Writing Skills and Form and Style Requirements

Students must demonstrate proficiency in the use of the English language. Grammatical errors, spelling errors, and writing that fails to express ideas clearly will affect their grades and the completion of their academic programs. The faculty will not provide remedial help concerning grammatical errors or other writing difficulties. It is the student’s responsibility to proofread and edit his or her work which, in both form and content, should be letter-perfect. Work that is not properly edited will be rejected. It is university policy that students must submit their own work, not that of another person. Consequently, they should refrain from using outside editors to revise their work.

For an individual course, the course professor will specify form and style requirements in the course syllabus. For the M.S. thesis, students must follow the guidance of their thesis advisors. Ph.D. students must follow the policies, procedures, and formatting requirements contained in the school’s Dissertation Guide (2006) for the planning and preparation of the dissertation, as well as the guidance of their dissertation advisors. M.S. and Ph.D. students may find the Dissertation Guide helpful in the preparation of other work.

Several books contain general guidelines for form, style, and writing. On Writing Well (Zinsser, 2006) is an excellent guide to clear, logical, and organized writing. The Elements of Style (Strunk & White, 2000) is a compact handbook on the basic principles of composition, grammar, word usage and writing style. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) (2001), a comprehensive handbook on writing for publication, addresses editorial style, grammar, and organization. Give particular attention to Chapter 1, Content and Organization of a Manuscript; Chapter 2, Expressing Ideas and Reducing Bias in Language; and Chapter 3, APA Editorial Style. Chapter 2 also has good advice on writing style and grammar. Another excellent handbook on writing for publication is The Chicago Manual of Style (2003). The APA manual and the Chicago manual contain guidance on punctuation, spelling, capitalization, abbreviations, quotations, numbers, statistical and mathematical material, tables, figures, footnotes, appendixes, and reference citations in text. Students should use a good dictionary such as Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.).