Use the active voice in writing

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Using the active voice is often cited as a guide for clear writing, but what does it mean? It means put the subject first in the sentence such as “Volunteers sold tickets”.

The opposite of active voice is passive voice or construction such as “Tickets were sold by volunteers”.

Active voice or construction is usually preferred because it is shorter, clearer and more direct. But not every sentence has to be written in active voice. You may want to emphasise the object by putting it first in the sentence such as “Tickets will be sold by volunteers at the door”.

Using the active voice rather than the passive is a key principle of plain English writing.

 

Write for readers who are easily distracted

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Academic publisher Elsevier’s new 8 page guide called Elements of Style for Writing Scientific Journal Articles has great advice for all factual writing. The most important rule is “write for the busy reader who is easily distracted”. Elements of Style says readers will use almost any excuse to stop reading when they encounter poor writing that leads to reader fatigue and frustration.

Sections in Elements of Style include:

  • Basic rules of manuscript language including tenses, grammar, sentences and paragraphs
  • Classic errors to avoid
  • Always remember your reader
  • Cross-references and figure captions
  • Writing and rewriting.

We’ll highlight more advice in future posts.

Read Elsevier’s Elements_of_Style_for_Writing Scientific Journal_Articles (Dec 2013).

What does et al. mean?

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The words et al. are often used when citing references in text. An example: Smith et al. (2011) reported results from a survey of 90 residents.

The phrase is an abbreviation of the Latin words et alii or alia. Et means “and” and alii or alia means “others”. So the phrase Smith et al. means Smith and other authors and is a way of referring to additional, un-named authors of a reference.

There is no need for a full stop after et because it is not an abbreviation. Only use a full stop after al. Sometimes the words et al. are written in italics because they are Latin words, but this is becoming less common.

The words et al. should never be used in a list of references. The names of all authors of a reference should be provided in the reference list.

Writing numbers: numerals or words?

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There are different conventions for expressing numbers in text.

Remember, the aim is to communicate clearly and make it easy for the reader to understand. It is usually easier to recognise a number when written in numerals (6, 27, 83, 214), than in words (six, twenty-seven, eighty-three, two hundred and fourteen).

I prefer to use numerals, particularly in statistical or other texts where numbers are important and frequent. In general text where numbers may not be so important or are rare, write numbers as words up to nine, then use numerals for 10 and above.

Always use numerals for measurements such as degrees, metres or kilometres, whether the measurement is written as a word (metres) or symbol (m). When a number starts a sentence, write the number in words, or rearrange the sentence.

What to include in a list of references

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There are many different styles for referencing material used in a publication, and for formatting reference lists. Some organisations, such as publishers, universities or government departments, have their own preferred style. Just remember the reason for including a list of references in your work is so your readers can find, read and check the original source that you found useful.

Make sure you include all the relevant details that will help someone find the same material you did.

  • For websites, include the date accessed, as information can change over time as the website is updated.
  • For books, include the edition of the book.
  • For books, include the publisher and place of publication.
  • For journal articles, include the volume number, issue number and page numbers.

If a reference is freely available on a public website, it’s helpful to include the web address of the reference (either the main site or the full location) so readers can easily access the material.

How to recognise spam – it’s all in the editing

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How do you recognise a spam or fraudulent email from a bank or telecoms provider in your inbox?

Often there are a few little things that are not quite right. The use of the corporate image may be slightly wrong such as use of the logo, corporate colours or the font for the text. There may be slightly odd wording or minor errors in the text or email footer. These are all clues to look more closely at the email.

The ability to recognise spam or fraudulent email highlights the importance of editing in setting a professional image.

People don’t notice when it’s right, but they notice when you get it wrong.

Set up a Style Sheet to ensure consistency for your project

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A great way to ensure consistency in your project is to set up a Style Sheet right at the beginning. A Style Sheet is a place to record general formatting and editing preferences such as dates and numbers as well as the specific spelling, capitalisation and hyphenation for commonly used words in the project. Depending on the project, your Style Sheet may contain people’s names, organisation names, or technical terms.

A Style Sheet is usually organised with a general section and then in alphabetical order. If it is typed up in Word, it can be easily updated. But even a handwritten Style Sheet is better than nothing. Keep your Style Sheet handy so you can easily refer to it as you write.

A Style Sheet is great for multi-author projects but is also helpful on long projects written over a longer period of time.

A Style Sheet is not the same as using Styles to format headings and text in Word, but both are ways to help ensure consistency in formatting your work and presenting a professional image.