WATCH OUT FOR THESE ERRORS MOST OFTEN SEEN IN ACADEMIC WORK
Lee Bowman
prof.bowman@gmail.com
© 2006
(don't use these are your primary resource for writing and APA - these are just reminders of the most often seen errors upon final proofreading)

APA ERRORS

1. Align margins left with ragged right edges (do not justify margins in APA papers)
2. In APA, use only one space after the ending punctuation of sentences.
3. Double and triple check punctuation/spacing with authors' names and initials, and journal volume, issue, page numbers
4. Double and triple check for proper use of italics and capital letters in titles of articles, journals, books
5. Use appropriate introductory tags and page numbers to set off your quotes and paraphrases from your own writing
6. No more than one quote or paraphrase per paragraph of writing
7. For every paraphrase, summary, or quote, your own writing must be twice as long as the material from sources (explain, analyze, etc.)
8. Every quote, paraphrase, or summary must open with introductory phrase using author's name followed immediately by year date in parentheses and must close with a page or paragraph number in parentheses.
9. Do not ever just plunk down a citation at the end of a sentence or paragraph.
10. Make sure your quote or paraphrase correlates with what you have written in the paragraph
11. Do not cite secondary sources cited as if they were primary sources
12. Set off your quotes and paraphrases properly so that the instructors can tell what you wrote and what you got from other sources in order avoid plagiarism
13. DO NOT EVER MANUALLY use the enter key to double space or format hanging indent. Learn to use the MS Word formatting features
14. DO NOT EVER MANUALLY type page headers or page numbers. Learn to use the MS Word formatting features
15. Type the entire paper in Times New Roman 12, even page headers.
16. Headings within the paper should be in title case, no bold or italics
17. Title page should be double spaced, not triple or quadruple spaced, no bold, italics, or all capital letters.

WRITING ERRORS

• DO NOT USE PASSIVE VOICE IN YOUR WRITING
• Use only third person in your writing (don't use I, we, our, us, your, you, etc.)
• Do not use "one" in place of first or second person point of view.
• Do not use phrases such as I think that, I believe that, I feel that, in my opinion, etc.
• Do not use these words: IT, OF, BY, BEING, ONE, 
• Do not use slang or other informal diction.
• BE PRECISE AND CLEAR. AVOID Wordiness: the fact that, at that point in time. in other words, play a role, due to, as a result of, as to why, whereas, thus, therefore, which is, the most common, one of, not only, but also, very, extremely, really, a lot, great, best, usually, greater, many, most, some, a little, a few, often, sometimes, oftentimes, can be established, such as, just as, of this, is that, the fact that, means that, for many reasons, all these, serve to, to name a few, in order to, when it comes to, as noted, on the part of, by means of, after all, this means that, the reason is, in general, again, once again,  etc.
•  Don't give readers commands such as:  Be sure to ..... or any similar sentences.  
• Avoid negatives (use failed rather than did not, for example)
• Don't use words like important, imperative, vital, essential, valuable, key, inevitable, paramount, significant, necessary, core, fundamental, priority, pivotal, evident, unique, or other synonyms for these words
• Do not editorialize your writing, including words like: unfortunately, virtually impossible, well worth, obviously, hopefully, fortunately, invaluable, undoubtedly, assuredly, literally,  etc.   
• Write out all contractions: can't should be cannot, for instance.
• Do not begin sentences (or phrases/clauses within sentences) with ANY of the following words: AS, IT, IN, THERE, THIS, THAT, THEY, THEIR, BY, IF, WHEN, WHILE, WITH, BECAUSE, THROUGH, WITH
• Do not use THAT when referring to people. The pronoun WHO refers to people.
• Under no circumstances should you use these words at all: NEED, MUST, SHOULD -- these words imply that you are giving instructions to your reader.
• "to be" verbs should be used sparingly: is, are, was, were, etc..
• Use commas and semi-colons properly.
• In a series of three or more nouns or noun phrases, insert a comma before the word "and" or "or"
• Do not make announcements such as this paper will, in this paper I will,  in the article, in the essay, etc.
• Do not use pretentious words intended to impress readers. If you use words your reader might not know, explain them. Example: utilize should be use. Other examples: plethora, elicit, ensue, illustrative, empowerment,   
• Never use words that seem uncertain: could, might, may, maybe, probably, etc.
• Use THAT and WHICH correctly  
• Possessive nouns -- use apostrophes properly for singular and plural possessive noun forms.
• Do not use scenarios or anecdotes or other examples to illustrate points. This is a research paper, not a creative writing assignment.
• Do not use passive voice in your writing. Be concise and clear. Passive voice makes the sentence too wordy.
  Use active voice, clear, precise, and concise sentences

RESOURCES:

Writing Resources (grammar, spelling, sentence and paragraph structure, how to write essays, etc.).

• Use active voice, clear, precise, and concise sentences
• Paragraphs: See writing effective paragraphs for help. Make sure your discussion postings and responses are in block style (single spaced, no first line indention, skip one line between paragraphs).
• Pronouns: Work that includes too many of the following: he, she, it, they, etc. indicates not enough time spent on the writing to clarify pronoun reference. See pronoun agreement and pronoun reference for additional information.
• Subject/verb agreement: Check to make sure that your tenses don't shift from the present to the past tense. Be consistent. Also be sure that your subjects and verbs agree. See subject-verb agreement for help.
• Spelling: If you have a computer with a spell checker, use it! Even if you have a spell-checker, have another person read your essay for small errors. You might have entered an incorrect spelling in your spell checker! Also, see commonly confused words for additional help.
• Commas: See commas for all the comma usage rules.
• Sentence structure: Read your work aloud to ensure proper sentence structure. See Sentence Punctuation Patterns , Sentence Structure , Sentences: Run-ons, and Comma Splices , and Sentences: Fragments
• Parallelism: Sentences that are not parallel can be confusing so that the meaning of your writing is not clear. See parallelism
• Apostrophes: This is another indication of rushing through your work. Proofread for singular and plural possessives. See using apostrophes to show possession
• Dangling modifiers: If these are in your writing, you definitely did not proofread. See modifiers
• First and second person point of view: Using these indicates that you have not taken time to proofread and revise to demonstrate objectivity in your work. This is not about you; it is about learning and expressing knowledge of of the topics. In your responses, you may use first person point of view only when you are relating course concepts to personal experience.