Professional Writing. Run-on Sentences Comma Usage

Professional Writing

Run-on Sentenceshttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/runons.htm

Comma Usagehttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas_big.htm

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/commas/

Plurals, Possessives, and Contractionshttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/apostrophe.htm

Confusable Wordshttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/notorious.htm

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/affect-versus-effect

Voicehttp://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/should-i-use-i/

Grammar Issues ThatRequire Immediate Resolution

(1) You must be able to identify the subject and verb of every sentence

(2) Your subject and verb must agree (singular vs. plural)(3) You must be able to identify every Independent Clause [IC] in

every sentence(4) Every [IC] can end with a period or connect to another [IC]

with the following punctuation/connectors:[IC]; [IC].

[IC], and [IC].[IC]; however, [IC].[IC] : Defining [IC].

(note that the colon can also be used [IC] : list or explanation.)

Recommended First Steps to Applying Grammar Rules to Your Writing

[IC]; [IC].semi-colon

[IC], and [IC].comma with fanboys connector

[IC]; however, [IC].semi-colon and comma

with non-fanboys connector

[IC]: [IC].colon

Comma Usagehttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas_big.htm

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/commas/

Plurals, Possessives, and Contractionshttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/apostrophe.htm

Confusable Wordshttp://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/notorious.htm

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/affect-versus-effect

Voicehttp://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/should-i-use-i/

Handouts on These and Other Topicshttp://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

Grammar Issues ThatRequire Immediate Resolution

Vocabulary Precise usage is the hallmark of top level scholarship –

you must be aware of your professors’ expectations

Discipline-specific vocabulary must be mastered in order to participate in the marketplace of ideas

The process of acquiring a strong vocabulary can help teach you how to become an active learner

Identify what it is you need to learn

Research

Connect new information to what you already know

Test your ability to apply new information

Refine understanding

Reflect on deeper meanings

Research Take accurate and complete notes

Copy all quotes, statistics, etc. verbatim

If you do not quote, paraphrase accurately but in your own words

Record author, title, page number and note where you found the source

Clearly indicate when ideas in your notes are your own

Consider using note cards and limit each card to a single point

Develop a bibliography even if it is not needed for the final paper

Academic Honesty

College of Health Sciences Catalog

Mutual trust is a basic component of any community. Mercer University expects students, as members of the academic community, to take seriously their position in that community. Students are expected to ensure the continuance of trust among themselves and between them and the faculty by accepting responsibility for their own work. The University considers breaches of this trust and responsibility to be serious offenses. Academic offenses that constitute violations of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Honor Code include plagiarism, cheating, lying, and academic theft. Plagiarism is the copying of words, facts, or ideas, belonging to another individual, without proper acknowledgment. Failure to reference any such material used is both ethically and legally improper. Cheating includes the deliberate submitting of work that is not one’s own and that violates the professor’s instructions for the work; the use of testing materials from past testing periods as a study guide, unless authorized by a professor; possession of written materials, not expressly authorized by the professor during an examination or

Academic HonestyCollege of Health Sciences Catalog

test, that contain matter relevant to the course in which the examination is being taken; discussion of examination contents with any other student while taking an examination or test; and divulging or receiving any information on the content or form of any examination that either student has not yet taken. A student who gives illegal aid shall be considered as responsible as the student who receives it. Lying is defined as making a statement that one knows is false or is intended to deceive. Academic theft is the removal of academic materials, depriving or preventingothers from having equal learning opportunities.College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences students are subject to the conditions and requirements of the Honor Code. The Honor Code is published in the Student Handbook, which is distributed to all students at the beginning of the fall term, and made available electronically on the College’s website. Doctor of Philosophy students are subject to the conditions and requirements of the Graduate Honor System. The Graduate Honor System is available on the College’s website.

Graduate Honor System

DEFINITIONS OF VIOLATIONSViolations A violation of the Honor Code involves: (1) cheating, (2) plagiarism, (3) academic negligence, or (4) other acts of dishonesty in the area of academics and research. Perjury or willful omission of evidence during a COMMITTEE hearing is also a violation.Cheating is the taking of credit for work which has been done by another person. The following are some of the more common instances of cheating:(1) Using notes, textbooks, or reference materials on a test, daily quiz, or examination unless the use of such materials is specifically permitted by the professor;(2) copying ideas or facts from another's papers during a test situation in or out of class;(3) giving or receiving facts or ideas by any means whatsoever during a test situation in or out of class;(4) obtaining test questions which a teacher does not release for further reference;(5) obtaining or giving specific information which will be on a test before the test is administered;

Graduate Honor System

Plagiarism is defined as the use of ideas, facts, phrases, or additional material such as maps and charts from any source without giving proper credit for such material. Any material in a paper or report which is not acknowledged is understood to be the original work of the author.Academic negligence is also a violation of the Honor Code. It is unacceptable conduct of a student during a testing situation. (This includes in-class tests, take-home tests, outside assignments, papers, homework, lab reports,etc.) It may include the student's failure to understand the instructor's specific instructions.Perjury is the falsification of testimony or other evidence presented to the Council. Willfully omitting evidence may also result in a conviction.

http://cophs.mercer.edu/manual/Grad_honor.PDF

Plagiarism

What is Plagiarism and Why is it Important?

In college courses, we are continually engaged with other people's ideas: we read them in texts, hear them in lecture, discuss them in class, and incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that information.

Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, INhttp://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

“Quote

End quote”

Plagiarism

How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use

another person's idea, opinion, or theory;

any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any pieces of information--that are not common knowledge;

quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or

paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, INhttp://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html

“Quote

End quote”

Plagiarism

Further Reading

“Appropriate Citation Methods: How to Avoid Plagiarism”

An example from a pharmacy school (examples in APA)

http://spahp2.creighton.edu/currentstudents/StudentServices/plagiarism.pdf

Critical Analysis Anticipate readers’ questions about the strength of your

argument and supporting evidence

Is your argument clearly delineated?

Have you left critical assumptions unnamed?

Have you acknowledged contextual limitations to the universality of your argument?

Have you been able to cite evidence or justification that draws on sources outside your personal beliefs and values?

Have you addressed obvious objections to your argument or evaluated readily accessible counter-evidence?

The First Draft Write one idea per paragraph

Follow notes that have been organized logically

Go for quantity, not quality

Write for revision, not delivery

Write freely

Write about what is most comfortable first

Develop a habit that encourages you to write on a regular basis – with or without inspiration

Identify times when your “deep” mind is most active, and plan to write after those periods

Allow 50% of your time for planning, research, and writing the first draft

Allow the other 50% for revising your paper

Write in Haste,Revise at Leisure

Rewriting Your Paper When rewriting, consider:

Your reader

Precise language

Careful thinking

Your own learning – rewriting is a great way to learn the material

To achieve distance when revising your paper, try:

Reading it aloud to yourself

Have someone else read it aloud to you

Schedule at least one day between revisions, or three or four days if possible

Cut – anything that does not contribute to your research Paste – reorder and add new transitions after cutting portions Fix – words, phrases, sentence structures Prepare – adhere to good production values and give proper

credit Proof – check your grammar and confirm that your paper

features: Clear thesis statement in your discussion Sentences or paragraphs that orient the reader –

introduction, transitions and summary Supporting details – specific quotations, examples, and

statistics Lean sentences Action verbs and concrete, specific nouns

Rewriting Your Paper

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/editing-and-proofreading/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/561/01/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/editing.htm

Proofreading Handouts

Manuscript Format

Page format: • Times New Roman 12 point font preferred for grading

(AMA 10-12 point)• 1” text margins, ragged right margin are recommended• Double-space main text with 0.5” tab settings• Ask your instructor where to place page numbers

AMA Documentation Style

Manuscript Format

Title page: • Ask instructor how to format title page• Oftentimes title, byline, institutional affiliation, and date

are centered and capitalized• An Abstract may be required• Ask your instructor where to place page number


Manuscript Format

Subsequent pages: • A short title maybe required on every page and pagination is

continuous• Title is centered on first page of text• Section headers and text sections follow with no page breaks


Manuscript Format

Example Headings:


Level of heading Format - Use heading levels consecutively

1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

2 Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

3 Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

http://www.docstyles.com/amastat.htm

Usage

Names and Abbreviations:• Scientific names must be used• Abbreviations should be identified on first appearance• There are specific lists of abbreviations that can be found in

the AMA manual• The Index Medicus (updated by the National Library of

Medicine) defines the abbreviations for journal titles or tryhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals

• Generally, periods that would otherwise appear after an abbreviation are dropped


http://writingcenter.ua.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AMAStyle.ppt

Other Documentation Styles

Special Features of AMA Documentation Style:•AMA uses numbered citations instead of parenthetical citations•The References list is numbered in the order in which the cited texts appear in the body of the paper•The References list is unlike footnotes in that referenced items are only identified once on the list•Journal titles are abbreviated according to AMA standards•Limited use of punctuation and spacing in References list

Comparing AMA to


References within Body of Paper

In-text Numbering:•Use numbered superscript system•Start superscripts with first referenced source•List all referenced sources in sequential order separated by a comma•Insert page numbers in parentheses, e.g. page numbers of direct quotations•No more than 23 characters in superscript



Quoted Material

Direct quotes within paper: •Integrate short quotations of fewer than 4 lines into narrative text by enclosing quotation in double quotation marks•Use block format (no quotation marks) for quotations 4 lines or longer and consider setting off the entire block with spaces before and after


http://www.amamanualofstyle.com/view/10.1093/jama/9780195176339.001.0001/med-9780195176339-div2-319

Quoted Material

Direct quotes within paper: •Reproduce quoted material exactly as it appears in the source•See instructions describing punctuation additions (e.g. square brackets and elipses) when minor changes or corrections must be made or noted


Reference inclusion and non-inclusion

Reference List:•Exact match between numbered citations in text and works cited on reference list•Except for citations of sources for personal communications (“written”, “oral”, or “e-mail”) which are in text only•All sources included on the reference list must be cited in text of paper



Example Paper with References

http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=485611


Rules to Get You Started on References

Print Books:•List single author first starting with last name followed by initials using no punctuation until period at end•Multiple authors are separated by a comma•Book titles are italicized with title capitals and end of titles are marked with periods•Book publisher information is punctuated and spaced and ends with a final period


http://mercer.libguides.com/content.php?pid=81289&sid=733428


Print Articles:•List single author first starting with last name followed by initials using no punctuation until period at end•Multiple authors are separated by a comma•Article titles (and book chapters) start with a capital letter, no emphasis added•Journal titles are italicized and abbreviated according to PubMed Journals Database and end with a period•Journal publishing information is punctuated with no spacing until terminated by a period year; volume(issue):pages.




Online:•List authors first in the same format as print sources•Web sources must be identified by page name (if applicable) and then publisher information with periods at end of each•Complete URLs are listed and end with a period•“Updated” and “Accessed” dates appear in the format Month Day, Year and terminate with a period•Journal articles should identify volume and page information or doi (digital object identifier)•If available, use doi instead of URL



Swilley Library and NIH Resources

Swilley Library:


NIH:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7255/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals

AMA Guides Available Online

Sources Used for Presentation

Guide to Grammar and Writing

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/


http://www.docstyles.com/amastat.htm

http://www.amamanualofstyle.com

How To Study In College by Walter Pauk and Ross J.Q. Owens

Writing Guides Available Online

Documents

Professional Writing. Run-on Sentences Comma Usage