Spelling and other mistakes to avoid

From Lauraibm

Current revision as of 12:26, 3 November 2007

In our article summaries ...

Attitude

• We need to be slightly pro-IBM, anti-competitors and unbiased about other third parties.
  • We need to acknowledge sources, but we're not here to advertise for anyone else, so there's no need to say 'Exclusive research by CBR has found...' . In this sentence, just remove the 'exclusive'.

Style

• We need to be concise and non-academic. We should display slightly more certainty than an academic author would. Therefore
  • Avoid phrases like 'it appears that' or 'it seems that'.
  • Some journals will put inverted commas around terms such as "green" to indicate that this is a new expression with which some readers may be unfamiliar. But we know that our readers will be familiar with this particular term, so we shouldn't use the inverted commas.
  • Use the shortest familiar rendering of each company name -- e.g. Sun, rather than Sun Microsystems Corporation.
  • Give the job title but not the name of most executives. The only exceptions are:
    • Sam Palmisano of IBM
    • Larry Ellison of Oracle
    • Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates of Microsoft
  • But give the name of inventors, as well as their key invention. For example:
    • Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of WWW
  • In '... with total CO₂ emissions in the UK actually increasing between the years 2000 and 2005' , it is obvious to everyone that 2000 and 2005 are referring to years, so delete the superfluous 'the years' .
• Copying word-for-word can be OK.
  • If the original sentence makes good sense and meets all the other guidelines mentioned here, just copy it. For an internal newsltter, plagiarism is fine. Don't waste time and mental effort trying to concoct a different way of saying the same thing.

Avoid Misleading

• Readers will assume we mean the UK unless we state otherwise.
  • Don't write the Department of Energy unless this is a UK body. Instead write the US Department of Energy.
  • Similarly both the USA and Ireland have an EPA -- Environmental Protection Agency. We need to specify which we mean.

Spelling

• Correct use of the possessive apostrophe:

This is incorrect:

Consumers’ have a growing desire to go green

This is correct, because the subject is a plural, not a genitive:

Consumers have a growing desire to go green

This is also incorrect, because there is no possessive:

A coalition of MP's known as The Aldersgate Group...

It should be:

A coalition of MPs known as The Aldersgate Group...

Apostrophes are also used to denote letters removed -- e.g. don't for do not -- but they are not used in abbreviations or acronyms such as IBM or MP. On the other hand, these are correct, because of the possessive meaning:

It is IBM's right to defend its markets.

MPs' cars are being overcharged for parking at the House of Commons.

• Be aware of
  • its meaning of it, versus
  • it's meaning it is.
• over time vs. overtime.
  • Overtime is the hours worked in excess of the contractually agreed amount.

So this is incorrect: 'overtime this group has expanded...'

• Companies are always singular, not plural.

Thus it is:

HP wants to sell more PCs.

and not:

IBM sell their location in Biggleswade.

instead:

IBM sells its location in Biggleswade.

• their versus there and they're:
  • their means of them.
  • there is a place.
  • they're is short for they are.

UK English, rather than American English

• Use hyphens to connect nouns in adjectival phrases, where possible.
  • Americans might say 'board level pressures are making a difference' .
  • In the UK, it is better to say 'board-level pressures ...'
    • because this makes it clear that pressures (and not board) is the subject of the sentence.
  • they are experiencing huge bottom line advantages is incorrect in the UK, because it is not the bottom that is huge, but the advantages. 'huge bottom-line advantages ...' is correct.
• An exception to this rule occurs in abbreviations and acronyms, for example:

If 'AIM' stands for Application Interface Marketing, neither the UK nor the USA puts hyphens between the nouns.

Sentence construction

• Avoid joining two sentences with a comma.

For example, this is incorrect:

Within the UK, IT accounts for 4% of total greenhouse gas emissions, it is vital for CIOs to act now in order to reduce these emissions.

It should be expressed either separately as:

Within the UK, IT accounts for 4% of total greenhouse gas emissions. It is vital for CIOs to act now in order to reduce these emissions.,

or with the use of an appropriate conjunction such as:

Within the UK, IT accounts for 4% of total greenhouse gas emissions, so it is vital for CIOs to act now in order to reduce these emissions.

• But you can join two sentences with a semi-colon.

For example:

He walked into the room; there was no-one else there.

• Use a colon only to indicate the beginning of a list, or the start of some speech.

For example:

There was little to see in the data centre: just two servers, 10 PCs and a storage rack.

The head of IT said: "I don't work here any more."

• Use commas liberally, if they assist understanding.
  • Imagine that the reader has to read the passage out loud to an audience, without having read it before. So if you intend a natural pause, and there could be any doubt, insert a comma (at least).

Arguably, the first-time reader may miss the pause in this sentence:

'Despite concerns government pressures are making a difference.'

Whereas this leaves nothing to chance:

'Despite concerns, government pressures are making a difference.'