Improve your academic English with straightforward guides on complex grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Overcome common language barriers and ensure your research is never rejected due to poor phrasing or unnatural sentence structures.
Key Takeaways “Respectively” means “in the order already mentioned.” It links two parallel lists so the reader knows which item corresponds to which. Both lists must have the same number of items and appear in the same order. If the…
Key Takeaways “Data” is traditionally plural in academic English. The singular form is “datum.” Most academic style guides treat “data” as plural: “the data were analysed,” “these data suggest.” Some modern style guides and journals accept “data” as singular (mass…
Key Takeaways The Oxford comma (also called the serial comma) is the comma placed before “and” or “or” in a list of three or more items: “age, gender, and income.” APA, Chicago, and most academic style guides require it. AP…
Key Takeaways In academic English, a sentence should not begin with a numeral. “200 participants” at the start of a sentence is incorrect. Write “Two hundred participants” or rephrase the sentence. The two solutions are: spell out the number (“Thirty…
Key Takeaways Define every abbreviation on first use by writing the full term followed by the abbreviation in parentheses: “the World Health Organization (WHO).” Only abbreviate terms that appear three or more times. Abbreviating a term used once or twice…
Key Takeaways Commas, semicolons, and colons are the three punctuation marks that cause the most errors in academic manuscripts. Knowing when to use each prevents run-on sentences and misplaced pauses. Semicolons join two closely related independent clauses. If the clauses…
Key Takeaways The most common grammar errors in academic manuscripts by non-native speakers are article errors (a/an/the), verb tense inconsistency, subject-verb agreement, and preposition misuse. Academic writing uses a specific set of verb tenses: past tense for methods and results,…
