formatting.

Let’s have a look on some basic and important features of the big three different writing styles.

Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (the Vancouver Document) is at
<[Link]
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

The Big three : APA, MLA and CMS comparison of guidelines

TOPIC APA MLA** CMS***
Association American Psychological Association Modern Language Association Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition) by
(6th edn) University of Chicago Press

Subject Psychology, Education, Sciences English, Humanities History, Medical, biological, life sciences

Verb Tense Use past tense or present perfect tense for Although the manual does not explicitly state a Use present tense to refer to “timeless facts”
literature reviews and descriptions of procedures if preferred tense, typically you should use present tense and to describe fictional works’ plots (236)
the discussions are of past events; use past tense to when discussing literature:
describe results; use present tense to discuss
implications of results and present conclusions (65–
66)
Headings Up to five levels: Double space between the end of one section and the Set headings flush-left on a new line; each level
1) Centered, boldface, uppercase and lowercase headings heading label for the next, and between the heading of heading must be differentiated by type style
2) Left-aligned, boldface, uppercase and lowercase and the section that follows; do not follow heading and size; do not use full capitals (61)
heading with punctuation; headings need not be bolded or
3) Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with period italicized (117)
4) Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with
period
5) Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with period
(62–63)
Title Page Title page required: No title page required; on page one of the paper, type Title page should include full title of work with
title length < 12 words, upper and lower case your name, your instructor’s name, the course number, and subtitle (if any), the name of the author (author’s
letters, centered, upper half of page (23); the date on separate lines flush left and double-spaced; affiliations typically not included), editor, or translator,
include author's name and institutional affiliation beneath that, type the title, centered in regular font (116– and the name and location of the publisher; do not
(23); include author note (23); 117) include date of publication and do not include a page
running head also included (229); number on
title page is page 1, noted in the page header (229) this page (10)

Page Number all pages consecutively starting with title Number all pages consecutively in upper right-hand Each page of manuscript must be numbered
Numbers page corner of page, one half inch from the top and flush right; consecutively (66–67)
using Arabic numerals (229); include page precede page numbers with your last name (117)
number in running head: short version of title,
followed by 5 spaces and page #, maximum of 50
characters including spaces and punctuation (229)

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 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

Margins One inch on all sides; lines should be flush-left; One inch on all sides; do not justify right margin All text should be flush-left; margins of at least 1
maximum (116) inch
line length is 6.5 inches (229) on all four sides of text (60)

Line Spacing Double-space (229) Double-space (116) Double-space (59)

Paragraph Indent first line of every paragraph and first line Indent the first word of a paragraph ½ inch from Indent the first line of each paragraph using your
Indentation of every footnote ½ inch (5 spaces) from left left margin; indent set-off quotations 1 inch from computer TAB key (60)
margin (229) left margin (116)

In-text On the date of work created; On authorship Author or date, depending on source origin
Citation
Emphasis
Bibliography The reference list should begin on a new page The bibliography page should begin on a new page Full bibliography pages are not required but are
Page and should be titled References, with the word and should be titled Works Cited with the words recommended (684); the bibliography should be an
centered on the page; double space reference centered on the page; double space reference entries alphabetical list of all sources used for research
entries and use a hanging indent; alphabetize and use a hanging indent; alphabetize entries by (685); it should follow the end of the paper and begin
entries by author last name (37) author last name (230–231) on a new page (685); acceptable titles include
“Bibliography,” “Works Cited,” or “Literature
Cited” (687)
In-text When quoting, provide the author, year, and When quoting, provide the author and the page When quoting, use superscript numbers following
Citations specific page number or paragraph number; number; they may be separated or cited together the quotation to indicate a footnote or endnote
date can follow author in an introductory phrase, or (214–218): (665); a note should list the author, title, and
all citation elements can be at the end of the Townsend notes “…” (613). OR publication facts (661); footnotes appear at the foot
sentence (170–171): “…” (Townsend 613). of the page (671); endnotes are grouped at the end,
Robbins (2003) notes…. (p. following the text and any appendices and preceding
541). OR “…” (Robbins, the bibliography (673)
2003, p. 541).

“APA, MLA and Chicago comparison of Guidelines adapted from [Link]

center/[Link]”

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Other important standards which are prescribed by any style include

Diction & Syntax (Word Choice & Arrangement)

Voice, economy of expression, clarity, person, scientific, etc.

Punctuation

Use the Colons, Semicolons and Quotes as per the style.

Abbreviation

Use standard abbreviations or as prescribed by the style.

• Avoid abbreviations that are not already commonly used (see table for some common

abbreviations).

• In most cases, write out the complete term or phrase with the abbreviation following in

parentheses to continue using the abbreviation throughout the rest of the document.

• Once an abbreviation is used, it must continue to be used throughout.

• Avoid beginning a sentence with an abbreviation, especially those that begin with a

lower-case letter.

• Do not use spaces within an abbreviation (e.g., U.S.)

Numbers, Mathematics, and Statistics

• For number, mathematics and statistics use formal abbreviations and symbols. Use

standard unit e.g. SI or MKS unit throughout.

 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

Citations managers

How references are being cited, is one of the most important distinguishing factor among

different styles. For citation management, online citation managers are an easy way to keep track

of all of the references. Mendeley, EndNote, and Zotero are some of these useful tools. These are

tools for importing citations from various sources and article databases that can automatically

integrate them into your research paper and bibliography.

Mendeley

Various Universities have an institutional subscription to this reference manager. The

Mendely can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover

the latest research.

EndNote

EndNote is the standardized bibliography tool adopted by various universities and research

organizations. EndNote enables users to search online bibliographic databases, organize

references and create and format instant bibliographies. It also contains an integration

interface with Microsoft Word, as well as a traveling reference library that follows the

document for easy collaboration with others.

Zotero

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

Zotero is a free application that collects, manages, and cites research sources. It connects

with your web browser to download sources.

TAKE AWAY MESSAGE

Dear learners in this module we learned the basic language tips for the different sections of

articles. We learned how to ensure cohesion and coherence throughout the manuscript. We

learned about the most common errors like apostrophe confusion, missing comma,

unnecessary comma, subject verb disagreement, using improper pronoun etc. Always

remember to avoid slang, contractions, acronyms, idioms and phrasal verbs. We learned

about different schools of styles like APA, MLA, CMS etc. Chose the most relevant one and

study the style guidelines.

Further readings:

• Passive and active voice handout: [Link]

[Link]

• Using first person effectively: [Link]

[Link]

• Citations reference from Duke Libraries website:

[Link]

• Proofreading for common grammatical mistakes:

[Link]

=3

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India
 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

• Numerous strategies for revising: [Link]

studio/resources/academic-writing/revising

• Reading aloud: [Link]

• The basics of APA style: [Link]

[Link]

References:

• The 20 Most Common Grammar and Mechanical Errors,

[Link]

• Lunsford, Andrea A. and Karen J. Lunsford. “’Mistakes are a Fact of Life: A National

Comparative Study.” CCC 59 (2008) 781-806.

• American Psychological Association. (2009). Manuscript structure and content. In Publication

manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 21-60). Washington, DC

• American Psychological Association. (2009a). The mechanics of style. In Publication manual of

the American Psychological Association (pp. 87-124). Washington, DC: Author.

• American Psychological Association. (2009b). Writing clearly and concisely. In Publication

manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 61-86). Washington, DC: Author.

• [Link]/guides/citation-guides/apa-format/

• [Link]

• [Link]

• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York: Modern

Language Association of America, 2009. Print.

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. (2010) Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association.

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 Module 6: English in Academic Writing-III

• The University of Chicago Press Staff, ed. The Chicago Manual of Style. 16th ed. Chicago:

University of Chicago, 2010. 1 Lunsford, Andrea A., Paul Kei Matsuda, and Christine M.

Tardy. Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference, 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Print.

Credits
Course Coordinator & Presenter
Dr Ajay Semalty
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India

Content Writer
Dr Ajay Semalty
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal), Uttarakhand, India

Content Reviewers
Prof. (Retd.) M.S.M. Rawat
Former Vice Chancellor
HNB Garhwal University (A Central University) Srinagar (Garhwal); Advisor-HE, Govt. of
Uttarakhand, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Dr Joseph Koyippally
Department of English
Central University of Kerala, India

Technical Reviewer
Dr Rajat Agrawal
Department Management Studies
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India

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MOOC: Academic Writing by Dr Ajay Semalty, HNB Garhwal University (A Central University)
Srinagar (Garhwal) Uttarakhand, India