PUNCTUATION FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

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Correct punctuation helps you get your message across more clearly and correctly.  Some of the more important points are mentioned here:

The full stop (.)

Make sure you finish each sentence with a full stop.  Avoid running on into new sentences without a full stop.

Capital letters (A, B, C)

Check if a word or term needs a capital letter or not if you're not sure, e.g. "The Prime Minister Tony Blair made a speech in the House of Commons."  Avoid using capital letters which are NOT needed as in this example: e.g. "The British Film Industry had a turning point in the early 80s".

The use of capital letters for units can also cause confusion.  Units require a capital letter if they are named after somebody, for example, the electrical unit for power is named after James Watt.  So we say 'a lightbulb is rated at 100 Watts' (abbreviation 100W); but 'they ran for 100 metres' (abbreviation 100 m), since the metric unit for length is not named after anyone.

Comma (,)

Commas function in four ways:

• As introducers  i.e. [introducer, main clause] e.g.
  
  "Recently, London South Bank University banned smoking within all of its buildings"
  
  
• As coordinators (in compound sentences)  i.e. [main clause, conjunction, main clause] e.g.
  
  "Many students opposed this change, but it was still introduced."
  
  
• As inserters  i.e. [a comma is used before and after words or phrases that are inserted into the middle of the main clause] e.g.
  
  "The ban, however, was largely ignored by many students when it was first introduced."
  
  or
  
  "The other building users were, on the other hand, quite annoyed that students were still continuing to smoke where it was not permitted."
  
  
• As linkers i.e. [a comma is used when adding words of phrases at the end of a sentence or when linking items in a list e.g.
  
  "The ban was largely ignored by many students when it was first introduced, however this annoyed the other building users so much that they began a campaign to get the rule enforced."
  
  or
  
  "We all ran to the lecture room, checked that the lecturer had not arrived, quietly slid into our seats, and all breathed a sigh of relief."

Semi-colon (;)

Using semi-colons is not difficult if you remember that they are more like a full stop than a comma.  Semi-colons are used in three places:

• Between two sentences that are closely connected in idea i.e. [main clause; similar main clause] e.g.
  
  "In a book this size we cannot begin to do justice to punctuation; for that you should consult a reliable text."
  
  
• Before conjunctive adverbs and some transitional phrases i.e. [main clause; adverb or transition phrase, main clause] e.g.
  
  "Recently, London South Bank University banned smoking within all of its buildings; nevertheless, the ban was still ignored by many students when it was first introduced."
  
  
• Between items in a list if the items already contain commas e.g.
  
  "We all ran to the lecture room; checked that the lecturer, with her fierce no latecomers policy, had not arrived; and all quietly, and gratefully, slid into our seats with a sigh of relief."

The colon (:)

A colon can be used in four ways:

• To introduce a list e.g.
  
  "Student need to ensure they bring the following items to the examination room: pens, pencils, erasers, and a non-programmable calculator."
  
  
• Use a colon to introduce a quotation longer than three lines. (Note this type of quotation is usually indented on both sides and no quotation marks are used) e.g.
  
  "As Marion Field states in her book, Improving Your Written English: English spelling is not easy to learn.  There are some rules but often there are many exceptions to the rule.  Some spellings and pronunciations appear to be illogical.  It is therefore important that certain spellings are learnt."
  
  
• Use a colon between the main title and the subtitle of a book, article or play e.g.
  
  "A popular book on surviving University is Carman and Royce Adams Jr's Study Skills: A Students Guide for Survival, 2nd Ed."
  
  
• Use a colon between the numbers for hours and minutes e.g.
  
  "We arrived at the class at 12:40."

The apostrophe (')

The apostrophe causes a lot of problems so do beware.  It has two uses: to indicate possession, e.g. "Children's rights are  more often discussed" and to show a missing letter: e.g. "It's important to seek out the truth."  But remember: "It's" only means "It is".  To show possession with 'it' there is NO apostrophe: e.g. "The elephant is one of the largest mammals.  Its natural habitat is Africa or India."

Inverted commas (" ")

These have three particular uses in academic writing.

First, they mark a quotation.  Second, they can be used in a reference or bibliography to mark a title, e.g. Fairbairn & Winch 1996 "Reading, writing and reasoning – a guide for students."

In addition, they can be used to enclose foreign words or words that are used in a special or unusual way, e.g. The "coup de grace" was the last assignment.  It was too much and so I gave up the subject.  The "examination" was so simple that it did not really justify the title.  It just consisted of answering a few questions!

Note that you can use single or double commas for these purposes – make a choice and be consistent.

Another point is that a sentence within inverted commas also needs its full stop inside the inverted commas, as in the previous examples.

The hyphen (-)

The hyphen is the mark that joins words which would have different meaning or emphasis if used separately, e.g. semi-colon, short-sighted, best-seller.  There are many occasions when it is not needed to join words: e.g. wordprocessor (which used to be written with a hyphen).  Omission can be misleading, as in this example: e.g. "Man eating tiger escapes from safari park."

The dash (–)

The dash is used to separate out information in a sentence, often causing emphasis, which is stronger than a semi-colon, e.g. "The microwave – now well-established – is considered indispensable by many."

Brackets ( )

Brackets are used very little now within a sentence, as they indicate something extra to the main meaning.  The suggestion is that the something may not really be necessary – so it is considered good style to either write a normal sentence about it or leave it out.

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