Introduction

Consistent spelling, grammar, sentence structure and punctuation are all important parts of good academic writing. These elements help you to communicate your ideas clearly, and it helps instructors to mark essays or assignments accurately. Knowing how to use these elements is also important to written communication outside of a school setting. Good written communication is essential for finding work, for performing well in all types of jobs, and for any other kind of written communication.

This chapter covers topics that are important for anyone who is creating written work:

• scholarly writing
• grammar and sentence structure
• punctuation
• quotations, paraphrasing and summarizing
• bias-free language
• editing and revising written work

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual) has chapters on writing style (Chapter 4), the mechanics of style (Chapter 6),  and on bias-free language (Chapter 5). It is important to note that the coverage of these topics in this chapter is only a summary. Anyone needing additional information should consult the Publication Manual. The section on editing and revising written work is adapted from the Learning Portal. A link to the Learning Portal can be found at the end of this chapter.