Spelling and other mistakes to avoid

From Lauraibm

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:::Correct, because it's a plural, not a genitive.
:::Correct, because it's a plural, not a genitive.
::::'' 'Consumers have a growing desire to go green' ''
::::'' 'Consumers have a growing desire to go green' ''
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* Be aware of '' 'its' '' meaning 'of it' and '' 'it's' '' meaning 'it is'.
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* Be aware of  
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**'' 'its' '' meaning 'of it', versus
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**'' 'it's' '' meaning 'it is'.
* '''over time''' vs. '''overtime'''.
* '''over time''' vs. '''overtime'''.

Revision as of 12:28, 1 November 2007

In our article summaries ...

Contents

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.
    • 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' .

Spelling

  • Correct use of the possessive apostrophe:
Incorrect
'Consumers’ have a growing desire to go green'
Correct, because it's a plural, not a genitive.
'Consumers have a growing desire to go green'
  • Be aware of
    • 'its' meaning 'of it', versus
    • 'it's' meaning 'it is'.
  • over time vs. overtime.
This is incorrect: 'overtime this group has expanded...'

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.
  • An exception to this rule occurs in abbreviations, 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.
  • 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.'
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