Research Skills

Whatever you are writing, your goal should be to make your text as clear as possible – to present your ideas clearly and concisely and to avoid ambiguity.

Accomplishing this becomes easier the more you practice writing and begin to develop your confidence in your writing style.

Try these basic rules:

• Avoid excessively long sentences
• Do not use a difficult word where a simple one will do
• Use punctuation correctly to help the sense of your writing
• Use paragraphs to break your text into logically self-contained parts

It is important that you pay attention to the basic rules for good written English - accurate spelling and correct use of grammar and punctuation.

Errors of spelling are best avoided by careful proof reading - and you should never depend on your computer's spell check function. Proof reading is something you should allow time for as part of your structure for drafting/re-drafting your work - do not expect your supervisors to do your proof reading for you.

Punctuation Rules

Punctuation can make a huge difference in the meaning of whatever it is you’re writing.

Look at the following 'classic' examples of the change in meaning that punctuation can communicate:

eats shoots and leaves

eats, shoots, and leaves

Let’s eat, Grandma!

Let’s eat Grandma!

Woman, without her man, is nothing.

Woman! Without her, man is nothing.

Proper punctuation can make or break the impact of an otherwise well-constructed sentence. There are some basic rules that can strengthen your sentences with the punctuation they warrant, so that your ideas are communicated with accuracy and clarity.

Basic Punctuation Rules

Commas [ , ] show a separation of ideas or elements within the structure of a sentence 

Quotation marks [ " " ] show the beginning and end of a quotation or title of a short work 

Colons [ : ] follow independent clauses and call attention to the information that comes after

Semicolons [ ; ] separate clauses that are related and that receive equal emphasis

Apostrophes [ ' ] show possession and indicate where a letter has been omitted to form a contraction

Parentheses [ ( ) ] set off elements within a sentence that are related to the sentence but nonessential

Hyphens [ - ] are used to form compound words or join word units. They are also used to join prefixes, suffixes, and letters to words

Dashes [ — ] often confused with hyphens—connect groups of words to other groups of words to emphasize a point

Paragraphs

Whether you are writing a short article or a book, the key to successfully communicating your ideas is to organize your thoughts into paragraphs. Paragraphs should be more than just a collection of sentences. Like most papers, a good paragraph should have an introduction, evidence, and a conclusion. In addition, it should focus on a central idea or topic. Before starting to write, follow these steps to write a good paragraph:

1. Decide the topic of your paragraph
2. Develop a topic sentence
3. Demonstrate your point
4. Give your paragraph meaning
5. Conclude
6. Look over and proofread

It can help to Read Out Loud  

When you read out loud, you may identify some problems with your writing.

• Commas: Take note where you pause, as those are where you maybe need to put a comma
• Repetition: Hearing your work read aloud helps you pick up on repetition of words and ideas
• Changes in Tense: Reading aloud compels you to pay attention to your writing. If a sentence of a paragraph changes tenses halfway through, you’ll be much more likely to notice it reading aloud than scanning over your work
• Problematic  sentences: If you have trouble saying a sentence out loud, it can be a sign of poor grammar or punctuation. Mark these sentences as ones you need to redraft

Useful Books: