Tips to Improve Your Writing

For Graduate Students in the HED Program
Virginia Tech

You should expect to write one or two major papers in each of your classes. Your professors will have their own personal preferences for writing style but all will expect your papers to represent your BEST EFFORT and conform to the APA Manual of Style, 5th edition. Use the feedback you get. Our expectation is that your writing will improve over time and that you will not make the same mistakes twice.

The following list highlights the most common errors that I see in the papers I receive. This list is not all inclusive but can be used as a good check list for for your writing. Be sure to consult with your individual professor for additional guidance on how to improve your writing.

  1. Write from an outline. This will help you cover the necessary material and get to the point. Short papers (10-12 pages) are good practice for writing journal articles.

  2. Write a strong purpose statement as a road map to the paper and then follow it!

  3. When citing research that has been completed, use past tense to reference the study. Then, use present tense to summarize the findings.

  4. When citing research, focus on the findings but also provide enough information about the study so that the reader knows about what and whom you are talking. Be careful not to generalize findings where the methods used do not allow!

  5. Write in expert and active voice [She said], not passive voice [It has been said].

  6. Avoid personification [Colleges do not decide, college administrators do].

  7. Check the correct usage for the following: (a) which and that, (b) should and ought, (c) upon and on, (d) effect and affect, (e) insure and ensure, (f) over and more than, (g) under and less than, (h) noun-verb agreement (colleges - were, not was), and (i) noun-pronoun agreement (administration - it, not they).

  8. Review Section 2.03, APA 5th edition. Use words economically; one thought per sentence. If you have more than 50 words in a single sentence consider writing two. Finish your thought but avoid one-sentence paragraphs.

  9. Review APA 5th edition, Section 3.32 Selecting the Levels of Heading.

  10. Review APA 5th edition, Section 3.33 Seriation. [(a), (b), and (c) in text]

  11. Review APA 5th edition, Section 3.36 on the use of single and double quotation marks. Avoid excessive use of quotes but cite page numbers when you do. Single space and block quotes of 40 words or more. Remember that the quotation mark usually follows the period.

  12. Review APA 5th edition, Section 3.42 Use of Numbers [two but 10, generally].

  13. Review APA 5th edition Section 3.94-3.103. Make sure the text and reference list agree. Double-check the form of reference citations used in the text.

  14. In your reference lists, use capital letters and italics correctly. Include the issue number as part of the reference when the journal is paginated by issue.

  15. Avoid secondary sources (i.e., as cited in…).

  16. Proof read your paper, or have someone else read it, before handing it in.

Posted: April 28, 2003
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